John Calipari has instilled in everyone’s brain since he became the head coach at Kentucky there will be a heir-apparent every season to a past and current NBA star.
Marquis Teague has to deal with Brandon Knight, John Wall, and even Derrick Rose comparisons.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was compared to DeAndre Liggins from day 1 and I know you have to be getting tired of the Anthony Davis to Marcus Camby comparison.
I want to look at a couple of similarities and differences of the players on the floor now and what everyone wants them to be.
Somebody else.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
I might as well start off with the trendiest comparison for a John Calipari coached team and that is the point guard position.
Marquis Teague has to be tired of hearing the questions about how he is playing the point guard position and the thoughts of most of the BBN is when he is going to break out and be a superstar. Take a look at this comparison with Brandon Knight and how they are almost identical, besides scoring of course.
Teague is averaging 4.4 assists to 3.1 turnovers per game. Knight had 4.1 dimes to 3.1 turns. Teague also gets 1.2 steals a game compared to Knight’s .65 per contest. Now, Knight did average 17 points and Teague only 10 and that does make up a lot of what people make of the difference between the two. The thing is, Teague does not have to score for this team to be great when Knight did. The interesting stat is Teague has a higher field goal percentage than BK had: 42.7-42.3. I just find it amazing how similar their stats are and a lot of people(including me) have been on Teague’s case from day 1. I guess this is the price of being a Calipari point guard.
[HR][/HR]An interesting comparison early on in the season was MKG to DeAndre Liggins. Obviously Kidd-Gilchrist has shown a lot more offensive ability than DeAndre, but I want to look at all the stats that people think about when comparing these two.
The intangibles.
MKG is listed first, Deandre Liggins second.
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]Min Per Game[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]30.895[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/minutes_avg?season=2011-2012″]408[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]31.605[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]RPG[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]7.526[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/rebounds_avg?season=2011-2012″]119[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]4.026[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]Assists Per Game[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]2.105[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/assists_avg?season=2011-2012″]673[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]2.526[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]Steals Per Game[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]1.211[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/steals_avg?season=2011-2012″]465[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]1.211[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]Fouls Per Game[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]2.211[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]2.474[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
A lot has been made of MKG’s minutes and his knack for getting in early foul trouble. If you look at the comparison to DeAndre, he fouled more than Kidd-Gilchrist and played more minutes as well. The main difference between the two is the importance of MKG to be on the floor as he is averaging 13 ppg while Liggins only averaged 8. MKG also brings a motor and high intensity that this team needs, bringing everyone up around him with his heartful play. Liggins was looked upon as the down and dirty defensive stopper and one could easily argue there were more self-motivated players(Knight, Harrellson, etc) on last year’s team than this year’s product.
[HR][/HR]I know the Marcus Camby to Anthony Davis comparison is driven in the ground, so I figured I would see the stat similarities of AD to DeMarcus Cousins.
Davis listed first, Cousins second.
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]Pts Per Game[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]13.789[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/points_avg?season=2011-2012″]297[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]15.132[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]FG Pct[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]65.8[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/fg_pct?season=2011-2012″]12[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]55.8[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]FT Pct[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]69.9[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/ft_pct?season=2011-2012″]576[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]60.4[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]RPG[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]10.368[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/rebounds_avg?season=2011-2012″]17[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]9.895[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE]
[TR=”bgcolor: #FFFFCC”]
[TD=”bgcolor: #eeeeee, align: right”]Blocks Per Game[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]4.579[/TD]
[TD] ([URL=”http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/stats/blocks_avg?season=2011-2012″]1[/URL])[/TD]
[TD=”align: right”]1.763[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Even though they play a different style of game, Anthony Davis is wearing out Boogie’s numbers right now. Cousins did score 15 a game and Davis is right at 14 with 13.7, but if you look at the other intagibles it is mind blowing, at least to me, how more effective Davis has been so far on the season. Not to mention he is averaging 7 more minutes played per game, you also don’t have to worry in that 7 minutes that a fight could potentially break out on the floor. Davis is also averaging 1 foul less per game than Cousins, while blocking almost 3 more shots.
[HR][/HR]After looking at the stats and breaking down a couple of comparisons, I think Kentucky fans should be pretty excited about the clientele Calipari has this season in reference to year’s past.
It is not hard to figure out why Cal says on a daily basis, “I like my team.”
