For those of you who don’t pay attention to such frivolities, Shabazz Napier just became the second player in UConn history to reach the coveted 1300-point, 500-assist, 400-rebound plateau, joining Doron “Iceman” Sheffer, everyone’s favorite Israeli point guard. This is one of those “random collection of stats” things where we make a player look more exceptional than he is buy creating arbitrary end points that fit him and (almost) no one else. This particular time, it becomes a little more interesting, at least for me, because the player he joins is Doron Sheffer.
Despite the similar stats, Sheffer and Napier have very little in common as UConn point guards. When Sheffer arrived on campus in 1993, he was basically a finished product. He turned 22 that season, and he’d already led Hapoel Galil Elyon to an Israeli League Championship, beating powerhouse Maccabi Tel Aviv in the process. Napier, on the other hand, had reclassified so he could come to UConn a season early. Sheffer was a disciplined and sharp player right away, beating out Ray Allen for a starting spot that first season. Napier, on the other hand, has given us the great pleasure of watching him turn into a great leader.
In addition, the two players are very dissimilar in how they acquired their similar stats. As a scorer, Sheffer did a lot of his work from behind the arc, and was an accomplished sharpshooter his entire career. Napier is no stranger to the three-pointer, but his accuracy didn’t approach Sheffer’s until last season (and this season, he’s been otherworldly from deep). Sheffer was a big guard, coming in at 6-5, so his rebounding prowess was no surprise. Napier, on the other hand, likes to pretend that he’s over 6-feet, but still manages to rebound effectively with exceptional positioning, aggressiveness, and some pretty impressive hops. Sheffer generally preferred to run the offense from higher above the key, finding cutters with crisp passes, and he loved the long outlet pass coming right off the rebound. Napier gets his assists by attacking the basket and moving the ball to open shooters when the defense sags to him. Not mentioned in the cavalcade of stats up top, both players are accomplished ballhawks (Napier passed Sheffer during the Maine game to move into third-place all-time in steals at UConn). Their defensive styles were very different, though; Sheffer was always a heady defender with quick hands, and he played passing lanes brilliantly. Napier is an aggressive on-ball defender who uses terrific footwork to force his opponents into bad situations which allow him to go for the strip.
So, in conclusion, Napier and Sheffer are very similar and very different players, all at the same time. I know I feel lucky to have gotten to watch both.
