Bogut Vs. Bynum

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

Hey,  whatsup y'all?

The NBA Finals is going on right now, (As if you haven't been reminded enough), and what Finals would be complete without the Lakers and Celtics battling it out in an epic clash of cliche teams?   ...Yeah, I hate it too, but it's been an entertaining series, to say the least.

One of the overused story-lines from this Finals, besides the whole "Historic rivalry"  thing, is  Andrew Bynum and his bum knee of doom.    Yeah, a good center who can never stay healthy.    Does this sound familiar?

So, as we struggle to find things to talk about when it comes to the Bucks,  I think I've found something worthy of our discussing. Andrew Bogut Vs. Andrew Bynum.  Which is the better center?

  So, we know the facts. Our Andrew is 25.  Theirs is 22.  However, despite this, both of them were taken in the same draft.   And we of course know Awesome Aussie was the very first pick in the draft.  Bynum, meanwhile, slipped his way down to 10th, which probably had to do with the fact that he was only in high school.  Not only that, but he would be the youngest player ever to be drafted by an NBA team.  Mr. Bynum struggled to find playing time early, playing just 7 minutes in 46 games in his rookie season, but he continued to improve his scoring averages each year with the, ahem, help of a certain Hall of Famer.  Thanks Kareem, why couldn't you work with OUR young center? .

Meanwhile, Bogut was also a role playing center, but obviously got off to a better start to his career, but for the number 1 pick, he was somewhat a disappointment, until he broke out onto the scene this year.

This year, they both had  eerily similar stat lines.

As you can see, they basically had the same Player Efficiency rating.    Heck, they basically had the same everything.  However, the two stats that held the biggest difference:

Blocks: Only Dwight Howard had more blocks than Bogut this year, so Bogut has the edge hear, out-blocking Bynum 2.5 to 1.4 per game.

Field Goal percentage:  Both players made the same amount of Field Goals per game, however, Bynum took less attempts, leading in the FG perc. .570 to .520.

As you can see, if you went solely by the stats, you wouldn't see much of a difference.  So guess what we're going to do next? ...Look at more stats!

How did they fare against each other?

From their first meeting this season on December 16th:

As you can see, Bogut got the better of Bynum that night, as the PER would show, but shot a mediocre 6 of 16 from the field.  Bynum was more efficient, but only took six shots.  I guess on a team with Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant and Ron "Crazy Pills" Artest, I guess there aren't enough shots to go around.

Round two. Ding ding!

Besides the fact that this was an embarrassing game for the Bucks, and also notable for being the game that Sir Michael Redd was mercifully relieved of his duties,  Mr. Bogut got very much dominated by Bynum in this game, no contest.  Bynum even beat him at his own game, blocking 3 shots while Bogut got a zero. Zilch.  Nada.

Also, this has nothing to do with this article, but Kobe had a PER of zero in this game.  We win.

And since I know you guys loved it the first two times, We're going to look at-wait for it- More stats!  Shot location stats, to be specific.  Which also happens to be one of my favorite type of stats

Note: If your not sure what some of these stats mean, Hoopdata provides some insight.

One of the surprising developments in Bogut's game this year was his shots withing 10 feet.  in fact, he by far led the league in attempts from that range.  Bynum took considerably less, but made them at a slightly higher rate.    Bynum was also slightly better finishing around the rim.  However, Bogut made a higher amount of these shots with out being assisted on.  Neither of them took many or made many shots from 10 to 23 feet, so those numbers are fairly irrelevant.

So, we've looked at all these stats to death, and what have we seen? They are just too similar to make a good judgment based solely on stats, but they provide insight. How Anti-Climactic, yes I know.  Bynum's youth means he could have a higher ceiling than Bogut.  He definitely has the better athleticism.  Although I've heard some people claim he has superior footwork around the basket to Bogut as well.  Whether that's true or not is for you to decide.

And so, there you have it, a product of boredom.  I had only made one FanPost before, so I decided to post something mildly relevant that didn't have to do with the draft.  So, I will leave you with a parting poll.