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[QUOTE="General20, post: 1196457, member: 724"]
Ive seen all four games Syracuse has played this year and I think Patterson's handle looks pretty solid.  Unless something goes wrong he's not going to be asked to bring the ball up alone against a press or anything like that.  It seems pretty clear to me that he can do what we will ask him to do ball handling wise.

Also (and this is taking the discussion to a MUCH deeper level than it needs to be) but, lower level competition is not necessarily (or even usually) easier to handle the ball against.  Most high level D1 teams go for size.  How many teams in the ACC recruit small quick guards who are well suited to press?  Louisville comes to mind.  None of the other big players do.  Hampton's point guard was as quick as any guard Syracuse will play all year. He was super short and had other deficiencies, but as far as pressure defense alone, he was as capable  as anybody.  Its my experience that most guards struggle with ball handling early in the year, when the speed of the game is new, these struggles come against both low and high major teams.  With the exception of an outlier team like Louisville who presses often and effectively, have you ever seen a player handle the ball just fine early in the season, and then struggle late in the season when the competition gets better?  I can't think of a single example of that.
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