Miller’s big interview to Championat.com

Are you from Chicago?

Yes. I grew up in Inglewood, one of the roughest areas in Chicago.

Is that why you are so body-built?

Ha-ha, no. Since I was a baby, I've always been big. Once I turned six, I was cut up. I had six-pack everything. I was always short and strong. And then as I got older in high school, I started to grow a little bit.

How much do you work on your strength?

I don’t. Everywhere I've been, everybody asks me, they tell me, stay out of the weight room, but I don't lift. I just focus on my legs, keeping my knees healthy and stuff like that, and my hips, but I really don't lift. It's hard for people to believe that.

When did you start to play basketball?

When I was six years old. I know I played when I was younger as a kid, but when I really started playing in leagues and stuff, I was six years old.

You play a very energetic style of basketball. You always find the toughest contact. Do you always play like this?

Yeah, growing up, I always played like that, I think. Because the way I'm built, my body, it just happens. I don't be trying to, it's just something that my body does, and I'm used to it.

If you look at game photos, most players with the ball have very serious faces. But you often smile. Why?

That's part of who I am. I'm always happy. That keeps me calm. I call it swagger. That's my swagger. I'm relaxed and I'm not going to let anybody take me out of who I am.

How do you like it in Russia?

I love it. Russia has been great to me since I got here at the end of last season. It's even better now that my family is here. They support me now, so I'm enjoying it.

So now your family is with you. How do they like it?

At first it was a little rough. My wife complains about the driving, but it's nice now. It's good to have my son around and see basketball. My daughter is there in school, so it's becoming home for us. I live in a house here, so they're enjoying it now.

Some legionnaires have complaints about the Russian weather. How do you like it?

Nice. Like you said, I'm from Chicago, so I grew up, it was very cold all the time. So here it's not even that cold right now. I don't have a coat right now, I have a jacket. So I'm enjoying the weather.

Your previous team was in Cairns, Australia. It's a tropical city. How was it there?

Way hotter. You don't have to wear gym shoes, you can wear flip-flops and sandals and stuff. A lot of animals, different kind of animals, big animals, small animals. It was different.

Their arena is called the Snake Pit. Why?

Because it's in Taipan, we're snakes. Our jerseys were like snakeskin prints, so it was real fun.

Was it hard to accept an offer from Loko?

Yeah, it was hard. Especially what's been going on and family. Family knows everything, so talking to my family was hard to make the decision. I think it kind of helped me coming at the end of the last season to see for myself and be here and then tell the family how I was when I was there.

So, you didn’t doubt when Loko office offered you an extension?

Yeah, without any doubts. I wanted to come back. I was upset that we lost. I wanted to run it back again and try to get back to the championship. That was my goal, that's my mindset still. I'm glad that we all took a great start.

Antonius Cleveland says he's learning a Russian word every single day. Do you?

I pick up on the basics, like dosvidania, choo-choot, spasiba.

Is there any language barrier?

No, I think people who don't even speak a lot of English understand what I'm saying, and I understand what they try to say, too. But I think it's just, like you said, communicating and being comfortable around each other, and then you get to understand.

Do you have some other friends in the VTB United league who you knew before joining?

Yeah, I knew JB [Jaylen Barford] before I came, and JB's been trying to get me to come to Loko for years. I also played with Okaro White in the G-League, and I know a lot of other guys on other teams, so I was talking like, yep.

In summer, Loko president became a coach. What was your first reaction?

I was shocked. I didn't expect it, and I didn't know what to expect later. But it's been great, and I'm enjoying it the most because nobody expected us to be doing what we're doing, and we all just continue to grow and learn. And now, like you said, we just lost our first game, so it's a little adversity, so now I want to see how we respond as a team, as coaches, as an organization, so I think this is good for us.

The game against CSKA [91:92] was epic. What were your emotions when it finished?

I was upset. You know, you can't win every game, but the way we was playing, the way I feel, how confident I am in us, I expected us to win. I felt like we could go undefeated the whole year, even though I know it's probably not realistic, but that's just how I felt. And I was upset, but knowing that we are a good team, that we thought we were, so I was still satisfied, but I was upset.

Before the season, you were not considered the great three-point shooter, but against CSKA, you scored three. How did you improve?

History of my career says I'm not a three-point shooter because I don't shoot a lot of them, but now my game is changing, I read the game better now, and a lot of teams are just giving me open shots, so I'm going to take it. I know I can shoot it. It's just the way that I play. My style of play is that I don't take a lot of threes, so it's just about being confident and just taking what the defense gives me.

Do you have some personal goals for the season?

Yes, me personally, other than team goals, I want to be considered the best guard in the league. I want to lead the league in assists and then be top in points also.

There are a lot of young guys in Loko. Are you okay with this?

Yes. This is my 11th year professional, so I know I'm a veteran. I've always been a leader, so I'm enjoying it, talking to them guys, helping those guys, and learning some stuff from them too.

Who is your closest friend?

On the team? Vel [Karvel Anderson]. Vel is my closest friend on the team. We came here together around the same time last season. We've been close, talked all summer. I can’t wait him to get back to training and playing. The last couple of games, even with Samara, you can tell that our style is kind of changing without him. With him, we're a different team. I'm glad that he's getting healthier. He's going to be ready to play, so we need him.

What do you do when you have free time?

I play video games. I play Call of Duty a little bit. I listen to music a lot, but other than that, I'm watching TV series or movies. I'm big on movies and TV series. My favorite series is Game of Thrones. If it's not Game of Thrones, it's a show called Power. I'm big on that. My favorite movie is Avengers Endgame.

Are you used to long travels?

Oh, no. Last year, when I heard before I got here the travels were rough, but going through it is different, so I'm not used to it. I'm still struggling with it now. It's tough.

How do you cope with this?

I try to get treatment. Now, they're doing their best to help us. If we have to get on the road, we have multiple away games, so we just stay gone. That's good. The only thing we can do is just try to deal with it and take care of your body when you're not traveling.

What can you say about the level of the VTB United League, comparing to other places where you've played?

I think it's a high level. I think the top four teams can easily be in Euroleague, especially this season. I would say the league is still as good even after the war. It was a different kind of level before the war, but I think it's still hanging in there and still trying to be that kind of league.

Who is the toughest opponent in the league for you personally?

Who guards me? Let me think. I would say… I don't know. I think a lot of teams pick and choose how they want to guard me, and a lot of players. But I think the people who have been guarding me have been making me bring out the best in me. I give it to everybody, whoever gets the challenge to guard me, I give it to them.

Can you say that you have kind of rivalry with some other teams?

Even before, I feel like the rivalry has been with UNICS. But now, it may be transitioning. Ithink it's still UNICS, but I want it to be CSKA, because we want to be the champions. That's our goal, and I think in order to get there, you've got to go through them, because they're the champions.

What can you say about the fans in Krasnodar?

I love the fans, even as soon as I got here last season, I fell in love with the fans. They showed me so much love, the kids, I love the kids. I think we've got a nice crowd here, I want it to be more packed here though. Especially the way we started this year, I want it to be more packed, not just the playoffs.

What should Loko do to finally become champions?

I think we keep doing what we're doing, and continue to get better, continue to trust. I think it's hard, it ain't easy. I think we just got to believe it. And I like the way we started, I like the way we act, I like the way our mental is. I just want to continue to grow, so we can see how we're going to develop after our first loss.