Raptors vet has been Miles ahead in training
C.J. Miles didn’t have a bad first year in Toronto.
He firmly established himself on that second-unit bench mob as the “mob dad” among a group of second- and third-year players.
He put up 10 points a night over 70 games while averaging 19 minutes of playing time, shot his career average from three and just 38 per cent from the field overall. It didn’t match the numbers he put up a year earlier in Indiana before he was brought to Toronto, but it wasn’t a huge drop-off.
That said, Miles is adamant Raptors fans have not seen the real him yet.
Word around the gym is Miles has shown that side of himself to teammates during workouts in Toronto and through the first three days of training camp, but Miles wants the fan base to see it for themselves.
So when last season ended in that franchise-altering, four-game sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miles went to work.
Miles arrived in Toronto lean and mean and ready to show his teammates and the city the player they saw last year is just a shadow of what he can be. Most of all, he wanted to hit the ground running at top speed.
“That’s what I was this year, ready to go,” Miles said. “I was fully ready. I came in ready. I did what I was supposed to do. I’m a professional athlete. I went into the summer to fix what I needed to fix and I came back ready. I’m ready.
“I’m in shape, playing great basketball. Camp’s been great. Competing on every possession, both ends of the floor. Put myself in position to be able to do that. I take pride in being able to do whatever I’m asked to do as a basketball player. That’s who I’ve been. Last year I didn’t feel I was able to do that.”
There were reasons for some of that, but Miles didn’t sound Wednesday like a guy wanting to make excuses. He just wanted to make things right.
“That hurt me more than anything,” he said of not living up to his own expectations. “I went into the summer like, ‘I’m not going to be that person again.’ When I came back two weeks or so before camp started, it was apparent. I wanted to walk in the gym and people would say, ‘Is that C.J.?’ And that’s what I did.”
One member of Raptors management confirmed Wednesday Miles accomplished that goal. He described a player who has been aggressive and in midseason form since he arrived. He did not say that was vastly different from a year ago, but it was certainly implied.
Not being that player for much of last season, Miles admitted, was frustrating.