Darius Miller Interview

Sorry it has taken so long to get this up, but things have been a little bit hectic with the holidays. I got a chance to talk to Darius after the Long Beach State. Darius is extremely poised and well spoken in how he handles questions. More so than any of the other players I have gotten to talk to. Here is some of what he had to say.


On the intensity...  Some guys might have been distracted or were ready for the break.. We just didn't bring it out of the gate. I am not sure if it was the celebration from the 2000th win. Everybody misses their family and wants to spend some quality time with their families. That might have been a factor. I think we did alright considering the foul trouble in the first half. Those three are a big part of our team.

On if people forget how young the team is... Maybe. Coach doesn't really talk about that. He expects a lot from us and so we expect a lot from ourselves. We don't want to use that as an excuse.


On learning a lesson from a tough game.... Definitely. They could be in the post season. Maybe they make a few more shots and could put us out. So we have to learn to bring intensity the whole game and take care of business. We know that we can't get away with not bringing it at all times. That could come back and bite us if we don't get it corrected.

On playing without Wall, Patterson, and Cousins in the first half... Seems like they can get you open shots every game which is nice. Definitely can get relaxed and spoiled playing without them if there is foul trouble. They make a lot of things happen out on the court.

On Cal's half time speech... Wasn't really loud or out of control, but just wanted us to pick up the intensity and focus on what we needed to do to get the win..

On reacting more than thinking... I think we are all getting better and more comfortable learning where to be and where to take our shots. I think we are learning the offense and getting a lot more comfortable playing together.

On Liggins.... Deandre is a big part of the team. He plays great defense and can wear down his man that he is guarding. He just stays on them and doesn't let them out of his sight. He is doing a good job knocking down some shots too.


On playing a smaller lineup... Maybe at times we might go to that if the big guys get in foul trouble. I think coach was improvising a little bit because of the fouls. It isn't something we have practiced too much. It could be something we see against some smaller teams. We normally just let the big guys play together in practice. Daniel and Demarcus play against each other to help them get better.


On the early success...We got a lot of work to put in and we have a lot to improve on when we get off this break. We feel good about what we have done, but we all want to keep getting better too. We gotta come off this break and be ready to go.