Gm 3: +/- Player Analysis - Evansville

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! IU took on the Purple Aces of Evansville on Wednesday evening and put the game out of reach within the first 15 minutes of the game. I've said this in prior games write-ups, but I'll say it again... This isn't the same old team as they won convincingly 94-73.

Key Players:

• Watford - rebounded nicely from a couple of dismle games. Showed alot of heart.
  
• Zeller - I feel like I could say the same great stuff every night. He commanded the low post to start the game. IU looked to feed him early and often. This resulted in a huge lead for the Hoosiers.... A Zelleresque performance
• Hulls - 5/7 from the floor for 14pts
• VJIII - 17pts, 4/4 3pt, 5 reb, 7 ast, 2 blk, 2 TO. The guy was an animal. One of his best performances.

With that being said, let's jump into the +/- Player Analysis

+/- Player Analysis vs Evansville
*Just in case you forgot, here is a quick breakdown as to what the +/- Player Analysis is looking at.
Example: Here is a quick example of how the +/- stat is determined. Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey start the game for IU. Therefore the score is 0-0. Coach Crean makes his first substitution at 15:00 with the score IU up 15-10. Oladipo comes into the game for Sheehey. For this stint in time, Sheehey would earn a +5 (while Sheehey was in, IU increased their lead by 5 points). The Lineup of Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey also earned a +5. This will continue throughout the game.

Game Overall

Key Takeaways:

• Remy Abell - I know this will be a hot topic for Hoosier fans as many fans are frustrated with Abell's play. I have to say once I finished crunching the numbers for this game, I had to go back and double/triple check Abell's +/-. I realized while watching the game that he was struggling, but I never would have imagined he would have ended up -16 in 7 minutes for a team that was up by 33 at one point. That is troubling.
  
• Christian Watford again is right at the top of the list for the second game in a row. Watford really came out and played his game tonight. We can see by the stats above that he had a great impact on IU while in the game.
  
• Cody Zeller -Another top 3 finish for Cody. The trend continues...
  
• Matt Roth - Roth led the team in +/- tonight due to a strong stint in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Roth was a part of the unit that went on a 11-0 run. A 3pt specialist like Roth is always interesting in these anlysis. Generally speaking, he won't get many minutes each game, but can result in getting a very high +/- due to his abililty to shoot the long ball. When Roth is in, we see some plays set up to get him shots. If he hits these shots, he will produce a very high +/- like he did this evening.
  
• I cannot stress this enough, anything in the GREEN, means the player had a positive impact on the game and helped IU get to their 25pt win.

Lineups of the Night:


Key Takeaways: (click to enlarge)

• Here you can see the game flow throughout the night. The chart reads from the beginning of the game to the end from top to bottom.
• In the first two games of the year, IU started out very slow. That was definitely not the case here as 12 of their first 14 lineups were even or positive.
  
• Overall, Coach Crean used 24 different combinations of players in the game. Of his 24 combinations, 11 were positive, 6 were neutral (0) and the remaining 7 were negative.
• Only one unit played multiple times these evening (2). They shared the Best Lineup of the Night award.
• Remy Abell, was on 6 of the 7 negative lineups for the game.
  

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+11) was a tie between Crean's favorite unit of Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford, Zeller and VJ3, Roth, Sheehey, Watford and Zeller. Crean's favorite unit was the only unit used multiple times again this game. Coach Crean named this group the Starters of the game. They earned a +8 for their first 8.5 minutes in the game. They also started the second half and went +3 in 4 minutes.

The group of VJ3, Roth, Sheehey, Watford and Zeller played one stint tonight that ended +11. This group started their stint at the 7:37 mark in the 1st half with IU leading 31-23. IU exploded over the next 1:53 as IU went on a 11-0 run. The run consisted of 2 Zeller layups, Roth and Watford 3's and a Zeller free throw. This group left at the 5:30 mark with IU leading 42-23.

Worst Lineup of the Night:
The worst lineup of the night came at the end of the game with IU leading 86-59. Obviously at this point of the game, the game was all but wrapped up. This group featured Moore (our previous season leader for +/-, Sheeladipo, Abell and Elston. The group ended their 1 min stint without scoring points while allowing 6. Again this wasn't a big deal as IU had this game soundly put away.

Season to Date:

As many people like to point out, looking at the +/- for one specific game is not entirely telling. Tracking this over the course of the year, will give a much clearer picture as to what each player brings to the team. Below is the updated season to date +/- for each player.
The stats below are only related to Stony Brook, Chattanooga and Evansville.

• I have added another column to the season long stat which shows the change from the previous game. This is the cumulative +/- for the season so you can see how the Pts/Min was affected based on the Evansville game.
• I think the most important takeaway from this chart is seeing 4 out of the top 6 positions belonging to our starters. Crean has shown a lean towards one lineup so far this year, and if they can continue to produce like they have been, it will be a great year.
  
• The biggest significant drop of the night belongs to Remy Abell. His -16 +/- on the night dropped his season to a -11 and his overall +/- dropped .72 pts/min.
• Roth being a part of that 11-0 run benefited the most and improved his specialist +/- for the year. He has now surpassed Daniel Moore (dropped 0.49) as the top player for +/-.

Lineup Combinations
Here are some quick stats related to the Lineups Tom Crean has used through the three regular season games:

• Coach has used 65 different lineups this year.
• Of those 65, only 16 are negative year to date.
• Best lineup is +21 (only unit to play in all three games) (Crean's favorite unit of Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford, Zeller)
• Worst lineup is -6. (mentioned above)
  
• 7 lineups have been used multiple times this year.
• Hulls, Oladipo, Watford, VJ3 and Zeller have been on the court together 7 separate times this year are statistically the best Lineup for IU right now.
• Cody Zeller is now present in the top 9 lineups for +/- this year. The next highest presence is Watford (7 of 6).
  

Overall
IU put on a show in Evansville tonight. They came out from the get go and showed they were stronger, more athletic, quicker and finally an all around better team. If IU has postseason hopes, they will need to continue this type of play on the road. Check back to the site for a preview of the IU vs Savannah State on the 19th.
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+/- Analysis for All 2011-2012 Games

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#IUpickem Results - Evansville

Every game day we will tweet out asking for your predictions. We will have a year long competition with some sort of prize at the end (still a work in progress!) Here is how the competition will be scored:

Rules:

• Each week you will submit the winner of the game, and the score for each team
• The top 10 each week will be awarded points (1st= 10, 10th = 1).
• Scoring:
• You will only be eligible to score points if the team you selected wins
• Assuming many people will pick IU all year long, we have a detailed tie breaker.
• 1st Tiebreaker is: Closest to total points in the game
• 2nd Tiebreaker: Closest to total points for IU
• 3rd Tiebreaker: Closest to total points for Opponent
• If this continues to be a tie, you both will split the points for your position.

With that being said, here are the game results!

...and the Current Season Standings!

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Immediate Post Game Reaction-Evansville

Rapid Reactions:
The game started out at a much faster pace than the first two games that IU has played this year. The team seemed focused on feeding Cody Zeller early and often. This not only gave him more looks, but also let the double team come to him which allowed Zeller to pass the ball out to the open perimeter look. My brother-in-law and I texted each other at the same time talking about how good Zeller looked early. Besides Cody, the entire team looked great in the first half. Verdell Jones III was going inside and out and controlled the ball while hitting some quality buckets. Indiana pushed the ball down the court in transition and played quality defense throughout the first half.

The second half started slowly and Indiana was a little sloppy, but Evansville never came close to making it a game. Christian Watford looked like the Watford of old. He made long three pointers, grabbed rebounding, and looked like he actually wanted to be out on the court! Indiana almost had a 1 to 1 assist to field goal ratio! The Hoosiers have not been that efficient since I was in undergrad down in Bloomington. All around, Indiana looked good on offense, defense, and transition. Haven’t looked at the television schedule for the rest of the year, but hopefully there are not anymore on ESPN3!

Final Score: IU 94  Evansville 73

Up Next: Savannah State on November 19^th 8:00 EST

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Hoo's Next - Evansville Edition

Who: University of Evansville Purple Aces

When: 8:00pm ET – Wednesday November 16, 2011

Where: Ford Center – Evansville, IN

TV: ESPN3

The Scoop: The Evansville Purple Aces look to defend their 1-0 record at home tonight against our Cream and Crimson who look to advance to 3-0. The Aces are coming off a shocking overtime victory in a game versus the defending national runners-up, the Butler Bulldogs. Though the Hoosiers have never lost to Evansville, it is a bit too early in the season to count anyone out. Coach of the Aces, Marty Simmons, looks to build off of his team’s early momentum tonight, but one can be sure that Coach Crean and the gang won’t make it easy.

What to Expect:

• Cody Zeller - There are plenty of stories to follow throughout tonight's game. As always, continue to look out for freshman Cody Zeller as he comes off of a B1G Ten Co-Freshman of the week award. Naturally, keep on eye his scoring threat and ability to rebound. But also, watch out for Zeller’s defensive presence, as he already has 9 steals through the first couple of games.
• Sheeladipo – Sheeladipo of course standing for the unstoppable sophomore duo of Will Sheehey and Victor Oladipo. The two players have combined for 56 points and 17 rebounds over the course of the first two games. Oladipo recently receiving an award of his own, the B1G Ten player of the week. This hybrid of dominance is one thing that Hoosiers fans hope to see more of throughout the year. Between Sheehey’s poise and Oladipo’s explosiveness, the Hoosiers should have a leg up on the Aces tonight.
• Moderate chance of rain – No, I’m not referring to the state of Indiana’s bizarre weather changes. You should expect a chance of rain, not off, but on the court tonight in Evansville. The Hoosiers stand at 10th in the nation in field goal percentage with a whopping 57.8% average. It is evident that the Hoosiers have spent some time in Cook Hall this off season. Expect players like Hulls, Sheehey, and Jones III to light it up tonight as they have so far this season, but also don’t count out players like Oladipo and Elston to have accurate shooting nights as well. 

However, it is not only the Hoosiers who will be dropping in shots tonight. Indiana has struggled to close out shooters behind the arc thusfar this season. The Hoosiers should look to apply more pressure on outside shooters to avoid giving up the deep threat.

Outcome: The Aces will have to ride their recent momentum to have a chance in this one. I expect the Hoosiers to run away with it after a while. 83-68 Hoosiers.

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Gm 2: +/- Player Analysis - Chattanooga

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! IU took on the Mocs of Chattanooga on Sunday evening and showed Hoosier fans this isn't the same old team as they won 78-53.

Key Players:

• Victor Oladipo: "Know Me" Victor jumped out of the building again tonight and showed his new offensive skill set. He couldn't be stopped from getting to the lane tonight and should be able to slice through defenses all year long. The key for VO, will be converting his free throws, because he will be living at the line if he continues to attack the basket with that kind of tenacity.
  
• Jordan Hulls: He has developed a DEADLY quick release three pointer. His 18 points tonight all came from behind the arc. The beauty of Hulls is he doesn't force these threes. If anything, he is probably too passive when it comes to shooting some of threes that fans would love to see him shoot.
  

With that being said, let's jump into the +/- Player Analysis

+/- Player Analysis vs Stony Brook
*Just in case you forgot, here is a quick breakdown as to what the +/- Player Analysis is looking at.
Example: Here is a quick example of how the +/- stat is determined. Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey start the game for IU. Therefore the score is 0-0. Coach Crean makes his first substitution at 15:00 with the score IU up 15-10. Oladipo comes into the game for Sheehey. For this stint in time, Sheehey would earn a +5 (while Sheehey was in, IU increased their lead by 5 points). The Lineup of Zeller, Watford, VJIII, Hulls and Sheehey also earned a +5. This will continue throughout the game.

Game Overall

Key Takeaways:

• Christian Watford got the honors of the highest +/- for his time in the game tonight. This might come as a surprise to most, as Watford has been much more quite throughout the games so far. Watford was 1-7 from the field for 2 points in his 20 minutes of play. He did however contribute with 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
  
• Cody Zeller -As I predicted after Stony Brook's game, I thought Cody Zeller would lead the team in Gross +/- for the many games this year. It almost happened again tonight. The team functions much better with Zeller in the game. I will dig into this further down below.
  
• Daniel Moore - I mentioned during the game that Moore would stand out again. If you watch the game, and get over the fact that he is a walk on player that you don't feel should be playing (He is a D1 basketball talent as he had a full ride to Boston U!), you will see a player that hustles and gives 100%. Moore continuously comes up with loose balls and positions himself to be in the right spots at all times. We will see it time and time again, IU increases leads when Moore comes in to provide that spark.
  
• I cannot stress this enough, anything in the GREEN, means the player had a positive impact on the game and helped IU get to their 25pt win.

Lineups of the Night:


Key Takeaways: (click to enlarge)

• Here you can see the game flow throughout the night. The chart reads from the beginning of the game to the end from top to bottom.
• For the 2nd straight game the Hoosiers couldn't find the right lineup to shake their rusty starts. It wasn't until their 9th lineup of the night that they started to turn things on.
  
• Overall, Coach Crean used 27 different combinations of players in the game. Of his 27 combinations, 10 were positive, 10 were neutral (0) and the remaining 7 were negative.
• The Best Lineup of the Night just so happened to be the only unit Coach used multiple times (3).
  

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+11) goes to Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford and Zeller. This unit was used three different times in the game. Coach Crean named this group the Starters of the game. They earned a +2 for their first 5 minutes in the game. The big push for this unit came in the at the start of the second half. The group played together until 15:40 mark and they were able to increase the 12 point half time lead to 21 pts. An interesting side note, the best lineup of the night from the Stony Brook game consisted of 4/5 of this lineup. The only difference was Elston plugged in for Watford.

Worst Lineup of the Night:
The worst lineup of the night came at the end of the game with IU leading 65-38. Obviously at this point of the game, the game was all but wrapped up. However, this unit did not consist of walk-ons. The worst lineup of the night goes to..... (drum roll please).... Hulls, Oladipo, Sheehey, VJIII and Elston. The group ended their 2+ min stint only scoring 3 points while allowing 7. They at the 4:40 mark with IU leading 68-45.

Season to Date:

As many people like to point out, looking at the +/- for one specific game is not entirely telling. Tracking this over the course of the year, will give a much clearer picture as to what each player brings to the team. Below is the updated season to date +/- for each player.
For statistical accuracy, I have dropped the Exhibition game from the stats I used last week. The stats below are only related to Stony Brook and Chattanooga.

• Daniel Moore leads the pack as the player that provides a great spark for the team. Moore is a constant fight between IU fans. Many fans feel he isn't needed and do not see why Crean plays him. Some feel Moore is a great addition as he goes in and hustles and makes things happen for IU. We will let Hoosier Nation continue that fight. We will focus on the stats. In IU's two regular season games, IU outscores their opponents by 1.53 points per minute Daniel Moore is on the floor. You can argue all you want, the kid helps IU's team.
• After saying my dialogue about Moore above, I wouldn't place a ton of reliance on these stats right now. It is still very early on in the season and these stats will regress to the mean for each player.
  

Lineup Combinations
Here are some quick stats related to the Lineups Tom Crean has used through the two regular season games:

• Coach has used 44 different lineups this year.
• Of those 44, only 9 are negative year to date.
• Best lineup is +10 (team mentioned above)
• Worst lineup is -5. (Worst lineup from Stony Brook, they did not play vs Chattanooga)
  
• 5 lineups have been used multiple times this year.
• Hulls, Oladipo, Watford, VJ3 and Zeller have been on the court together 5 separate times this year are statistically the best Lineup for IU right now.
• Cody Zeller is present in the top 6 lineups for +/- this year. The next highest presence is Hulls and VO (3 of 6).
  

Overall
IU played another great game tonight. It will be extremely interesting to see how they look on the road at Evansville. Evansville will be a great early season test as they just beat Butler this weekend. Check back to the site for a preview of the IU @ Evansville game. Also make sure you follow us on Twitter to be a part of our IUpickem Challenge!

Game 1 : Stony Brook +/- Analysis

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