+/- from the Malaise against Montana State

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Didn't expect to be doing this box score either, but the Bobcats looked like a D1 team out there, so here goes...

Player	Minutes	NU Pts	MSU Pts	Raw +/-	Player +/-	Net +/-
Barnhizer	28	59	52	+7	+7.94	+9.34
Martinelli	35	63	55	+8	+2.15	+3.75
Nicholson	26	50	43	+7	+0.61	+2.01
Ciavarino	8	12	18	-6	+1.69	+0.49
Mullins	17	25	30	-5	+0.9	-0.10
Hunger	14	19	24	-5	-0.33	-1.33
Berry	33	60	54	+6	-3.06	-1.86
Windham	8	8	13	-5	-1.19	-2.19
Leach	32	64	56	+8	-8.71	-7.11

Welcome back Books Barnhizer, who earned his first "star of the game." If thats rusty, leave the WD-40 in the toolbox.

Most notable things I saw...
The starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Leach/Berry) kicked some Bobcat tail. Believe it or not, NU won 36-21 when that group was on the floor for 16+ minutes.
Martinelli and Barnhizer were most effective when playing with that lineup. And therefore all 5 starters had similar Raw +/- numbers.

Ciavarino did some decent things in the first half, but got benched and didn't see the court in the 2nd half. Not sure what triggered that.

Nicholson played from 8:54 until the final 36 seconds, when his free throw shooting "form" demanded that he be removed from the game. Thats a long stretch for Matt - and he was pretty effective.
Ty Berry played the entire second half.

 

[SmellyCat]

Nicholson played from 8:54 until the final 36 seconds, when his free throw shooting "form" demanded that he be removed from the game. That's a long stretch for Matt - and he was pretty effective.

Not sure what got in Nicholson's head, but his stretch over the last several minutes was the best basketball he's played all season. He was a force inside, and my favorite part was when one guy had a shot at a layup and passed it out because he was too scared Nicholson would get him again. That defense Nicholson played down the stretch will pay dividends in other games this year when people get a hold of our tape.

I'm surprised you didn't comment on Leach's terrible numbers above, especially in the context of you saying that the starters played well together. It's just one game against one team, but I found his +/- alarming. Almost like if he's supposed to be the top dog on the floor, the team plays poorly. I'd be curious to see his numbers with and without Barnhizer and/or Martinelli. Well, I'm always curious for you to find new numbers for me (THANKS!). Felt like Leach wasn't bad last night. He got decent shots, and his drives weren't out of control or anything. They just weren't going down, and he's a good enough shooter for me not to be worried. Just this +/- worries me.

 

[clarificationcat]

Didn't expect to be doing this box score either, but the Bobcats looked like a D1 team out there, so here goes...

Player	Minutes	NU Pts	MSU Pts	Raw +/-	Player +/-	Net +/-
Barnhizer	28	59	52	+7	+7.94	+9.34
Martinelli	35	63	55	+8	+2.15	+3.75
Nicholson	26	50	43	+7	+0.61	+2.01
Ciavarino	8	12	18	-6	+1.69	+0.49
Mullins	17	25	30	-5	+0.9	-0.10
Hunger	14	19	24	-5	-0.33	-1.33
Berry	33	60	54	+6	-3.06	-1.86
Windham	8	8	13	-5	-1.19	-2.19
Leach	32	64	56	+8	-8.71	-7.11

Welcome back Books Barnhizer, who earned his first "star of the game." If thats rusty, leave the WD-40 in the toolbox.

Most notable things I saw...
The starters (Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Leach/Berry) kicked some Bobcat tail. Believe it or not, NU won 36-21 when that group was on the floor for 16+ minutes.
Martinelli and Barnhizer were most effective when playing with that lineup. And therefore all 5 starters had similar Raw +/- numbers.

Ciavarino did some decent things in the first half, but got benched and didn't see the court in the 2nd half. Not sure what triggered that.

Nicholson played from 8:54 until the final 36 seconds, when his free throw shooting "form" demanded that he be removed from the game. Thats a long stretch for Matt - and he was pretty effective.
Ty Berry played the entire second half.

I have pointed out Matt’s struggles making contested shots in his career. Kudos to him for making a huge basket at the end of the game with his left hand. Really nice basket.

No comment on the free throws. Unfortunately, that’s going to impact his ability to stay on the court down the stretch. I would foul him immediately every time he gets a rebound in the last 5 minutes of a close game until he starts making some.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

Leach made a couple clutch shots but did not hit others. He also had a few unforced ball handling and passing errors.

Overall, his numbers were not as bad as the table indicates.

 

[techtim72]

I don't know how anyone can spend a minimum of four hours a day playing basketball their entire young life and airball a free throw or make less than 50% of attempts. Particularly when the player can almost touch the rim - exaggerating - from the line. With that sort of lack of success, one could take a 100 extra shots after practice and it is unlikely that it would make any difference.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

Not sure what got in Nicholson's head, but his stretch over the last several minutes was the best basketball he's played all season. He was a force inside, and my favorite part was when one guy had a shot at a layup and passed it out because he was too scared Nicholson would get him again. That defense Nicholson played down the stretch will pay dividends in other games this year when people get a hold of our tape.

I'm surprised you didn't comment on Leach's terrible numbers above, especially in the context of you saying that the starters played well together. It's just one game against one team, but I found his +/- alarming. Almost like if he's supposed to be the top dog on the floor, the team plays poorly. I'd be curious to see his numbers with and without Barnhizer and/or Martinelli. Well, I'm always curious for you to find new numbers for me (THANKS!). Felt like Leach wasn't bad last night. He got decent shots, and his drives weren't out of control or anything. They just weren't going down, and he's a good enough shooter for me not to be worried. Just this +/- worries me.

I'm not too concerned about Leach's numbers. One interpretation would be that the starters did a really good job as a unit, but Barnhizer and Martinelli were doing the heavy lifting and Leach was barely contributing, if at all. To credit Barnhizer and Martinelli, you have to discredit Leach. Strictly from the box score, Leach added less than a point of productive stats, whereas Barnhizer added 15, Martinelli 10 and Berry and Nicholson added about 5. So Leach was easily the weak link of the starters.

Collins only had Leach out there with Hunger for 4 minutes - and thats really interesting to me because we've been outscored 85-69 this season when those two are playing together. When Leach and Nicholson have been out there together, we're up 167-137.

 

[NJCat]

I don't know how anyone can spend a minimum of four hours a day playing basketball their entire young life and airball a free throw or make less than 50% of attempts. Particularly when the player can almost touch the rim - exaggerating - from the line. With that sort of lack of success, one could take a 100 extra shots after practice and it is unlikely that it would make any difference.

Got to be mental. Just has no confidence at the line.

 

[freewillie07]

Not sure what got in Nicholson's head, but his stretch over the last several minutes was the best basketball he's played all season. He was a force inside, and my favorite part was when one guy had a shot at a layup and passed it out because he was too scared Nicholson would get him again. That defense Nicholson played down the stretch will pay dividends in other games this year when people get a hold of our tape.

I'm surprised you didn't comment on Leach's terrible numbers above, especially in the context of you saying that the starters played well together. It's just one game against one team, but I found his +/- alarming. Almost like if he's supposed to be the top dog on the floor, the team plays poorly. I'd be curious to see his numbers with and without Barnhizer and/or Martinelli. Well, I'm always curious for you to find new numbers for me (THANKS!). Felt like Leach wasn't bad last night. He got decent shots, and his drives weren't out of control or anything. They just weren't going down, and he's a good enough shooter for me not to be worried. Just this +/- worries me.

Did you watch the game? The turning point for Matt was getting poster-ized by an alley-oop, followed by a taunt from the Montana State player. From that point on, he played pissed.