Houston Rockets forward Patrick Patterson out with bone bruise

via @Jonathan_Feigen.

Also via Feigen, Marcus Morris becomes the likely starter while rookie Terrence Jones will be recalled from the D-League.

A few thoughts:

  1. Regardless of your opinion on Patterson–and he’s a fairly polarizing figure given his rebounding inadequacies–any time you lose a starter, it’s a pretty big loss.  That effect is compounded by the fact that he’s a ‘big’ and that this is the youngest roster in all of basketball.  ’Bigs’ have more responsibility (defensively) than other players and young teams inherently struggle with defensive cohesion.
  2. I’m no doctor, but these recurring injuries to Patterson are becoming slightly concerning.
  3. The silver lining is that Terrence Jones will get his shot.  I predict he’ll explode and never look back.  I’m basing this on the fact that the Rockets have had a breakout rookie in (seemingly) every year of Daryl Morey’s tenure with the team.
  4. I do not think this injury holds any consequence in potential trades.  Teams know what Patterson is: a relatively dependable ‘big’ with limited upside.  He probably had little trade value to begin with; this development does nothing to diminish that.

View this discussion from the forum.

This entry was posted in news&links. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
Login to leave a comment.
Total comments: 9
  • Red94 says 3 weeks ago New post: Patrick Patterson out at least two more weeks
  • Chichos says 1 month ago How did Motie's offense look out there?
  • rocketrick says 1 month ago I was at the Rockets game tonight (vs. 76ers) and it was good to see Motie get some meaningful minutes in the first half. He has a long way to go to overtake Patterson, Morris or Smith for that matter in terms of playing time. His defense, rather his lack of defense, was killing us the second quarter which allowed the 76ers to overcome a double digit lead by the Rockets and pull even. Still, it is encouraging to see Motie get meaningful minutes and hopefully Coach McHale can find some more playing time for Motie while Patterson is out with his injury.
  • rocketrick says 1 month ago Not surprisingly, Marcus Morris has stepped up in Pat's absence. However, Marcus is obviously undersized against a number of opposing team's PF's so I for one don't see Marcus overtaking Pat as a starter this season. Until the Rockets can make their next big off-season move (assuming that move is for a PF), I just don't see anyone taking over Pat's starting spot in the Rockets lineup. Until then, I believe Pat is a more than serviceable PF for the Rockets, especially with his abiltiy to stretch the floor with his outside shooting touch and with his knowledge and proven abilities in the team defense concept.
  • blakecouey says 1 month ago League Pass is Audio only for the Rockets game I think.
  • bob schmidt says 1 month ago It appears that today is a free League Pass day on NBA broadband and TV. Check it out at game time, just 20 minutes from now...
  • Johnny Rocket says 1 month ago It will be a great opportunity for both Morris and Jones--let's hope they take full advantage of it.
  • Sir Thursday says 1 month ago I'd imagine without Patterson McHale will try out some small ball lineups tonight. My guess is that Morris will start, Jones will get some spot minutes in the second. If he plays well he might see more, otherwise we'll be seeing a lot of Parsons at PF in the second half.

    ST
  • Bigtkirk says 1 month ago Given Patterson's below-average advanced stats (.030 WP48 -- ouch!), the injury is probably an opportunity for the team to get better. I just hope that the Rockets bring Montiejunas back soon so that he can rotate with Morris and Jones to figure out the most likely candidate to break out as a front line PF. My sense is that it's clear at this point that Patterson is destined to be a backup big in the NBA.

  •  
  •  

  •  
  • All-time Keepers

    A collection of our best from over the years.
  •  
  • Categories

  •