Your post was clear as I hope was mine. I never claimed that you demeaned anything about Cameron Boozer because you clearly did not. I merely implied that you demeaned one of the arcane statistical accomplishments that I presented concerning him.
You correctly pointed out that I purposefully used screens that were specifically designed to barely include Cameron while excluding as many other players as possible. And I appreciate your perspective, which as I noted is a perspective widely shared by many.
I just happen to politely disagree with you that it is not particularly impressive to score more total points (during just the regular season) than any of the 1,500+ NCAA players who have exceeded your shooting percentages from both inside and outside the three point arc has scored in an entire NCAA season over the last 40 NCAA seasons. I find Cameron's two and three point shooting percentages alone very impressive, and I find the historic volume of points he has scored at those shooting percentages stunning.
Now, is this the best possible way to illustrate Boozer's offensive prowess compared to all other players in NCAA history? Obviously not, so I appreciate your cogent criticism. To me, the best possible manner would be some measure that integrates a player's usage with his overall offensive efficiency. Unfortunately, in the database I am utilizing, usage stats go back only to the 2002-03 season, and offensive rating statistics only go back until 2004-05 season while two and three point percentage statistics go back to the 1986-87 season.
However, after further investigation, I found that true shooting percentage goes all the way back to the 1948-49 season.
So here are the most points scored per game since the 1948-49 season by any player whose true shooting percentage exceeds that of Cameron Boozer so far this season (minimum 25 games played).
And here are the most overall points scored in a season by any player whose true shooting percentage exceeds that of Cameron Boozer so far this season.
I find the fact that Cameron is already up to 20th on the latter list with up to 10 more games on Duke's schedule very impressive. That Cameron needs just 21 more points to pass Billy McCaffery is something I also find intriguing. Frankly, I did not realize just how impressive Billy McCaffrey's offensive efficiency was his junior season at Vanderbilt. I also find that fact that Cameron could potentially pass both Zion Williamson and Christian Laettner on this list with 72 more points very compelling. And I don't think the fact that I purposefully screened out all players whose true shooting percentage is less than Cameron's current 67.4% is problematic in any way. In fact, using this sort of screening was basically the point of the entire exercise because scoring a lot of points with high efficiency is what makes a great offensive player a great offensive player.
TLDR: I am an admitted geek who finds slicing and dicing all sorts of basketball statistics interesting. YMMV.
You correctly pointed out that I purposefully used screens that were specifically designed to barely include Cameron while excluding as many other players as possible. And I appreciate your perspective, which as I noted is a perspective widely shared by many.
I just happen to politely disagree with you that it is not particularly impressive to score more total points (during just the regular season) than any of the 1,500+ NCAA players who have exceeded your shooting percentages from both inside and outside the three point arc has scored in an entire NCAA season over the last 40 NCAA seasons. I find Cameron's two and three point shooting percentages alone very impressive, and I find the historic volume of points he has scored at those shooting percentages stunning.
Now, is this the best possible way to illustrate Boozer's offensive prowess compared to all other players in NCAA history? Obviously not, so I appreciate your cogent criticism. To me, the best possible manner would be some measure that integrates a player's usage with his overall offensive efficiency. Unfortunately, in the database I am utilizing, usage stats go back only to the 2002-03 season, and offensive rating statistics only go back until 2004-05 season while two and three point percentage statistics go back to the 1986-87 season.
However, after further investigation, I found that true shooting percentage goes all the way back to the 1948-49 season.
So here are the most points scored per game since the 1948-49 season by any player whose true shooting percentage exceeds that of Cameron Boozer so far this season (minimum 25 games played).
And here are the most overall points scored in a season by any player whose true shooting percentage exceeds that of Cameron Boozer so far this season.
I find the fact that Cameron is already up to 20th on the latter list with up to 10 more games on Duke's schedule very impressive. That Cameron needs just 21 more points to pass Billy McCaffery is something I also find intriguing. Frankly, I did not realize just how impressive Billy McCaffrey's offensive efficiency was his junior season at Vanderbilt. I also find that fact that Cameron could potentially pass both Zion Williamson and Christian Laettner on this list with 72 more points very compelling. And I don't think the fact that I purposefully screened out all players whose true shooting percentage is less than Cameron's current 67.4% is problematic in any way. In fact, using this sort of screening was basically the point of the entire exercise because scoring a lot of points with high efficiency is what makes a great offensive player a great offensive player.
TLDR: I am an admitted geek who finds slicing and dicing all sorts of basketball statistics interesting. YMMV.
