How is Darius Miller like Katy Perry?

What do Darius Miller and Katy Perry have in common (besides both have kissed a girl)? Hot-n-Cold. I did an article here on the differences between games this season where Miller applies himself and games where he doesn’t. And before I get a bunch of comments about hating on Darius, let me say that I agree with Coach Cal that he has the talent to be one of the best in the league. Let me say that again, I believe that Darius Miller can be one of the best players in the SEC. But like Cal also said, it doesn’t matter what I think, it matters what Darius thinks.

The game against Penn saw both Darius Millers show up; one in the first half and the other in the second half. In the first half, Darius shot 1 of 3 from the field with 3 turnovers, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and a block – and his shots were from all over the place. He was guarding Penn’s Tyler Bernardini, a guy who averages 7.7 ppg – a guy who shot 5 of 6 and posted 16 points in the first half against Kentucky.

In the second half, a different Darius showed up. This Darius shot 4 of 4 from the field (including a 3-pointer) with 5 rebounds, an assist, a steal and no turnovers – and aside from the 3-pointer his shots were all layups. Defensively, he was moved over from Bernardini to Miles Cartwright, a guy who averages 11.5 ppg – a guy who shot 3 of 6 and posted 10 points in the second half against Kentucky.

Outside of the box score though, watching the game you could tell that Darius hustled a lot more in the second half. The first half saw him watching loose balls roll past him, like it was an odd occurrence, but not particularly relevant to him. The second half he dove for those same balls. What a difference a half makes. If Darius will play all the time with the intensity he played with in the second half, he could indeed be one of the best in the SEC. Like Katy Perry, he certainly has the talent.