Once a Wildcat, Always a Wildcat… No way around it, once you have become a member of the Big blue Nation, you never leave. Sure, you may move on to bigger things, like the NBA, the NFL or maybe even MLB, but deep down you will always be a Cat.
To Kentucky fans, there is no such thing as a former Kentucky Wildcat. I get corrected on that constantly, once a Cat, always a Cat, as I’ve been told more then once.
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Kentucky is it own unique fraternity. From players to Coach’s to media members to the fans, blue blood runs deep, not only in the Commonwealth but across the nation and around the world.
For Patrick Patterson, that statement runs true even as he prepares to officially begin his first season in the NBA. In a recent interview with Rockets.com, Patrick talked about his relationship with UK’s Chuck Hayes.
“When I first got here, I knew that Chuck was someone I wanted to be my mentor, someone I wanted to look up to and look forward to as someone to get advice from. When I got here I talked to him right away just because he went to Kentucky and we have that history together.”
Patrick thought playing against Hayes would be easier then it turned out to be. P Pat thought he could go both over and around Hayes, but he quickly learned why Chuck isn’t part of the practice squad.
“You may look at him and think, “This guy’s short, I can go over him or around him because he doesn’t look that fast or that quick,” but when you step on the court and actually go up against him, you find out quick that your assumptions are wrong because Chuck has got some fast feet on him.
You may be able to go over him but you aren’t going to get that close to the basket because he’s going to push you all the way out. My impressions when I first got here were that I thought I could just keep jumping and shooting over him but as I learned, he pushes me all the way out to the free throw line because he’s so strong and his body is so wide.”
The former Cat Hayes, isn’t leaving Patrick hanging, instead he told Lex18 that “he was going to out of his way to take care of Patterson.”
Patterson agreed when he told Rockets.com that “he’s (Hayes) been helping me out and teaching me, in terms of how to move around defenders, and how to better utilize my offensive skills.”
Hayes and Patterson would have been one dynamic duo at UK, now the two Wildcats will get their chance together in the NBA…
Go Cats!!!
[URL=”http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/q_with_patrick_patterson_2010_09_16.html”]
Rockets.com full interview[/URL]
