DJhitek wrote:It’s obvious that Patrick just isn’t ready to contribute to winning basketball. I know some have stated he shouldn’t start, but his recent play hasn’t justified playing him more than 10 minutes a game.
My hope is that his age and physical talents rise above his passiveness but I’m not entirely sure if anyone this passive has ever made turned into a star.
Mindset is often the most important trait when determining a player's overall potential. It can be the difference between a player achieving stardom or settling into a career as a role player. Skills, athleticism, build, etc. are obviously very important, but they can only take a player so far. The opposite is of course true as well. There's so many players who had all the talent, skills, athleticism, tools, and measurables to be great but were merely good because they lacked the necessary mindset to take them to the next level.
Given that, I think I'd rather have a hyper aggressive player who doesn't quite have the ideal measurements and needs to round out his skills as opposed to a hyper passive player who has all the prototypical tools and skills. It's far more likely for that aggressive player to improve by working on his skills and weak points than it is for that passive player to eventually become aggressive and confident. The former could conceivably develop into an all star or better while the latter will always be limited to a ceiling of a role player. Unless he breaks out of his passive mindset.
Aggression/passiveness typically goes beyond basketball and is more of an overall personality trait and often reflects itself in a player's off the court demeanor and interactions. That certainly applies to what we've seen from PWill so far, both on and off court. He's not even the only Bull who that applies to. Lauri is in the same boat. The difference is that we've actually seen flashes of aggression and confidence from Lauri, even for extended lengths of time, no matter how fleeting it turns out to be in the end. We really haven't seen much of that at all from PWill so far, other than maybe a play here or a game there. Certainly not for any extended period of time.
Hoping for a player to go from passive and timid to aggressive and confident is more or less a lost cause because while it
could happen and
has happened, it usually
doesn't and probably
won't, because what you're asking for is a player to essentially change their entire personality. That just doesn't happen very often, whether we're talking about a pro basketball player or just an average Joe. It could though, which is what makes PWill such a polarizing player given his otherwise promising traits.
It is by far my biggest concern for PWill (and Lauri for that matter). Looking at him from a purely tangible perspective (athleticism, tools, skills, build, etc.), it's very easy to see why so many think the sky is the limit for PWill, but when you watch him on the court it's just as easy to see why so many think he'll never be anything more than a role player.
PWill seems to be a hard worker with a good head on his shoulders, but he will ultimately only go as far as his mindset will let him.