Fun with Numbers
Which one of these things is not like the others?

All stats are per 40 minutes played (2003-04)

Player	Rebounds	Steals	Blocks
A	8.41	2.00	1.57
B	8.83	2.08	0.90
C	12.33	3.99	2.05

Based on these numbers, can you determine the identity of the mystery Big Ten Players (they're all players who played in the conference last year for the same team they will play with this year)? It's admittedly difficult without knowing any further information, so I'll supply some hints.

• Player C's rebounding and steals averages - per 40 minutes, remember - led the conference. Player C's blocks average for blocks ranked fourth.
• Since we've established that we're dealing with decent rebounders and shot blockers, we'll narrow the list down to post players.
• Two of the players are members of this season's Pre-Season All-Conference Team.

Give up?

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

Player A is Wisconsin senior Mike Wilkinson.

. . .

Player B is junior Paul Davis of Michigan State.

. . .

Player C is sophomore Pat Ewing Jr. from Indiana.

"Pat Ewing? He didn't do anything last year." Well, that's debatabe. While Ewing only averaged 11.8 minutes a game last year, he was damn productive when he was on the court. In only 331 minutes of playing time last year, he managed to grab 102 rebounds, 33 steals, and swat 17 shots. One might expect him to put up respectable numbers if he was given a chance to play. Indeed, in Indiana's first exhibition game, Ewing led the Hoosiers with 22 points and 9 rebounds in just 19 minutes off the bench. However, he'll have a difficult time getting many minutes this year. According to Athlon Sports, Indiana frontcourt recruits D.J. White and Robert Vaden are the 8th and 15th best college freshmen in the country, and both players started ahead of Ewing in the opening exhibition game last week.

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