By LARRY VAUGHT

Darius Miller may not have the build of the traditional power forward physique, but he did play that spot at times for Team USA last summer and drew praise from his coaches for the versatility he gave the team by doing that.

Could he do the same for coach John Calipari at UK this season?

“I think I could and if Coach wants me to do that, I would be perfectly fine with that. I wouldn’t have a problem at all. Maybe we will do that sometimes,” said Miller.

He says his Team USA experience show make a noticeable difference in another area of his play.

“I think I got a lot better defensively going up against great competition every time I stepped on the court with Team USA. That really helped me build confidence. It helped me a lot as far as getting ready to play defense this year,” Miller said. “Playing against different competition in the summer was really good for me. The caliber of talent I played against made me have to play as hard and the best I could every single play.”

While his time with Team USA took him away from his UK teammates for more than a month, he doesn’t see any problems with the Cats’ team chemistry this season.

“I think we are going to have great team chemistry. The players coming in are really good teammates and of course the returning players, we all get along. I think we are mixing together really well and that will help us a lot,” Miller said.

And what does he like best about new coach John Calipari?

“Just how energetic and how much fun he is. He has fun with everything,” Miller said. “But at the same time he is all about making us better and can be tough on us. His staff is the same way. They like to make sure we have fun and take care of us. All of us are going to have a lot of fun this season.”

Miller thinks having a former NBA player like Rod Strickland on Calipari’s staff could be beneficial, too, because he has been through the same ups and downs in a big-time atmosphere that UK players experience.

“He’s a real good player and person. I think he will be there for me if I needed something. I think that is very important, especially for younger guys. It can get rough and you feel like you have problems nobody else does and it is nice to have a coach who has been through things like that to help them,” Miller said.

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