McKay vs Ejim Update

With a larger sample size I figured I would compare McKay's numbers to those of Ejim's Big 12 POY year last year.  Here are the raw numbers:

Player	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
McKay	23.9	10.8	6.4	0.6	0.7	2.4
Ejim	32.1	17.8	8.4	1.8	1.2	0.7

Obviously Ejim's raw numbers are far and away better than McKay's in everything except for blocks.  When you factor in the minutes played it tells a little different story.  McKay hasn't played as many minutes as Ejim for a number of reasons this year.  One would figure that McKay's minutes will continue to rise as the year goes on.  I calculated their stats per 40 minutes to even out the minutes.  Here are the results:

	Per 40 Min	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
McKay	40	18.1	10.7	1.0	1.2	4.0
Ejim	40	22.2	10.5	2.2	1.5	0.9

Those are a lot closer than people might think.  Ejim scored a touch more but obviously had the benefit of being able to shoot the three pointer.  He also added over an assist more a game but didn't come close to matching McKay's 4.0 blocks per 40 minutes.  Ejim's season was great.  Earning Big 12 Player of the Year is nothing to bat an eye at.  None of this is meant to take anything away from him or his season.  It is simply to point out just how productive McKay has been.  If you take away Ejim's 48 point performance against TCU (or at least knock it down to his season average) it would take away a point per game.  That probably isn't fair to do because he did accomplish it but its worth noting.  Devil's advocate would say Ejim being able to log that many minutes added to his value and so comparing 40 min per stats isn't fair.  My response would be a) McKay's minutes will continue to rise and b) its not like ISU is playing 4 on 5 when he isn't on the floor.  There is production coming from that spot on the floor whether it is as good as McKay's or not.  For example when McKay isn't on the floor it probably means Niang is getting more touches which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Just because I was curious, on top of the 40 minute stats I wanted to compare at this point based on McKay's minutes and based on Ejim's minutes so here they are:

	McKay's Min	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
McKay	23.9	10.8	6.4	0.6	0.7	2.4
Ejim	23.9	13.3	6.3	1.3	0.9	0.5
	Ejim's Min	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
McKay	32.1	14.5	8.6	0.8	0.9	3.2
Ejim	32.1	17.8	8.4	1.8	1.2	0.7

Conclusion

What can we draw from all of this?  McKay is really playing at an all-conference level and he is just starting to hit his groove.  His numbers, in my opinion, should go up more before they plateau.  One might argue that McKay has the ability to be a little more valuable given his defensive value.  It is very possible Iowa State could have three contenders for Big 12 Player of the Year in 2015-16.