Over the next few weeks, I will be looking back at the past 10 years of college basketball and remembering the best players, the heroes, the villains and a few other random ideas I have. For these purposes, the 10 years I will be looking at are the seasons that begun in 2000-2009. You only had to play one year in this range to be eligible but more weight was given to those who played the majority of their career in said decade.
With that, let's get to our first list of the best players this decade. I have my top 2 teams each made up of 5 players. Much like the All-American teams, no favoritism toward position was given. Also, after a long internal debate, I decided to give everyone a fair look for the list, even those that only played one year. At first, there was going to be a two year requirement but I realized it would be excluding a majority of the top players to roll through college basketball this year.
Let's get to the first team in no particular order:
G - Juan Dixon, Maryland
- 16.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists
MOP 2002 NCAA tournament
Dixon is definitely the first guard I would pick from the decade. Not only was he a great scorer, he was an awesome defender (2.4 steals per game, the same number of turnovers he averaged) and a leader for the Terps.
G - Jameer Nelson
-16.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists
A player with a similar style to Dixon, Nelson burst onto the scene his senior year but he was only doing what he had been doing his whole career at St. Joe's. He was a great 4 year player although he had to do most of it under the radar.
F - Carmelo Anthony
- 22.2 points, 10 rebounds
Melo left a major mark on college basketball by leading the Cuse to a national title in 2003. He went on to be in one the best draft classes in NBA history and left Syracuse fans wondering just how many titles they could have won with the likes of Anthony, Warrick, McNamara and others.
F - Kevin Durant
-25.8 points, 11.1 rebounds, 40% 3 point
Another freshman who had a monster year before leaving for the NBA, Durant captivated the fans of college basketball during 2007. The wiry player could score from anywhere, as he had 30 of 35 games over 20 points.
F- Tyler Hansbrough
-20.2 points, 8.6 rebounds
We touched on Hansbrough in the last post as he will go down as one of the best ACC players of all time. Hansbrough was a steady contributor for all 4 years of his career and ended his career as the leading scorer in the ACC.
Second Team:
G: Chris Paul: Wake Forest
G: JJ Redick: Duke
F: Adam Morrison: Gonzaga
F: Blake Griffin: Oklahoma
F: Shane Battier: Duke
The second team is headlined by a pair of Dukies in Redick and Battier. We have no one and dones on the list, as both Griffin and Paul stayed for their sophomore seasons before leaving for the greener pastures of the NBA. We also have a great individual rivalry between Redick and Morrison (although the two teams never met and both had their season end in disappointment).
The second team was a hard decision as their were many great players left (TJ Ford, Ty Lawson, Joakim Noah, Michael Beasley, Ben Gordon, etc).
Any egregious errors? Any changes you would make?
Showing posts with label Wake Forest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wake Forest. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Comparison: Tim Duncan vs. Tyler Hansbrough
One of the features on this site is going to be player comparisons from different eras. I am not going to research the comparison going on, they will simply be similar players from different eras. I will then present the comparison, give my opinion and open it up for comments.
The first one is between two of the best big men to patrol the paint in the ACC: Tim Duncan vs. Tyler Hansbrough
Statsheet.com gives us their senior year comparison:
Senior Year
What jumps out at me from that single year comparison is that Hansbrough was a significantly better scorer that season. Despite the fact that he used fewer possessions (26.5 to Duncan's 29.7) and averaged fewer minutes per game, he scored the same amount of points per game (which obviously translates into a higher points per 40). This was a bit shocking for me at first, as I did not think Hansbrough was as big a factor in the offensive game his senior year but he still managed to be better than Duncan.
Obviously though, basketball is just not about points and this is where Duncan shines. He averaged 6 more rebounds, 2 more assists and 3 more blocks than Hansbrough did that season. Hansbrough was too busy adjusting his shorts to be an asset to the UNC team on the defensive end.
Duncan was a defensive force in the middle for the Demon Deacons as he won Defensive Player of the Year (national) 3 straight seasons! Although he was often the second offensive option on Wake behind Randolph Childress, he was invaluable on the defensive end.
We see similar trends throughout the careers of these two players. Let's compare the two careers side by side on a per game basis.
Duncan: 16.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.8 blocks, 2.6 turnovers, 57% FG, 69% FT
Hansbrough: 20.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 blocks, (no turnover stats), 53% FG, 79% FT
As you can see, similar trends of the senior season affect the career of these players. Duncan was more of an all around force while Hansbrough made his mark 15 feet and in on the offensive end. Duncan was in double digit rebounds all but one year (freshman: 9.6) while Hansbrough reached that mark only once.
The main factor that separates these two players for me is the defense. As mentioned, Duncan was a 3 time DPOY while Hansbrough was not seen as a defensive liability but it was definitely not his strength and I think as though teams felt they could attack him with their post players.
What we have here is two of the great forwards in all-time ACC history. Team success and media hype may lead you to believe that Hansbrough was better than Duncan but this is not a team comparison here. There is no doubt (eschewing NBA comparisons) that Duncan was the better college player. He was similar on the offensive end, controlled the glass and was one of the top defensive players to play the game.
Let's go to the results:
Due to the fact that Hansbrough was a great offensive player and all he did for his team, he is no doubt going to go down as a top ACC player of all time. He can't live up to the contributions that Duncan gave to his team on both ends of the court, however, as he fell short in all other categories. This may look close in theory but the stats show that Duncan was an all around better player.
Duncan >> Hansbrough
Rating system:
= : Comparison is too close to call
> : Slight edge
>> : One player was significantly better
>>> : Call up AAA, this comparison was not even close
>>>> : Comparison was a waste of time, it's obvious who is better (hopefully it will never come to this)
The first one is between two of the best big men to patrol the paint in the ACC: Tim Duncan vs. Tyler Hansbrough
Statsheet.com gives us their senior year comparison:
Senior Year
What jumps out at me from that single year comparison is that Hansbrough was a significantly better scorer that season. Despite the fact that he used fewer possessions (26.5 to Duncan's 29.7) and averaged fewer minutes per game, he scored the same amount of points per game (which obviously translates into a higher points per 40). This was a bit shocking for me at first, as I did not think Hansbrough was as big a factor in the offensive game his senior year but he still managed to be better than Duncan.
Obviously though, basketball is just not about points and this is where Duncan shines. He averaged 6 more rebounds, 2 more assists and 3 more blocks than Hansbrough did that season. Hansbrough was too busy adjusting his shorts to be an asset to the UNC team on the defensive end.
Duncan was a defensive force in the middle for the Demon Deacons as he won Defensive Player of the Year (national) 3 straight seasons! Although he was often the second offensive option on Wake behind Randolph Childress, he was invaluable on the defensive end.
We see similar trends throughout the careers of these two players. Let's compare the two careers side by side on a per game basis.
Duncan: 16.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 3.8 blocks, 2.6 turnovers, 57% FG, 69% FT
Hansbrough: 20.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.5 blocks, (no turnover stats), 53% FG, 79% FT
As you can see, similar trends of the senior season affect the career of these players. Duncan was more of an all around force while Hansbrough made his mark 15 feet and in on the offensive end. Duncan was in double digit rebounds all but one year (freshman: 9.6) while Hansbrough reached that mark only once.
The main factor that separates these two players for me is the defense. As mentioned, Duncan was a 3 time DPOY while Hansbrough was not seen as a defensive liability but it was definitely not his strength and I think as though teams felt they could attack him with their post players.
What we have here is two of the great forwards in all-time ACC history. Team success and media hype may lead you to believe that Hansbrough was better than Duncan but this is not a team comparison here. There is no doubt (eschewing NBA comparisons) that Duncan was the better college player. He was similar on the offensive end, controlled the glass and was one of the top defensive players to play the game.
Let's go to the results:
Due to the fact that Hansbrough was a great offensive player and all he did for his team, he is no doubt going to go down as a top ACC player of all time. He can't live up to the contributions that Duncan gave to his team on both ends of the court, however, as he fell short in all other categories. This may look close in theory but the stats show that Duncan was an all around better player.
Duncan >> Hansbrough
Rating system:
= : Comparison is too close to call
> : Slight edge
>> : One player was significantly better
>>> : Call up AAA, this comparison was not even close
>>>> : Comparison was a waste of time, it's obvious who is better (hopefully it will never come to this)
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