From: tamada@cheshire.oxy.edu (Michael K. Tamada)
Subject: Re: Manning/Laettner Trade Rumours
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 USA.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 21 Jan 1993 07:28:02 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.051024.1463@cis.uab.edu> beegle@ftp.phy.uab.edu (BadSpeller!) writes:
>In article <1993Jan21.041101.16630@cheshire.oxy.edu> tamada@cheshire.oxy.edu (Michael K. Tamada) writes:

>>     Yow!  Maybe you're thinking of Ken Norman, or ex-Clipper Charles
>>Smith.  Manning vs. Laettner, THIS season, is no contest:
>>
>>          PTs  Rbds Ast  Stl TO   Blk   FG%
>>Manning  22.2  6.7  2.9  1.4 3.0  1.5  .498
>>Laettner 18.3  8.0  2.3   .9 3.2  1.2  .480
>>
>
>NO contest, they look as about as even as your going to get. 
>Why do you think the Manning is sooooo much better then Laettner?
>IMHO they are playing pretty much the same..

     Watch the Clips play, and you'll see what I mean.  Danny is THE
MAN on a decent ball club.  Laettner may deserve to be the main man on 
his but he isn't.  He shares the spotlight with Person (yes I know
Person is no All-star, he only thinks he is, but he is still a major
player on that club).  For that matter, Laettner isn't even the
leading scorer on his club, as of last week at least (West led the
club in scoring).
     All of which would be fine if the Wolves were say 1st or 2d in
their division.  But they're not a good team this year.  So Laettner
is one of three main guys on a poor ballclub, and Manning is MVP
of a good ballclub.  I say that makes Manning's season a heck of
a lot better than Laettner's.  (Yes yes I know Manning has the
benefit of better teammates than Laettner.  That's not the point,
the point is who's the leader of the succesful team, vs who's
one of a trio on a bad team.)
     To look at it another way, let's look at those stats:  if you
want to call those stats "even as your going to get," go ahead.
I think those stats indicate one player having a better season than
the other.  
     Some examples: if you really want to see
stats that are "even as you're going to get", compare Laettner's to
Person's:  except for FG% (and Person's 3-pointers actually put him
close to Laettner when you add them in) and blocked shots, they 
could be twins -- except Person gets more than twice as many assists
as Laettner.
     So Laettner is mighty close to Person statistically.  Person never
has played in an All-star game and he isn't going to this year.  
Neither will Laettner.  Manning will.  (And not as a starter, voted 
in by ballot-stuffing fans.  He'll be a coaches' selection.)
     If you really want to see some statistics that are "as close as 
you're going to get" to Laettner's, then check out Sam Perkins:

            PTs  Rbds Ast  Stl TO   Blk   FG%  FG%, adding 1pt for 3pters
  Manning  22.2  6.7  2.9  1.4 3.0  1.5  .498  .498
  Laettner 18.3  8.0  2.3   .9 3.2  1.2  .480  .484
  Person   17.6  7.7  4.8  1.0 3.1   .4  .439  .481
  Perkins  14.6  7.7  2.5   .8 1.6  1.0  .475  .482
     
      Perkins is a mighty fine player, probably an underrated one because
he plays better smarter ball than his stats indicate.  But like Person
he's never been an All-star and in all likelihood never will be one.
     
    Clarifying notes:  let me make it clear that I do NOT believe that
these 4 players have statistics that are as "close as you're going to get"
-- that is the opinion of beegle@ftp.phy.uab.edu, not my opinion.  I 
think these stats show that Manning is having a substantially better year 
than the other 3 players.
     I am not anti-Laettner; I don't follow college basketball very
closely (relatively speaking at least) and I don't have any ill will
or antipathy toward him.  As I mentioned in my original 
article, he is having a very fine rookie season, the sort of rookie
season that quite commonly leads to future all-star appearances.
And as I also mentioned, it will take several years before we know
who is going to have the better overall NBA career: could be Manning,
could be Laettner.
     But as for this season:  I've watched Danny Manning play.  I know 
Danny Manning's abilities.  Danny Manning is a favorite player of mine. 
Mr. Laettner, you're no Danny Manning. 
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