IN Sidney Onwubere, Barangay Ginebra fans can expect a player that can provide a major impact at all times when he is on the floor.
The former Emilio Aguinaldo College standout's numbers may not be eye-popping for some with his averages of 9.6 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, but there's one statistical category that reflects his real value on the court.
In the last 2021 Philippine Cup semi-bubble, Onwubere, acquired by the Gin Kings in a trade with NorthPort in exchange for Arth Dela Cruz on Tuesday, was actually in fourth place in average plus/minus (+/-) with 7.8 per game.
Measure of a player's impact
The statistical category is widely accepted nowadays as a true measure of a player's impact when on the floor. According to breakthroughbasketball.com, +/- is “a measure of point differential when players are in and out of a game.”
"It is calculated by taking the difference in the score when the player enters the game and subtracting it from the score when the player exits the game” and “these differences are added up over the entire game to give the score,” it added.
The website also said that in short, +/- is a “measure of the impact a player has on the score of the game when he is in the game without measuring any specific statistic.”
In short, NorthPort was scoring an average of nearly eight more than its opponent per contest when Onwubere is on the floor.
Onwubere is actually is in a great company of players with a high +/- average.
He is in joint fourth with his former NorthPort teammate Robert Bolick. Then, the No. 1 on the list is actually another Batang Pier in Paolo Taha with nine per game.
Two players actually have a better average +/- than Onwubere in another NorthPort player in Greg Slaughter along with the recently-crowned PBA champion and finals MVP Mikey Williams with eight.
Other names that are on the top of the average +/- category are Troy Rosario of TNT, Kelly Williams of TNT, Scottie Thompson of Barangay Ginebra, RR Pogoy of TNT, and Jamie Malonzo of NorthPort.
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