Dave Cowens vs. Jeff Ruland Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Jeff Ruland and Dave Cowens, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Dave Cowens played 11 years in the NBA, 3 more than Jeff Ruland, who played 8. Dave Cowens had the first of his seasons in 1970-71, while Jeff Ruland had his rookie season in 1981-82. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11
Rookie Season
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1970-71	1981-82
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	81	38.0	17.0	-	-	15.0	2.8	-	-	-	4.3	6.8	16.1	.422	-	-	-	3.4	4.6	.732
Jeff Ruland	82	27.0	14.4	3.1	6.2	9.3	1.6	0.5	0.7	2.9	3.9	5.1	9.1	.561	0.0	0.0	.333	4.2	5.5	.752
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jeff Ruland	7	33.9	17.0	4.1	5.3	9.4	0.7	0.4	0.6	3.3	3.4	5.4	11.3	.481	0.0	0.1	.000	6.1	8.0	.768

Season 2
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1971-72	1982-83
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	79	40.3	18.8	-	-	15.2	3.1	-	-	-	4.0	8.3	17.2	.484	-	-	-	2.2	3.1	.720
Jeff Ruland	79	36.2	19.4	3.7	7.3	11.0	3.0	0.9	1.0	3.8	3.9	7.3	13.3	.552	0.0	0.0	.333	4.7	6.9	.689
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	40.1	15.5	-	-	13.8	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.5	14.2	.455	-	-	-	2.5	4.3	.596
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1972-73	1983-84
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	82	41.8	20.5	-	-	16.2	4.1	-	-	-	3.8	9.0	20.0	.452	-	-	-	2.5	3.2	.779
Jeff Ruland	75	41.1	22.2	3.5	8.8	12.3	3.9	0.9	1.0	4.6	3.8	8.0	13.8	.579	0.0	0.1	.143	6.2	8.5	.733
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	13	46.0	21.9	-	-	16.6	3.7	-	-	-	4.2	9.9	21.0	.473	-	-	-	2.1	3.2	.659
Jeff Ruland	4	46.8	24.0	4.0	8.8	12.8	7.8	0.5	0.8	4.8	3.8	9.3	17.8	.521	0.0	0.3	.000	5.5	6.8	.815

Season 4
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1973-74	1984-85
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	80	41.9	19.0	3.3	12.4	15.7	4.4	1.2	1.3	-	3.7	8.1	18.4	.437	-	-	-	2.9	3.4	.832
Jeff Ruland	37	38.8	18.9	3.4	7.6	11.1	4.4	0.8	0.7	4.8	3.5	6.8	11.9	.569	0.0	0.1	.000	5.4	7.9	.685
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	42.9	20.5	3.3	10.0	13.3	3.7	1.2	0.9	-	4.7	8.9	20.6	.435	-	-	-	2.6	3.3	.797
Jeff Ruland	4	40.5	17.5	3.0	5.5	8.5	5.3	2.3	1.0	5.8	3.8	7.0	11.8	.596	0.0	0.5	.000	3.5	5.0	.700

Season 5
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1974-75	1985-86
Team	Boston Celtics	Washington Bullets
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	65	40.5	20.4	3.5	11.2	14.7	4.6	1.3	1.1	-	3.7	8.8	18.4	.475	-	-	-	2.9	3.8	.783
Jeff Ruland	30	37.1	19.0	3.6	7.1	10.7	5.3	0.8	0.8	4.0	3.3	7.1	12.8	.554	0.0	0.1	.000	4.8	6.7	.725
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	11	43.5	20.5	4.5	12.0	16.5	4.2	1.6	0.5	-	4.5	9.2	21.5	.428	-	-	-	2.1	2.4	.885
Jeff Ruland	2	27.0	14.0	2.5	3.5	6.0	5.0	0.0	1.0	3.0	3.0	3.5	7.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	7.0	8.5	.824

Season 6
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1975-76	1986-87
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	78	39.8	19.0	4.3	11.7	16.0	4.2	1.2	0.9	-	4.0	7.8	16.7	.468	-	-	-	3.3	4.4	.756
Jeff Ruland	5	23.2	9.4	2.4	3.2	5.6	2.0	0.0	0.8	2.0	2.6	3.8	5.6	.679	0.0	0.0	-	1.8	2.4	.750
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	18	44.3	21.0	4.8	11.6	16.4	4.6	1.2	0.7	-	4.7	8.7	18.9	.457	-	-	-	3.7	4.8	.759
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Jeff Ruland didn't play in 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90 and 1990-91.

Season 7
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1976-77	1991-92
Team	Boston Celtics	Philadelphia 76ers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	50	37.8	16.4	2.9	11.0	13.9	5.0	0.9	1.0	-	3.6	6.6	15.1	.434	-	-	-	3.2	4.0	.818
Jeff Ruland	13	16.1	3.9	1.2	2.4	3.6	0.4	0.5	0.3	1.5	3.5	1.5	2.9	.526	0.0	0.0	-	0.8	1.2	.688
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	42.1	16.6	3.2	11.7	14.9	4.0	0.9	1.4	-	4.1	7.3	16.4	.446	-	-	-	1.9	2.4	.773
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1977-78	1992-93
Team	Boston Celtics	Detroit Pistons
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	77	41.8	18.6	3.2	10.8	14.0	4.6	1.3	0.9	2.8	3.9	7.8	15.8	.490	-	-	-	3.1	3.7	.842
Jeff Ruland	11	5.0	1.1	0.8	0.8	1.6	0.2	0.2	0.0	0.5	1.5	0.5	1.0	.455	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.4	.500
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 10
	Dave Cowens	Jeff Ruland
Season	1979-80	-
Team	Boston Celtics	-
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	66	32.7	14.2	1.9	6.2	8.1	3.1	1.0	0.9	1.6	3.3	6.4	14.1	.453	0.0	0.2	.083	1.4	1.8	.779
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Dave Cowens	9	33.4	12.0	2.0	5.3	7.3	2.3	1.0	0.8	0.9	4.1	5.4	11.4	.476	0.0	0.2	.000	1.1	1.2	.909
Jeff Ruland	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Dave Cowens didn't play in 1980-81 and 1981-82.