Bullard and Worrell discussing this during the game. He'll have the same surgery he had this last offseason, but immediately after the season ends. He waited too long and didnt give himself enough time to rehab last time. I hadn't heard of it until now. Finally confirmation that something has been wrong with PPat and he was never 100% this season. Does he get a pass now for not improving as expected this season? Personally i was prepared for another year, but now i think there's definitely reason to wait him out. Next year is a make or break year.
No pass. It's not that hard to box out. He's been horrible at doing this along with the rest of the Rockets players. I simply don't understand how this team sucks so much at boxing out. It's a pretty basic skill.
That surprised me too, but honestly he soft play makes sense. I really expected him to bust out this year. One more go round or trade bait?
have you ever played basketball after a bad injury? It takes a long time to to get back to your best. Not only are there physical limitations (i.e. the athletisicm taken away from the injury itself) but also mental aspects, especially considering the amount of courage needed to charge into, and control the NBA paint. Look no further than aaron brooks, a legitamate all-star candidate and dynamic scorer who after his first ankle injury has since struggled and couldnt even best Stephon Marbury in China. If he is getting surgery again, i would expect him to only show signs of real progression halfway through next year. He's still very young.
If it turns out the injury was holding him back, then he could still improve enough to become a big part of this team. His problems on the court could all realistically be related to the injury. It's mostly a lack of activity/mobility and aggressiveness.
Unless the surgery is to learn post moves and defend and box out an rebound and not settle for jumpers and dunk and do things a PF is supposed to do, then by all means.
After his dunk earlier in the game, I noticed he plodded up the court worse than Camby. Still, the lack of polish in any skill in his game is apparent. All the criticism Jordan Hill got, Patterson brought that same kind on himself
Obviously I'm no basketball player, but I don't see how he gets a pass. He is not doing things that should be simple. Boxing out is something that should be simple. It is not a matter of having your legs but instead a matter of commanding your space and blocking out. He still gets lost on rotations on the defensive end which ends up being easy lay-ups for the other team. I don't mind him not being able to dunk right now and I even give him a pass on his poor low-post game, but hitting jumpers open jumpers consistently is something he should be able to do. Overall, his sophomore season has been very disappointing. He'll probably be a solid role player for his career but nothing more. Unfortunately with a team that doesn't have a true low-post presence, Patrick is not really a good long term solution. I like Patrick, he tries, but he tends to play very soft.
Why is this guy playing crucial 4th quarters for us? He should pull himself out if his injury is affecting his play or not. He's just bad.
Perhaps this is all true but it doesn't change the fact that if the kid is injured no other team will want him or will be willing to part with anything substantial enough to impact anything until he's healthy and no longer perceived as "damaged goods".
