Since the Central Arkansas game was the first one of the season I did not see, it worked out well that I finally figured out how to calculate Plus/Minus so I can start posting it instead of my usual... you know... analysis mixed with wang jokes. For those unfamiliar with Plus/Minus here are the nuts and bolts:
- Plus/Minus is the scoring differential that occurs while any player, or group of players is on the court. So for a one-player example, if Matt Pilgrim enters a game with the Cowboys leading by 3, then is substituted out 2 minutes later (or in Pilgrim's case, ejected) with the Cowboys leading by 1... then Matt Pilgrim's Plus/Minus for that time on the court was -2. All these pluses and minuses are added together for a game (or really any time period) to calculate that players Plus/Minus. This can also be done for any group of players.
- The higher the Plus/Minus, the greater the group being evaluated outperformed their opponent while they were on the court.... and vice-versa.
- It was difficult as shit for me to figure out how to do this... so appreciate it.
For this game, I am just going to show the Plus/Minus for all the 5-man units that saw the court, but as the season progresses (and I get more time to write up the rest of the combinations) I will switch to showing the highest impact groupings of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 man units, and roll them up for the whole season.
Here are the Plus/Minus results for all the 5-man units from the Central Arkansas game (sorted by minutes played):
| Lineup | Minutes | Plus/Minus |
|---|---|---|
| D Williams, Moses, Sidorakis, Gulley, Page | 14:36 | 5 |
| D Williams, Moses, Olukemi, Penn, Page | 04:41 | 3 |
| D Williams, Moses, Olukemi, Brown, Page | 03:10 | 5 |
| D Williams, Moses, Brown, Page, Gulley | 02:34 | 0 |
| D Williams, Moses, Brown, Page, Penn | 02:33 | -5 |
| Shaw, D Williams, Sidorakis, Page, Penn | 01:41 | 1 |
| D Williams, Pilgrim, Sidorakis, Gulley, Page | 01:24 | 0 |
| Moses, Olukemi, Sidorakis, Brown, Page | 01:14 | 0 |
| Pilgrim, Shaw, Olukemi, Page, Penn | 01:13 | -1 |
| Pilgrim, Moses, Olukemi, Penn, Page | 01:12 | -1 |
| Pilgrim, D Williams, Olukemi, Page, Penn | 01:00 | 3 |
| Shaw, Moses, Olukemi, Penn, Page | 00:59 | 2 |
| Moses, D Williams, Olukemi, Page, Gulley | 00:52 | 0 |
| Moses, Brown, Page, Olukemi, Penn | 00:52 | 1 |
| Shaw, Moses, Brown, Olukemi, Penn | 00:44 | -1 |
| Shaw, Moses, Brown, Page, Penn | 00:41 | 0 |
| Shaw, D Williams, Brown, Page, Gulley | 00:34 | 0 |
And just for the hell of it I threw my least favorite 2-man unit of Keiton Page and Ray Penn into the analysis... and to my surprise, they actually finished with a +3 in 15:12. Perhaps I will learn over the course of the season that the two 5'9 guys being on the court at once isn't as detrimental on the defensive end as I think it is.
So for the entire game the Pokes used 17 different 5-man units. The most productive lineup came from the starting 5 (as it should be), while the least productive lineup featured both 5'9 guards paired with D Williams, Moses, and Brown.
The Cowboys next game is on Saturday at noon on the road at LaSalle.