Atlanta Hawks Young Guns and 2004-05 Phoenix Suns: Not So Different?
By Chris Guest
John Collins = Amar’e Stoudemire
A physical marvel, Amar’e Stoudemire was among the most enjoyable players to watch in the early 2000s on the Suns. His high-flying, authoritative dunks were among the most awe-inspiring in the league at that time.
He served as a perfect foil for Nash – able to finish plays at the rim that Nash passed him open for and cleaning up three-point misses around the rim to the tune of a stupendous 61.7 true shooting percentage.
Stoudemire was so integral to the Suns’ offense that year that he actually led the team in scoring at 26 points per game. Beyond that, his Player Efficiency Rating per Basketball Reference of 26.6 led the team by a wide margin, and he tallied an almost unbelievable 237 dunks on the season – many of them rim-rocking feats of athleticism that left viewers with their mouth agape.
Similar to those Suns, the Atlanta Hawks have a 21-year-old talent that is producing some sterling offensive numbers himself in his second year. Though he has yet to fully get the national coverage he truly deserves, Collins is having a stunning second season and he is on pace to notch over 160 dunks – a lofty total not unlike his predecessor Stoudemire.
Furthermore, Collins’s lack of defensive counting stats drag his overall advanced metrics down somewhat, as his offensive box plus/minus of 2.7 is first on the Hawks by a wide margin. Similarly, his overall box plus/minus of 1.4 make him the only player on the Hawks with a BPM of more than one.
Stoudemire’s numbers were, of course, better as the Suns were amazing that season, but his defensive box plus/minus of a neutral 0.0 was rather surprising considering his 1.6 blocks per game and 1.0 steals per game.
Perhaps the most glaring similarity between these two players is the way in which both players lived above the rim and served as their team’s best rim-runner. Just look at the highlights of JC and compare them to the above highlights of Stoudemire from 04-05; the resemblance is uncanny.
Let’s move on to the final comparison.