Why Patrick Patterson is integral to the Raptors’ success.

At first glance, Patrick Patterson seems like your run-of-the-mill backup big. He brings energy, he can score a little bit and he’ll grab a few rebounds. There’s nothing overly flashy about his game and his personality reflects that. The grounded 25-year-old speaks with the confidence and eloquence of a savvy veteran. When praise is thrown his way, he’s quick to acknowledge his coaches and teammates.

And yet, Patterson has played a huge hand in the Raptors’ success. Since acquiring Patterson in a trade last season, the Raptors boast a winning percentage of 66.7 percent — the equivalence of a 55-win pace. Although he’s mostly flown under the radar, Patterson has played a huge hand in the Raptors’ success. The Raptors outscore opponents by 7.7 points per 100 possessions when Patterson is on the floor, a mark that tops both Amir Johnson (+3.6) and Jonas Valanciunas (-0.8).

Patterson is an indispensable component of the Raptors’ success. Here’s why.

Humble beginnings

When the Raptors traded Rudy Gay to Sacramento for Patterson, Greivis Vasquez, John Salmons and Chuck Hayes, it was supposed to double as a white flag signalling the Raptors’ intentions — they were looking to tank.

Part of that speaks to the perceived quality of the haul. Vasquez held some intrigue, as he led the league in assists the season prior, but the rest — including Patterson — was seen as not much more than cap ballast to grease Gay’s massive contract out the door. Not a single question at the Raptors post-trade press conference inquired about Patterson. That’s how little intrigue Patterson held.

There wasn’t any reason for hoopla. What was known about Patterson at the time was this: he was a jumpshooting power forward with strong character. He flashed signs of a workable 3-point shot, but he didn’t launch them with appreciable volume, and he was best known for spotting up inside the arc on pick-and-pops in former Houston Rockets head coach Rick Adelman’s motion system. That held some value, but ultimately, Patterson didn’t make much of a splash over his first three years in the league. He certainly didn’t make any waves in 17 games as a member of the Kings: Patterson averaged just 6.9 points on 41 percent shooting before coming to Toronto.

Anchoring the bench

How the Raptors found overnight success immediately after trading Gay will never be fully explained. There are a few explanations — notably that Gay’s absence freed up possessions for DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry to take the reins — but no single answer accounts for the sudden improvement from a 6-12 lottery team to a 42-22 playoff team.

A key outcome to the Gay trade was this: dealing Gay helped cement the Raptors’ bench unit. The addition of Vasquez, Patterson and Salmons gave the Raptors pieces to work with and turned the Raptors into a squad that ran 10-deep. To this day, the play of their bench is one of the Raptors’ biggest advantages.

Head coach Dwane Casey loves to play a five-man bench unit of Vasquez, Lou Williams, James Johnson, Patterson and Tyler Hansbrough. Although the unit tends to get jumpshot happy, especially from the backcourt, the unit has been tremendously effective. They have outscored opponents by 13.8 points per 100 possessions in 184 minutes played this season, nearly tripling the mark put forth by their starters (5.2).

“I just want to make sure whenever I come into the game, I bring that energy right away,” Patterson told RaptorsHQ. “At the end of the day, our role is to make it easier for the starters. With the second unit, our main focus is definitely making sure that Lou (Williams) gets his shots while Greivis (Vasquez) acts as that general on the floor for us. At the same time, myself, Tyler (Hansbrough) and James (Johnson) are bringing that energy on the floor.”

The group has developed a strong sense of fluidity, something that translates on the defensive end. Despite trotting out two minus defenders in the backcourt and a two undersized power forwards in the frontcourt, the bench squad is the only 5-man unit that has allowed less than one point per possession (minimum: 70 minutes played).

Patterson is integral to his bench unit’s success thanks to his defensive synergy with Hansbrough. They make it work using speed and by making smart rotations — the “scramble” defense, as Casey calls it.

Defensive possessions like the following exemplify their cohesion. Rotations, closeouts, hedges, helping the helper — it’s all there.

The tireless scrambler

The Raptors like to “show” on pick-and-rolls, where the big comes up high to pressure the ball-handler. It’s a high risk, high reward style of defense that’s only made possible when with smart and quick bigs. It’s a scheme in which Patterson has come to excel in.

“Patrick has been a godsend defensively, especially among our bigs,” said Casey told the Toronto Star. “He has a great job of verticality, he’s one of our best (pick and roll) show guys, he’s one of our best rotation guys and he has (those) fast twitch instincts defensively.”

Patterson’s mobility is a great equalizer, especially since teams often like to go small and employ multiple floor-stretching bigs. He’s not just a smart defender who understands where to position himself. He’s also a willing defender. No matter how many rotations he needs to make, Patterson rarely slows down.

His mobility is only matched in the frontcourt by Hansbrough. Amir Johnson has noticeably regressed on defense as his chronic ankle injuries have robbed him any quickness he once had. Valanciunas is the slowest of them all. His lack of footspeed anchors him to the paint.

That leaves Patterson as the team’s best defense against smallball units. Patterson is comfortable defending past the 3-point line and unlike Hansbrough, Patterson isn’t a sinkhole on offense. His presence allows Toronto to maintain their rotations, without a need to necessarily “go small” themselves by playing a swingman at the four.

Here’s an example of Patterson’s effort, instincts and mobility coming together all at once.

He starts the play by shading a pass to Spencer Hawes. He then watches the play unfold, and communicates to Lou Williams to shade over against a potential roll by Griffin. When that’s reset back to Austin Rivers, Patterson slides over to dislodge the ball and force yet another reset. Patterson then hedges hard on a high pick-and-roll, before reading the post-entry pass to Blake Griffin and rotating over to contest the shot. The Clippers tried four actions on that set. Patterson played a hand in thwarting them at every turn.

Casey has even entrusted Patterson with the task of checking perimeter players. During Wednesday’s win over the Washington Wizards, Patterson guarded Paul Pierce for prolonged stretches, including on the Wizards’ final possession. Pierce is no speed demon, but Patterson’s footwork and footspeed have advanced to the point where he can be relied upon to switch out to the perimeter when needed. Casey pulled a similar move in a late-season win over the Knicks, pitting Patterson against Carmelo Anthony.

The play below is peak Patterson. Clippers point guard Chris Paul pushes the ball in transition and lands himself a mismatch with Patterson. Paul tries a few moves, but Patterson thwarts him every step of the way. No other Raptors’ big matches Patterson’s versatility on defense.

Improving rim-protector

No one will confuse Patterson for a rim-protector. No one should confuse Patterson for a rim-protector. Standing at 6-foot-9, weighing 235 pounds, Roy Hibbert he is not. But despite playing with a size disadvantage, Patterson manages to hold his own at the basket.

It’s all about committing to the Raptors’ preferred method of defense: verticality. It’s something Patterson has worked hard to learn.

“Just jump up with your hands straight up in the air. If you can’t block a shot, just go vertical. I’ve been trying to do that more and more, just get used it. You get more comfortable with it … it’s starting to become natural now,” Patterson told the Toronto Star.

“When I first got here, I tried to block shots, I’m not typically a shot-blocker with my height but I tried to block shots then Jesse (Murmys) and Jama (Mahalela) introduced me to the vertical.”

There was a play during the Raptors’ last game against the Clippers. Blake Griffin squirted free and found himself rolling to the hoop off a pocket pass. Griffin exploded off the ground, took to the skies, and was ready to violently pounce on an unguarded rim. But at the last second, Patterson rose up to meet him. Of course, Griffin was in an entirely different stratosphere as he was a full head above Patterson, but the shot contest stopped Griffin short of his goal. All that came of it was a missed throw-dunk attempt and two free-throws.

The play came during the second quarter while the Raptors were staging a comeback attempt after Los Angeles jumped ahead in the first. Instead of sparking his team with a SportsCenter highlight, Griffin just toed the line. The Raptors went on to win 123-107, with Patterson logging a +13 to Griffin’s -14.

Patterson’s courage and willingness to sacrifice was not lost on Casey.

“That takes a lot of … cajones to go up and do that and that’s what we teach, that’s a way we protect the rim,” Casey told Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. “He didn’t turn, he had two of them. That was huge for us, him protecting the rim like that. Pat’s a warrior, I love the way he competes. He sets the tone and brings that energy off the bench for us.”

This isn’t to paint Patterson as some all-consuming rim-protector. He’s not. But for a 6-foot-9 power forward with average athleticism that often finds himself committed to the perimeter, Patterson more than holds his own. On the season, Patterson is holding opponents to 49.4 percent shooting at the basket, on par with noted defensive stoppers like Nene and DeAndre Jordan.

Most importantly, that mark is up from 54.5 percent from last season. Opponent field goal percentage at the rim is broad and encompasses a number of evils beyond just rim protection, but it speaks to Patterson’s unmistakable improvement on that end.

More than just floor-stretch

Patterson isn’t a big-time scorer. That should be obvious from his 8.5 point per game average. He’s happy to sit back and help out the team where needed. He picks his spots.

And yet, the Raptors score at a league-leading rate when Patterson takes the floor.

Patterson carries a reputation as a floor-spacer. It’s a deserved moniker: Patterson is shooting 40.6 percent on 3-pointers across parts of two seasons in Toronto. As far as stretch-bigs go, Patterson ranks second to only Harrison Barnes — a wing player masquerading as a four — in terms of 3-point percentage (minimum 50 makes).

“That’s one thing that he works on everyday,” Casey said of Patterson’s 3-point shooting. “He’s a threat there. They’re running at him and he’s doing a great job of making plays off the dribble, because they are running so hard at him to get him off the three-point line. So that’s a sign of respect.”

As far as where his attempts originate, Patterson is mostly a spot-up player (though he will toss in a few hook shots out of the mid-post). He won’t create any shots off the bounce. He either shoots out of a pick-and-pop along the wing, or he waits on the weakside to capitalize on kickouts from high pick-and-roll action. A lot of what he does is pretty standard stuff.

But the true value of Patterson’s contributions on offense is his ability to stretch the defense, which makes him something of a shot creator. It’s something I wrote about last season. He pulls defenders away from the paint, providing room for drivers like DeMar DeRozan to operate.

On the play below, Quincy Acy only stunts momentarily towards DeRozan’s drive instead of fully committing to sending help because Patterson was waiting along the perimeter.

Along the same vein, Patterson has also managed to create looks capitalizing off overzealous closeouts. With opponents game-planning more and more for Patterson’s shot, the brainy big has learned to adjust, as he told Alex Wong of RaptorsHQ.

“I noticed that teams were starting to run me off the three-point line more. So I’ve talked to coach Casey (regarding making adjustments). It’s really just the little things, working on my in-between game and just having the ability to put the ball on the floor and attack. Otherwise, I’ll just look for the open teammate. Teams are recognizing my ability to space the floor and shoot the ball, so it’s just about recognizing that and making the smart play.”

Patterson has improved in putting the ball on the floor and dribbling to the elbow area as defenders fly by. From there, Patterson can shoot it (he’s connected on 44.8 percent of midrange attempts), or spot open shooters in-between defensive rotations.

Plays like the following, where Patterson spots the open wing on the corner, is not at all uncommon. Johnson’s defender slides over to cover Patterson, which opens up a runway to the basket for Johnson.

Patterson’s impact on offense is best captured by his on-off numbers: the Raptors score 117.5 points per 100 possessions when Patterson is on the court. The effect is even more pronounced in lineup data. Patterson is featured in three of the Raptors’ best scoring 5-man units.

In other words, Toronto scores at an league-leading rate when Patterson takes the court. That’s not bad for a player who only averages 8.5 points per game.

Earning crunch time

Coaches say it all the time. It’s one of the truisms of basketball: “It’s not who starts the game. It’s who closes.”

Last season, Patterson averaged 6.8 fourth quarter minutes per game. That figure has jumped to 8.4 minutes this season. For reference, that figure tops both Amir Johnson (6.7) and Valanciunas (5.4). He’s one of the Raptors’ three entrenched closers along with Kyle Lowry and DeRozan.

And for Patterson, playing crunch time is something he embraces.

“It’s a huge responsibility, that I want to have,” Patterson told TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. “Whether it’s hitting crunch-time shots like that, hitting game-changing shots like that. That’s what I want to do. That’s what I want to be known for.”

Patterson has had his fair share of coming through in the clutch. His steal and ensuing game-winning jumper against the Brooklyn Nets last season immediately comes to mind.

It’s Patterson’s two-way play that endears him to Casey. A coach belies his true intentions when it comes down to crunch time. He’ll hitch his wagon behind those whom he trusts.

That’s what speaks loudest about Patterson’s quiet importance. When the game is on the line, Patterson is on the floor — setting picks, popping out for 3-pointers, hedging and switching — doing the important things that Raptors need to stay on their path to the postseason.

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Many thanks to reporters from RaptorsHQ, the Star, the Sun and TSN for collecting quotes. It’s a thankless job and I can’t thank them enough, not just because I stole their work for this piece, but for the tireless hours they put in on a day-to-day basis.

Data for this post was gathered from Basketball-Reference, NBA.com and 82games.

Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports