Professional athletes are often beholden to routines.
Patrick Patterson is more interested in breaking molds and pushing boundaries.
Off the court, that makes the Toronto Raptors forward one of the more open, accessible and interesting athletes around.
His social media feed give fans a chance to tag along on various mini-adventures; whether it’s trying to crowd source the best Sushi in Vancouver – “everything is four stars” – to movie and television series reviews (Breaking Bad is top dog; everything else is fighting for second place); raising questions about Ray Rice’s suspension by the NFL or using his summers to expand his horizons beyond the court and the gym.
“As NBA players we have the money, we have the power, we have the resources to explore, to see how the other side lives,” he says. “I don’t know why more people don’t do it, but for me I want to see things. I’m a traveler, I’m an explorer, so every single year I go somewhere. A couple of years ago it was Mexico and Spain, last year it was Brazil for the World Cup, next year it might be Australia. I love to indulge in different cultures … when I can do it, why not do it?”
But Patterson has been focused on expanding his contributions on the floor as well.
As the Raptors continue to adjust to life without DeMar DeRozan (torn left adductor longus tendon), Patterson has emerged as a solution to a number of potential problems.
The apparent growth in his game has helped Toronto to a 6-3 record since DeRozan went down and will be a factor again Wednesday night in their first meeting with the Brooklyn Nets since their Game 7 loss in the first round of the playoffs last spring.
On Monday night, Patterson came off the bench against the Orlando Magic in his role as a floor-stretching four and moved the ball so efficiently as the defence came running at him that he set a career-high with six assists.
On Sunday, it was Patterson who Toronto coach Dwane Casey trusted to match up with Carmelo Anthony as the Raptors were pushed into overtime against the New York Knicks.
“He’s told on himself,” said Casey. “All along we’ve been looking for someone to guard guys like Carmelo and LeBron [James] and Pat’s been sitting here on our bench.”
And all along Patterson has been making three-point shots at a remarkable rate.
“He’s shooting the ball extremely well, better than the first time we saw him and better again than the second time we saw him,” said Magic coach Jacque Vaughn. “He’s a guy that’s on your scouting report because you have to play a little differently, whether you’ll put a small on him or a big on him, his ability to stretch the floor. He’s shooting very confidently right now, and that second unit is one of the best in the league.”
In his past five games he’s connecting at a 65-percent clip – tops in the NBA among players with at least 15 attempts in that run, but it’s not just a hot streak. For the season Patterson ranks seventh in the NBA at 46.4 percent from three and tops among players who average at least five rebounds per game.
But it’s really more of the same for Patterson, who has shot 43.3 pertcent since coming to Toronto from Sacramento a year ago. His career average before he arrived was 36.8 percent. Since the aspiring world traveler flashed his passport to enter Canada he’s become a better player than anyone could have expected.
Big men who can shoot threes are a treasured commodity in the modern NBA, where coaches want the lane open for guard penetration and lift players like Patterson outside the arc to spread the defence and make those that don’t respond pay with a shower of analytically approved uncontested triples.
Except Patterson isn’t content to be a standstill shooter. As defences have began to adjust and force him off the line he’s responded with an arsenal of options he worked on in between his summer travels with his trainer Ross McMains.
Some of it is simple – a pump fake and a couple of dribbles inside the line for an uncontested jumper – but some of it is more sophisticated. On Monday night he broke out a one-legged step back jumper over the Magic’s Channing Frye, who could only watch Patterson’s homage to Dirk Nowitzki.
“I threw the Dirk in this summer, the one foot shot, and I was thankful that went in. It was the first time I tried it,” said Patterson. “There is stuff that I have that I haven’t done.”
Patterson comes across as an old head, but he’s just 25-years old and is confident enough in his ability to keep growing his game. He wanted the flexibility of a three-year contract (for $18 million) he signed this past summer, betting on himself to increase his earning power and cash in on another deal when he feels like he will be at his peak.
“There’s a lot more I can work on,” he says. “My rebounding, I can get those numbers to go up. Right now I have the ability to spread the floor and be consistent with my shot, and then the next level is being able to handle the ball when guys run at you, put the ball on the floor, do that Euro-step and finish around the basket.
“And defensively, being able to guard two guards and threes and guys like Melo, LeBron, Chandler Parsons — guys who can put the ball on the floor and have that agility and power around the rim. I’m constantly trying to improve my craft.”