The perception that Haywood somehow had a "breakout" year last year is somewhat ....... well........wrong.

Yes - he scored more... Yes - he rebounded more....

But his per-40 minute stats have been remarkably similar for the last 4-5 years.

So why the "breakout"?

He was simply given more minutes last year because Thomas was out. The same can be said about the 06-07 run when the Wizards were leading the Eastern Conference.  Thomas was hurt, and Haywood was getting minutes, and putting up numbers.

Here are some stats - - -

Points per 40 minutes:
2003-04     14.5
2004-05     13.7
2005-06     12.2
2006-07     11.7
2007-08     15.2

Rebounds per 40 minutes:
2003-04     10.4
2004-05     10.0
2005-06     9.9
2006-07     11.0
2007-08     10.3

Rebound rate:
2003-04     14.6
2004-05     14.0
2005-06     14.5
2006-07     15.7
2007-08     15.2

Rebound Rate is the percentage of missed shots that a player rebounds.


The only stat that really jumps out at me as dramatically higher than the other years, is Haywood's Free Throw percentage in 2007-08. He went from being a poor FT shooter (less than 60%) to a good one  (74%)... Which helped to contribute to a slightly higher per 40 minute scoring average.

What these stats tend to indicate is that, all along, Haywood has been a very capable NBA Starting Center.  His per-40 stats stack up well against other front line Eastern Conference Centers like Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Al Horford, Jermaine O'Neal and  Rasheed Wallace. ** He was just not given the minutes of a Starter until last year.

** I left Dwight Howard off that list, .........well, because quite frankly, comparing him to ANYONE else is just not fair.