PHOENIX — Patrick Patterson shot 1-for-6 against the Suns on Tuesday, yet, he was one of the best players on the floor.
Not possible, right?
Well, wrong. The game changed once Patterson and Bismack Biyombo were inserted about halfway through the first quarter for Luis Scola and Jonas Valanciunas. The starting big men were getting annihilated by the Phoenix frontcourt, but Patterson was a major reason why life became much more difficult for the home side.
If Patterson could find his missing jump shot and gain some consistency on the offensive side of things, he’d be the clear better fit as a starter. He was OK from deep in November (.333), brutal in December (.258), fantastic last month (.442), but 1-for-9 so far in February.
Still, he leads the team in on-court, off-court plus/minus and gave Markieff Morris a hard time after Morris had dropped 14 points in the first quarter, mainly on the starters (Morris had only 16 the rest of the way) and he has become Dwane Casey’s security blanket, despite the misfires.
“Pat didn’t necessarily shoot the ball well, but he still gave us … what was he, a +15 and he was 1-for-6, so that tells you that he’s doing something (well), either rebounding the ball or defensively,” Casey said after the game.
“His energy, the way his attention to detail on the defensive end is huge for us.”
Patterson hauled in six rebounds and had two steals and looked intense defensively all evening in an impressive outing.
Patterson also shot 1-for-6 from the field in Monday’s loss to Denver, but that was a very different contest. He was a deserved -16, struggling like the rest of the team defensively.
However, in the previous game, against Detroit, Patterson only scored two points with two rebounds, but was still a +15, backing up Casey’s claims.
But Patterson would still love to see his offence come around.
“It’s very frustrating not being able to hit the shots I normally hit but I just try to not let it affect my defence,” he said.
“I’ve got to be out there on the court, so if I’m not effective, if I’m not hitting shots on the offensive end I’ve got to find ways to stay out there on the court and that’s what the defence, that’s communicating, that’s getting stops, that’s rebounding, that’s just being aggressive on the defensive side of the ball.”
Kyle Lowry said Patterson and Biyombo’s defensive versatility gave the Suns fits.
“Yeah they did. Bis and Pat being able to show (to contain pick-and-rolls), switch out, contest (shots), make shots difficult is always good,” Lowry said.
WATSON LEARNED FROM CASEY
New Suns interim coach Earl Watson will take things he learned during a long playing career and use them to his advantage as he begins his new job. Sounds like a lot of it will come from Casey.
“I love Coach Case. He was very close to me, he was my mentor when I got to Seattle and I was young,” Watson said.
“He was assigned to me to kind of mentor me to play the point guard position, he and Gary Payton. Case is aggressive defensively, open mind, he took a lot of what he and (Rick) Carlisle did in Dallas, he integrated in to the offence they have now, but a very guard dominant. So he’s big in getting the guards good looks.
“Case was also big on defence and being aggressive, getting steals, deflections, bodying guys in the paint, not letting guys get free cuts to the paint.”
Watson added that though they are friends, they are enemies on game days. Casey said similar things after the game and when he was told Watson had echoed those thoughts, Casey smiled and said, “good.”
A SHOOTING STAR, BOOK IT
Phoenix has a good one in guard Devin Booker, who will compete in the three-point contest in Toronto – and with good reason.
“I’ll tell you what, the young man is going to be a handful,” Casey said.
“His range, even with defence, Cory was draped all over him, he still was making shots. His future is going to be bright the way he can shoot the ball.”
Patterson is a diehard Kentucky guy, having played for the powerhouse program, and was raving about Booker last year, when he was still in school. He’s still a fan.
“I’m not surprised. All it took was an opportunity a couple injuries his minutes go up, the next thing you know his confidence is through the roof and he’s hitting amazing shots and threes on a regular basis,” Patterson said.
“He’s so comfortable out there, his game is overall just smooth. I’m extremely proud and happy with how far he’s come, his development in the NBA and just the way he is playing.”
VALUE OF FORMER PROS
DeMarre Carroll said having a former player either as the head guy or as an assistant is invaluable to NBA teams.
It came up when I asked him about having Jerry Stackhouse around this season.
“Always,” Carroll said.
“On these rosters … just to help these young guys. Now you see so many young guys, (Jahlil) Okafor gets in trouble, the guy in New York, Cleanthony (Early), you have an older guy to let you know what you can and can’t do I feel like it’s definitely key in the NBA now.”
AROUND THE RIM
Carroll on Lowry and DeRozan winning co-players of the month, similar to how he and the rest of the Atlanta Hawks starters won the award one month last season: “Yeah, I think it’s cool. you don’t single out one guy. They did it collectively, they were a big part of our success and they deserved it. It’s kind of how they did it in Atlanta, every guy contributes and that’s good for the NBA, just showing that they’re not singling out one guy, it’s becoming a team sport,” Carroll said … The play of Jonas Valanciunas defensively has to be extremely troubling to Masai Ujiri and his staff. While Valanciunas is an efficient scorer and a very good rebounder, can they win with him on the floor in the playoffs? Is it just the combination with the slow-footed Scola that is making him look particularly poor since his return from injury? These are the questions that must keep Ujiri up at night.
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Patterson still a huge contributor even when he isn’t scoring; Stack a nice addition; Valanciunas defensive play is troubling
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