Aaron Miles

[Mook]

Apparently Aaron Miles has worked on his shooting....I no longer think he's a liability from the outside.

http://www.kusports.com/news/mens_baske ... ory/113114

KU's Miles becoming lethal from three-point range
By Gary Bedore, Assistant Sports Editor

Wednesday, February 2, 2005

A 28.6 percent three-point shooter his first three years at Kansas University, Aaron Miles currently leads the country in accuracy from beyond the 19-foot, 9-inch arc.

Sort of.

The 6-1 Miles, who has made his last eight threes since missing his first attempt against Baylor on Jan. 25, has swished 23 of 39 treys for 59 percent.

He has made a better percentage than Salim Stoudamire, the NCAA's official leader at 54.1 percent. The Arizona guard is listed ahead of Miles only because KU's floor general has not attempted a minimum of 2.5 threes a game.

Meanwhile, Miles also tops the Big 12 Conference chart in three-point accuracy.

Sort of.

The Portland, Ore., native has made 12 of 19 threes in seven league games for a sizzling 63.2 percent, but has not met the minimum league requirement of averaging 2.0 threes made a game.

Thus, Oklahoma's Lawrence McKenzie is the league's top marksman on the official stat sheet at 46.5 percent (47-of-101).


At any rate, Miles is red-hot from the outside after being ice-cold during his first three campaigns at KU.

"He's worked so hard on that in the offseason," KU sophomore J.R. Giddens said. "He's just gotten a lot better at it."

So much better, in fact, inquiring minds in the media want to know how Miles became such a threat.

Is he more confident?

"Nah," Miles said after going 3-for-3 on threes in Monday's 73-61 victory over Missouri. "My freshman year I was not confident. My sophomore year I was more confident. I was real confident last year. I just made some and missed some. It's how it goes."

But is he being more selective after making 28 of 84 threes last season?

"I know I'm prepared to shoot more so this year," Miles said. "Coach (Joe) Dooley always gets on me about being prepared to shoot every day at practice."

Miles -- he had 10 assists against four turnovers against Mizzou -- still is known more for his passing than shooting.

Already KU's all-time assist leader and the No. 17 assist man in NCAA history, Miles has 869 career assists, including 131 in 18 games this season. With a maximum of 18 games remaining (if KU reaches the NCAA title game), he would need the same number -- another 131 -- to reach 1,000.

Only three NCAA Division One players ever have had 1,000 career assists -- Bobby Hurley of Duke (1,076), Chris Corchiani of North Carolina State (1,038) and Ed Cota of North Carolina (1,030).

"I might think about those things after my career is over," Miles said when informed he had passed Jacque Vaughn as KU's all-time leader in double-digit-assist games (19). "I credit my teammates and former teammates for all those things."

Miles truly does not think about individual accolades, KU coach Bill Self says.

"One thing Aaron does, he just cares about winning. He plays to win every possession. If you do that, everything else will fall into place for you," Self said. "He has it figured out. It's why he doesn't get hung up on national attention. He knows if we win, it will all come back anyway. There's only one way to judge that guy ... wins and losses."

And for his career, Miles has 104 wins against 22 losses, with two Big 12 titles, one Elite Eight and two Final Fours.

"I'm glad he's my PG," Giddens said. "I wouldn't trade him for anybody."

[the_ouskull]

If he'd shoot a few more, it'd all balance out.

the_ouskull