Interesting Observation: Lopez vs. Oden

I was reading an article comparing Portland's Greg Oden and Chicago's Joakim Noah, and I wondered how the Suns' newly-annointed starting center compared to the Trailblazer's #1 pick, supposed franchise-saving center. I grabbed their starting stats for this season (which is an interesting comparison, because they both started about the same amount of games and played very similar minutes in a starting role).

I find it encouraging that our blooming center matches up favorably with another young perceived "franchise" center, who was in the midst of showing his mettle and being fawned over by the media before going down with another knee injury.

Obviously, Lopez is not quite the defensive presence Oden is/was, being outdone in both individual defensive rebounds and blocks per game. I'm not statistics-saavy enough to find out how each center affected their team's collective rebounding effort when each was on the court, but I'd be interested in finding that one out if anyone wants to track it down.

They both have similar things to offer offensively, and I would even argue that Lopez has a bit more range, given that I've seen him hit a couple of jumpers within 10 feet or so. Robin also has the edge on potentially being able to stay on the court longer, keeping his personal fouls down. He's also less inclined to turn the ball over, with both taking approximately 7.5 field goal attempts a game.

This wasn't meant to be too in-depth of an analysis. I just thought the stats were a little mind-boggling, given that Oden is seen as the potential centerpiece to a championship franchise and Lopez was, before being moved to a starter, seen as maybe a backup center on a playoff team.