I'm not sure what Patrick gives us out there right now against good competition.
Taking a quick look at the box scores from the last two games, he followed up an 0fer in every statistical category except fouls and missed free throws in 10 minutes against Gonzaga with 3 points, 1 rebound and 2 turnovers in 12 minutes tonight.
This is maybe a bit unfair to Patrick, as he was somewhat better against UNC (0 points, but 4 rebounds, 2 assists and no turnovers in 11 minutes) and especially Iowa St (6 pts, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover in 17 minutes).
Still, I just don't see what he brings to the table at this point in his development. He's just 26% from three so far and judging by his form, I have a hard time believing his shot is going to come around drastically. He doesn't have great footspeed on defense and he doesn't rebound. He wants to put the ball on the floor and make plays, but he doesn't do that well at all at this level yet. And nothing he did against the minnows we played at the beginning of the year made me think he has other things he can offer to the team that we haven't seen yet against the high-major teams we've played.
So again, what does Patrick do well right now? He does provide some energy at the point of the press, I guess.
I would like to see his minutes divvied up between Nunge and Keegan as much as possible -- but another option that I haven't heard discussed here is to give some of his minutes to Kris. Though we're not certain how far along Kris is because we've barely seen him, assuming that Kris is just a slightly smaller, more perimeter-oriented version of Keegan, I have to think he can give us more out there than Patrick can. Kris would almost certainly be a more legit threat from 3 and he would probably rebound more effectively as well.
Reflecting tonight on the last really good Iowa team in 2005-2006, it was chockful of valuable role players -- namely, Erek Hansen (shot blocking, decent 10-12 ft face up jumper), Doug Thomas (rebounding/post defense/athleticism) and Mike Henderson (perimeter defense/midrange jumper). For this team to reach its potential, it needs the guys that aren't primary offensive threats to be useful in some other way, and Patrick just doesn't look like he can play a useful role for this team right now.
Taking a quick look at the box scores from the last two games, he followed up an 0fer in every statistical category except fouls and missed free throws in 10 minutes against Gonzaga with 3 points, 1 rebound and 2 turnovers in 12 minutes tonight.
This is maybe a bit unfair to Patrick, as he was somewhat better against UNC (0 points, but 4 rebounds, 2 assists and no turnovers in 11 minutes) and especially Iowa St (6 pts, 5 rebounds, 1 turnover in 17 minutes).
Still, I just don't see what he brings to the table at this point in his development. He's just 26% from three so far and judging by his form, I have a hard time believing his shot is going to come around drastically. He doesn't have great footspeed on defense and he doesn't rebound. He wants to put the ball on the floor and make plays, but he doesn't do that well at all at this level yet. And nothing he did against the minnows we played at the beginning of the year made me think he has other things he can offer to the team that we haven't seen yet against the high-major teams we've played.
So again, what does Patrick do well right now? He does provide some energy at the point of the press, I guess.
I would like to see his minutes divvied up between Nunge and Keegan as much as possible -- but another option that I haven't heard discussed here is to give some of his minutes to Kris. Though we're not certain how far along Kris is because we've barely seen him, assuming that Kris is just a slightly smaller, more perimeter-oriented version of Keegan, I have to think he can give us more out there than Patrick can. Kris would almost certainly be a more legit threat from 3 and he would probably rebound more effectively as well.
Reflecting tonight on the last really good Iowa team in 2005-2006, it was chockful of valuable role players -- namely, Erek Hansen (shot blocking, decent 10-12 ft face up jumper), Doug Thomas (rebounding/post defense/athleticism) and Mike Henderson (perimeter defense/midrange jumper). For this team to reach its potential, it needs the guys that aren't primary offensive threats to be useful in some other way, and Patrick just doesn't look like he can play a useful role for this team right now.
