Andre Miller

Andre Miller vowed to play today against the Minnesota Timberwolves. After all, it's going to take a good deal more than a sprained left ankle to keep him from playing. He has sat out two games in his three-plus NBA seasons, one Sunday because of his ankle and one last season while with the Cleveland Cavaliers. "I ran into Kenny Thomas and my shoulder popped out," Miller said, referring to a collision with the burly Houston Rocket forward. "I had no choice. I had to sit out.

With Utah's scoring-leader Michael Doleac slowed by flu and a tight Colorado State defense, Andre Miller knew it was up to him to spark the No. 4 Utes Thursday night at Salt Lake City. "They really packed it in with their zone," Miller said. "I knew I was going to have to make something happen from the outside." The junior point guard responded to the challenge with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead Utah past Colorado State, 65-51. "Andre Miller was everywhere," Doleac said.

Darius Miles has been the high-haired, rim-rattling, ceiling-scrapping symbol of the young and fun Clippers. Which makes it only right that he be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Andre Miller. It's time for the organization to go from young and fun to smart and serious. It's time to trade dunks for defense, aerials for assists, flash for focus. Last week, the Clippers were cult heroes. Today, they are contenders.

Above all, it was cathartic for the Clippers. Their 126-118 overtime victory over the New Jersey Nets was many things at many times Thursday at Staples Center. But, in the final analysis, it was simply a soothing victory for a team desperate for something to celebrate. At the end, with a crowd of 16,277 standing and cheering, the Clippers heaped praise upon point guard Andre Miller.

Point guard Andre Miller has said it several times, and so has his coach, Rick Majerus. Friday, the University of Utah said it too, issuing a statement that Miller, who played a key role in the Utes' advance to the NCAA championship basketball game, will remain in school for another season. The school put out the statement after Majerus had told a Seattle radio station Friday morning that Miller would be staying.

Utah point guard Andre Miller is like the B movie that turns into a box-office smash. Miller is taking the rest of the country by storm, only nobody knows who he is. "I didn't know a lot of about him before we played," West Virginia Coach Gale Catlett said. "But you watch film on him, you realize you have to pay special attention to him. He's the key to their team and one of the best guards we have played this season." High praise, considering that the Mountaineers played St.

Watching Utah point guard Andre Miller lead the Utes to a 26-3 season or rack up 28 points against Arkansas in Utah's second-round NCAA tournament victory Saturday, someone might take for granted that fate has always doled out success to Miller on the basketball court. With all the overhyping of young basketball players that goes on today, people might assume that stardom and notoriety have always been Miller's and that playing in the NBA was always his goal. And of course they would be wrong.

The search for what went wrong with the Clippers' season takes us to a dark, quiet corner of the team's locker room. It used to be the most boisterous spot in the place, where Darius Miles would stand in his throwback jerseys -- the colorful Alex English Denver Nugget uniform or the red, white and blue Wes Unseld Washington Bullet top -- and call across the room to his buddy Quentin Richardson. Or he'd spin off a couple of rhymes from his East St. Louis homeboy Nelly.

Time to put away the plane tickets. Fold up those bus schedules. Andre Miller's mom is staying home this weekend. Utah plays at Long Beach State tonight, and this is one trip that won't put a crimp in Andrea Robinson's travel budget. "How much is gas a gallon?" the Compton resident said with a laugh. She has followed her son's career--literally--from his days at Verbum Dei High on the road to last season's Final Four in San Antonio to last week's tournament in Maui and beyond.

He has exceeded everybody's expectations. Apparently, that's not enough. Andre Miller led his college team to the Final Four, got his degree at Utah, was a lottery pick and now he's the top assist man in the NBA. There was a time when you would have bet against any or all of those things. And maybe you can get still get good odds on the next challenge. "Andre has the chance to be one of the top 15 players in the league," Cleveland Cavalier Coach John Lucas said. "I'm trying to wake that elephant up every night.