Patty Mills 34 points and 12 assists:
The Patty Mills who averaged 10.3 points in 16 minutes of playing time. The Patty that led the Olympics in scoring. We all know that Patty isn't a pass first point guard (including Patty himself), so why has he played so passively in the last few games. He doesn't look to create his own shot, like he did last season, and just stands in the corner as a spot up shooter. Is this something that Pop expects him to be, a 'spot-up three point shooter'? The fact that De Colo has a chance at beating out Patty on the depth chart, shows how much his play has regressed.
C'mon, Patty! Let's see you put up some more shots and be that offensive spark off the bench!
patty is a third string guard
cant play defense
cant dribble and cant pass
spurs dont have many problems scoring so he doesnt bring much to the table
and those highlights are vs possibly the worst team in nba history
5 rookies and like half of them are from the d-league
Patty's problems are probably due to a lack of consistent playing time and reliable spot in the rotation. He's just recently started seeing some minutes as the 1st backup PG, but even that has been unreliable; sometimes Pop elects to go with Neal or De Colo at that spot, or let Ginobili handle the responsibilities.
That being said, I think it's fairly obvious that Patty either decided, or was told, that his best chance to make it with this squad would be to work on his play-making ability. As a result, he seems to be trying too hard at times, and being too passive at others, while he tries to figure out this new role. While his play-making could definitely stand to improve, this version of Mills is not nearly as useful as he was when he was coming in as a confident gunner. I'd prefer him to just focus on scoring and let the rest come to him, instead of acting like a spade trying to be a heart. That, of course, really depends on what Pop wants from him, but I'd hate to see his game regress to the point of him not sticking here just because he's trying to do things he can't (illustrative example: Roger Mason Jr. trying to be a point guard).
What about these highlights? Against the Suns starters. Got nothing to say about his performance this game, do ya Freetiago? Patty averaged 10 points a game off the bench last season. That was more than Tiago Splitter!
Patty Mills against Nash and Suns. 27 points and 5 assists:
I don't think Mills will ever replicate his per-minute stats from last season. It was the perfect storm of a small sample size, hot shooting and landing on a team that was passing the ball better than just about any team in NBA history.
That said, I also think he's better than he has showed this season. The preseason injury really hurt because he didn't get a fair chance to win a spot in the rotation coming into the season. And during this season, with the passing not nearly as crisp, Mills isn't getting the open looks he got last season. He needs to adjust by creating his own shots more often, however that hasn't happened yet.
Is Mills good enough to be a backup point guard on a team with championship aspirations? I'm not sure yet. I think he is (plus he's only 24 so he has time to get better) but he has to learn to play to his strengths and camouflage his weaknesses. He's definitely not at that point yet.
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