OKC Thunder howl in Twin Cities – 5 takeaways from dominant victory
Patterson continues to shine:
Although Patterson wasn’t particularly a stand out offensively in terms of his shooting (1 for 4) his overall performance points to his value. In his career Patterson hasn’t been known as a strong rebounder. His career average is 4.3 and last season he grabbed a meager 2.4 rebounds per game.
This puts into perspective how driven and centered Patterson is on bringing something different this season as he actively crashes the glass (9 rebounds tonight) and is a pest in the paint. He may only have received credit for one block, but he challenged and changed copious shots throughout the match.
OKC Thunder were PLUS 20 on the glass in the 1H - and that's an area they need to improve. How much of that is OKC doing better & how much of that is how poorly Wolves box out is the question! #ThunderUp
— Thunderous Intentions (@thunderousint) October 6, 2018
Sure, Patterson’s ability to stretch the court out to the perimeter is appealing and makes him the perfect starting front court partner for Steven Adams. Yet, it’s Patterson’s fundamental defensive game and high I.Q. which provides the greatest reason to be excited about him this season.
Going back to last summer, Patterson signed an extremely economical deal with OKC believing he would be stepping into a starting role. The trade to land Carmelo Anthony and an offseason knee surgery derailed this plan.
Based on how Patterson showed up to camp it’s clear he is set on improving his production this season and desirous of getting the starters job. To date, Donovan hasn’t committed to who’ll start at the four, but through two preseason games 2Pat has been in the starting rotation. In fact, with Donovan coming out and stating Terrance Ferguson had earned the start (to replace the injured Roberson) it’s odd he hasn’t committed the same sentiment to Patterson.
The other factor which tends to point to Patterson starting is the burgeoning chemistry between Noel and Grant. With that frontcourt pairing continuing to mesh it makes sense to maintain their reserve status as it affords Donovan a strong defensive second unit who logically will be able to do something the past two seasons reserves haven’t been able to — maintain lead margins.