John acknowledges that Paul, a three-time NCAA rebounding champion who ranked second among NBA rookie rebounders with 5.2 a game in an average of 18 minutes played, is the better boardman nowadays. Paul is two inches taller at 6-foot-8 and much heavier, 258 pounds to 205.

"I'm not saying I'm as good as he is, but, yeah, I can rebound also. I shoot better than him," says John, who considers himself more a perimeter player while Paul is a power forward who can play the three.

The Millsaps are competitive with each other and a little vain about their personal strengths when it comes to family bragging rights. About rebounding, Paul says he's the star.

"Of course," says Paul, the No. 47 pick in the 2006 NBA Draft who averaged 6.8 points a game. "I don't doubt that. But (John) can score the ball. He can score, and I'm still working on that aspect of my game. I can rebound, block shots. He's trying to work on his defense a lot. If he gets better on defense, he's got the whole package. I'm just trying to work on everything else."

The Millsaps josh each other, but they're also close, raised by their single-parent mom, Bettye. John's strongest memory of growing up in Louisiana and Denver is, "Basically, just getting out of our situation. That was our focus, and basketball was a way out."

The "situation" was "Just family issues. We always wanted to get away from that, and we used basketball as a tool for that."

As kids, the four brothers played hard against each other, but there were no bloody noses or anything. "Oh, no we don't beat on each other like that, but it's competing," John says.

John and Paul say Elijah, the freshman of the year at Louisiana-Lafayette, and Abraham, who stars at Utah's Brighton High School, may one day be better than their two elders. "I haven't peaked yet," says Paul, not sure of his own potential as he prepares for his second pro year. "Hopefully, some day they're going to surpass me."

The family plan, says John, is for all four Millsap boys to become NBA players.

John says he had nothing but pride for Paul's accomplishments.

"Actually, it's exciting to watch him play and do as well as he is doing," says John. "Paul had good exposure, and he's worked very hard to get where he's at.

"There's things out there for me also," he adds.

"It's good to see (John) succeed," adds Paul. "He worked hard all his life to get to this point. It's good for him, and hopefully he can live up to it."

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Rocky Mountain Revue

At Salt Lake Community College

TODAY

Phila. vs. San Antonio, 4:30 p.m.

Atlanta vs. Utah, 7 p.m., KJZZ

SATURDAY

Atlanta vs. San Antonio, 4:30 p.m.

Phila. vs. Utah, 7 p.m., KJZZ