Even more impressive because Box Plus/Minus is probably the best single stat to measure a player's performance. A comprehensive stat that also takes into account pace and quality of the competition. Sarah's numbers were actually slightly better than Paige last year, and of course are even better this year.
Sarah Strong is just Ridiculous
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HuskyNan
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Plus/minus shows how the score changes while the player is on the court. If someone’s +/- is 5, her team scored 5 more points than the opponent while she was playing. It’s a stat that’s purely mathematical; no factoring in quality of opponent or anything else. And keep in mind, it’s possible for a player to have a positive +/- even when her team loses
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So how will she match up with the past UConn greats as time goes on? I always have liked Stewie as the best, separating herself from the others because of her defensive skills. But Sarah is quite the defensive force, so maybe......
She is exceptional in every way. Just exceptional - what a talented and skilled player - a joy to watch. I will follow her career all the way out - amazing young woman.
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I agree. She is quite an intimidator in the lane. Apart from specific stats like blocks/game, like Stewie she intimidates even opposing bigs. Other teams try to play around them. Also, her end-to-end ball skills are unparalleled by any other big in the game. And I think her passing skills are next level, literally.
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BPM is a good composite measure, more readily available than other composite individual efficiency measures (EFFiciency, PER, PIE, NetRtg etc.).
However, BPM is a cohort measure. Per game BPM is the sum of a player’s rotations' BPMs — how effective are those rotations against the opponent’s rotations on offense and defense and how many possessions those rotations play.
With Sarah’s BPM’s and Paige’s BPM’s being what they are — and both being core players — one can make several inferences. And these inferences hark back to the seasons’ atmospheric stats (attached).
This season’s offense and defense (to-date) is noteworthy (many have already noted) because it’s mostly OOC, prior to the full-bloom metamorphosis that happens during the Big East schedule.
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Thanks for these fascinating stats, especially the second chart. The assists and ORB numbers are pretty striking, as is the 3pt% and the FGA/game. We're taking and making more 3s than any UConn team in the last 15 years. The 2P% is near the top, but this will probably approach last year's once the conference schedule starts. The O-boards are in the top 5 and that will also likely rise in conference. The overall comparison to the greatest 4 year stretch in D1 history is pretty eye-opening.
As for BPM (and WinShares), I'm sure you have a better sense of this than I do. What catches my attention is what you suggest, namely that this is a cohort-based stat, which has to mean it isn't easy to compare across different seasons, and certainly not across different teams. I'd also expect that BPM and WS are also very dependent on the size of a data set.
DennieEddy
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And I believe 2 years ago, UConn was not her top choice...or BY thought so.
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That was BY thought. She said it was always uconn
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Sluconn Husky
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Sarah (and Azzi) being phenomenal players and this season’s team being in the conversation as among, by UConn standards, one of the better teams are intrinsically linked.
And by UConn standards, statistically and by the eye-test, this team’s comparison group is shaping up to be the Stewie teams and the TASSK superteams and the Napheesa-KLS-Gabby team (without its Achilles heels). [See first pic]
In the OOC schedule, Sarah and Azzi are able to accomplish much in lesser minutes (comparatively speaking). There is greater bandwidth for farm system development within games. It helps that there is significantly more winning time rotations (comparatively speaking) that will produce 40-minutes full-throttle basketball player mix-match symphonic basketball by tournament time.
In terms of POY conversations, being the best players on the better (by UConn standards) team will hopefully carry more weight this year.
Note: Win Shares doesn’t appear in either of the two pics.
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Out of all of Sarah’s great basketball attributes (and there are many), the one that impresses me most is her incredible hands! I don’t think I’ve ever seen better hands! To be that big and to be able to guard out past the arc (yet another of her great abilities) and then (it almost seems like slow motion for a moment) to just casually reach in without fouling and poke the ball away, it’s just amazing. Another thing she does that amazes me is when she occasionally catches a late pass at a dead run, so far under the basket that you start to count it as a turnover and then, incredibly, impossibly it seems, she casually flips the ball up (seemingly as her lead foot crosses the end line) ad the ball goes up and gently falls through the hoop! I’ve seen her do this a number of times and it just floors me very time. She is truly a special player and, as others have said, makes things look so easy. So grateful she chose UConn!
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I only included Win Shares in my earlier reply as another technical stat sometimes used to deepen the picture of a player's value to a team. But it also seems to me to be a 'cohort' stat and not merely an individual measure.
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My mistake. I made an assumption based on the attachments I had in my post.
As to Win Shares, it is a meta cohort stat. It is a cohort stat itself but is also a formulaic way to divvy up the ultimate cohort stat (Wins) via the OffRtg and DefRtg framework to the players on the team. With it, one can have one measure on the core players of the team.
It is also able to identify the best players on the (best) teams.
Since the game is played 5-on-5 aren't all stats, to a greater or lesser degree, 'cohort' stats?
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cwh20
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There are so many posts extolling Sarah’s abilities. Another way to think of her is to try to find an area that she is merely slightly above average or even only good. There really isn’t one. She is exceptional in every phase, mentally and athletically. She is the best Husky ever through this similar point of her Sophomore year and I don’t see that changing by the end of her four years. And that is a very high bar. Stay healthy, Sarah!
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I've got a Masters and I taught school for 30 years and went to good schools. I don't have any propensity to read these stats. I pay attention to what I'm watching.
No joke, help me out, teach me: any of these stats that are enlightening. I want to make the most of this board, especially with so many threads involving stats. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Everybody has their favorites, and while mine is BPM, I also value win share per 40 minutes, and PER. PER is an individual stat composite taking in context against the competition with 15 being average. A player with a PER of 12 or 13 can still be above average compared to other Division 1 players if their team plays against top competition, and similarly a player with a PER of 20 may be below average if those numbers were achieved against weaker competition.
I don't know how BPM does it, but it does take the level of competition into account, making it the far better overall measurement. One way to see the difference is looking at the leaders in both categories. For PER some players are near the top that are lessor known or from teams that play a weaker schedule. When you look at the top of the BPM list you see the players that are generally considered the best of the best. The numbers, eye test, and player's reputations are more of a match.
BPM is also very useful during the portal season. If a player is say going from a mid major league to a power 4 conference, it is very likely their PER numbers will decrease, sometimes substantially because of tougher competition., but the BPM may be close to what it was previously.
Kaitlyn Chen was somewhat of an example for that. Her PER was much higher at Princeton where she had to be the team's star, but her BPM close to the same at Uconn. On the more extreme end was Evelyn Abedayo ( don't know if I spelled that right). She had a very good PER at Morehead State playing very weak competition. But her BPM there suggested she was closer to an average player, and not one expected to have much impact at Uconn.
So while I consider BPM the best, I do also look at PER, and win share, but not the nominal stat. I like win share per 40 minutes better than just the nominal number because it is so affected by minutes per game. But when comparing players with various minutes played against substantially different competition I would look at BPM first, but also look at PER and Win Share/40 minutes.
I don't know how BPM does it, but it does take the level of competition into account, making it the far better overall measurement. One way to see the difference is looking at the leaders in both categories. For PER some players are near the top that are lessor known or from teams that play a weaker schedule. When you look at the top of the BPM list you see the players that are generally considered the best of the best. The numbers, eye test, and player's reputations are more of a match.
BPM is also very useful during the portal season. If a player is say going from a mid major league to a power 4 conference, it is very likely their PER numbers will decrease, sometimes substantially because of tougher competition., but the BPM may be close to what it was previously.
Kaitlyn Chen was somewhat of an example for that. Her PER was much higher at Princeton where she had to be the team's star, but her BPM close to the same at Uconn. On the more extreme end was Evelyn Abedayo ( don't know if I spelled that right). She had a very good PER at Morehead State playing very weak competition. But her BPM there suggested she was closer to an average player, and not one expected to have much impact at Uconn.
So while I consider BPM the best, I do also look at PER, and win share, but not the nominal stat. I like win share per 40 minutes better than just the nominal number because it is so affected by minutes per game. But when comparing players with various minutes played against substantially different competition I would look at BPM first, but also look at PER and Win Share/40 minutes.
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The one thing that impresses me the most about Sarah is her demeanor on the court. She’s always calm, nothing is rushed. She knows what she wants to do with the ball most times. She does occasionally do a lazy pass that gets picked off by the other team, but that’s not the norm.
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