Hahaha, it's not us being sensitive. It's us pointing out that destracting from his effort purely because the game was over at half time is a pretty petty observation. If that's the minutes he's getting right now, then so be it - all the better for Patty since he was playing a shit team and was able to score.
Considering in a condensed season teams will have fewer practices, there are fewer opportunities for players to make a case for playing more minutes - so even if it's junk time, if ANY player, Australian or not, puts in an effort and plays well, then they still deserve some recognition - not just "oh it didn't matter cos it was junk time".
I've seen games where 'junk time' becomes 'game time' because the bench has not performed well enough to maintain the lead built by the starters. I remember one notorious game a couple years back where Boston had to bring starters back on in the 4th due to their bench not being able to perform - leading to KG lambasting Glen Davis, who sat on the bench and cried (yes, literally cried).