[small sample]Patrick Patterson is one of the best spot up shooters in the league

Well looks like PPat can still improve on his post moves. Good at jump shooting and finishing at the rim, but need to improve scoring back to the basket.

 

I watched Patterson a fair bit last year (was trying to watch Wall, but couldn't help but notice Patterson too "who is this guy who keeps draining the 18 footer?")

I don't pay a LOT of attention to college ball, so went and read up on him, and apparently he added his jumpshot in order to take his game to the next level.

Amazing that it's so reliable after only a couple of years - but shows that the guy has a great intangible "work ethic" and desire to improve his game!!

 

These are interesting numbers.

I don't know if they mean Pat is a star since "spot up shooting" isn't exactly a star-making skill. It does make you a pretty useful PF, though.

NBA defenses are trained to take away everything but a long 2 pt jumpers nowadays since the long 2 (especially one shot by a big) is typically not a statistically efficient shot, so if you are hitting that shot well, especially when your big man is hitting that shot well, it helps preventing droughts since that shot should almost always be there sometime during the 24 second shot clock cycle.

And I'm not suprised Pat's shooting this well. Last season, he was launching and hitting college 3 pointers. During draft time, there was talk about him being a "spread 4" in the NBA. So you know he's an above-average shooter for a big man. I'm glad, though that the Rockets are having him learing the ropes as a inside guy first rather than risk relegating him to the life of Matt Bullard.

 

to what? to his offensive putbacks?

 

Inside game in college is completely different than in the NBA...

 

I think Patterson's always been pretty confident about his jumper. After he got drafted, he was asked what he could immediately bring to the team. He answered by talking about all the open outside shots there would be playing next to Yao Ming.

 

He was Kentucky's inside guy until Cousins came. Then Patterson willingly gave up his game to Cousins and develop an outside shot to complement Cousins. Some people think that's a sign of weakness for him to not assert himself to challenge the "loss of job" to Cousins. I see it as an incredible strength for two reasons: (1) It shows his team-first attitude, which seeks team success over individual success. (2) It shows his versatility, ability to adapt and learn. That means he will never be a one-dimensional player. He will find ways to expand his game in order to benefit the team.

 

38 games played

10 -15 feet 0.3 -0.6, so he made 12 - 23 shots.
16 - 23 feet: 0.9 - 1.7 so he made 34 - 65 shots.

 

Pretty small sample size here, considering Patterson averages 4.2 attempts per game for the season.

 

Speaking of Dirk, if Patterson can develop a dribble, jab step, and a fall away jumper, he'd be insane to guard, just like Dirk.

 

... and 4 inches

 

His hops are superior to Dirk's.

 

I see a more athletic David West. They are both 6'9 with great wingspans. Patrick has a better vertical which helps his defense. 2pat also has about 20 lbs more of muscle which should help him box out and create space. If what we have is a David West on steroids, that is not bad. I see a future all-star, Otis Thorpe type career. A perfect player to have had next to Yao.

 

Patterson's spot-up shooting, IMO is partly what made Morey so high on him. Because it established a very high FLOOR for PPat. It made him an instant at-the-very-worst-good-role-player for the next decade. And if he can add any sort of post game, we'd be looking at a star.

Hopefully Patterson can come back next year and surprise us with some Scola-esque post up game.

 

I've come up with a new ceiling for him: a less soft Millsap.