DCZards wrote:nate33 wrote:DCZards wrote:Jayson Tatum
27p-8r-4a-3 TOs
49-36-80%
Kyle Kuzma
27p-7r-5a-2 TOs
47-36-82%
I agree that Kuzma has been playing very well, but this comparison is a bit misleading.
The proportion of shots taken from 3's and FT's matter too, not just the percentages. Tatum has a TS% of .617. Kuzma's is .562. That's a pretty big difference. It's why Tatum is All-NBA 1st team and Kuzma probably won't make the All Star game.
Of course, you’re right.
But I’d also note that Tatum is playing alongside Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown and KP most nights. Kuz is playing with a group of starters who would probably be bench players on most teams.
OTOH, last year Kuz played alongside KP & Beal -- & he was far worse than he is this year.
OTOH, Kuz's best year by far was 2020-21, when he played alongside LeBron & AD. But, he was nowhere near Tatum that year either
All the same, the comparison you draw is interesting -- it provides a lot of valuable info.
We can compare the two guys' numbers per 36 minutes here:
https://stathead.com/basketball/versus-finder.cgi?player_id2=tatumja01&year_min=2024&player_id1=kuzmaky01&seasons_type=forall&request=1&utm_campaign=2023_01_wdgt_player_comparison&utm_source=bbr&utm_medium=sr_xsite&utm_id=kuzmaky01To learn something about the two guys' similarities & differences, let's look at their numbers. Now... numbers don't tell us everything by any means, but numbers over a significant sample also do not lie. They are real.
Start by looking at everything but scoring for a moment -- then, obviously, we'll come back to the two guys as scorers.
For starters, here's how I come up with a numeric total. It's very similar to how YODA works:
a. I rate each offensive board & each steal as a positive 1.
b. I rate each defensive rebound, each assist & each block as a positive .5.
On the negative side:
b. I rate each turnover as a negative 1.
b. I rate each foul as a negative .5.
Per 36 minutes, on non-scoring stuff Tatum is at +3.6 overall while Kuz is at +4.1 overall.
That's a notable (but not huge) advantage.
Then there's scoring. & as nate points out, in this arena the difference is extremely big! In Tatum's favor. Every 36 minutes, Kuz uses 2.6 more possessions than Tatum but only gets .4 more points than Tatum.
No comparison.