It's not been uncommon for Maryland fans to fret over Greivis Vasquez' recent performance. After getting used to this Greivis Vasquez, we have perhaps forgotten that this one still exists.
So, is this Greivis Vasquez new (and worse)? Or is this the same streaky, on-and-off Greivis of the past?
FotB (that's "friend of the blog") Matt over at Turtle Waxing went down this road earlier today, examining the reason's Greivis' play has changed and how much it has. It's a good read, so I encourage you to read it. He looks mostly at TO%, offensive efficiency, and free throws, in terms of stats.I figured I'd add a few more stats in there, just cuz.
The best way to statistically compare this year and last year for Greivis is to look at a similar stretch of games from last season. A reader pointed out that Vasquez went through a rough period not unlike this one last year, and it would make sense to see just how similar they were.
First up, here's last year's rough stretch - from the period between the heinous Morgan State loss to the Boston College loss, seven games later:
As you can see, he waswas markedly worse in every single category; at least 10% worse than his season average. Maryland brunt the worst of it in their record, as this was easily the hardest stretch of the season - after all, they lost to Morgan State.
Now, to this year's:
Statistically, this isn't all that bad. He's been worse in some aspects - rebounds, points, and turnovers; all very important. However, that could be due to another reason: the emergence of Sean Mosley and Jordan Williams as the main scorers and rebounders, for example. (I got nothing for turnovers).
But, even in this rough stretch, he's been dishing the rock even more than he did during the good stretches of last season, putting up more than half-an-assist per game, which is a pretty nice 14% increase.
The turnovers are a problem, but the good news is that his assists are staying up and the points are pretty similar. I don't think you can say one slump has been worse than the other - both have been awful for his usual standard, but neither particularly moreso than the other.
That's good news, actually: Greivis has gone through a stretch just this bad, and came out of it better in the long run. Maybe the same will happen this time.
Of course, stats can't see, and that's the problem. Maybe it's a grass is greener syndrome, but it seems to me his play has been a bit worse recently than it was last year, even in that terrible stretch. He's less in control, taking worse shots, and seems to have lost something from the end of last season. The swagger, if you can believe it, has diminished.
Luckily for Maryland, he has a few weeks to figure it out.