Caleb Swanigan vs. Nick Ward

I am usually not a fan of these comparisons, but whatever...

Swanigan is a beast right now. He is currently averaging 19 points and 13 rebounds per game. He is coming off a 28 point 22 rebound performance in Purdue's loss to Minnesota. He has a double-double in all but three games this season, has reached 20 points 20 rebounds four times, and delivered a 32 point 20 rebound game just before Christmas.

At 6'8 250 pounds, Ward is playing the role 6'9 250 pound Swanigan would be playing for MSU had he stayed committed. Ward is now 15 games into his freshmen season. So where was Swanigan 15 games into his freshman season?

Swanigan finished his freshman season averaging 10 points and 8 rebounds, but after 15 games was averaging approximately 9 points and 9 rebounds. Ward is giving MSU 14 points and 7 rebounds per game. Ward is doing it on fewer minutes, too. Ward has only played more than 20 minutes six times, where Swanigan never played fewer than 22 minutes in his first 15 games. While Ward is averaging fewer boards, he averages more blocks per game than Swanigan totalled in his first 15 games. Swanigan also turned the ball over more frequently, but that might be a bit of a wash since he averaged a greater number of assists per game than Ward.

By now we all know Ward is a special player. I have no idea what his trajectory will be, but I found these stats interesting.

i nominate this for thread of the year.

SeeRockCity wrote:i nominate this for thread of the year.

I think I had looked at Zach Randolph's freshman stats and Wards are actually better.
Maybe is a little dangerous comparing vs a projection but that is where he is at now.

I'll get the rest of the metrics put in here but here are the per game stats first, and by my initial observation PER favors Ward, so give me Ward all day.

Edit: Added Per40







Key:
G -- Games
MP -- Minutes Played
PER -- Player Efficiency Rating
TS% -- True Shooting Percentage
A measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account 2-point field goals, 3-point field goals, and free throws.
eFG% -- Effective Field Goal Percentage; this statistic adjusts for the fact that a 3-point field goal is worth one more point than a 2-point field goal.
3PAr -- 3-Point Attempt Rate
Percentage of FG Attempts from 3-Point Range
FTr -- Free Throw Attempt Rate
Number of FT Attempts Per FG Attempt
PProd -- Points Produced; an estimate of the player's offensive points produced.
ORB% -- Offensive Rebound Percentage; an estimate of the percentage of available offensive rebounds a player grabbed while he was on the floor.
DRB% -- Defensive Rebound Percentage; an estimate of the percentage of available defensive rebounds a player grabbed while he was on the floor.
TRB% -- Total Rebound Percentage
An estimate of the percentage of available rebounds a player grabbed while he was on the floor.
AST% -- Assist Percentage
An estimate of the percentage of teammate field goals a player assisted while he was on the floor.
STL% -- Steal Percentage
An estimate of the percentage of opponent possessions that end with a steal by the player while he was on the floor.
BLK% -- Block Percentage
An estimate of the percentage of opponent two-point field goal attempts blocked by the player while he was on the floor.
TOV% -- Turnover Percentage; an estimate of turnovers per 100 plays.
USG% -- Usage Percentage; an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor.
OWS -- Offensive Win Shares; an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player due to his offense.
DWS -- Defensive Win Shares; an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player due to his defense.
WS -- Win Shares; an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player due to his offense and defense.
WS/40 -- Win Shares Per 40 Minutes; an estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player per 40 minutes (average is approximately .100).
OBPM -- Offensive Box Plus/Minus
A box score estimate of the offensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player, translated to an average team.
DBPM -- Defensive Box Plus/Minus
A box score estimate of the defensive points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player, translated to an average team.
BPM -- Box Plus/Minus
A box score estimate of the points per 100 possessions a player contributed above a league-average player, translated to an average team.

SeeRockCity wrote:i nominate this for thread of the year.

And this for post of the year.

I did not include FG percentage. Ward is incredibly effective right now.

sorry didn't mean the bombard the whole page with stats and then a key but it was the only way....


Per Game, Per 40 and advanced are above at post #5

What is everyone trying so hard to prove and what difference will it make?

I'm not sure the stats tell the entire story but I am obviously really impressed with Ward's play so far this year.

Swanigan has more range and better ball handling/passing than Ward so he can stretch defenses a bit better, but Ward seems much more comfortable in the paint than Swanigan was his freshman year.

BleacherSwill wrote:What is everyone trying so hard to prove and what difference will it make?

I do not think we are trying to prove anything. It is a simple observation. Ward has played extremely well relative to a prize recruit MSU lost after the same amount of games.

Swanigan is the best player in the big ten I think. Ward is good but he's just not on that level yet.

NigelUno wrote:

BleacherSwill wrote:What is everyone trying so hard to prove and what difference will it make?

What are you trying to prove?

Don't you just wish you could down vote me for asking the relevance question.

BleacherSwill wrote:What is everyone trying so hard to prove and what difference will it make?

It makes none. And I am feeling very sick and ill tonight

Herbie Green wrote:

BleacherSwill wrote:What is everyone trying so hard to prove and what difference will it make?

It makes none. And I am feeling very sick and ill tonight

You been drinking milk with Hatchers kid???