Player of the Yesterday: Patrick Patterson

[Andre Roberstan]

Missed a day. You'll get 2 today to tide you over through the weekend.

As promised, I'm starting a Player of the Day series to tide us over through the long offseason. With weekend skips it should eat at least a little of the time leading up to training camp. Hope you guys enjoy.

SCHEDULE:
Week 1: Starters
Aug 28: Russell Westbrook
Aug 29: Paul George
Aug 30: Steven Adams
Aug 31: Patrick Patterson
Sept 1: Andre Roberson

Week 2: Bench
Sept 4: Enes Kanter
Sept 5: Alejandro Abrines
Sept 6: Raymond Felton
Sept 7: Jerami Grant
Sept 8: Doug McDermott

Week 3: Deep Bench
Sept 11: Terrance Ferguson
Sept 12: Dakari Johnson
Sept 13: Semaj Christon
Sept 14: Josh Huestis
Sept 15: Kyle Singler

Week 4: Odds and Ends
Sept 16: Daniel Hamilton
Sept 17: Billy Donovan
Sept 18: Sam Presti
Sept 19: TBD
Sept 20: TBD



http://www.nba.com/playerfile/patrick_patterson/
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pattepa01.html

28 years old
Drafted 2010 out of Kentucky with the 14th pick by the Houston Rockets
6'9"
235lb

Questions for the upcoming season:

1: Are you worried about his knees? Why or why not?
2: Presuming health, how many 3pt shots do you think he'll average per game?
3: How much of his time will be spent at center this year?
4: Where will he make more of an impact, defensively or offensively?

and any others you want to add

[Kizz Fastfists]

1: Are you worried about his knees? Why or why not?
2: Presuming health, how many 3pt shots do you think he'll average per game?
3: How much of his time will be spent at center this year?
4: Where will he make more of an impact, defensively or offensively?

1) Yes. I don't take knee injuries lightly. Probably as a result of losing a baseball career due to one.

2) 3.2

3) It should be none, but it is more likely to be just enough to show that he can't play the position. I'll go with 30 minutes.

4) Offensively. Patterson is a better offensive player than the big men OKC lost, Taj and Sabonis, he is an inferior defensive player to both of them.

[ThunderBolt]

The fact that the knee surgery was well into the off-season tells me that it wasn't healing without surgery. That does concern me

[retrobro90]

1: Are you worried about his knees? Why or why not?
2: Presuming health, how many 3pt shots do you think he'll average per game?
3: How much of his time will be spent at center this year?
4: Where will he make more of an impact, defensively or offensively?

and any others you want to add

1. A little but not too much. Not a crazy invasive surgery, essentially just getting it cleaned/removing any lose bodies etc. Not like he tore a tendon or anything. Would be happier if we kept him out till after the preseason just to be on the safe side.

2. 4-5? Hard to tell. There's gonna be a lot of opportunities for him.

3. It's matchup dependent but probably not too much. Could definitely see him and Grant at the 4 and 5 closing out certain games. He's a tough dude but not the best rebounder/rim protector. That's really the give and take though with any small ball 5.

4. Defensively without a doubt. No idea what Kizz is smoking but 2Pat is a much better defender than rookie Sabonis (and I have done nothing but praise Sabonis' instincts and smarts on the defensive end).

[CaptainCanada]

Raptors fan here. Don't under-estimate Patterson's defence....he is pretty mobile and good at help D. I think the Raptors will miss him, I wish they offered him a contract. Getting him for $5mil is a steal.

[ThunderBolt]

Raptors fan here. Don't under-estimate Patterson's defence....he is pretty mobile and good at help D. I think the Raptors will miss him, I wish they offered him a contract. Getting him for $5mil is a steal.

I hope you're right. A lot of raptors fans were really down on him for his performance in the playoffs.

[hardenASG13]

Slightly concerned with his knees, only because the team is relying on him so much to be their PF as there aren't many other options. He'll take 3s similar to how ibaka did (when he's open, in rhythm). I can't see him playing much center with adams and kanter on the team, unless another team goes small enough for him to be able to (golden State death lineup, maybe), or is playing a big stiff who won't be used to post him up. I'm hoping he can be solid on both ends, which from what I've seen of him is about what he brings. It seems he was unhappy during the playoffs with toronto, and it affected his performance. Maybe he knew they weren't or didn't want to bring him back?

[sleestak33]

Patterson has never started in his NBA career and frankly just isn't good enough for that role. He averages 7 points per 25 minutes and for all of this talk about how he's going to help "space the floor" for OKC and his ballyhooed 3 point percentage (38%) he only makes one 3 pointer every 25 minutes and his overall shooting is at 40% which is terrible for a power forward. We already have the pathetic Roberson out there who only averages 7 points every 32 minutes so I don't understand how in the world they think they're going to compete with teams like the Rockets and the Warriors with two guys who can't score at all. You would think that going 2-11 against two teams last year playing small ball they would have learned their lesson but apparently not. Starting Patterson will be a huge mistake, just like starting Sabonis was.

[CaptainCanada]

Raptors fan here. Don't under-estimate Patterson's defence....he is pretty mobile and good at help D. I think the Raptors will miss him, I wish they offered him a contract. Getting him for $5mil is a steal.

I hope you're right. A lot of raptors fans were really down on him for his performance in the playoffs.

Patterson has a hard time creating his own shot, but that isn't a problem in OKC with Westbrook and George.

He may not of performed as well as fans hoped in playoffs for Raptors but if you look back at footage he stepped up in important moments (ie end of game 6 vs Indy with block and dunk at end of game).

He is a perfect fit for OKC team....rebounding he needs to step up alittle bit though, hopefully that will come and he won't be hanging around the perimeter all the time.

[CoachD]

Patterson has never started in his NBA career and frankly just isn't good enough for that role. He averages 7 points per 25 minutes and for all of this talk about how he's going to help "space the floor" for OKC and his ballyhooed 3 point percentage (38%) he only makes one 3 pointer every 25 minutes and his overall shooting is at 40% which is terrible for a power forward. We already have the pathetic Roberson out there who only averages 7 points every 32 minutes so I don't understand how in the world they think they're going to compete with teams like the Rockets and the Warriors with two guys who can't score at all. You would think that going 2-11 against two teams last year playing small ball they would have learned their lesson but apparently not. Starting Patterson will be a huge mistake, just like starting Sabonis was.

Sorry.
Stopped reading after "never started in his career".
Simply, not true.

That being said, his best days ended 2 seasons ago.

[bondom34]

Patterson has never started in his NBA career and frankly just isn't good enough for that role. He averages 7 points per 25 minutes and for all of this talk about how he's going to help "space the floor" for OKC and his ballyhooed 3 point percentage (38%) he only makes one 3 pointer every 25 minutes and his overall shooting is at 40% which is terrible for a power forward. We already have the pathetic Roberson out there who only averages 7 points every 32 minutes so I don't understand how in the world they think they're going to compete with teams like the Rockets and the Warriors with two guys who can't score at all. You would think that going 2-11 against two teams last year playing small ball they would have learned their lesson but apparently not. Starting Patterson will be a huge mistake, just like starting Sabonis was.

Sorry.
Stopped reading after "never started in his career".
Simply, not true.

That being said, his best days ended 2 seasons ago.

CoachD, meet sleestak. This is true of most every post he makes

[Pillendreher]

37 games into the season and Pattrick Patterson got more minutes than Jerami Grant in a game 4x:

14 vs 12 against Memphis
14 vs 13 against Philly
24 vs 21 against New York
14 vs 13 against Atlanta

In 15/16, Patterson played less than 15 minutes 2x out of a total 79 games played. In 16/17, Patterson played less than 15 minutes 4x out of a total 65 games played.
In 17/18, Patterson played less than 15 minutes 23x out a total 37 games played.

He's currently on pace to play the fewest mpg of his career and the 7th fewest mpg for any Thunder player who qualified for the mp/g leaderboard in Thunder history. If this keeps up, he'll have played less minutes per game than former Thunder greats Lauvergne and Christon.
League wide, he's 273th in USG% among players who qualify for the mp/g leaderboard (282 total).

This is the guy who was 16th overall in total raw +/- for the last two seasons. As a bench player.

[ThunderBolt]

I kind of struggle to know what to think of him. I know some say he needs a chance with better lineups but isn’t he a career bench player? Shouldn’t he be better than he currently is even with the players he’s with? The other side of that is how long should we hold on to a guy that we aren’t using correctly?

[Pillendreher]

I kind of struggle to know what to think of him. I know some say he needs a chance with better lineups but isn’t he a career bench player? Shouldn’t he be better than he currently is even with the players he’s with?

A couple of things:

1) Of course this isn't all on his role. A veteran like him should play better as an individual than this.

2) He may be a career bench player, yet he was never restricted to all bench lineups with trash players around him. These are the Patterson lineups with at least 120 mp over his last two seasons in Toronto:

Lowry-DeRozan-Carroll-Patterson-Valanciunas: +29.7 NetRtG, 147 minutes
Lowry-Joseph-Ross-Patterson-Biyombo: +18.5 NetRtG, 296 minutes
Lowry-Joseph-DeRozan-Patterson-Biyombo: +16.5 NetRtG, 141 minutes
Lowry-Joseph-Ross-Patterson-Bebe: +14.1 NetRtG, 199 minutes
Joseph-DeRozan-Ross-Pattereson-Biyombo: +11.9 NetRtG, 218 minutes

What do those lineups have in common?

-At least one pg on the floor who is capable to get his teammates good shots
-Always multiple ballhandlers who can create shots for themselves and others
-A SF who could hit 3s
-An athletic Center who can play decent to strong help defense

What does that sound like on our roster?

Russ-Robes-George-Patterson-Adams

or

Russ-George-Melo-Patterson-Adams

Patterson may have come off the bench, but Toronto always played him with good players and made use of their roleplayers by flexing them into their lineups with starters. Instead we are playing our worst defenders all at the same time and expect Patterson out of position and George to carry them.
Felton has played well for us, but he's not getting others shots all that often as of late. In fact, he's playing more and more like Russ with those long pull ups. Grant and Huestis are both athletic, yet they can't shoot and need so much help with off ball defense.

The Raptors are basically handing us a blueprint on how to use Patterson. Yet instead of doing that, we're wasting him because our roster is unbalanced and we stick to things that have not worked at all.
Among 5-man-units with at least 70 mp. our George+bench lineups is currently the 2nd worst in the league at -32.0 NetRtG. Among 4-man-units with at least 150 mp, Felton-George-Grant-Patterson is the worst lineup in the league with -31.0 NetRtG. By way of comparison: Christon-Abrines-Grant-Kanter had a -19.6 NetRtG last season.

The other side of that is how long should we hold on to a guy that we aren’t using correctly?

I've thought about that as well. I fear Presti could move him instead of Grant so he can give Grant a new contract.

[Pillendreher]

50 % of the season played.




Excellent coaching. We really should play skilled players less. It is the Thunder way after all - skills don't matter.

[Pillendreher]

Patterson-Adams frontcourt sighting!!! This pairing's minutes increased by 15 % last night because of 10 minutes played



1st in ORtG, 2nd in DRtG, 1st in NetRtG.

Meanwhile Grant-Adams is (if you disregard those 8 minutes with Singler) the worst paring in ORtG, the 4th best pairing in DRtG and the 3rd worst in NetRtG. But of course that pairing gets 3x times as many minutes as the Patterson pairing.

[bbms]

Eventually we will realize that our pre season’s insight of starting Patterson and have Melo as a sixth man is the best strategy going forward. Patterson is moving a lot better now.

Right now we have 6 playoff caliber players (Russ, George, Robes, Adams, Melo and Patterson) and Felton (6 and a half). We need at least one more.

[Pillendreher]

Three more minutes people!!! Maybe Donovan is really coming to his senses a little bit.

117.0 ORtG | 97.5 DRtG | +19.5 NetRtG now on the season.

[Pillendreher]

Patterson must save us now.

[Pillendreher]

58 minutes played. Six FGA.