I came away underwhelmed. He had 9 rebounds, but it felt like he should have had 20. He had a few blocks, but it felt like he should have had 6 or 7.
The key words here are, IF able to put it all together. Play with confidence. Play a little more selfishly if it totals more wins
He is not my guy, as I learned about him yesterday!
He avoids contact.
Yesterday vs Xavier, Patton got into very early foul trouble with two questionable calls within the first few minutes. Right at the beginning of the second half, he was called for his 3rd with minimal contact. So he WAS avoiding contact because of the fouls.
Consequently, he played only 18 somewhat tentative minutes, his aggression and physicality muted by the fouls. Even still, he score 10 points, had 9 'bounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals vs a top 20 team, with some real big plays coming at crunch time in the last couple of minutes.
When he is not hampered by the fouls, he is capable of playing with a lot of confidence and having games like he had against another competent foe, Villanova, when he had a huge game.
But his numbers/stats does not indicate top 5 pick material...6 reb per game for his height?
I doubt he will go top 5 if the draft started today...things could change of course
In the OP and subsequent post, I was suggesting lottery, not necessarily top 5, although I think that top 10 is a possibility. He is a red-shirted freshman with not a ton of experience, and he is getting better.
I just figured that I'd discuss a prospect that no one was discussing who had big-time potential.
I think that skills-wise, he fits well with the Cs.
I'm not sure how he fits given our draft position (likely top 4) and his perceived value come draft time, even if it is rising.
EDIT: And for someone who hasn't played a lot of organized ball at the center position , on a veteran-laden highly ranked team to average 13.8/6.6rb/1.3apg/1.1spg/1.7bpg in 25 minutes and improving is pretty darn good.