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Comparing and contrasting Kyrie Irving and Mike Conley’s surprisingly similar analytics

By Ian Pierno

Oct 22, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) defends against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2014; Memphis, TN, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) defends against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) during the first half at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports /
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Advanced Stats

For anyone that needs a quick crash course on what these statistics below mean, check out this Basketball-Reference.com link.

PLAYER A

PLAYER B

19.4

PER 19.9 .538 True Shooting %

.540

.309 3-Point Attempt Rate

.298

.329

Free Throw Rate .217 5.3 Rebound %

5.3

32.7

Assist % 26.6 2.0 Steal %

1.7

9.5 Turnover %

11.4

22.4

Usage % 29.5 5.3 Win Shares

5.0

.144

Win Shares per 48 Minutes

.143

1.7 Box Plus/Minus

1.6

1.7 Value Over Replacement Player

1.5

Wow. Almost identical, am I right? Mike Conley is player “A” and Kyrie Irving is “B.” One glaring difference between the two players is Conley’s advantage via assists and turnovers (4.07 assist to turnover ratio). His free throw rate is higher, but he only made 0.2 free throws more than Irving per game, a negligible difference. A stat that will shock many was how those win shares were accumulated for each player (offensive vs. defensive), but we’ll get into that soon.

Also worth noting, Conley and Irving had very similar numbers in “player impact estimate,” a figure used to determine what percentage of a game’s events that player contributed to. Conley was at 12.9 last season, while Irving’s estimate was 12.2. Though, it can’t be forgotten that Irving plays alongside arguably the the NBA’s best all-around player ever, LeBron James.

Next: Pick and Roll Ball Handling

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