"It was a little more than a month ago when the Denver Nuggets last came to the Rose Garden, and Trail Blazers fans being the intelligent, passionate bunch they are, gave Nuggets point guard Andre Miller a nice ovation in recognition for his two stellar seasons in Portland.

At the time the season was two games old, and there was great hope and promise that Miller's replacement, Raymond Felton, had brought younger legs and a quicker tempo to the Blazers' attack. So the reaction to Miller was a polite and sincere "Thank you" by the Blazers fans.

Saturday, when Miller and the Nuggets return to the Rose Garden, I'm guessing Miller will get another ovation. Only this time, I bet it will be a little louder. A bit more meaningful. And even more heartfelt than it was during that Dec. 29 game.

Because the way the Blazers have played of late, fans probably are missing them some Andre Miller.

The sleepwalk dribble, followed by a swoosh to the hoop. The dazzling array of pump fakes. The how-did-he-get-that offensive rebounds. The dribbling past halfcourt and feigning a timeout, only to fool everybody, including his coach, by blowing past players headed to the bench and going in for a layup. The perfect lob passes to LaMarcus Aldridge.

Miller's veteran savvy would help this Blazers team -- especially in hostile arenas on the road and when teams turn up the defensive pressure.

Even if Felton had indeed proven to be the upgrade that Blazers management sold fans on -- "he's Andre Miller but younger" -- I would have taken a moment to reminisce about Miller. He became one of my favorite Blazers to cover, and joins Scottie Pippen, Damon Stoudamire and Shareef Abdur-Rahim as players I hold up as consummate professionals. "