Cal vs. Delaware State plus/minus

Although Nikola Knezevic and Jerome Randle had modest box score numbers in Cal's 74-57 win over Delaware State in Haas Pavilion on Thursday, they played key roles in Cal's most effective lineups and finished with plus/minus numbers of +20 and +15 respectively. Ryan Anderson (27 points, 9 rebounds) and Patrick Christopher (17 points) each finished with a +17, while DeVon Hardin had a +13.

Even though he finished with just four points, four rebounds, and one assist, he finished with the Bears' top plus/minus total, coming out with a +20 in 34 minutes of play.  During the six minutes he sat, which all took place in the first half, the Bears were outscored 13-10. 

Perhaps in an attempt to help prepare the team for the two games in three days routine that the team will face during conference play, the starters all logged heavy minutes on Thursday, with four starters playing more than 30 minutes, and Hardin playing 24 minutes after being limited to 9 minutes in the first half, due primarily to picking up his second foul with 5:25 left in the first half   Since the starters all logged heavy minutes, it's no real surprise that they had the top five plus/minus numbers.

Although Thursday's plus/minus doesn't reflect well on Harper Kamp, the freshman played well, scoring nine points in 16 minutes.  While he was in the game, the Bears enjoyed their highest offensive productivity (2.12 points per minute, an 85 point/40 minute pace). During the 24 minutes he didn't play, the Bear offense averaged 1.67 points/minutes, for a 66 point/40 minute pace.

Player	Min	+Pts	-Pts	Pts	Reb	Ast	Diff
Nikola Knezevic	34	64	44	4	4	1	+20
Ryan Anderson	31	58	41	27	9	2	+17
Patrick Christopher	36	67	50	17	2	2	+17
Jerome Randle	32	58	43	2	3	4	+15
DeVon Hardin	24	40	27	7	9	0	+13
Harper Kamp	16	34	30	9	1	1	+4
Eric Vierneisel	16	33	32	4	1	2	+1
Jordan Wilkes	10	16	16	4	0	2	0
Nican Robinson	1	0	2	0	0	0	-2

First vs. Second Half (minimum 2 minutes)

First Half Top - Nikola Knezevic - 35-20, +15  
Second Half Top - Ryan Anderson - 19-13, +6

First Half Bottom - Eric Vierneisel - 23-23 and Harper Kamp - 23-23, 0
Second Half Bottom - Jordan Wilkes - 10-11, -1

Difference Makers

With Nikola Knezevic in 34 minutes - 64-44, +20
Without Knezevic in 6 minutes - 10-13, -3

With Ryan Anderson in 31 minutes - 58-41, +17
Without Anderson in 9 minutes - 16-16, 0

With Patrick Christopher in 36 minutes - 67-50, +17
Without Christopher in 4 minutes - 7-7, 0

With DeVon Hardin in 24 minutes - 40-27, +13
Without Hardin in 16 minutes - 34-30, +4

Lineups

Starting lineup
Randle, Knezevic, Christopher, Anderson, Hardin in 17:11 - 26-18, +8
All other lineups in 22:49 - 48-39, +9

Other notes

Defensively, the Bears allowed 1.12 points/minute (45 pts/40 minutes) with Hardin in the game, but gave up points at the rate of  1.87 points/minute (74 pts/40 minutes) when he was out.

The Bears starting lineup allowed 1.06 points/minute (42 points/40 minutes) when they were in the game, but allowed 1.70 points/minute (68 pts/40 minutes) when all other lineups were in the game.  The offensive productivity was down with the starting line, as Cal's offense averaged 1.53 points/minute (61 points/40 minutes) when they were in the game, but scored 2.09 points/minute (83 points/40 minutes) with all other lineups.

Contribution Evaluation

Player	Minutes	Expected	Actual	Difference
Knezevic	34	+14.45	+20	+5.55
Anderson	31	+13.18	+17	+3.82
Hardin	24	+10.20	+13	+2.80
Christopher	36	+15.30	+17	+1.70
Randle	32	+13.60	+15	+1.40
Robinson	1	+0.43	-2	-2.43
Kamp	16	+6.80	+4	-2.80
Wilkes	10	+4.25	0	-4.25
Vierneisel	16	+6.80	+1	-5.80

Description: This stat measures the significance of a player's contribution to the team's effort. If a team wins by 10 points, and a player plays in half of the team's minutes, his expected contribution would be a +5. For example, when Cal defeated Grambling by 19 points. Brian Wethers played 28 minutes or 70% of the game. If we multiply 70% x +19, Wethers' expected contribution would be a +13.30. But for the game he was a +26, so his net for the game for a +12.70. In a perfect team situation, if everyone contributed equally, the difference column would consist of a row of zeros.

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