Willie Miller (basketball player)

Infobox NBA Player
name = Willie Miller
nickname = Thriller Miller


league = Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
height_ft = 5 | height_in = 11 | weight_lbs= 195
position = Point Guard
team = Alaska Aces
nationality = Philippines
birth_date = Birth date and age|1977|7|13|mf=y
birth_place = Olongapo, Philippines
college = Colegio de San Juan de Letran
draft = 1st overall
draft_year = 2001
draft_team = Batang Red Bull
draft_league = PBA Draft
career_start = 1999
career_end =
former_teams=Nueva Ecija Patriots (1999-2000)
Batang Red Bull (2001-03)
Talk 'N Text Phone Pals (2004-06)
awards = NCAA Rookie of the Year (1995), PBA Most Valuable Player (2002, 2006-07), PBA Mythical First Team (2002), PBA Mythical Second Team (2004}, All-Star MVP (2007)

Willie V. Miller, Jr. (born on July 13, 1977 in Olongapo City, Philippines), better known simply as Willie Miller, is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Alaska Aces in the Philippine Basketball Association.

After an amateur career with the Letran Knights in the NCAA and a short stint with Tanduay in the Philippine Basketball League, Miller joined the Metropolitan Basketball Association for the Nueva Ecija Patriots from 1999-2000. During his tenure in the Metropolitan Basketball Association Miller made it to the MBA First Five in 1999.

He joined the PBA in 2001 and was the top overall pick of the Batang Red Bull Thunder in the draft. In 2002, he was named as the PBA's Most Valuable Player. He later joined the Talk N' Text Phone Pals from 2004-2006 before being traded to Alaska, and again being named Most Valuable Player in the 2006-07 season.

Amateur career

Willie Miller played collegiate ball for the Letran Knights in the NCAA and also played for Tanduay in the team's last conference in the amateur commercial league playing alongside Eric Menk, Ren-Ren Ritualo, Chris Cantonjos, Mark Telan and Gerald Francisco, claiming a runner-up finish against Doctor J Rubbing Alcohol.

Professional career

Metropolitan Basketball Association

In 1999, Miller turned pro and instead opted to play for the expansion Nueva Ecija Patriots of the MBA. With Miller parading the Patriots, he was ranked second in the league in scoring averaging 23.6 a contest and made it to the MBA First Five. However, the Patriots won only five games in his first season.

Despite another impressive second year with Nueva Ecija, they never made it to the playoffs as the team ranked among the worst teams in the league during the 2000 season.

Philippine Basketball Association

Red Bull

In 2001, Miller opted out of the MBA to join the PBA Rookie Draft. Batang Red Bull Thunder, with the top overall pick in the draft, selected Miller as the first pick, despite speculations of possibly choosing Filipino-American John Arigo.

In his first season, Miller was playing the backup role to Jimwell Torion at point guard but was able to contribute solid numbers in his PBA debut. He played a key role in Red Bull's 2001 Commissioners Cup championship upset of the San Miguel Beermen. In Game 5, he made a last-second block on Beermen import Nate Johnson to preserve the Thunder's victory, and a 3-2 series lead.

2002: MVP year

Fortunes change 2002, despite playing sparingly with Torion, Junthy Valenzuela and Lordy Tugade, Miller played a huge role for Red Bull. After an impressive performance against the RP-Hapee Training Pool in which he single handedly led Red Bull to an overtime with over the Nationals, Miller performances alongside the impressive play of teammate Davonn Harp led to Red Bull's second PBA title in the 2002 Commissioners Cup.

He continued his play all the way to the All-Filipino Cup almost leading the Thunder to another finals berth. At season's end, he was selected to the PBA Mythical Team and won the PBA Most Valuable Player Award, to only player in league history to win the award with a scoring average below 10 points a contest. Miller beat teammate Harp for the award.

Miller continued to play his usual performances in the 2003, making it to the Mythical Team for the second straight season.

Talk N' Text Phone Pals

In the 2004 offseason, Miller was traded by Red Bull to the Talk N' Text Phone Pals in a one-sided deal. The transaction paved way for a strong backcourt duo between him and 2003 Rookie of the Year Jimmy Alapag while playing alongside 2003 MVP Asi Taulava and veterans Vic Pablo, Mark Telan and rookie Harvey Carey.

During the 2004-05 PBA season, the Phone Pals played in two of the three finals appearances, with Miller playing big roles for the Phone Pals. However, losses to Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel denied Talk N Text a championship.

However, Miller played big games for the Phone Pals. He was instrumental in Talk N' Text's come-from-behind win over Ginebra in Game 4 of the 2004-05 PBA Philippine Cup finals and in a losing effort scoring 32 points in Game 6.

He was named the 2005 PBA Fiesta Conference Best Player after another strong performance leading Talk N Text to the best record during the tournament.

At season's end, he was named to the Mythical Team joining Alapag on the spot.

Alaska Aces

Willie boy once again played an all-around performance in the 2005-06 season but did not led the Phone Pals back to the finals of the Fiesta Conference. At the middle of the 2006 Philippine Cup, Miller was traded to the Alaska Aces as part of a big trade with the Phone Pals.

This time, Miller's backcourt partner would be Mike Cortez and with them, Jeffrey Cariaso, Sonny Thoss and Reynel Hugnatan, the Aces took third-place honors during the conference after falling a game short against Purefoods for a finals berth.

In the 2006-07 Philippine Cup, Miller led Alaska in numerous categories for the injury-riddled Aces.

In the 2007 Fiesta Conference, he led the Alaska Aces with the help of 2007 PBA Fiesta Conference Best Import Rossell Ellis to the promised land once again after 5 years. Winning the championship against Talk N' Text in seven games despite being down 3-2 in the series making it the club's 12th title. He also bagged the PBA Most Valuable Player once again in that season, as well as the PBA Finals MVP.

National Team

Miller was chosen by head coach Chot Reyes to play for the RP Training Pool in 2005. He played well for the Philippines in the FIBA-Asia tournament and participated in the William Jones Cup in Taiwan, when the country finished third. However, Miller played only three games after suffering an injury and was replaced by Denok Miranda.

In 2006, Miller played for the team in a Qatar Invitational tournament along with the two-game exhibition against the Lebanon national basketball team.

He became the MVP for the Fiesta Conference because of his 3-point shooting and defense. They defeated Talk N' Text Phone Pals in Game 7 even though he wasn't able to shoot 2 free throws.

External links

* [http://www.alaskaaces.com.ph/willie_miller.php Alaska Aces Willie Miller profile]
* [http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Lagoon/8541/pba.2002sea.html]

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
before= Rommel Adducul
title= NCAA Seniors' Basketball Rookie of the Year
years= 1995
after= Jerome Barbosasuccession box
before= Danny Ildefonso
title= PBA Most Valuable Player
years= 2002
after= Asi Taulavasuccession box
before= James Yap
title= PBA Most Valuable Player
years= 2006-07
after= Kelly Williamssuccession box
before= Eric Menk
title= PBA Fiesta Conference Best Player
years= 2005 Fiesta Conference
after= Enrico Villanuevasuccession box
before= Asi Taulava
title= PBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player
years= 2007 (w/ Jayjay Helterbrand)
after= Peter June Simon