As a player, his obvious strength is his athleticism.
He's got legitimate international quickness
and that's something that's very difficult to teach.
Size is a thing that NBA is not so worried about now.
There's people like Tony Parker
and those type of guys around the same size
and he offers similar things.
I'm going to push myself harder each day to make that,
and if I don't, at least I can say
that I've tried my hardest to get there.
But...
you know, we'll just see what happens.
Back in 2007, an 18-year-old Patty Mills
was Australia's hottest new basketball prospect.
The young point guard was hopeful of making an impact
on the international stage with Australia
and starring in the NBA, and he knew what was needed of him.
To get to that level,
I'll need to definitely improve my defensive,
full-court defence up the court,
my ball handling, also my shooting.
So being here at the institute gives me a great opportunity
to work on those things every day to hopefully reach my goal.
A teenage Patty attended
the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra,
the national centre of excellence for
the training and development of elite athletes and teams.
It was his third year here
and his development was being overseen by Marty Clarke.
As a player, his obvious strength is his athleticism.
He's got legitimate international quickness
and that's something that's very difficult to teach.
His real...His strength, as far as the team goes,
is his ability to make other people better.
He's great.
But he's got to be able to make other people great as well.
And he's one of the few people that can do that.
In making the move to the Institute,
Patty didn't have to travel far,
as he grew up on the outskirts of Canberra.
His mum is an Aboriginal from South Australia
and his dad is a Torres Strait islander
from Northern Queensland.
He had begun playing basketball at the age of four
for a local indigenous club established by his parents.
Whilst at junior school, he wrote down what he wanted
to achieve in the sport - making it to the Institute,
playing for the Australian under-19 team,
competing at the Olympics and joining the NBA.
I wrote that a number of years ago now.
But I have stuck to it.
I can say that I've ticked two of them off already.
But that's the type of things that...strive to...well,
motivate me to conquer those goals.
Patty was the star player on the AIS team
which competed in the South East Australian League.
The AIS teenagers played against teams
made up of far older players.
On this day, they had a home game against cross-town rivals,
the Canberra Gunners.
This was Patty's last season with the AIS.
Later in 2007, he would head to the United States
to play college basketball.
Mills had chosen to play for St Mary's,
a college on the outskirts of San Francisco.
The level of basketball, I think, goes up another level
from what we're playing here in Australia at the moment.
And I guess the reason for me choosing a college
in the United States is to get me on the right path
to another goal of mine, which is to play in the NBA.
He's certainly got some of the things I would look for
in a player, but he's definitely got
a lot of things I look for in a person.
He's a fantastic person and any club anywhere around the world
would be happy to have a person like him.
Legitimate quickness...
Size is a thing that NBA is not so worried about now.
There's people like Tony Parker and those type of guys
around the same size, and he offers similar things.
I'm not saying he's offering the same yet
but he's got four years to get there.
Mills had already tested himself against
the best young talent that America had to offer.
In 2006, he took part in the annual Nike Hoops Summit.
Unfortunately, we lost the game.
But to be there, the atmosphere,
to play against the American guys like Kevin Durant,
was something unbelievable.
Something that I'll never forget, obviously.
In the game against the Gunners, and with
his mum and dad looking on, the AIS won by 96 points to 90.
Mills finished up with 22 points and eight assists.
Patty's fledgling on-court success
had already brought him a host of awards.
At the 2006 Deadly Awards,
which honour indigenous achievements
in sport, music, art and the community,
he was named Most Promising New Talent in Sport.
I'm very proud to be an Aboriginal
and Torres Strait islander as well,
and I take that into basketball when I play,
representing the indigenous community in Australia.
Young athletes at the AIS
combine their sporting activities with their studies.
However, there wasn't a purpose-built school
on the campus.
Instead the athletes attended schools in the Canberra area.
Patty's move to the US to play college ball improved him
as a player and helped to turn his hoop dreams into reality.
Whether I make it or not,
it's something that I've been motivated for for a while now
and I'm going to push myself harder each day to make that.
And if I don't, at least I can say
that I've tried my hardest to get there.
But...
you know, we'll just see what happens.
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