With his rookie season close to complete, and now two starts under his belt, I’m curious to hear thoughts on last summer’s #14 overall, Patrick Patterson. ESPN’s David Thorpe, in an Insider piece, recently said that Pat might even be the best offensive player in his rookie class having made an unconscionable 69% of his inside shots and 55% of his attempts from 16 to 23 feet. Thorpe remarks “Nobody puts up numbers like that. Nobody.” Thorpe goes on to say that Patterson “might even end up being a top-three scorer for a good team early in his career.”
Quite the praise from one of the most widely respected analysts in the game. The defense was going to be there, undoubtedly, just based on Pat’s body of work at Kentucky. But the offensive efficiency has been somewhat shocking. At the very least, Patterson projects as an Oakley-P.J. Brown type forward: a menacing defender with a knock-down jumper but little to no post-up ability. The real question for the Rockets rookie is whether he can take the next step and develop a reliable back-to-the-basket repertoire. He had flashes of brilliance during the summer league, showing off an up-and-under against weak competition. But as expected, he’s had some difficulty at this level. Interestingly, the staff seems to have confidence, with at the least a desire to develop this aspect of his game, as Pat does receive multiple opportunities in the post each night.
The work ethic is certainly there, unquestionably. The size and athleticism are not (Pat’s not a stiff, but he doesn’t have that sudden fast-twitch springiness that Carl Landry had), though what he has should suffice. Can Patterson adopt the craftiness that has made Luis Scola a 20ppg scorer in this league?
More importantly, what is Patterson’s future with this team? He undoubtedly has starting potential, just even based off his defensive intelligence alone. I do feel that if Luis Scola were needed to complete a larger trade, Morey would have full confidence in making Patterson the full-time starter.
‘Huq’s Pen’ is a column of musings written by Red94 founder/editor, Rahat Huq.
