GM 5: +/- Player Analysis (Gardner-Webb)

Welcome back to another addition of the +/- Player Analysis for your 2011-2012 Indiana Hoosiers! IU took on the Gardner-Webb this evening and chalked up their 5th 20+ point victory of the year. IU won in convincing fashion 73-49.

Key Players:

• Sheehey had a stretch in the second half where he made 5 consecutive field goals for the Hoosiers. This scoring spurt helped IU expand on an already large lead. Sheehey finished with 15 points.
• Elston has been a great surprise for the Hoosiers this year. Elston's jumper remains wet and he finished with 10pts and 9 reb.
• Oladipo showed some spirit tonight as he helped IU open the second half by wrecking havoc on the opposition in the 2nd half. Oladipo was a maniac on defense and set the tone for the Hoosiers.

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:

• Moore, Elston and VJ3 were 1,2 and 3 for the game. All three players have stepped their game up and the Hoosiers clearly benefit from their presence on the floor.
• This is the first game where Zeller wasn't near the top 3. Zeller was quite for more of the game as Sheeladipo took this game over. Zeller still played extremely well and Hoosier fans love the fact that he will dive on the floor for lose balls. Zeller was one reb short of a double double.
• All the significant minute players were in the Green again tonight. A trend that will continue to happen as IU keeps winning.
  
• 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 blowout 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.
• Overall, Coach Crean used 23 different combinations of players in the game. Of his 23 combinations, 10 were positive, 6 were neutral (0) and the remaining 7 were negative.
• Only 1 unit played multiple times these evening and they ended with a +/- of Zero. (VJ3, Oladipo, Roth, Watford and Zeller
  

Best Lineup of the Night:
The best lineup of the night (+11) belongs to Sheehey and Oladipo.... (Hulls, Watford and Zeller were on the floor as well). The Super Sophs took over in this lineup. Led by Oladipo's defense and Sheehey's 5 straight FGs, this unit increased a 40-25 lead with 15:47 to go into a 55-29 lead with 10:05 to go. This unit played lights out and raised the decibels in Assembly Hall.

Worst Lineup of the Night:
There really wasn't a worst lineup of the night tonight. The worst lineup ended up -4 and closed the game out. They played the final minute and didn't score. No need to look further into this.

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.

• Quick reminder - the far right column shows the difference in Overall +/- from last game to this game. In short, it shows how this game affected their season to date +/-.
  
• 6 Hoosiers improved their season averages during this game. Moore and Elston raised their totals the most.
  
• Remy Abell is the only Hoosier who has seen 35+ minutes who is negative. It's important to note that Abell is still a freshman and will need some time to adjust to the college game. Etherington does not have that much better of a +/- for the year. Rule of thumb, don't focus much on freshman early on. The majority of the time they get in the game is when IU is already winning by a bunch.
  
• Like I mentioned last game, Zeller continuing his +1.00 pt/min is impossible. He regressed some here ,but that could be more to his minutes than anything else.
  

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

• Coach has used 102 different lineups this year.
• Of those 102, only 27 are negative year to date.
• Best lineup is +35 (only unit to play in all five games, been on the floor together a high 10 times) (Crean's favorite unit of Hulls, Oladipo, VJ3, Watford, Zeller)
• Worst lineup is -6. (Consists of Oladipo, Sheehey, Moore, Abell, Elston)
  
• 13 lineups have been used multiple times this year.

Lineup Creator!
I just figured out a way to post this and I figured many people would enjoy this feature. What you can do is go to this link, and it will open an Excel file for you. Using the filters already on the page, you can filter the lineups for the year to see how all the different combinations of players play together. For instance, if you wanted to see how the team does when Oladipo and Sheehey are in the game together, filter both their columns. This will return all lineups for the year that Oladipo and Sheehey have been on the floor together!

+/- Lineup Generator

Overall
IU came out and took care of business. They did what was needed to get the big win. The Hoosiers now have a few days to rest up before Butler comes to town. While I like to say that this isn't your Hoosiers of the past few years... this DEFINITELY isn't the Butler Bulldogs of the last two years. Butler has struggled early this season and if IU doesn't put them away handily, it will be a win for Butler. IU needs to stay focused and get ready to take the state back. Starting Sunday...

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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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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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Hoo's Next? - Chattanooga Edition

Who: Chattanooga Mocs
When: 5:00pm ET - Sunday November 13, 2011
Where: Assembly Hall, Bloomington Indiana
TV: Big Ten Network
Line: Hoosiers are favored by 17.



The Scoop:
Chattanooga is opening their season this evening in Bloomington vs the Hoosiers. Last year, Chattanooga finished 16-16 with a 12-6 conference record. The Mocs are relying heavily on transfers this year, as 4 out of 5 starters all came from other D1 schools. The Mocs will try to get in your face and make it a physical game, IU needs to keep the game fast pace and they should pull away.

What to Expect:
Expect another big effort by The Super Sophs and Zeller. These guys are the fuel to IU's team and will continue to help the Hoosiers win ball games. For more on what to expect, check out our Pre-Game Notes - Chattanooga post from earlier this morning.

Outcome: Chattanooga will show it's experience earlier. Unfortunately for them, IU will be too much and will overpower the Mocs. I'd expect IU to take this on 84-68.

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