They could have already split apart. Fractured. Taken two separate roads, neither of which point in the same direction.
But instead of falling away from each other, Portland Trail Blazers point guards Steve Blake and Andre Miller have become closer.
Both express mutual admiration, three weeks into the team's 2009-10 training camp. Both praise each other's distinctive traits, while offering reminders that whatever holes one has, the other will fill.
Blake and Miller are more alike than they are dissimilar; more comparable and complimentary than they are clashing.
Most importantly, Blake has Miller's back.
"I enjoy the differences that we have. He has a great understanding for the game," Blake said Wednesday. "You can always see that he's thinking, engaged in the game. He is a great finisher around the basket. He is a very good passer — you always see him looking for the open teammate. And so I think he brings a lot positive qualities to our team. I think he's going to help us a ton."
And Miller has Blake's.
"I support him in whatever he does. I enjoy passing to him. I enjoy playing off of him," Miller said minutes later the same day. "He's a shooter, he's a tough guy. And a lot of people don't see that. They criticize (him) for his defense or whatever — we all get criticized about something, you know. So, I see a competitive person that knows how to play basketball."
