Comparing and contrasting Kyrie Irving and Mike Conley’s surprisingly similar analytics
By Ian Pierno
Shot Preference
Player A
- Catch and shoot: 15.1% frequency
- Pull Ups: 44.4% frequency
- Less than 10ft: 38.6% frequency
- Other: 1.8% frequency
Player B
- Catch and shoot: 19.3% frequency
- Pull Ups: 42.1% frequency
- Less than 10ft: 38.1% frequency
- Other: 0.6% frequency
This time, Conley is player “B.” It doesn’t really much matter, though, as the duo share a similar preference in what kind of shots they take. As a matter of fact, they both pulled up at almost the exact same frequency and the area in which they differed the most—catch and shoots—they both had the exact same effective field goal percentage of 51.9.
Where the two differ greatly, though, is in isolation play. Irving nearly triples Conley in isolation attempts (153 to 56). That didn’t mean better production, though, as Conley’s 1.02 points per possession was in the 89th percentile amongst all NBA players with at least ten attempts, as compared to 0.95 PPP for Irving (percentile: 80.1).
That being said, Irving and his dazzling crossovers make him arguably the most fun isolation player in the league to watch.
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