Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
THE NBA Finals are less than 24 hours away and the US media is abuzz with stories about Patty Mills.
The Australian guard's transformation from tubby towel-waver to a genuine asset for the San Antonio Spurs this season has caught the attention of America's basketball scribes.
NBA FINALS: A MUG'S GUIDE
WHO IS AUSSIE NBA PLAYER ARON BAYNES
Tim Duncan #21, Patty Mills #8 and Danny Green #4 of the San Antonio Spurs celebrate a play. Source: AFP
Lee Jenkins, writing for Sports Illustrated, suggested Spurs general manager RC Buford saved Mills "from unemployment when he needed to visit a fat farm".
Jenkins noted that an off-season bet with San Antonio teammate Boris Diaw over whether he could get his body fat index below 7% was crucial in his improved performances this year.
"Mills arrived in San Antonio two years ago, known mainly for waving towels on the bench and forming imaginary eye goggles with his fingers, a gesture mimicked by three-point shooters nationwide," Jenkins wrote.
"Mills was drafted 55th in 2009 by the Trail Blazers, ended up in China two years later and, upon returning to the NBA, found that Portland couldn't use him anymore. The Spurs are famously understated, but they signed Mills in March 2012 partly because they appreciated his exuberance.
"'That's from my upbringing,' says Mills, an Aboriginal Australian. 'My mum and dad taught me that you don't sulk when you don't get court time.'
"Their advice resonated last season, when Mills dropped to fourth-string point guard and Popovich termed him Fatty Patty. Mills improved his diet in the summer, winning a bet with Diaw to get below 7% body fat, and earned the backup job, crucial because of Parker's recent hamstring woes.
"'I've learned things here I don't think I would have learned other places,' Mills says, 'and I've played more than I think I would have played other places.'"
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
John Schuhmann, writing for NBA.com, said Mills was causing concern for LeBron James and Miami Heat ahead of the NBA Finals series.
"With the Spurs' second unit, Mills shares ball-handling responsibilities with Manu Ginobili, but he's still a big factor that the Miami Heat have to worry about," Schuhmann wrote.
"Along with that quickness comes a much-improved jumper. He's a ball-handler that can pull up at any time and make you pay for going under a screen. And if he catches fire, he can change a game.
"Mills is one of the reasons the Spurs are a better team than they were a year ago. He went from towel-waiver to impact player.
'We wouldn't be here without him,/ Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. 'He was great off the bench for us this year and always gave us a good jolt of energy in several different ways.'"
Zach Lowe, writing for ESPN's Grantland, noted that Mills could prove a potent weapon for the Spurs during the NBA play-offs if Tony Parker's troublesome ankle injury continues to prove an issue.
"Patty Mills played 13 garbage-time minutes in last year's Finals, but he's a weapon now," Lowe wrote. "He gives San Antonio both a fail-safe in case Tony Parker's ankle flares up and a tag-team partner for Parker in dual — point guard line-ups — units San Antonio would happily use if Miami plays Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers together. The Mills — Marco Belinelli bench duo is a collective upgrade over Gary Neal, even though Neal took and hit some of the ballsiest shots of last year's Finals."
Patty Mills #8 didn't do much other than towel-waving in the last Finals series against the Miami Heat. Source: AFP
James Herbert, writing for CBS, was similarly effusive in his praise for Mills — particularly the Australian's metronomic accuracy from three-point range.
"Patty Mills might be even more dangerous," Herbert wrote. "His only Finals minutes came in garbage time last year, but now he is a key part of the Spurs' attack. Once only an excellent towel-waver, he has developed into one of the best backup point guards in the league. Zipping around the floor as fast as he always did, he's become a 43-percent three-point shooter and he almost never turns the ball over. Mills changes games when he gets hot, and can't be left open on the perimeter."
Cory Joseph was preferred to Mills in the latter stages of the Spurs western conference victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Dan Devine, writing for Yahoo America, analysed which guard would be preferred if Parker was to miss significant game time through injury during the NBA Finals series.
"Neither Mills nor Joseph have the playmaking gifts of Parker and Ginobili, but they each bring something else to the table — the threat of 3-point bombing from Mills, who attempted 7.5 long balls per 36 minutes of playing time this season and knocked 'em down at a 42.5 per cent clip, and the potential for an explosion from Joseph, as Ibaka recently learned," Devine wrote.
"Mills was the primary backup behind Parker throughout the regular season, while Joseph got more minutes in last year's finals (though that was inflated by 20 1/2 minutes in a Game 3 blowout). In a perfect world, Pop wouldn't have to rely on either for very much in this series; if Parker's sore left ankle flares up, though, they might matter way more than Spurs fans would like."
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.
Jesse Clark, writing for Bleacher Report, also turned his attention to the potential intra-squad duel between Mills and Joseph.
"Although Cory Joseph started at point guard when Parker missed time in the regular season, Mills has largely been the guard to replace the Frenchman when he is on the bench. While Parker will likely get the start, expect Mills to play more than his normal playoff average of 15 minutes per game," Clark wrote.
"Mills has proven to be an effective guard and has gained head coach Gregg Popovich's trust. This postseason, Mills has logged 275 minutes, compared to just 31 minutes for all of last year. He has also made 44 field goals, a huge difference from the five he converted during last year's playoffs.
"Look for Mills to provide a spark off the bench in Game 1."
But possibly the best story on Mills in the lead-up to the NBA Finals series came from San Antonio television station KENS 5.
According to reporter Rogelio Mares, Mills has proven a hit at 'The Roo Pub" — an Australian-themed bar — in the suburb of Stone Oak.
"It's on American soil, but don't feel bad if you forget you're in the U.S.A" Mares wrote. "'Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!'
Spurs fans chant at the Roo Pub' in Stone Oak, an Australian themed pub and for some fans it's the place to be on Spurs nights.
"What you might not know is there's a familiar face who helped give 'the Roo' an authentic 'down under' feel. Spurs guard, and Australian native, Patty Mills.
"'Patty really helped me with all the national monuments, the places to visit in Australia,' owner, Chip Ingram, said. 'To have his (sic) as somebody who can give me ideas and help me make this authentic, I don't think I could've done it otherwise.'
"It's become more than a Spurs hotspot, it's a Patty hotspot, as one fan explains.
"'We even got a saying when Patty's hot, making three-pointers, we call it 'the roo, the roo, the roo is on fire!'"
Do you think Patty Mills have a big impact in the NBA Finals?
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
US media goes nuts for Patty Mills
Dengan url
http://ikhlasngeblog.blogspot.com/2014/06/us-media-goes-nuts-for-patty-mills.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
US media goes nuts for Patty Mills
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
US media goes nuts for Patty Mills
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar