2011: “It’s about life,” Patterson said. “I think life is hard enough the way it is. When you get up in the morning, what you’re trying to do by the end of the day is you’re trying to be ahead." As Patterson pointed out, hardly anything in life comes easy. Getting ahead while you can and working to stay there is important, Patterson said. “Very few times in life, do people get a chance to win by 40 points,” Patterson said. “What we try to do every day, whether it’s in the offseason program or going to class, is you’re going to try to stay ahead by one point.”
He wants to win comfortably, but the "win by 1" mantra comes in to play during in close games where "you have to find a way to win by one" or "make one more play than they do".