Disclaimer: I fully recognize that +/- statistics are an imperfect measurement of a player's impact on a game in a single game scenario. With 9 other players on the court, there's a lot that an individual has zero control over. I do think that over the course of the season though, it starts to paint a picture. And since Excel does everything for me except 8-10 minutes of data entry, why not?

This is definitely a new look Rebels team from the past several seasons. Gone are the explosive scoring and the defensive detriments of Chris Warren. Instead, it's a team that plays very good defense (outside of the Marquette game) and one searching for an identity on offense. I've harped on the Ewing Theory regarding Warren repeatedly on this site and I still believe this will be the year that Kennedy's Rebs break through and Dance at the end of the year, but time will tell.

Anyway, on to the numbers...

For those unfamiliar with the metric, +/- is a running total of the score differential while a player is the game. If, while in the game, you outscore your opponent 8-4 before you're subbed out, your +/- would be +4. If, on your next time in, you're outscored 12-10, your running total would be +2: (+4+(-2))=+2.

See below for +/- numbers on the top 9 players on the team, as well as the team's Points Per Minute (PPM) on offense and defense while they are in. YTD, Nick Williams far and away has the +/- lead. He's starting to play like we expected on his transfer. He's yet to really disappear in key moments like he did during conference season last year.

YTD +/- (All Games)

The one anomaly on here I would expect to change soon is that Buckner has the worst PPM (D) rating so far. His minutes have been limited this season due to injury and asshattery, but there's no denying his defensive prowess.

Probably more important is the +/- stats for the 4 close games we've played. One of the biggest struggles Chris had was late game decision making. Outside of that huge 3 he drained against UK last year, he had missed buzzer beaters or committed turnovers in those situations thourghout his career. This year though, our two starting guards - Jarvis Summers and Nick Williams - are pacing the way in close games, as it should be. Sure they both benefitted greatly from the 17-0 lead against Miami, but so did Murph, Cox, and Henry. Summers has had the typical freshman jitters at times, but his improvement from the Monroe game to the Penn State game is unbelievable.

Close Game +/-

The numbers will be bloated a little over the next two games as the Rebs have a couple of laughers, but it will be interesting to see how Kendrick and White fit into the lineup. If I were Terrance Henry, I'd be a little concerned about my minutes.