Ray or Reggie? Who’s better?

Reggie Miller vs. Ray Allen - They are pretty much mirrors of each other. Two of the greatest shooters, especially 3 point shooters, of all time. They both had average defense, average passing, and average rebounding. The big question when people bring their name’s up is: Who’s better? That’s why I decided to write about them. I’m always getting into heated debates over this question so I want the facts and stats to back me up. I will decide who’s better by comparing them by each individual category. The categories are: Scoring, Defense, Passing, Rebounding, and the Finale. Feel free to comment by email (my email is basketballbloggers@yahoo.com) in a proper manner.

Scoring: Neither of them are amazing scorers like Jordan. They are pretty good scorers though. Ray Allen has a better career PPG than Reggie but that’s mostly because of his last 4 seasons. In fact if you take away Reggie’s last 4 seasons his average is 19.44 PPG instead of 18.2 PPG. Ray’s career average is 20.0 PPG. I decided compare their seasons too. I did this by comparing their first, second, third, etc seasons. Ray outscored Reggie 11 times while Reggie only beat him 4 times (they tied once). The only thing that could make Reggie win is his playoff PPG. Reggie’s playoff PPG is 23.5 PPG. Ray’s is 20.5 PPG. Still this is the scoring category not the clutch factor so Ray has to win this round.

Advantage: Ray

Defense: This one is too close to call. Ray was the stronger one out of the two though. If anyone had to get this point it would be Ray but it’s just too close to call. None of them have anything to brag about when it comes to defense, but Ray does have some credentials. Ray has been called on to stop offensive forces like Kobe Bryant. They were both below par one on one defenders and average team defenders. This one is just too close.

Advantage: Tie

Passing: For this one I am going to go by APG by comparing their first through last seasons. I will also look at their career APG. Ray Allen averaged more APG 12 times compared to Reggie’s 4. Ray also has a better career APG: Ray: 3.6 Reggie: 3.0. Neither or these guys are going to do a behind the back pass but they will get the ball around. The only rip I have on Reggie is this – Reggie came off a lot of screens as a shooter but he didn’t look for the screener after the pick. Ray did this too but he could move the ball around better than Reggie coming off of screens. This one has to go to Ray.

Advantage: Ray

Rebounding: This one again has a clear winner. Reggie Miller averaged 3.0 TRB for his career. Ray Allen averaged 4.2 TRB. Reggie never averaged at least 4.0 RPG in his career. Ray did it 11 times! In fact Ray averaged 5 rebounds per game 4 times! Mean while Reggie never reached 4 APG in his career. Here is how they fared against each other: 1999 eastern first round: RPG: Ray: 7.3 Reggie: 3.3

2000 eastern first round: RPG: Ray: 6.6 RPG Reggie: 2.4. As you can see Ray completely outrebounds Reggie by 4 rebounds in the two meetings. This one has to go to Ray.

Advantage: Ray Allen

Finale: For the finale I will compare MPG/GPS, shooting efficiency, and the clutch factor. First is the MPG/GPS (GPS = Games per season).  Reggie averaged 78 games per season for his career (excluding 1999 due to a shortened season). Ray averaged 69.7 GPS. Yes, he averaged only 69 games per season. This is due to injuries. Ray played the maximum amount of games in a season 5 times. Reggie did it 6 times. Ray did average more minutes per game for his career but 9 games completely out rules a couple of minutes. For the sake of the curious here is their MPG: Ray: 36.9 Reggie: 34.3. The score is now 3-2. Next is shooting efficiency. This is very difficult because they are possibly the two greatest shooters of all time. First is field goal percentage. Ray’s career FG% is 45.2%. Reggie’s is 47.1%. Reggie also averaged above 50% 4 times while Ray never did it. Next is free throw percentage. Although Reggie led the league in free throws 5 times and Ray never did it, Ray is the better one. Ray’s free throw percentage for his career is 89.4%. Reggie’s is 88.8%. Ray also shot above 90% 11 times while Reggie only did it 8 times. Last for shooting efficiency is, 3 pointers. Most likely these are the greatest 3 point shooters of all time. In my opinion there is no way to answer this other than 3 point percentage. Ray has a 40% 3 point percentage while Reggie had a 39.5% 3 point percentage. To me, that’s too close to make an answer. You could make the case that Ray has more 3 pointers and a better 3 point percentage but they’re just too close to me. So the score is still 3-2. Last is the clutch factor. This one is very easy. Reggie has to get this. Other than Michael Jordan, Reggie would be my number one pick to take the last shot. Ray is definitely in the top 10 but he’s not number 2. These are some of the most clutch players of all time. Reggie however wins. The score is now tied 3-3. The question is now whose more valuable. Their PPG are pretty much the same, their defense is pretty much the same, Ray’s passing and rebounding is better but Reggie’s MPG/GPS and clutch factor are better. To me I’d rather have the second option. Ray only averages 1 more assist and rebound than Reggie. Reggie however dominated in MPG/GPS and the clutch factor. So to me, I would choose Reggie.

Winner: Reggie Knick Killer Miller