While we've got a break in the action with no midweek game for SLU this week, it's a good time to look at the season-to-date and A-10 Conference plus-minus numbers for the Billikens.

I don't do this often enough, and I probably should. (Then again, the truly curious could write them down themselves from online postgame reports.) For the uninitiated, plus-minus is, much as it is in hockey, the comparison of the points a team scored with a certain player on the court relative to the points it allows. Small differences don't mean much; a guy can throw in a three or miss the front end of a one-and-one while you're on the court and one player may have had no connection with -- or responsibility -- for that play. But obviously, over the course of games, the guys doing best should have the biggest difference. But, as always, don't get hung up on one person being one or two points better than someone else. 

At this point in the season, I think the Atlantic 10 season numbers are more relevant, because the competition is more consistent and there aren't outliers like Alabama State that inflate the numbers.

A word about the people at the very bottom: Those guys don't play many minutes. Often at that time, their job is to dribble out the clock, while the other team, which often still has its best players in the game, is still trying to score points. It's a product of the situation.

Also, a good number can be a reflection of good coaching. Would Rob Loe's number be lower if he was left out there in bad situations that aren't conducive to his game? Yes it would.

Here are the A-10 numbers:

Mike McCall +113

Brian Conklin +81

Kwamain Mitchell +70

Rob Loe +69

Jordair Jett +65

Dwayne Evans +62

Cody Ellis +57

Kyle Cassity +51

Cory Remekun +21

Brian Daly 0

John Manning -2

Grandy Glaze -2

Jake Barnett -4

Here are the season-to-date numbers:

Mitchell +294

Conklin +259

Evans +212

Cassity +205

Loe +204

Ellis +200

McCall +191

Jett +185

Remekun +85

Manning -9

Gehlen -11

Glaze -12

Daly -16

Barnett -27

Notes: The biggest difference between A-10 play and the whole season is the numbers of Mike McCall. SLU's six-game win streak coincided with him moving into the starting lineup, but beyond that, he's had hands down the best numbers in that time. He's +72 in that run, in which SLU as a team is +88. So most of the time SLU is building a lead, it's with McCall on the court.

Another thing that speaks to the nature of this team is that, other than Mitchell and Conklin overall, there's not that much of a difference between anyone. There isn't a very big gap between Evans, Loe, Ellis, McCall, Jett and Cassity overall. And in A-10 play if you substitute Mitchell for McCall, you've got the same thing. And over the past four games, Cory Remekun is +26.

Programming note: I'm on boxing duty this week, covering Devon Alexander vs. Marcos Maidana on Saturday at Scottrade, so I'm not making the Rhode Island trip. It's a one-shot deal and no cause for alarm. I'll be back next week and we'll be with the Billikens from Chaifetz to Pittsburgh to Atlantic City to wherever they may end up after that.