As players they're not quite similar, but Michael Sweetney and Eddy Curry will be forever linked in Bulls history. Corey Petryschuk over at Motoring (a daily read) takes an indepth look at their respective performances this season:
| Name | PPS | REB-r | TO-r | PER | RR |
| Sweetney | 1.31 | 19.7 | 11.8 | 23.3 | +1.7 |
| Curry | 1.50 | 16.2 | 21.2 | 17.6 | -15.3 |
Well, I think the last stat listed there speaks for itself. Yes, the Knicks are losing and Frye is owning, but -15.3? For a starter? It?s not his scoring, it?s not his rebounding, his turnovers wouldn?t affect it that much? what could it be?
| Stat | ON Court | OFF Court | Net |
| Offense: Pts per 100 Poss. | 94.7 | 98.4 | -3.7 |
| Defense: Pts per 100 Poss. | 105.0 | 92.6 | +12.5 |
Now you?re on the trolley! I haven?t seen much of the Knicks yet, but the guy?s defense must be disgusting. No word on when LB?s magic will turn him into a good defender.
Sweetney appears to be performing quite well and above expectations with stickman Chandler. Like I said, those guys are a blast to watch.
Sweetney's numbers are not entirely surprising if you've been reading here (or especially at KnickerBlogger) over the past couple years. The guy has always performed, but simply hasn't gotten the minutes.
This all gets to the value of stats as opposed to perception, as Kurt at Forum Blue and Gold pointed out in his preview of Sunday night's game:
Eddy Curry hasn't been as big of a disappointment as Kwame Brown, but the idea is the same: look past the potential and get to the production.
But it's not just stats. As I'm getting my first real look at Sweetney, it's obvious that Sweetney is what Curry never was as a Bull: Active. How many times in the Laker game did you see Sweetney fight for an offensive rebound or loose ball en route to an easy basket? Curry got rebounds that came to him, Sweetney goes and gets his. I enjoy seeing an active 6'9" more than a leadfooted 6'11", and the numbers bear that out.
It was mentioned in the comments that Sweetney is 'Elton Brand redux'. That's a more accurate comparison for Sweetney than Curry. I think while Brand was underappreciated as a Bull that was partly because he was a #1 overall pick and didn't project to become a game-changer that could lead a championship team. I understood former GM Jerry Krause's reasoning for trading him at the time (this post isn't about that so I won't go any further), and it obviously didn't work out like he expected. But trading Eddy Curry for Mike Sweetney is a welcome return to valuing actual production: undersized, wide-bodied, and all.