By Dave Goldstein
Enquirer contributor

TORONTO - Former Cincinnati Bearcat Ruben Patterson has received a lot of attention during his five-year NBA career, much of it negative.

He is on probation for a sexual assault charge from May 2001 and was arrested Nov. 25 for alleged domestic assault, though charges never were pressed.

Patterson gets less attention for carving out a niche as one of the NBA's best defenders and one of its top sparkplugs off the bench.

Despite competing for playing time with All-Stars Scottie Pippen and Rasheed Wallace, and highly touted youngsters Zach Randolph and Qyntel Woods on a loaded Portland Trail Blazers team, Patterson averages more than 21 minutes a game. His numbers don't jump out at you - eight points, four rebounds and two assists a game on 50 percent shooting - but the intangibles Patterson brings are what make him a contributor.

"Ruben just brings a high level of energy, especially on the defensive end," Portland coach Maurice Cheeks said. "He guards our opponents' best one-on-one players, which is a tremendous advantage for us. We never have to help out a lot, because we know Ruben can contain most guys in this league one-on-one."

Although Patterson downplays his "Kobe-stopper" nickname, it is clear he takes more pleasure from forcing a stop than scoring. On Dec. 8, a close battle with the Toronto Raptors turned into an easy Portland win after Patterson held Vince Carter scoreless in the fourth quarter. After watching Carter torch assorted Blazers for 25 points in the first 36 minutes, Patterson pleaded with Cheeks to give him the job at the end of the game. Patterson got the assignment, Carter got an unshakeable shadow, and Portland got a big road victory.

"That's just me; I'm a defender," Patterson said. "I don't need to score. I can do that sometimes, but my job is to play hard, hustle, rebound and shut my guy down, whether he's Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, or in this case Vince Carter."

Though Patterson has proven himself on the hardwood, his name still is mentioned more often in connection with his troubles off the court, which he said he prefers not to discuss. Making matters worse is that Portland has several players who have had brushes with the law. Wallace and Damon Stoudamire were cited for marijuana possession Nov. 22.

But Portland is still optimistic about climbing the standings in a loaded Western Conference. Patterson provides a great deal of the Blazers' enthusiasm, giving a flying chest-bump to each of the starters before tip-off and providing a vocal presence throughout the game.

So why doesn't he get credit for what he can do on a basketball court?

"We've got a lot of talent on this team, so it's always going to be hard getting recognition when you've got guys like Bonzi (Wells), Pippen, Derek (Anderson) and the rest - and that's OK with me," Patterson said. "I'm here to come off the bench and bring a lot of energy and a lot of effort. When things aren't going right for us, I'm just going to try to come in and change the game around."