Miles Impressively Finds His Niche

The Clippers’ Darius Miles is having a pretty remarkable rookie year, especially when you consider that he will not turn 20 until the start of next season.

Miles, who became the highest drafted high school player when the Clippers selected him third overall last year, is fifth on the team in scoring (9.1 points), third in rebounding (5.9), third in minutes per game (25.7) and second in blocked shots (1.5).

And at 6 feet 10 and barely over 200 pounds, Miles has done it while learning how to play power forward at the NBA level after being projected as a small forward and shooting guard.

“As he bulks up, he could end up being a true four in this league,” teammate Lamar Odom said. “It’s always an advantage when you can defend the position but players at that position can’t guard you. With some weight and some years in the league, he can easily be a power forward.”

Miles began the season as the Clippers’ starting shooting guard then was moved to backup small forward behind Odom. It wasn’t until early December that Miles was finally switched to power forward, where he has remained.

“He gives us a different look,” Odom said. “When he’s in there, that’s our most athletic and quickest team. There are times when he’s guarding some power forwards we have to double, but there are plenty of times when we don’t.”

Of all the prep players who have made the jump directly to the NBA, only Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett has registered better first-year numbers in scoring, rebounding and minutes played, than Miles.

Although Coach Alvin Gentry has used Miles primarily as a backup to veteran Cherokee Parks at power forward since the All-Star break, he considers Miles one of the most versatile players on the team.

“He is talented enough to play both forward positions,” Gentry said. “The only guys he is going to have a real problem against would be the Karl Malones of the world. But the last time I looked, everyone else in the league was having trouble against him too. [Miles] will get stronger and have the ability to guard those types of players in the future, but in the NBA [power forwards] are becoming an athletic-type position.”

*

One goal the Clippers had before the season began was to play well against teams at their level. With only 10 games remaining, they have done that because if the playoffs were to start today, the Clippers would have a 16-14 record against teams not in the postseason.

“I’m excited about the progress that we made,” Gentry said, “but we have a long way to go before teams look at us as a team that is going to be in the playoffs.

“But I think we are headed in the right direction because of the effort that we’ve played with and from the fact that we’ve been able to win games at home, which is the most important thing as far as building a team.”