i don't think turnovers will be a problem as much as his ball IQ. I guess it's all related.

IMO his biggest problem is he's not a legit point guard while a lil undersized as a combo. normally turnovers will get better as the players get more experience.

to me he'd be an eddie house at best

I can see patty mills easily becoming a key sixth man for any team! 25 minutes off the bench bringing energy, and scoring. I can definitely see him playing in a similar way as jason terry!

I think the fact he has more rebounds than assists this year is an issue

I think the fact he has more rebounds than assists this year is an issue

If he can have an Eddie House career i think anyone on this board would take that. I just dont get the knockers. He is in the damn NBA, better then anyone of here could do. I guess the opposite of that is the people that think he walks on water, but geez just enjoy what he is doing and what he is trying to do.

his been playing great so far, isn't he aloud to have one bad game?

What joshuapending said....

Anon a few posts up said it well - popovich likes him enough to give him 2 years. Popovich kind of knows his stuff

Patty Mills been watching too many Jeremy Lin highlights with all those turnovers

Not sure if you are trolling, but it's beyond ridiculous that Popovich would burn the back up PG spot to do Brett Brown a favour. Fact is they signed Patty when they could have gone after Derek Fisher.

This is the Spurs last title run. Popovich owes a lot more to Duncan and co to make it a good one. If Brett Brown said 'hey Pop - can we sign this guy so he can get playing time for my Olympic team' , Pop would sack him

@Joshuapending

Peoples' criticism of Patty is the selfishness of his play and the inabillity get his teammates involved, it's a valid one, and has nothing to do with Tall Poppy Syndrome.

I for one wish him the best, but moreover wish he would develop into a more well-rounded player and develop a minimum set of point guard skills.

Please keep the Jason Terry comparisons to a minimum.

I think Patty can make a decent NBA career as an energy guy off the bench. Selfishly as a Boomers supporter, I think he would be better playing somewhere else as a starting PG and learning the craft at a lower level.

Of course, the best thing for his career ambitions is to stick it in the NBA and I hope he does well. Both sides of the discussion here are valid, it just depends on your starting point.

Spurs would not pay Derek Fisher what he got from OKL. Not many other options once TJ went down. I think anon has a valid point and I think BB would have pushed to have Patty signed, but THAT still doesn't mean the kid can't play.

It can be argued however that if BB wasn't an assistant with the Spurs that Patty would still be hanging about looking for work....

FFS Mick, you've always been a Patty Hater! If Patty didn't have a minimum skill set at PG there is no way Popovich would have him play for the 'fundamentally sound' Spurs! It truly sickens me that people want to always take pot shots at Patty defencies. Patty is still a work in progress people! I dont think any Australian player who has made it to the NBA has been scrutinised as much as Patty. It makes me wonder if there is something more sinister in play when people go out of the way to bag Patty constantly?

Popovich and Spurs organisation are very good at putting players on a roster and making it work. They don't have any superstars on their team yet they manage to notch up the wins every year and make playoffs.
For all the Patty haters, bet you can't stand the fact that he's playing in the NBA. He will only get better playing behind Parker and learning from veterans Duncan and Ginobili. Plus he should get some major minutes tonight as those 3 aren't playing.
Best of luck Patty.

Patty starting today - http://tbt.blogs.nba.com/2012/04/09/spurs-at-jazz-9-p-m-et-3/

Oh, and - LOL @ anyone who thinks Greg Popovich would play anyone as a 'favour' to anyone else. Pretty sure a guy who's coached 4 championship teams know how to use his players.

Way to play the race card under the table, JH5, you just lost all credibility.

Not a Patty hater at all, but I'm not going to evaluate him any differently to another NBA player just because he's an Aussie. Wish him the best of luck and hope he turns into the player we saw in his last few NBL games rather than the one from the first few.

"I dont think any Australian player who has made it to the NBA has been scrutinised as much as Patty"

You think?

Average OKKA - Fisher left significant dollars on the table last time he signed with the Lakers (Miami offered him more). If Spurs had wanted him over Patty, the $ would not have been the deciding factor.

Patty was the Spurs' first choice.

I'm not suggesting that the Brett Brown connection wasn't a factor in Patty signing with the Spurs. What I'm saying is that the concept of Brown wanting Patty there to benefit an Olympic campaign is completely absurd.

There is no way Popovich would have a bar of it.

Surprise, surprise, another knocker.

Mills' 4/10 looks pretty good next to S.Jax's 2/13 don't you think? Plus Mills had 4 assists, 3 rebounds, a steel, only two turnovers. He hits one more three pointer and you would say that it is an excellent all-round game from him?

Spurs only brought their second unit to the game - no Duncan, Ginobili or Parker and were right in it until blowing it in the last two minutes.

Patty looked really good as a scorer in that first half, but did struggle to run the show, especially under fourth quarter pressure. There were some clear defensive lapses too.

That's just the reality for Patty at the moment, but he's in a good position to work on his weaknesses and capitalise on his strengths.

So what you're saying Doctor is Brett Brown wouldn't mind either way if Patty was playing anywhere or not leading up the the OLYS. RIGHT

You would think the Spurs would be pretty happy with that result. With young players like Blair and Leonard they're looking good for years to come.

Well done to Patty on his first NBA start! (In what - only his 4th game with the Spurs right?) Coach Popovich must have some faith in him to do that.

A pretty good statement by the Spurs despite missing their studs...always would have been better if they had of won...but a decent statement nontheless.

Patty will get better with time and experience - he had not played a game in around 2 months before joining the Spurs.

That's spot on. The good is enough to get him a decent career if he keeps working on the bad, and that is good news. He may even get to the point where his minutes and scoring bursts are routine and dont warrant a new thread each game!!

That may be true of his ability in Pick and Roll, but my impression is that when playing with the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge, David Andersen and Cam Tragardh that he is pretty good with the Pick and Pop. Anybody else agree, or am I way off?

AB4Eva, from what I can tell his issue is once he gets deep off the pick and roll he struggles to see and make passes over defenders. When he makes his pass early after the screen he seems to make some nice reads.

Anon #358147, and yet, despite a poor shooting game, he had no turnovers, grabbed a couple of boards and assists along with a steel, scored 7 points, and whilst he was on court his team outscored the opposition.

But if it makes you feel superior, yes it was not his best game.