Tayshaun Prince vs. Luol Deng
Tayshaun vs. Deng
Tayshaun Durell Prince grew up in Compton, and moved on up, sorta, to Kentucky and now Detroit. This must have hardened him up, since he has a quite a reputation as a durable defensive specialist. He parlayed this onto a spot on the US Olympic team, and won a gold medal. Clearly, Prince is a glue guy who would be a welcome addition to any other team, right?
A certain Chicago Bull might contest that idea. The Bulls’ starting small forward was once considered one of the top young players in the game, and was part of a proposed trade for Kobe Bryant. However, after one down year, he is now off the radar. He too has an interesting background. Luol Deng is from Wow, Sudan (which sounds pretty exciting). He was overrated, and his defense is nothing special, right?
Well, maybe Tayshan and Luol are a better gauntlet pairing than you may think. Check out the vital stats first:
Tayshaun: 13.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 3.3 APG
- Has not missed a single game the past five years.
- His numbers fell last season, but only because he played fewer minutes per game.
- Tayshaun’s assist/turnover ratio greatly improved last season.
- Prince has much greater shooting range than Deng.
- He has been a winner at every level.
- He has been All-Defensive (2nd team) the past four years.
Luol: 17.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.5 APG
- He is five years younger.
- Though his per game numbers fell, this was the result of playing fewer minutes per game. His per 36 minute averages remained almost exactly the same.
- His team was poorly coached and had no chemistry last year.
- Deng shoots at a much higher percentage than Tayshaun Prince.
- Deng’s PER is much higher, while Tayshaun is just average (around 15).
In 14 head to head games, each player’s team won 7. Deng, perhaps underrated defensively, has held Prince to 37% shooting. He has drawn two fouls per game from Prince, who normally only fouls about once a game. All evidence points to Deng being underrated, and Prince being supported by some reputation that he has never earned.
Who deserves more recognition?
October 28, 2008 at 4:38 pm#
And he’s back! So glad to see your font.
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October 28th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
The Cambria in the headings, the Arial Narrow in the smaller headings, the Helvetica in the body, or the Diavlo in the logo? Yep, I know my fonts.
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October 28, 2008 at 4:51 pm#
People really think Tayshaun Prince is underrated? He’s one of those guys who people called underrated for so long that he became overrated. He’s a fine player, but Deng outshines him in nearly every measurable way, and definitely has more trade value.
Try the trade test: Remember when the Bulls were considering a package of Deng and others for Kobe? You would never see Tayshaun headlining a deal for a superstar.
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October 31st, 2008 at 11:30 am
Dare I say Tayshaun wouldn’t headline a deal like that because he’s underrated?
I couldn’t resist.
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October 31st, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Interesting thought, but usually when we talk about underrated, we mean underrated to the casual fan.
A general manager of a basketball team should properly rate players, right? The Lakers’ GM seems to recognize talent, and there’s no way he would have taken Tayshaun Prince. Is Prince even an upgrade over Trevor Ariza? Then again, do we really know if he wanted Deng?
I would argue that Tayshaun is overrated by sportswriters and GMs. Casual fans and fantasy basketball players probably think he is just average, as his PER would suggest.
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December 11, 2008 at 12:00 pm#
While I think both are fine players, I think Prince is a more complete player. His defensive skills are excellent plus he gives you more options on offense. The facts don’t lie. He is leading Deng in just about every category. PPG, rebounds, FG%, 3P% as well as minutes per game. The two play different kinds of games to me. Prince flies under the radar to me. If I was going to make a trade and had my choice, I would pick Prince every time.
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