Alright, so I got this itch to compare Clark and Maravich’s stats, right? I mean, everyone’s been talking about Clark, and I grew up hearing about Pistol Pete, so I figured, why not dive in? Here’s how it went down.
First off, I started digging for the raw data. I’m talking points, assists, rebounds – the whole shebang. I scoured through sports stats sites, you know, the usual suspects. ESPN, Basketball-Reference, the works. It took a while to wrangle all the numbers ’cause they’re scattered all over the place. Seriously, why can’t they just have a “Compare Players” button that actually works?
Once I grabbed the data, I threw it into a spreadsheet. Good old Excel. I organized it by season, making sure I had the key stats for both players side-by-side. This is where it got interesting. Just looking at the raw numbers, you could already see some big differences.
Next, I calculated some per-game averages. That’s the real way to compare players, right? Gotta normalize it. Points per game (PPG), assists per game (APG), rebounds per game (RPG) – all that jazz. I also looked at their shooting percentages – field goal percentage (FG%), three-point percentage (3P%), and free throw percentage (FT%).
But raw stats aren’t everything, are they? So, I decided to delve into some advanced stats. I tried to find their player efficiency rating (PER) and win shares (WS), but that got a little tricky because some of those advanced stats weren’t readily available for Maravich’s entire career. He played in a different era, you know?
Okay, so I hit a mini-roadblock there. But I didn’t give up! I focused on what I could find. I compared their scoring volume and efficiency. How many shots were they taking, and how often were they making them? I also looked at their assist rates. How often did they pass the ball leading to a score?
Then, I started thinking about the context. Maravich played in a different era. The game was different. No three-point line for a good chunk of his career! So, I had to keep that in mind when comparing them.
Finally, I wrote it all up. I summarized the key stats, highlighted the differences, and tried to provide some context. I didn’t want to say one was definitively “better” than the other. It’s more about appreciating their different strengths and the eras they played in.
What did I learn? Well, Clark is an incredible scorer and passer. Her stats are eye-popping. But Maravich was a different kind of showman. He was a scorer and playmaker in an era with different rules. Both were amazing players.
- Started with raw data collection.
- Organized the data in a spreadsheet.
- Calculated per-game averages.
- Investigated advanced stats (hit a snag with historical data).
- Compared scoring volume and efficiency.
- Considered the historical context.
- Summarized the findings.
That’s the gist of it. Hope you found that interesting!
