I'm not going to tear you a new one Ziggy, but I will say that the +/- stat is one of the most deceiving and useless stats in the game. It's nothing more than a general way to tell how much the team scores relative to the other during very small (in Hendo's case) sample sizes.
But its a sample non the less. We should look into giving him more time and see were he goes from there. In doing so, we can have a better judgement on his game and not just from a +/- perspective but from a visual one as well.Originally Posted by SWedd523
I'm not too much for the +/- stat when it comes to individuals. All it really tells you what the scoring was like while they were on the floor. It doesn't really offer any insight as to if that individual was the reason why their number was what it was. To me, it's too dependent on the other nine guys on the court. With these "newfangled" stats, I think the PER is the best I know of to look at an individual's worth on the court (perhaps win shares too, if I understood that stat better).
I do think the +/- stat is more useful when looking at groups that play together, though that's also dependent on the group(s) they're facing. But since you put five guys on the floor at once, I'd pay more attention to a specific lineup's +/- than I would just one player's.
All that said, from what I've seen, Hendo is using his athleticism more to his advantage and that'll benefit him playing with a group that LB wants to pressure the ball. That seems to be how LB is using him now. Once Hendo can be a little more reliable on his jumper, he'll earn the PT from LB.
Sure. Any set of numbers is a sample. Hell, they could use his turnover numbers to say he's a better ball handler/passer than DJ, but that doesn't make it true.
The +/- stat depends on too many things for it to be viable. If we played the Wolves, Pistons, Raptors, and other lower tier teams, we'd not only have more wins, but higher numbers across the board. If Hendo went up against Kobe or Wade instead of backup SG's his +/- would be lower. It's a stat better used to determine the rotations that work best for certain players.
Even still, after 3 games into the season, any stat is going to be dubious.
But he didnt play the Wolves, Pistons, or Raptors just as he didn't play Kobe or Wade. You can't even compare a turnover numbers to a +/-. They are both measured completely differently. In the small sample that hes on the court, he was able to contribute along with 4 others to a + output. Not once or twice but at least three instances/games. All i'm saying is that we should give him more time on the court. As you can see, we yet to win a game. Something is just not right and we need to figure out a way to better our chances of winning. Am I saying Hendo is the answer? No. But should we look into it on giving him more time even with such a small sample? Yes.
Did you even read my post?
Can you not understand that you made a statement saying "IF WE PLAYED SO AND SO, THE NUMBERS WILL BE HIGHER/LOWER."? Im not looking at IF statements. Im looking at Hendo played 3 games against Dallas, Indy, and Mil and has had a + effect on the court in THOSE GAMES.
There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics
+/- is not a good measure of play, because it can be affected by many other variables. For example say Hendo comes in the game and then suddenly DJ goes off and hits 6 threes in a row. Hendo may have had nothing to do with that if he was on the other side of the play but he will get a huge bump in +/-. Same thing if somebody from the other team goes cold and misses a bunch of shots. It might be because Hendo was playing good D or that could be somebody else man and just luck.
Over a large enough sample size these other variables will average out to some degree but the +/- over three games is mostly worthless.
His actual stats look pretty good and I would rate his play a B or maybe B+ but three games is still to early to tell how the year will go for him.
I'm using numbers and applying them. That's what you do with stats. You read, assess, and apply. You don't go, "Zomg Hendo is dah +/- champion he's dah greatestttt!!"
By applying the numbers to other teams and situations, one can see that +/- is useless.
+/- is deceptive my dude. In some cases it can show you exactly why Drew Gooden is such an awful player, in others it'll blame Kobe for loss after he was the sole driving force on the team.
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