Patrick Patterson on his shot, his role and his season
Patrick Patterson’s first two playoff games with the Thunder haven’t gone exactly as planned, nor has his first season in Oklahoma City, and he’ll be the first one to tell you.
Patterson, 29, is in the first year of a three-year, $16.4 million deal with the Thunder. Despite playing in all 82 games and shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range in the regular season, Patterson’s consistency has wavered since having arthroscopic knee surgery in the offseason. He’s played just 18 minutes in the Thunder’s first two games of the Western Conference first round against the Jazz.
Patterson sat down with The Oklahoman to talk about his season, the playoffs and more:
The Oklahoman: What did the team take from the last week of the season, being able to go to Houston and Miami and win tough road games?
Patterson: “I think one of the main things we took away is when we need to win we come together and we find a way to get it done. Those last three games, especially going into Houston, were very crucial — a much needed win — and we were able to focus in on the task at hand, complete our goals throughout the course of those 48 minutes and come out on top. I think it’s the same mentality with this Game 3 in Utah. We have to come with the right mentality, the right mindset. We have to follow the game plan ... not necessarily worry about offense, because we’re a good offensive team despite if shots go in or not, but focus on defense. That road game in Houston, that road game in Miami, I thought we focused on the defense and didn’t let offense affect us or dictate on the other side of the ball. It’s got to be the same thing in Utah. We’re the more physical team from the jump ball. We help each other out defensively, talk, communicate, finish plays off with rebounds, and just be active with our hands defensively.”
How does the Thunder have to attack Rudy Gobert?
“Getting into his body and getting into his chest. He’s not the strongest person on the court, but he’s definitely the tallest and has the longest arms, so he’s always going to have the ability to alter shots, have the possibility of blocking shots. So you just have to get into his body and find his arms, try to maneuver the basketball around his arms. Hopefully his hand hits your arm and not the basketball. The only way to attack him is pretty much go right through him.”
Being a catch-and-shoot 3-point specialist with the Thunder, are teams able to zero in on that more in the playoffs?
“Yeah. When you have catch-and-shoot players in general, a way of taking them out is don’t allow them to touch the ball. With that comes if that person is in a pickand-roll, if he’s spaced out on the side(line) you tend to gravitate more towards that individual rather than help on a roll or a drive, just to keep that player out of the game. You pick your poisons. You pick whichever result you want. But a way of taking catchand-shoot players out is pretty much don’t let them catch the ball at all.”
Do you need more minutes in order to get into a rhythm, not just shooting but rebounding?
Patterson: “No. Minutes doesn’t matter. Just knowing what I have to do game in and game out, taking away certain people’s tendencies and advantages on the court, capitalizing on my opportunities offensively, and just communication and talking defensively so as soon as I go out on the court, no matter how long I’m out there for, that’s what it’s got to be every time.”
What have you thought about the way you’ve finished around the rim this season (Among Thunder players, only Josh Huestis has a lower field goal percentage within five feet of the rim than Patterson’s 53.2 on 23-of-47 shooting)?
“It wasn’t nearly good enough for myself individually. I’m not going to make excuses on not being able to practice or not being able to do this or that with my teammates throughout the course of the season. You can make all the excuses in the world, but I’m an athlete, I’m here for a reason and I should be able to finish a lot better than I have been around the rim. It’s all about touch; it’s all about timing, and it’s got to be a lot better than it has been. There’s not a lot of time to correct it, but throughout the season, I’ve been trying to progressively work on it. The start of the season was all about trying to get my body right, developing my shot and trying to get my legs back, get my lungs back. Now, it’s all about touch around the rim, but it’s all about just working at it. It hasn’t been as good as I wanted it to be this season — nothing or any aspect of my game has been what I want it to be for this season here in Oklahoma. But I can’t dwell in the past. The only thing I can do is focus on the next game.”
Do those short-range misses get magnified when you’re coming off the bench and have limited minutes as opposed to starting or having more time to get a rhythm or contribute in other areas?
“Definitely in those minutes I have to be impactful, whether it’s with my shot, whether it’s defense, rebounding, communication, I have to affect the game in one way or another. I’m not stat-hungry. It doesn’t matter if I end up with 10 points and 10 rebounds in however many minutes I play — as long as I come into the game and the game changes in our favor in a positive direction, whether it may be my defense, me moving the ball offensively, using my hands for deflections, or just getting rebounds and talking to my teammates, as long as I affect the game in a positive way and it helps us out in those 48 minutes, that’s all that matters.”