| 09 July 2009
Eric Musselman knows a thing or two about Patrick Mills.
Over the past two years, the former head coach of the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings, and Memphis Grizzlies’ assistant, has called a handful of West Coast Conference games for Comcast Sports Net California and seen about half-a-dozen Saint Mary’s practices.
So with Portland’s summer league team starting practice on Thursday with a trip to Las Vegas right around the corner, it’s only fitting I hit up Musselman for the real scouting report on Mills….
The first thing that jumps out is, Patty is a classic example of how people’s opinions change from the day the college season ends until the day of the draft. And as Chuck Daly used to say, that’s when the most mistakes are made. The reason is, most teams play two-on-two or three-on-three or do individual work. And as Daly would say, he didn’t even like to go watch the individual workouts.
It’s no different than watching a guy go workout in the weight room. That’s not the game we play. And for a guy like Patty Mills, whose game is speed and 94 feet, it’s absurd to evaluate him in that setting.
I was surprised he dropped as far as he did (in the draft) and I felt bad for him. When I watched him play I thought he was a pro. I saw guys that went late in the first round and I didn’t think some of them were pros. Patty stands out with his speed, and his character – no one is going to have higher character than him.
He’s an unbelievable kid. There is no finer kid in the entire draft, as far as class, work ethic, he’s well spoken, he’s very smart, he’s been extremely well coached. His coach (Randy Bennett) plays an NBA style offense. A lot of things Saint Mary’s does are things the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs do. It’s a combination of those two. And Coach Bennett is close to the staffs of the Cavs and Spurs. When I saw Mills play against Stephen Curry back in February – now they didn’t guard each other much at all – but from strictly a point guard stance on that given night, I thought Mills played just as good as Curry. Now again, it’s just one night.
The assistant coach with the Gaels, David Patrick, said Patty kept his name in the draft because he wanted to play in the NBA. He didn’t want to pull out. He badly wants to play in the NBA and thinks he can play in the NBA. I think he can be a really good back-up and change the flow of the game with his excellent speed with the ball. I see him as a guy that can come into a game, the last five minutes of the first quarter and the first five minutes of the second quarter against subs and have an impact.
He’s gonna have to improve defensively and is gonna be a guy who picks the ball up in the backcourt. That’s one area he has to improve on, but he will. This is a guy that is thirsty to learn the game. I think Nate (McMillan) will love him. He’ll look the coach in the eye every time and will hear everything that is said in the huddle.
I would be surprised if Mills doesn’t have a good summer league.
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