Patrick Beverley: Sometimes Stats Do Lie

There are players that post crazy good stats that match their performance and impact on their team. Then there are players who post fantastic stat sheets and the impact that it should have on paper, doesn’t translate on the court. Then we have a player like Patrick Beverley who has such an impact that it can’t be quantified with stats or figures. This is something that the LA Clippers head coach, Doc Rivers mentioned in a recent post game interview:

“Pat is really good to have on your basketball team. He never thinks you’re gonna lose. He’s such an intangible player, there’s no way you can use analytics or any equation to figure the worth of Pat Beverley on your basketball team. It’s actually impossible.”

If you look at Beverley’s stats on paper, it doesn’t look too fancy considering he’s a starting point guard on a championship contending team. He has only averaged double digits scoring in three of his seven NBA seasons and one of them he only played 11 games due to injury. It’s currently his eighth season and he’s played in 24 out of the 27 games played so far, starting all of them. His averages for the season thus far currently stand at 7.8 points, 3.2 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals. The correlation between his stats and impact on this Clippers team does not tell the full story.

Every practice, every game, Pat brings this level of intensity that most humans cannot match. It doesn't suit everyone and the majority of his opponents struggle to contain him, he just rubs people the wrong way, they're not on his wavelength. Yet his teammates love him and recognise his leadership. Behind all that intensity he’s very nurturing, this was evident last season with the rookies and things haven’t changed this season.

Both Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele have had Pat’s support from the moment they were drafted to his team. He has given up his time to develop them in training, on the court and team bonding sessions, and when they’ve had their first career milestones, he’s shown a clear expression of being proud. Pat has given both rookies the game ball this season, after they scored their first buckets. When you watch those individual moments, it’s evident how genuinely happy he is for them.

Take a look at the moment he handed the game ball to Kabengele:

In the offseason I wrote a ‘Hot Take Marathon’ for OTG about the Clippers winning the championship. I made a comment about Beverley being the heart and soul of the team. The front office made franchise changing moves in the summer, acquiring both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, arguably the best two-way players in the league. This pushes the Clippers in a position to legitimately contend for the championship. For the Clippers to come away with the title this season, they will need Beverley to be healthy and play the majority of games, he’s that important!

Every team needs a Pat!