Say My Name, B****
Here's a fun little comparison I came up with when I was updating some numbers today. I was surprised how similar these two guys's performances were this year, and maybe you will be too.

***If the table doesn't appear directly below this text, try shrinking your text size a little.***

Player	O Rt	%poss	adjFG%	TS%	FT/FG	FT%	Reb%	Pass	TO/p	B/40	Stl%
Player A	122	26.8%	0.598	0.677	0.78	0.80	15.3%	4.6	0.21	2.6	0.9%
Player B	120	28.0%	0.625	0.661	0.75	0.68	14.5%	4.5	0.19	1.0	1.7%

Note - when I use FT/FG in a table, I almost always use it as an abbreviation for FTA/FGA.
Stats Glossary

Both guys played over 30 mpg at power forward for major conference teams. Player A won his conference's Player of the Year Award, while Player B couldn't crack his conference's First Team (in fairness, Player B did miss 2 conference games, but the writers of Conference B clearly weren't concerned with playing time, as they selected a player who missed 3 games to the First Team) . Player A is foregoing his senior season to become a likely first round pick in the NBA draft, while Player B will be returning for his senior year without much fanfare. Player A played with three guys who shot at least 34% on threes, while Player B had no such fortune (among teammates who made at least 20 threes).

Player A's numbers probably look familiar because I just profiled him a few days ago. He's Arizona State's Ike Diogu. He won Player of the Year in the Pac 10 and has conditionally entered the NBA draft.

Player B is a guy much appreciated by myself and, from what I gather, the Big Ten Wonk. He's Carl Landry of Purdue. Did anyone besides John notice that Landry shot 62% this year while being Purdue's only legitimate offensive threat?

I'm not here to argue that Landry had a better season than Diogu; I just wanted to point out how similar the two players are. You could probably argue that Diogu is overrated and Landry is underrated; I lean more toward the latter. Some further observations -

- Landry shot better from the field, but Diogu was able to make up the gap with much better free throw shooting to finish with a similar true shot % (which measure scoring efficiency both field goals and free throws)

- Diogu played 36 mpg to Landry's 30, so his per game numbers tend to look more impressive, despite the two players' similar production outlined in the table above.

- Landry is a solid offensive rebounder but disappears at the defensive end, with a rebounding line of 13.4 / 15.6 / 14.5 (Oreb% / Dreb% / Reb%); Diogu is a decent defensive rebounder who is less than impressive at offensive rebounding. His line - 11.6 / 18.9 / 15.3.

Closing Thought
If Landry can add 5-10% to his FT%, he's my early favorite for next year's Big Ten Player of the Year.
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