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SEC Media Days: Stansbury expects Patterson to go pro after this season

October 22, 2008|LARRY VAUGHT

BIRMINGHAM -- Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury was one of those coaches who had to try and find ways to stop Rajon Rondo during his two years as Kentucky's point guard.

Stansbury is also one of many who have been surprised by Rondo's effective play in the NBA that helped the Boston Celtics win the league championship last year.

"It has surprised everybody. Who wouldn't be surprised at that?" Stansbury said Wednesday during the Southeastern Conference Media Days. "Basically, I don't want to say he struggled for Kentucky because he was a very good player, but I don't think anybody expected him to impact the pros after his sophomore year (when the left Kentucky) the way he has.

"I think most people wondered why he went to the NBA. To see the impact he has had there is probably as amazing as any sports story out there. To be a player like has on a world championship team is amazing. Or at least it is to me."

Stansbury said Rondo's speed and quickness made him difficult to contain in college, but his lack of outside shooting gave teams an option to stop him.

"I thought you had to keep him out of the paint at Kentucky and invite him to shoot it. He couldn't beat you that way," Stansbury said. 'In the college level, you were able to do that to a certain extent. Maybe with play in the NBA being spread out more, it is more difficult to do.

"But he didn't impact the college game like he has the pro game. He still is not a great shooter, either. Maybe because at our level more teams zoned more or did things different, it was harder for him. Maybe the NBA defensive rules have had something to do with his success, but it is very obvious he has impacted the pro game more than he impacted the college game even though he was a very good player for Kentucky."

Stansbury does expect sophomore Patrick Patterson to bolt UK for the NBA after this season because the coach feels he's already ready for the next level.

"If he had not had that injury (to his ankle last season), he would have been gone (to the NBA)," Stansbury said Wednesday during the SEC Media Days. "For all Kentucky fans that think he will be back his junior year, they can forget that, too. He is going to be one of the better players in the country. When they get that good, I haven't seen many that go back to college.

"If he stays away from injuries and is the player he was last year, and he probably should be even better now, he has to go to the NBA."

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