By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos lost Bryant Dunston but persisted with their main transfer target for the ‘5’ position. Instead of the reds changing direction, being aware that Patric Young would be playing in the summer league in Las Vegas with the Suns, they persuaded the 23-year-old American to change his plan and invest in his European career! This is the truth in the case of Patric Young’s signing.
His career
Patric Young was born on the 1st of February 1992 (2m.08). He played college basketball for four years with Bill Donovan’s Florida Gators and the most characteristic elements in his career in the NCAA were not the statistics. More important than the numbers is that in 4 seasons (150 participations) he didn’t miss one game and that he won an award for his performance in his studies three times. Which means that we are talking about an amazing athlete who is very cultivated at the same time.
The player himself was expecting to find a place in the draft of 2014, something that didn’t happen. The New Orleans Pelicans signed him after the summer league but cut him off in November without giving him one participation. This is how his arrival in Europe came about with Galatasaray the first stop, where he played in the second half of the season. From now on, he’ll be playing for Olympiacos with the aim of improving and developing his game. His goal is to have a successful European course in order to climb a competitive level and increase his chances of playing in the NBA at some point with the right conditions and the right contract.
His characteristics
The athletic elements that govern Patric Young’s game are clear. He is a force of nature when it comes to strength. He can dominate the paint, get rebounds, it’s hard for any opponent to move him from his position and he’s a really good defender in all types of defense. He can stop quality pivots in the paint and be effective in covers, while he’s good – because he has quick feet – in pick and roll defense against guards after switching screens.
In offense he doesn’t have any special moves in the post. His game is not yet at that level where he can consistently create and finish individual plays. But if he’s close to the basket he has the mass and the spring to get to the rim. He also specializes in finishing plays over the rim with powerful dunks following alley oop passes. Young has all the qualities to develop into a great finisher after pick and roll situations.
But he needs to work on this because it’s something that never became a habit in college. He has to work on his immersions to the basket after his own dive in and to improve the way in which he moves and reads plays. He’s a kid with good understanding and a willingness to learn so he will surely improve noticeably as time goes by.
Prediction: He will be loved
Patric Young fits perfectly with Olympiacos’s style of play and temperament, but also with Giannis Sfairopoulos’s philosophy. He produces a lot of energy, he relies on his passion and he functions better when there is good chemistry in his team, clear roles and an environment that provides high incentives.
He will respond well to the demands of his role and if the coaching team wants to work with him early on on an individual level, on elements that need improvement, he will react positively and the results will quickly show on the court. In offense he will definitely have 6-8 easy points with dunks and lay ups, while, as time goes by, he will become more and more productive in pick and roll situations. With Spanoulis as his teammate and the other facilitators in Olympiacos it is expected that he will develop his offensive game. It’s almost a certainty that he will turn out to be an important transfer move and 100% certain that the people will love him.