When the Pitt Panthers closed out the 2011-12 season with a run that led to a CBI championship, one thing was very clear- sophomore Lamar Patterson was the Panthers best player.
A lot of the expectations for the Panthers this season were based some on the fact that Patterson would improve off the way he closed the season and possibly become a major scoring threat.
However through Pitt’s first four games of the season, that was not the case.
Patterson was held scoreless in Pitt’s opener and scored a grand total of 10 points in Pitt’s first four games, making only 3-of-16 shots from the floor.
His struggles caused a lot of panic among Pitt fans, but not his coach Jamie Dixon, who despite Patterson’s lack of scoring was often the first player Dixon praised during his postgame press conferences.
“It’s funny that people pretty much wrote him off after four games,” said Dixon. “Lamar actually played very well the first four. One of the main reasons that his scoring was down was because we had big leads and he didn’t need to take a lot of shots. But he’s been extremely unselfish and doing everything we have asked at both ends of the floor.”
However for the Panthers to have long-term success throughout the course of the season, Patterson must be a big part of Pitt’s offense. He’s too talented not to.
If there were any doubters, Patterson answered all of them over the course of the past three games.
The junior small forward scored 14 against Michigan, 16 against Delaware and 15 Tuesday night against Howard. The more impressive part has been that he’s knocked down 16-of-29 attempts during the past three games. In addition, the long ball has been there for Patterson. He made only one of his first ten attempts from behind the arc, but since then has knocked down 8-of-15, including hitting a career-high five three’s against Howard.
“I just keep shooting,” said Patterson, who never seemed concerned with his slow start. “I know the first few games wasn’t like me. I put a lot of work in during practice and it has started to translate to the game. A lot of the credit goes to Tray (Woodall) and James (Robinson). I am always shot ready and they are getting me the ball where I can get shots off.”
Patterson’s recent streak is good news for the Panthers as they need additional scoring at times.
He is really Pitt’s most complete player. He has size and length and handles the ball very well, which is a great benefit to Dixon as he can have three good ball handlers on the floor when teams attempt to press. Patterson defends and rebounds well and is a very good passing forward.
However Pitt is more dangerous when Patterson is shooting the ball well and it is good to see him back in a rhythm.
“Scoring or no scoring he has played very well,” said Dixon. “Obviously we are better when he does, but he does so many things well that he has a positive impact on the game even when he’s not shooting well.”
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