LeBron vs. Terrence: the rookie years

[Vuchato]

I initially was just going to check how Terrence's rebounding and assist numbers against other rookies measured up. I tried a few sites but didn't find how to compare rookies from different years without looking specifically at two players rookie years (which is what I ended up doing). I also checked his numbers since the all star break this season compared to the rest of the small forwards in the league, and per minute, he is second only to LeBron in assists, and 4th in rebounds, behind DeMarre Carroll, Mbah a Moute, and Gerald Wallace, not bad company.

I decided to look at Terrence's rookie year against the best, so I checked his rookie year stats against LeBron's. Here's what I got, though badly formatted.

The numbers are per 40 pace adjusted if applicable.
LeBron(19) Terrence(22) LeBron(22)
Points 20.8 15.0 26.7
FGA 18.7 15.0 20.3
Assists 5.8 5.0 5.9
Rebounds 5.4 7.8 6.6
Blocks .7 .2 .7
Steals 1.6 1.0 1.6
Fouls 1.9 2.9 2.1
Turnovers 3.4 2.8 3.1
FG% 41.7 39.4 47.6
3P% 29.0 32.6 31.9
FT% 75.4 70.8 69.8
eFG% .44 .42 .51
TS% .48 .45 .55
FTA/FGA .31 .23 .43
3PA/FGA .15 .16 .19
AST/FGA .31 .33 .29
AST/TO 1.70 1.76 1.88

The major differences between rookies:
LeBron scored a lot more, and took a lot more shots. however it wound up evening out so that they had very close eFG% and TS%.
LeBron got almost an assist more than Terrence, but again, they wound up with similar ratios, getting an assist for every three field goals attempted, and about 5 assists for every 3 turnovers.
Terrence got about 2 and a half more rebounds.
LeBron got about .5 more blocks and steals, and Terrence got an extra foul.
LeBron also turned the ball over about .5 more times.
LeBron also got to the line with better frequency.
They shot fairly similar percentages across the board, LeBron better inside the arc and from the line, but Terrence was better from deep.

What this seems to say, is basically LeBron was used more by the team on offense, while Terrence was a much better rebounder. Of course, Terrence was also 3 years older.

^after writing that I added LeBron's age 22 season to the comparison.
The major differences between 22 year olds:
LeBron's major improvement was his efficiency, which was bad as a rookie, but good at this point, mainly by scoring at a higher percentage inside the arc, and getting to the line more often. The rest of the numbers are quite similar, aside from getting about 1 more rebound per game, which Terrence still has the edge in.

What was the point of this post? research mainly. But it seems that if Terrence can improve his efficiency a lot, then we could have the next LeBron on our hands. (to join the next Duncan and the next Iverson).

[MyNetsForLife]

Really good read, Vuchato.

Any chance we can compare TWill's numbers from March on?

[Vuchato]

LeBron(19) Terrence(22) LeBron(22) Terrence(March&April)
Points 20.8 15.0 26.7 19.0
FGA 18.7 15.0 20.3 16.9
Assists 5.8 5.0 5.9 7.1
Rebounds 5.4 7.8 6.6 8.6
Blocks .7 .2 .7 .3
Steals 1.6 1.0 1.6 .7
Fouls 1.9 2.9 2.1 2.1
Turnovers 3.4 2.8 3.1 2.6
FG% 41.7 39.4 47.6 43.6
3P% 29.0 32.6 31.9 36.4
FT% 75.4 70.8 69.8 72.1
eFG% .44 .42 .51 .46
TS% .48 .45 .55 .50
FTA/FGA .31 .23 .43 .28
3PA/FGA .15 .16 .19 .14
AST/FGA .31 .33 .29 .42
AST/TO 1.70 1.76 1.88 2.68

I added TS% to this and the first post. Terrence's March and April aren't pace adjusted because I don't feel like bothering with it since its a small difference anyway.

Basically, over the past two months, he's been a far superior rebounder and passer than LeBron was as a rookie and a 22 year old in his 4th year. More efficient than LeBron in his rookie year, somewhat in the middle of LeBron as a rookie and LeBron as a 22 year old. Needs to still work on getting to the line and converting inside the arc, but if he can improve half as much over the offseason as he did since the beginning of the season and he could be an all star next year. (assuming these two months have been legit)

[kromesome]

Really good read man, must have taken you a while to put together. Much appreciated. I'm really looking forwards to seeing if Terrence can be as consistently good over a whole season as he has been these past two months

[jirohkanzaki]

nice piece on t-will...thanks!

[D-Lightning]

T-Will's passing ability is very reminiscent of Lebrons, they both are excellent at rebounding and have strong bodies to drive the ball. If TWill shoots like he did for the past 2 months over the stretch of an entire season he can put up very respectable numbers.

TWill could turn into a poor mans Lebron James, this shouldnt be considered an insult. I just dont think TWill will ever be the type of scorer James is, although I'm all for him proving me wrong. I think Twill can be a guy who averages 17ppg 7assists 7rebs, which is still a special player.

The guy has triple double potential on a nightly basis and is a freak athlete. Lets face it hes going to win the Slam Dunk Contest next season.

[MyNetsForLife]

T-Will's passing ability is very reminiscent of Lebrons, they both are excellent at rebounding and have strong bodies to drive the ball. If TWill shoots like he did for the past 2 months over the stretch of an entire season he can put up very respectable numbers.

TWill could turn into a poor mans Lebron James, this shouldnt be considered an insult. I just dont think TWill will ever be the type of scorer James is, although I'm all for him proving me wrong. I think Twill can be a guy who averages 17ppg 7assists 7rebs, which is still a special player.

The guy has triple double potential on a nightly basis and is a freak athlete. Lets face it hes going to win the Slam Dunk Contest next season.

John Schuhmann agrees with you.

[Accelerate]

Your table sucks but I'm not fixing it.