What motivation do I have for picking a fight out of the blue, I'm just saying your expectations are way too low, if you think a marginal nba starter is what 14th lottery picks max out at. Ariza is better than a marginal NBA starter, do you think he's worth a high lottery pick if we traded him since he's a better than average starter right now while lottery picks can still take a year or two to develop? I guess if we trend it downwards, going by this logic you expect 2nd round picks to max out to be absolute garbage then that would probably explain why you love C-bud so much.
No they didn't, our team was horrible with Scola and Hayes playing C for extended periods of time. You need interior defense from your C, and I don't think PP has the heft or length to provide that at the 5.
It is not trending, it is history, most picks around 14 develop into decent role players or marginal starters in the NBA. And 2nd round picks generally are out of the league within 2 years. I temper my expecatations accordingly. Do yourself a favor and go look at players taken 14 or lower in the last 10 years and see what kind of career MOST of them had, I think you will be surprised. DD
I just read the article Jason Freidman posted about this guy, I want him to stay in Houston....what a great person we got here. Another great guy to cheer for..... DD
Marginal NBA starter is a reasonable assessment for a mid-first rounder. What's he supposed to say? NBA superstar?
I like that we have a four who can knock down the three and play defense. All 3pt line up Yao Patterson Budingger Martin Brooks
Moving on, Draftexpress did its annual PF comparison which crunched all the stats for lazy people like me. As far as projecting the careers of players I've found it to be utterly useless, however in determining the skillsets of individual players I've found it to be extremely spot on: http://www.draftexpress.com/article/Just-by-the-Numbers-The-2010-Power-Forward-Crop-3518/ In summary: PP really is a clone of NBA Carl Landry, with better D and rebounding. To be more precise, he's basically what would happen if Landry inherited Chuck's defensive instincts and Battier's mentality on-and-off court. Negatives: *Like Battier, he plays a completely finesse offensive game. No manly man putbacks or ugly shot attempts for a foul, PP plays a silky smooth game dependent on skills rather than aggressiveness or athletic ability. This actually lessens his usefulness come crunch time when the D gets intense. Landry during the 4rth quarter he is not. Also don't expect him to get fts like Martin or Yao Ming, definitely hitting his efficiency. *Also like Battier, PP has a tendency to defer and be content to just be a bit player and coast along. This really affected his PER, and rebound/block/steal per 40 averages. This is the biggest knock on PP IMHO. Like Battier, we may be seeing a player who could have been a star if he had been more aggressive, but chose to be a bit player instead. *Passes for the season are downright horrible. Don't expect him to create plays for others anytime soon. Then again considering his low usage rate and high efficiency the "right play" might have been for him to score every time he gets the ball instead of passing it. Positives: *Despite the big hit brought on by the lack of fts, PP is one of the most efficient players in the draft, taking the top 2 spot in True Shooting Percentage, Pure Point Rating and the top spot in Turnovers per game. You'd think that with low fts he'd have horrible efficiency, but with a FG% of 63.5 he converts at a ridiculous rate, more than half of all the shots he takes went in for the entire season. Since only 18% of his attempts come from the post and he takes very little fts, this means he can finish extremely well in transition (indicating athletic ability) and his J is money in the bank. *Has one of the lowest turnovers rates in the entire draft. This means Patterson makes the right play most of the time when he has the ball, and he knows his own limitations well. In short it seems even at his best Patterson won't be a focal point of a winning team, but he can be that 3rd or 4th cog that keeps the well-oiled machine of destruction rolling. He'll never provide elite rebounding or blocks for his team, however he knows what to do with the ball when you give it to him. My impression of him is that he'll hit the ground running and won't struggle past the first few games. His amazing jumper and his heady play will enable him to be a solid contributor for this team even in his rookie year, and his athleticism are sure to win fans by the dozen. My guess is he'll average a little bit around 9-4 when the season ends.
His negatives don't seem to be all that bad, save the passing. Finesse means that he can learn from Yao, even, in how to compose himself during critical times. I hope he can learn aggressiveness though. He needs to watch videos from the Celtics / Lakers finals, where KG took the ball to the hole against Gasol. I think that would really add a dimension to his game. I think if Patterson can learn to be aggressive, and put his stamp on the game, he won't coast. Passing? Ehh, that will be a day-by-day, game-by-game effort, but nothing Yao and Sikma can't teach him. Heck, Chuck Hayes could teach PP a thing or two as well! Reiterating, his negatives don't seem to be terrible; its not like he has off-the-court attitude, which conflicts with team chemistry.
What I liked was looking at the comparison between Patterson's numbers pre-Cousins and post-Cousins. Very striking how Patterson's took a hit pretty much across the board, giving up his own stats for the team's success, exactly what you like to see in a player, IMO. I'm hoping we eventually see that pre-Cousins Patterson, which will leave a lot of GM's kicking themselves.
I noticed that too. I think he changed his game to fit the team and that is a good sign. Even took up a 3 point game which is not something you can just pick up. Also remember those pre-Cousins stats were also pre-Wall stats.
@pdpatt Houston whats good!? Just touched down Houston. Watched the first half of the Spain vs Chile game on plane. 2-0. Heading to hotel.
lol to the..... I don't love any player..... He hates off screen movers and Euros so much that he wants them on the team
