I found myself frustrated with the personnel at times Wednesday, fitting right in with my well documented belief that our top 5 are playing head and shoulders above the rest.  It seemed when we didn't have 2-3 of those guys on the court, we struggled more.  I realize much of this from last night was due to Baltic foul trouble and Cooper injury/discipline.

I was extremely curious to see how we did when certain players were on the court.  Now I realize there are many haters of the "plus/minus" stat, and I don't need everyone to point out the many flaws in the stat.  In a way, every stat is flawed...But to me, seeing how well we score/defend when certain players are on the court is insightful.  I was so curious about last night in particular, I decided to run the numbers for our net score when each player was on the court.  The results support my beliefs so much thatI wonder if I subconsciously fudged the numbers:

Freeman +19
Baltic +17
Cooper +11
Washington +9
Kellogg +6
Keely +1
Johnson -1
Tunji -2
Sayles -3
Hall -7

If I get some spare time, I might run these numbers on a few more recent games to see what it reveals.  I've always found this "stat" interesting to look at, probably becuase I love over-analyzing rotations and playing time.

I saw a film of BYU star Jimmer Fredette on espn. The video shows this kid plays no defense. Its 5 on 4 at defensive end because he just stands there and does nothing. He doesn't get back on defense.  NBA scouts likely will frown on him because he is a defensive liability. He scores 30 buts gives  20 or more a nite. He may still be plus 10 every nite, but that's because his offense can cover up his poor defense. Team will attack Fredette in the tournament. The better teams will score on him and negate his impact.  Fredette can't guard a wall.  BYU has an excellent supporting cast around Fredette so his team mates pick him up a lot on defense. He is a zero on defense. He looks so lazy its so funny. He just hovers around the arc waiting to get the ball and go on offense.  Jimmer is the offense and the other 4 guy bust their tail off on defense to make up for Jimmer lack of defense. They are top 10 so I guess it works, but I wouldn't have BYU too far in my bracket.  If we make the tournament I hope we draw BYU. The Bobcats with bigs who run the floor with Washington and Baltic plus the uber quick Cooper could really expose Fredette and BYU's transition defense.  Bobcats are the type of team that if you don't get back on defense they will lay a 90 on you.     

Nah go ahead, we might as well get it out of the way especially if I decide to do this again.  Give me the Mein Kampf of why this stat is so flawed and not even worth glancing at.  Then I'll reply with a few concessions to your points, but a couple of my own, and an overall conclusion that it is still insightful to a certain extent.

Awesome...I thought you could only find this stuff on the NBA.  Here is what they have for the season, also supports the "big 5."  And is a pretty harsh stat for Asown, yikes... It said they dont have data for the Corpus Christi game.

Cooper +89
Baltic +85
Washington +59
Kellogg +45
Freeman +31
Keely 0
Johnson -4
McKinley -5
Adedeipe -7
Hall -11
Jacobs -12
Sayles -84

Like almost any stat or research number, taken on their own they can be misleading, flawed, self-interpretive, etc.  The key is to look at info as a whole and in relationship to other data.  Plus/minus is simply one of many ways of looking at production.  Interesting numbers. Agree five man number would be interesting - a way of evaluating the coaching...arguably more/as well as the players.  Only key number today is final score against Kent.