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TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO - On a Raptors team with 11 new faces, six rookies - including four on partially guaranteed deals - and two inexperienced sophomores, it was veteran Patrick Patterson who outlasted everyone else in the gym after practice this past weekend.

The sixth-year forward stuck around to get some extra work in after his teammates had all called it a day. He was launching threes, taking jumpers on the perimeter, putting up floaters and practicing his footwork in the post. "Trying to fine tune every aspect of my game", he explained.

Patterson had been waiting a long time for this opportunity, a chance to be the regular starter for a playoff-bound team in the NBA but, so far, nothing was going according to plan.

Quiet, verging on unnoticeable in pre-season, the 26-year-old hasn't looked like himself. After attempting 3.5 three-pointers per game last year, he didn't take his first until the fourth quarter of Wednesday's loss to Minnesota, the team's fifth preseason contest.

Down by three with 18 seconds left to play in that game, the Raptors drew up a play to get Patterson a shot from the corner, one that would have been wide open as it turned out, but he let the ball slip through his fingers and out of bounds.

A cerebral player, Patterson doesn't often show much emotion. After the turnover, he fell to his knees, raised his arms and shook his head in frustration.

"Oh my gosh, that's what happens when you take your eye off the ball," he told TSN.ca following Toronto's Friday afternoon practice session. "That was 100 per cent my fault... That was just so unbelievably frustrating."

With former starting power forward Amir Johnson now in Boston, Patterson would appear to be his natural replacement as one of the team's top reserves and first big off their bench last season. It's his job to lose and he knows it, but that pressure may be taking its toll.

As self-aware as professional athletes come, Patterson understands the root of his biggest problem.

"It's not being hesitant, it's just me passing up open shots," he admitted. "A lot of those situations where I've had open looks, I would have shot the ball last year. For some reason, this year I'm just passing up those opportunities."

Although he's played with the other four starters before - including newcomer DeMarre Carroll, who was briefly a teammate of his in Houston - he's still getting comfortable with the first unit, where he's presumably the fifth option offensively.

"For me to be in that starting role as of right now, in these pre-season games, it's about getting a feel on the court," Patterson said. "[Finding] my scoring opportunities on the offensive side of the ball, being in the right position at the right time, passing, sharing and then also trying to capitalize on my opportunities at the same time. The offence is still somewhat the same but they're adding little tweaks here and there. So it's still a learning process."

In a season and a half with the Raptors, since coming over from Sacramento in the Rudy Gay trade, Patterson is shooting an impressive 38 per cent from three-point range. His ability to spread the floor is the biggest advantage of pairing him with Jonas Valanciunas in the front court, while also giving DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry room to operate in the lane. Patterson is one of Toronto's smartest players, sometimes to his detriment. Dwane Casey is concerned he may be overthinking his role with the first unit.

"It takes some time [to fit in] but Pat's a shooter," said the head coach. "He has one thing to do and he shouldn't be thinking about anything else. That's who he is. He's one of the best three-point shooters in the league and that's what he has to do."

Andy Greer, one of the Raptors new assistant coaches, was with Chicago last year. He's told Casey that Patterson's three-point shooting was always a topic of conversation in the locker room when the Bulls faced Toronto. "Teams game-plan for him," Casey pointed out. As long as Patterson is on the floor, the Raptors staff wants to see him be more aggressive with his jump shot.

"I'm a pass-first kind of guy," Patterson said. "I'm more about the team than myself. I'd rather get the win than me score at all. But at the end of the day, for us to win, for us to be successful I have to shoot those shots. My teammates want me to take those shots, the organization wants to me to shoot those shots so I have to shoot those shots.

"I just need to stop being passive, I need to stop trying to create too much and I need to stop trying to do too much out there on the court. Just play my game, shoot that open shot, shot that perimeter three as I normally would do."

An unrestricted free agent last summer, Patterson was admittedly tempted by an offer from the Orlando Magic, one that would have given him the opportunity to start for a rebuilding club. Instead, he opted to re-sign in Toronto, knowing he'd play a significant roll for a winning team, albeit off the bench. He's never been contentious over his desire to start, but has always been honest about it. That's his goal.

"I mean, as a competitor I want to start," he said over the weekend. "As a basketball player I want to start. As a person who loves the game and as a kid growing up I've always wanted to start for a team in the NBA. It's not extremely important. The most important thing is that I'm playing. If I start, I start. If I don't, I don't but at the end of the day I'd like to start."

Patterson has started 65 games over his five-year career, including 11 with the Raptors. He averaged 8.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, shooting 50 per cent from the field and 55 per cent from three-point range in four spot starts last season.

After starting the first four preseason games this fall, Patterson came off the bench in Wednesday's contest as Casey opted to go with Anthony Bennett instead. Bennett played well, scoring 10 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 23 minutes. Veteran Luis Scola is also expected to get a look with the first unit before preseason is out.

The starting power forward job is still up for grabs, according to Casey. It could be a fluid situation all season, depending on match-ups and who has the hot hand, unless somebody steps up and earns it. Despite his early struggles, Patterson is in the best position to do so.