Adam Miller quietly excelling defensively off the bench for Gonzaga

Miller is having the best defensive season of his five year career

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Adam Miller (23). | Photo by Myk Crawford

The Gonzaga Bulldogs got back to their core identity as a tough, physical, relentless defensive team on Sunday evening in a commanding 82-47 victory over the LMU Lions.

While most of the attention on Gonzaga's defense revolves around the length and versatility of Jalen Warley and Tyon Grant-Foster, and the grittiness of Emmanuel Innocenti, very quietly, one of the team's better defensive players has been 6'3 senior guard Adam Miller.

Miller, who transferred to Gonzaga after stops at Illinois, LSU, and most recently Arizona State, came to Spokane lauded for his three-point shooting ability and wasn't exactly expected to be a big-time contributor on the other end of the floor.

However, his hard work has paid off lately, especially late against Seattle U when he stepped in front of 6'10 center Houran Dan to take charge in what was one of the biggest momentum-swinging plays of the night.

Miller continued to make positive plays for Gonzaga despite going through a rough patch offensively, where he shot 1-7 from three with five total points in his first three WCC games. Sunday's game against LMU was not only another strong defensive performance for the 6'3 guard, but it was also a bounce-back for him offensively as Miller scored 11 points on 3-5 shooting from beyond the arc, while adding a season-high three steals to boot.

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Adam Miller (23). | Photo by Myk Crawford

“My defensive effort, loose balls, trying to get a rebound, guarding, I knew I could do that," Miller said after the game. "I think I’ve had some rough games, but I done came too far with these guys to let that bother me.”

"I think sometimes he cares so much," coach Mark Few said. "He's very diligent, and really analyzes the scout. Sometimes it's paralysis by analysis. Lately he's just been kind of cutting it loose; especially these last two games, he's made a huge difference. And obviously I think making plays on defense, and then that kind of got his offense going too. It's good to see some of his 3s going down now too. It's a huge weapon for us."

Gonzaga has been a streaky three-point shooting team all season long, and while they don't rely on the outside shot nearly as often as most other teams in college hoops, it's crucial to be able to space the floor in order to give big men Graham Ike and Braden Huff more room to operate around the rim.

That's the main role for Miller offensively, and he's successfully checking that box with 25 made threes - second on the team behind Steele Venters - while his 37.9% clip is tied for third with Braeden Smith, behind Mario Saint-Supery and Venters.

Miller came to Gonzaga having started 115 of his 117 career games, but after starting seven of his first eight with the Zags, he has come off the bench in the last nine contests. He joins Warley (who started 53 out of 65 games the past two years) and Grant-Foster (51 out of 60) among veteran Zags who are now in unfamiliar territory coming off the bench, helping to create what might be the best group of reserves in all of college basketball.

Gonzaga takes on Santa Clara (13-4, 4-0 in WCC) on Thursday night at 8:30 PM PT, in a game where Miller's two-way capabilities will be crucial in securing another win and a 5-0 start to conference play.

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