Temple has leaned on Hysier Miller to prop up a young backcourt struggling with injuries
Miller has taken on a larger role than expected this season after Khalif Battle, Jeremiah Williams and other teammates went down with injury.
Temple is asking a lot of Hysier Miller.
The true freshman point guard has started back-to-back games filling in for an injured Jeremiah Williams, who is Temple’s floor general and defensive leader. In turn, his teammates have become de facto student teachers, helping Miller navigate a greater role.
“He’s coming along,” Temple coach Aaron McKie said. “He’s poised and [has grown in] his ability to run a team. He’s a gamer. He’s not afraid of the moment. He welcomes it with open arms.”
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At halftime of Temple’s 64-57 win over Southern Methodist on Wednesday night, fellow guard Tai Strickland pulled Miller toward halfcourt — with a broader view of the floor — to discuss what each saw in the first 20 minutes.
Strickland, who scored a career-high 27 points, used one hand to simulate dribble moves and the other to point out offensive progressions based on how he had been defended on earlier possessions. He’d take one dribble, pick it up and point, spelling out an idea. The 6-foot-1 point guard from South Philly responded with a nod.
“[The talk] was just about patience,” said Strickland, now in his third season with the program. “I think the world of him. He plays through his instincts and he doesn’t overthink things. It’s just go.”
Prior to Miller’s first start, a 92-83 road loss to Tulane, he had not played more than 20 minutes in a game.
Against Tulane, he logged a team-high 39 minutes (including overtime) with nine points, and eight assists. He followed that performance with four points and five rebounds in 33 minutes against SMU.
“He’s going to make his share of mistakes but we’re OK with that,” McKie said. “He’s going to learn from it, he’s going to grow from it, and it’s going to make him a better player.”
When Miller joined the Owls he wasn’t sure where he would fit in among a youthful backcourt rotation that returned several players, including Williams, Strickland, Damian Dunn, and Khalif Battle. Dubbed by his teammates as their likely candidate for most improved player 23 games into the season, Miller’s play is emblematic of a more confident, aggressive backcourt presence.
Driving lanes to the basket, clean looks from beyond the arc, or passes in tight windows that he may have neglected earlier this season have become more routine.
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McKie thinks Miller is probably ahead of where the coaching staff thought the freshman might be at this point in the season.
“He’s definitely surprised me with his growth, especially since the summer,” said forward Nick Jourdain. “Just growing as a point guard being able to help the guys offensively and defensively, talking us through things and getting us into our sets.”
McKie said the long-term intention was to give him “small bites of the apple.” He wanted to strategically stagger minutes to help him acclimate.
With Williams, Dunn, and Battle sidelined because of injury, Miller is confronting sizable bites of that apple, starting with games against two top-ranked teams in the conference.
“I’m asking young guys to talk a younger guy through situations out on the floor,” McKie said. “Mostly I’m the one yelling so now with those guys [on the bench], they can pull Hysier aside and say, ‘Hey man, you got to be doing this.’ ”