Plus/Minus for the win against Georgetown

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Player	Minutes	NU pts	GTown Pts	Raw +/-	Player +/-	Net +/-
Audige	27	52	42	10	-0.4	9.6
Buie	33	63	49	14	-12.5	1.5
Beran	29	59	48	11	-4.4	6.6
Berry	25	46	44	2	1.0	3.0
Verhoeven	18	37	20	17	0	17.0
Nicholson	19	31	35	-4	8.3	4.3
Barnhizer	22	36	34	2	4.7	6.7
Roper	27	51	43	8	3.3	11.3

Its a new season. Georgetown was our first Power 6 opponent.
Raw +/- is what everybody knows it to be - the points NU scored minus the points NU allowed while each player was on the court.
Player +/- is a measure of how much each player contributed relative to the guys he was teamed with.
Rebounds, assists, turnovers, blocks, shooting, free throws and steals are used for this.
Net +/- combines how the team played and how the individual performed as part of the 5 man lineups we used.

As always, there is no agenda, other than to analyze what is working and what isn't.

To that end, the team performed best when Verhoeven was playing the 5. He didn't do anything noteworthy, but the team was quite successful.
Maybe he is the 2nd coming of Sanjay Lumpkin! Or maybe he was just a happy bystander. Probably something in between.
On the other hand, NU was -4 when Nicholson was in the game. Nicholson had a personal +8.3, which tells you that he played fairly well and his teammates played poorly when he was in the game.
Roper and Audige performed well overall, Roper being the steadier of the two.
Buie is an interesting case. The team played well when he was on the court, but he had a significant negative effect on those results.

In a radical departure from last year, the starters produced the best results, winning 16-4 in a total of 6 minutes of game time.
That group was Buie, Audige, Berry, Beran and Verhoeven. They started each half, played 3 minutes, then never saw the court together after that.

 

[Hungry Jack]

I am trying to digest all this. It sure looks like we were not very good overall on defense when Big Matt played, as his 19 minutes was paired with 35 opponent points. Verhoeven was 18 for 20 on the same measure. Big difference.

 

[TheC]

As a scientist, I am always happy to have my hypothesis challenged by data. The eye test sure made it seem like Matt was way more impactful on both ends of the court. The data you share, however, suggest that Verhoeven's presence correlated with more success. Of course, this is an n of 1, so it's possible that this was a random association. It will take several games worth of data to see if this is a real trend that may be meaningful.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

As a scientist, I am always happy to have my hypothesis challenged by data. The eye test sure made it seem like Matt was way more impactful on both ends of the court. The data you share, however, suggest that Verhoeven's presence correlated with more success. Of course, this is an n of 1, so it's possible that this was a random association. It will take several games worth of data to see if this is a real trend that may be meaningful.

That is well put. Its just one game. One data point.

Matt actually was quite impactful - thats why he got the team-high +8.3 for individual performance.
The raw +/- numbers reflect how the team played as a unit.

My early impression, based on just 3 games, is that Verhoeven currently fits better with the guys who view themselves as the core of the team (Buie, Audige, Beran). They all know that he (Verhoeven) is not looking to score, so they get to shoot. Everybody's happy. Its what Collins wants them to do. For lack of a better word - its chemistry.

On offense, there is a significant difference when Roper and Barnhizer are in the game with Nicholson. They are happy to get Nicholson involved and Roper is clearly looking for him. Buie is absolutely not. So far.

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

My early impression, based on just 3 games, is that Verhoeven currently fits better with the guys who view themselves as the core of the team (Buie, Audige, Beran). They all know that he (Verhoeven) is not looking to score, so they get to shoot. Everybody's happy. Its what Collins wants them to do. For lack of a better word - its chemistry.

Verhoeven is always active, setting screens, etc. He is a better shooter than his stats suggest (his bucket yesterday as the shot clock expired, for example), but that's not his role on this team. He does seem to have chemistry with the other players.

 

[CappyNU]

So in the first half, the starters were +7 in 3 minutes, then Verhoeven went out for Big Matt and we got outscored 7-0 in the next 2 minutes. In the second half, the starters were +5 in 3 minutes, then +1 with Big Matt in place of Verhoeven in the next 3 minutes.

Big Matt was huge offensively the last 6 minutes of the first half, but the team had the better defensive performance when Verhoeven was on the court. Same reason why Berry was on the bench down the stretch in favor of Roper and Barnhizer.

 

[TheC]

So in the first half, the starters were +7 in 3 minutes, then Verhoeven went out for Big Matt and we got outscored 7-0 in the next 2 minutes. In the second half, the starters were +5 in 3 minutes, then +1 with Big Matt in place of Verhoeven in the next 3 minutes.

Big Matt was huge offensively the last 6 minutes of the first half, but the team had the better defensive performance when Verhoeven was on the court. Same reason why Berry was on the bench down the stretch in favor of Roper and Barnhizer.

It's a good point about the defense. One thing I now remember is that Akok Akok nailed those two three-pointers when Matt was in. But in the second half, we barely heard from Akok. I didn't pay attention, but I imagine Verhoeven did a better job staying with him on the court so he didn't get those wide open looks.

 

[ballerog711]

Second half Spears wanted to get his own and did not get his team jnvloved. Nu did have something to do with it, but he has always been a little selfish

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

When Nicholson, Berry and Beran were on the court together, we got beat 20-12 in about 7 minutes of action.
So that trio was possibly having some issues defensively. - they got shredded.
Verhoeven, Berry and Beran were 16-4 in 6 minutes, all played with Buie and Audige.

Way too early to draw any conclusions about chemistry, although Roper and Berry still don't seem to work well together. That one was pretty reliable last year. Each guy had the other as his least favorite teammate.

 

[ballerog711]

Verboten is better at hedging a screen and getting back to his man. When Matt is out the other team becomes a jump shooting team.

So akok make two threes with matt on the court. It was good defense but a better shot.

I liked beran, brooks, chase and Roper on the floor at the same time. Can switch everything. Brooks is not as athletic, but does a great job keeping his man jn front of him

 

[EvanstonCat]

So in the first half, the starters were +7 in 3 minutes, then Verhoeven went out for Big Matt and we got outscored 7-0 in the next 2 minutes. In the second half, the starters were +5 in 3 minutes, then +1 with Big Matt in place of Verhoeven in the next 3 minutes.

Big Matt was huge offensively the last 6 minutes of the first half, but the team had the better defensive performance when Verhoeven was on the court. Same reason why Berry was on the bench down the stretch in favor of Roper and Barnhizer.

Could it be that Matt plays with the 2nd team, who are worse players than the 1st team?

Wonder what if he starts and plays with the better players. Maybe his personal +/- goes down, but the raw/net go way up.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Could it be that Matt plays with the 2nd team, who are worse players than the 1st team?

Wonder what if he starts and plays with the better players. Maybe his personal +/- goes down, but the raw/net go way up.

As TheC pointed out above, its just one game, this +/- stat is more significant when you look at a bunch of games.
There's so much randomness generated by the opponent (guy gets hot, lineup changes, Akok Akok makes consecutive 3 pointers, etc). But Cappy highlighted above that NU got off to a hot start with Verhoeven, Buie, Beran, Audige and Berry, taking a 9-2 lead. Then Nicholson was sent in for Verhoeven, the dynamic changed, we missed shots and suddenly it was 9-9.

Thankfully, we don't have a "2nd unit" this year, so far. But it looks to me that Nicholson, Barnhizer and Roper will be effective together (chemistry) whereas Nicholson and Berry couldn't execute a simple handoff and Berry threw Nicholson a pass that caused an offensive foul for Big Matt. If we go Nicholson, Beran (or Barnhizer), Roper, Buie, Audige, we might see better results.

Regardless, Nicholson played well against Georgetown.

 

[Hungry Jack]

TBH, going up against a guy with a name like "Akok Akok" is like being forced to do battle against one of those scary creatures you see in a fantasy art drawing:

AKOK AKOK ​

Big Matt is uniquely equipped to battle supernatural beings like Akok Akok. He's basically Jason Momoa in high tops.

 

[GatoLouco]

Akok Akok would also be a kick *** name for a Pokemon

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Then you guys have to be looking forward to the Pitt game on November 28, when Nicholson goes up against 6'11" 220lbs Federiko Federiko, a Finnish import, who just might end up in the background of Big Matt's first official poster.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Then you guys have to be looking forward to the Pitt game on November 28, when Nicholson goes up against 6'11" 220lbs Federiko Federiko, a Finnish import, who just might end up in the background of Big Matt's first official poster.

Two Federikos??? Sheesh. Nothing like a giant Finnish guy with an Italian-sounding name. He's probably Mads Mikkelsen's love child. He scared the crap out of me in Valhalla Rising.

Good thing we have Matt.

 

[NUCat320]

Then you guys have to be looking forward to the Pitt game on November 28, when Nicholson goes up against 6'11" 220lbs Federiko Federiko, a Finnish import, who just might end up in the background of Big Matt's first official poster.

Stack that NIL paper, Big Matt.

 

[GatoLouco]

Two Federikos??? Sheesh. Nothing like a giant Finnish guy with an Italian-sounding name. He's probably Mads Mikkelsen's love child. Good thing we have Matt.

A good guess, but my (2 first names) man does not even remotely looks Scandinavian. Former Juco, initially committed to West Virginia. He looks as West Virginian as he looks like a Finn.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

A good guess, but my (2 first names) man does not even remotely looks Scandinavian. Former Juco, initially committed to West Virginia. He looks as West Virginian as he looks like a Finn.

Holy crap... thats not what I was expecting! I was thinking of a mini Rik Smits with a puffy bouffant hairstyle.

 

[CappyNU]

A good guess, but my (2 first names) man does not even remotely looks Scandinavian. Former Juco, initially committed to West Virginia. He looks as West Virginian as he looks like a Finn.

It appears that his family is South Sudanese, though per Pitt's website he was born in Cairo and then raised in Helsinki, before playing high school ball near Pittsburgh, then going to a JUCO in Oklahoma.

 

[Catreporter]

Another Pitt big is from the Canary Islands, of all places. Looked raw, but pretty good in their loss to VCU.

 

[drewjin]

Holy crap... thats not what I was expecting! I was thinking of a mini Rik Smits with a puffy bouffant hairstyle.

Except for the "mini," you just described Matt Haarms.