Unlocking Water Polo Success: Plus-Minus Impact

Water Polo in Its Current State: The Overlooked Stat

Water Polo is changing rapidly, and with the increasing usage of stats and metrics to help coaches and players determine which strategic and tactical decisions they should make. It's important to note one simple strategic stratagem that's quite often overlooked in our sport.

The Stat: How Did Everyone Else Play While You Were In?

This stat was actually popularized in basketball by a coach whose name escapes me at the moment. Does anyone know who it is? The stat basically involves assessing how your presence in the play affected your teammates. That's it.

Update: "Dean Smith, the legendary basketball coach from the University of North Carolina, is credited with popularizing the plus-minus statistic, which measures the point differential when a specific player is on the court. The stat reflects how the team performs with a particular player in the game compared to when they are not. Although this stat doesn't directly measure how everyone else's stats perform while player X is in, it does provide an overall view of the player's impact on the team's performance."