Patty Love From The Bay..

[Rastapopoulos]

Mills was the "star" of the pre-Draft Eurocamp:

Australian Patrick Mills was absolutely the star of the evening’s all-star game, posting an impressive 30 point performance on 8/18 shooting from the field and 12/13 from the line. Mills handled the ball on a string all game long, showing terrific quickness keeping his man off balance, and making an absolute living in the mid-range area with his deadly pull-up jumper. His ability to utilize strong hesitation moves makes him extremely difficult to stay in front of, and he did a good job not settling for tough shots from beyond the arc today, getting to the line repeatedly. He clearly thrives in up-tempo settings such as the one seen in today’s all-star game, which came in stark contrast to his morning performance, where he seemed to over-dribble somewhat while trying to create in the half-court.

But, like Bayless, he's not a PG:

NBA teams we spoke to still expressed some doubt regarding his point guard skills, which is something he could still stand to work on. He posted 3 assists compared with 4 turnovers in the evening game, seeming to be hunting shots quite a bit, and didn’t look all that comfortable getting others involved. Scouts generally were impressed by the quickness and shot-creating ability he showed, and he also did a better job defensively today as well.

Think of him as a Nate Robinson type. He's probably as fast, but hasn't the hops. But he is a bit taller.

Actually, I had a thought about all our second rounders: they're the Practice Houston Rockets! Cunningham and Pendergrass are cerebral and scrappy defenders (like Battier and Scola) and Mills is our little Aaron Brooks.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

That game against the U.S. made Chris Anstey look an All-Star, didn't we draft that guy years ago?

Don't forget CJ Bruton, who also looked good.

But no, nobody was raving about Chris Anstey. They certainly were about Mills.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Is he going to be playing in the summer league, or does he have commitments to the Australian national team that will keep him from playing in Vegas?

Bayless has supposedly been told he will be running the point on the summer league team to work on his distribution skills. Even is Mills is there, I don't want him taking one second of time at the point that could be used by Bayless to improve his game. Bayless is our PG of the future. Mills is a long shot to make the team.

BNM

I thought I heard KP say on draft night that they'll probably have him play there, but he'll be used as an off-guard; the focus is letting Bayless have the reins to see what he can do, Mills sounded more like an afterthought. As for his national team commitments, I have no idea, but it's not like Australia plays in the European Championships and there's not world championships this year, so I think he's free and clear.

 

[Minstrel]

Patty Mills is the next Monta Ellis. Guaranteed.

Now, on to nicknames. I recommend "Patty Melt." Because his game is delicious.

Also, I know nothing about Mills except that he did well in some Olympic games. Factor that in, but it shouldn't invalidate what I've said here.

 

[B-Roy]

That part is a bit much. He could probably score on Blake(who can't), but Bayless would eat him alive.

Blake's shooting and mediocre passing skills are more useful than Mills's "speed".

 

[Ed O]

Yeah. Scrubs:

...

Bruton. Anstey. Andersen.

It's like a walk down memory lane with that team...

Ed O.

 

[Tyler_Hansbrough]

Let's go Patty Mills!

 

[DUB]

Is he going to be playing in the summer league, or does he have commitments to the Australian national team that will keep him from playing in Vegas?

Bayless has supposedly been told he will be running the point on the summer league team to work on his distribution skills. Even is Mills is there, I don't want him taking one second of time at the point that could be used by Bayless to improve his game. Bayless is our PG of the future. Mills is a long shot to make the team.

BNM

Australia is playing games this off-season, and the coach wanted to select Mills.

Patty told them that he wanted to focus on the NBA at the moment, so he will be playing summer league.

KP said that Bayless would be playing 90% of the point at summer league.

I assume Mills will get the other 10%, and most of the time at the 2.

Hopefully Patty does well, and gets the third PG spot on our roster.

I think he'd develop his game better playing in the NBA, than he would playing in Europe.

I have no absolutely doubt whatsoever he's got the determination to do that; if given a fair crack of the whip.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Australia is playing games this off-season, and the coach wanted to select Mills.

Patty told them that he wanted to focus on the NBA at the moment, so he will be playing summer league.

KP said that Bayless would be playing 90% of the point at summer league.

I assume Mills will get the other 10%, and most of the time at the 2.

Hopefully Patty does well, and gets the third PG spot on our roster.

I think he'd develop his game better playing in the NBA, than he would playing in Europe.

I have no absolutely doubt whatsoever he's got the determination to do that; if given a fair crack of the whip.

Hey I hope he succeeds too, I really do. I'm so sick and fucking tired of the point guard carousel that Portland has been riding for the past five years or so (longer?)

 

[Tyler_Hansbrough]

When was the last time we had a solid PG? Please don't say Porter!??!

 

[B-Roy]

When was the last time we had a solid PG? Please don't say Porter!??!

Mills is going to be this "solid PG?"

 

[DUB]

Mills is going to be this "solid PG?"

Obviously it's far to early for anyone to say that, and I don't believe anyone has.

 

[Nikolokolus]

When was the last time we had a solid PG? Please don't say Porter!??!

Nah, I'd probably include Damon even though he was a tiny tot, and before him you've got to recognize Rod Strickland (first tour of duty). Nick Van Exel was good too.

 

[Tyler_Hansbrough]

I got big hopes for Mills. But I did for Green too. Then again, Green never was on an Olympic team.

 

[Tyler_Hansbrough]

Nah, I'd probably include Damon even though he was a tiny tot, and before him you've got to recognize Rod Strickland (first tour of duty). Nick Van Exel was good too.

yeah Rod was pretty good the first time around.

 

[andalusian]

I have not seen Mills enough to form any kind of credible opinion (well, at least credible to me - some people do not find my opinions credible even when I do think they are) - but until proven otherwise - I hope this kid gets all the time in the world to prove he belongs and blows us and the competition away...

 

[Boob-No-More]

this is the best youtube to watch, it's the last 6 minutes of a game against Santa Clara (also featuring stat-machine center John Bryant, #54 in red). Mills is #13 in white. There's some things to like, but also some bad. Much more informative than a highlight reel.

Yep, he hit the game winning shot, but prior to that he was 3 - 12 from 3-point range. He constantly lost his man (Foster - who scored a career high 31) on defense. Did Mills have any assists in the 4th quarter of that game? It seemed like every time he touched the ball he launched a shot - and bricked most of them. Its just one game, but it does illustrate his deficiencies on defense and his strong tendency to only look for his own shot.

For a guy who isn't a very good 3-point shooter (33%), he takes WAY too many 3-point attempts. If you look at his game log, he had several games where he shot horrible (0-9, 1-9, 1-7, 4-13, 2-9, 2-9, 0-7, 1-10, 4-13) from down town, but just kept chucking them up there.

BNM

 

[DUB]

Dude! He's the 55th pick!

Nobody's said he's the second coming.

Why the hate?

 

[Boob-No-More]

Dude! He's the 55th pick!

Nobody's said he's the second coming.

Why the hate?

Go back and re-read the post that started this thread:

"One report suggested that Mills needed seasoning and might head "overseas" for a year or two. Nonsense. He's a better point guard than Steve Blake or Jerryd Bayless, and will have proved that by the end of training camp."

That is the type of nonsense I'm responding to. I'm just trying to inject a little bit of reality into the expectations for this kid.

And since when does expressing an opinion, and backing it up, equal "hating" on someone. If you want to disagree with what I wrote, please do so and try to support your case. Playing the "hater card" is a cop out.

BNM

 

[LittleAlex]

Patty Mills = Sergio 2.0 but with even less reason to be high on him.

 

[BTOWN_HUSTLA]

http://twitter.com/Patty_Mills

 

[MickZagger]

Mills is a better player than many of you think. I've watched him play several times including twice in person. I'm not saying he's going to be a star, but the guy can shoot lights out and can get out on the break. He's in the same mold as other undersized sparkplugs like Eddie House and Jannero Pargo. He has a place in the league.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Mills is a better player than many of you think. I've watched him play several times including twice in person. I'm not saying he's going to be a star, but the guy can shoot lights out and can get out on the break. He's in the same mold as other undersized sparkplugs like Eddie House and Jannero Pargo. He has a place in the league.

Bayless was a really good shooter in college as well.

Nate will ruin him like he has ruined every other young PG we have hed. Well maybe not ruin, but he won't develop him like he hasn't developed anyone pther young PG.


Mills last year in college 40% field, 86% line, 34% 3pt%

Bayless last year in college 46% field, 84% line, 41% 3pt%


Seems to me he is not quite as good a shooter as some of you think.

Put down the Kool-aid

 

[PapaG]

Mills put up better stats as the number 1 scoring option on a team in a weak conference. Green was the PG on a two-time national championship squad loaded with future NBA players. They are both about equal in my eyes = borderline NBA 3rd stringers.

BNM

Mills has proven he can at least score against NBA talent while playing for Australia. Paul/Williams couldn't keep him in front of them. People were going nuts about Rubio's mediocre performance against the USA in the Olympics at 17; meanwhile, days after turning 20, Patty Mills put up 20 points against the US and was raved about by players and coaches.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24222874-5016800,00.html

Mills has just turned 20 and has only one year of college basketball experience in the US, at a small university in northern California, St Mary's.

But there he was, playing against the gods, and he was comfortably among the better players on court. Certainly, no one could match his speed.

Mills finished with 20 points, three impressive steals and two assists. More importantly, he left the many NBA scouts watching the game with their tongues on the floor.

"He's good," said Chris Paul, whose poster is on Mills's wall.

"Man, he's fast. I read something that says he's faster than me. They're probably right. He can move."

It is a measure of Mills's performance that US coach Mike Krzyzewski could not stop raving about the young indigenous point guard after the game.

Krzyzewski is perhaps the most highly regarded coach in the US, having built Duke University in North Carolina into a perennial powerhouse.

"I'm glad my (Duke) team doesn't play St Mary's next year, I can tell you that," Krzyzewski said.

"He's a great guard. He'll be an NBA guard. I'm very, very impressed. He really has great quickness. And I love him defensively. I've been a defensive coach my whole life and there aren't very many people who stay with the guard, like right on him, when he has the ball, and if he's beaten, he doesn't retreat, he continues to play the play.

"He's got to be an extremely tough-minded kid. But as good as he is offensively, he's got a chance to be a great defender. I think the kid has got a big-time future, quite frankly."

As for Mills himself, like all great athletes, he understood that what he was trying to achieve - a miracle - was as part of a team and, in that sense, he failed.

"It's a team game so, for me, no matter how many points you score it doesn't fix the result," Mills said, and he appeared to mean every word.

"We went down by 30. For me, there are lessons to be learned, but it's a great feeling to be out there."

When asked what the performance meant for his career, Mills looked puzzled.

"Got no idea, to be honest," he said.

 

[mobes23]

Bayless was a really good shooter in college as well.

Nate will ruin him like he has ruined every other young PG we have hed. Well maybe not ruin, but he won't develop him like he hasn't developed anyone pther young PG.


Mills last year in college 40% field, 86% line, 34% 3pt%

Bayless last year in college 46% field, 84% line, 41% 3pt%


Seems to me he is not quite as good a shooter as some of you think.

Put down the Kool-aid

Mills was also the only scorer on his team and he was injured much of his senior year. The guy could flat out score in college and that was with defenses completely focused on him. How that translates to the NBA is a mystery. But to put much stock in the stats you pasted above does no make sense to me.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Mills was also the only scorer on his team and he was injured much of his senior year. The guy could flat out score in college and that was with defenses completely focused on him. How that translates to the NBA is a mystery. But to put much stock in the stats you pasted above does no make sense to me.

Yeah, why put stock into stats when we can go by whatever you are focusing on. Bayless put up better numbers in a better conference. I hope Mills works out, but this thread has gotten out of hand quickly.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Y I hope Mills works out, but this thread has gotten out of hand quickly.

It started out of hand:

"One report suggested that Mills needed seasoning and might head "overseas" for a year or two. Nonsense. He's a better point guard than Steve Blake or Jerryd Bayless, and will have proved that by the end of training camp. Brandon Roy just found his ideal backcourt partner"

BNM

 

[mobes23]

Yeah, why put stock into stats when we can go by whatever you are focusing on. Bayless put up better numbers in a better conference. I hope Mills works out, but this thread has gotten out of hand quickly.

There are lies, there are damned lies and then there are statistics. All I'm saying is that if you didn't catch some games where he played healthy, you are not getting the full picture.

For what it's worth, I'm usually very much into statistics and think they often have a lot of value. But I also know that they can be misleading in some situations.

 

[B-Roy]

There are lies, there are damned lies and then there are statistics. All I'm saying is that if you didn't catch some games where he played healthy, you are not getting the full picture.

For what it's worth, I'm usually very much into statistics and think they often have a lot of value. But I also know that they can be misleading in some situations.

Yeah, they're only misleading when they don't support your argument. Yay!

 

[mobes23]

Yeah, they're only misleading when they don't support your argument. Yay!

Spoken like someone who doesn't understand the limitations of statistics.

Just curious, is there anyone on the list who actually saw him play 3 games or more that thinks those stats are an accurate portrayal of Mills' abilities?

To be clear, I'm not some raving irrational fan about Mills. I'd be surprised if he contributes much next season, but could see him be a solid spark plug off the bench the following season. It's just that if you're going to dis him, I think you're probably on thin ice to dis him as a scorer.