Housekeeping note

I never did write up a full recap for the Villanova game, but I think that ship has sailed.  You can check the usual suspects (link, link, link) for write-ups, as well as a new Hoya blog I stumbled upon here.


But that's not why I'm here.

I've just updated the Big East HD box scores, and appended a plus/minus and Roland rate table to each.  Keep in mind that plus/minus stats don't work well for players who get extreme amounts of playing time - either very little or very much (see this discussion for more on why unadjusted plus/minus and Roland rates aren't the greatest stats).  I'll try to update these tables every two weeks or so.

As mentioned previously, I'm only working up box scores for eight other teams besides the Hoyas, as they have useful play-by-play data available for most or all games.

A pearl of wisdom (or two) for each of those teams, while the season is young and I can be made to look foolish in 6 weeks:

• UConn:  Alex Oriakhi doesn't seem to be helping the cause as much as another shooter (e.g. Coombs-McDaniel)

• Louisville:  Edgar Sosa and Samardo Samuels appear irreplaceable for the Cardinals, and Pitino seems to know it; I thought T. Jennings would have a break-out year - perhaps not.

• Marquette:  Butler and Hayward, and a cast of thousands.  But since you already knew that, how about getting Maurice Acker some more playing time?

• Notre Dame:  here's a team where the plus/minus stats just don't work well - 'Gody, Jackson and Hansbrough rarely come out of the game.  Nash is more valuable than Scott and maybe Peoples so far.

• Pitt:  Ashton Gibbs has missed only 11 minutes of possible court-time in conference play, but Roland rate loves him.  I thought Dante Taylor would rate higher, but he's only five games into his Big East conference career, so I'll let it slide.

• St. John's:  There are 12 players with at least 20 minutes of playing time so far:  Sean Evans and Paris Horne are the leaders among the rotation guys, Omari Lawrence gets some love for those with less game action so far.

• Seton Hall:  Roland rate is not a fan of Herb Pope, which surprises me.  It loves Jordan Theodore, which doesn't surprise me at all.

• Villanova:  In a season-preview I contributed towards in September, I predicted that Corey Stokes would be one of the break-out players this year . . . not so much.  Maalik Wayns also has a lousy rate, but you'd never know it from that game on Sunday.