Patric Young on His Role, His Offseason and His Physique
Things are a bit quiet around the New Orleans Pelicans at the moment as outside of officially signing John Salmons the Pelicans seem done with moves for the summer and ready to take a short break before training camp starts in October. Patric Young broke some of the silence though with an appearance on today’s Black and Blue report where he talked about a bunch of different things. While the whole interview is worth your time (it starts around 19 minutes) below are a few highlights and reaction to Young’s thoughts:
On if he Has Talked to the Coaches About His Role:
"“Not necessarily but I am sure it is going to be along the lines of defending and rebounding which I have no problem with at all. Just to bring energy because I think we have the best backcourt in the NBA right now and a starting power forward who definitely is going to be an All-Star, God-willing if healthy next year. So we definitely have enough offense for sure but you can always use more defense and more rebounding so if I can provide that it can keep me on the court.”"
Young nailed this one. He is and probably always will be limited offensively so if he wants to play Young will have to make an impact on the other end of the floor. He could jump into the rotation early on depending on how Monty Williams wants to defend the pick-and-roll this year as Young should be able to jump out and hedge hard better than either Jeff Withey or Alexis Ajinca but he doesn’t provide the same type of rim protection. Young also needs to make sure his work on the defensive glass gets better going forward as that has always been a bit of a weakness and will be something the Pelicans can’t afford with Anthony Davis and Omer Asik on the bench getting rest.
On What He is Doing This Offseason to Get Ready for Training Camp:
"“Conditioning, number one. Been doing these pool workouts I found on the internet that Blake Griffin does every summer and man they are kicking my butt. I also have been on the court and in the weight room. I get in the weight room three times a week and on the court five or six times a week.”"
It is a bit weird that the Pelicans haven’t given Young anything to do, though it could be that he just didn’t mention it. Coming into camp in great shape is going to be important for Young as the backup center spot will be completely up for grabs and a few bad days while a player is getting in shape may cost a player a job.
On His Strength and How it Came About:
"“I think for sure growing up as a kid I was always pretty strong. It has been kind of natural. At Florida they did a great job of helping me fine tune my body and knowing what it takes to be a pro. And I will take that to the next level to make sure I am in tip-top shape. If you have a gift like what I have of being able to outman people and be able to overpower them on the court within the rules of the game and in the confine of the game you have to take advantage of that so obviously I have been working on my body and it has paid off.”"
It was nice to see Young kind of mention how important his body is to where he is today. His game right now works largely on being able to bully people and some players like that may try to run away from that fact. Instead Young seemingly embraces it and will make sure that advantage stays as long as possible.
Young also talks about the Brandon Bass comparison, how he didn’t end up playing football growing up and more in the interview that is well worth your time. Make sure to check it out here and if there was something that stood out to you that I didn’t hit in this post make sure to leave it in the comments.