Alright, so the whole Luka vs Celtics thing in the finals really got my attention this year. Not just watching, you know, but really thinking about the matchup. Everyone’s got takes online, commentators yellin’ stats, but I felt like I wanted to get my hands dirty, figure some stuff out for myself.
So, I decided to do my own little project. Nothing super scientific, just me trying to track specific things during the games. I got this idea in my head about really comparing Luka’s impact versus the Celtics’ team approach, but like, in a more granular way than the usual box scores show.
Getting Started
First thing I did was just grab a notebook and pen for the first game. Old school, right? Watched the game live, then went back over some key possessions using recordings. I was trying to note down stuff like:
- How many seconds Luka held the ball per possession.
- What kind of defense the Celtics threw at him each time. Was it single coverage, a quick double, a zone look?
- On the other side, how many Celtics players touched the ball on a scoring play.
- Where shots were coming from for both teams during crunch time.
It sounds simple, but man, keeping track while also trying to actually watch the game was tricky. My notes looked like a mess half the time.
Moving to Digital (Sort Of)
After one game, the notebook thing wasn’t cutting it. Too slow, too hard to organize. So I moved onto my computer. Fired up a basic spreadsheet. Made columns for players, possession types, defensive setups, results. Still mostly manual entry, watching replays, pausing, typing. Took way longer than I thought it would.
This part was a grind. Seriously. Staying up late, squinting at the screen, trying to figure out if that was Tatum or Brown rotating over. Sometimes the broadcast angles didn’t even show what I needed. I wasn’t using any fancy tracking software, just my eyes and the pause button. Found myself yelling at the screen sometimes, like “Show me the weak side defense, dammit!”
What I Found (Or Didn’t)
So, what did all this effort get me? Well, no earth-shattering secrets revealed, honestly. It kinda confirmed a lot of what you could already see: Luka had the ball A LOT. Like, an insane amount. The spreadsheet definitely highlighted how much of the Mavs’ offense ran directly through him, especially late in the shot clock.
For the Celtics, the ball movement thing was real. You could see it in the numbers I tracked – more players touching the ball, more passes leading to assists, especially compared to Dallas. Their defense was also just… everywhere. The numbers didn’t always capture how disruptive they were, but tracking the different looks they gave Luka showed how they kept mixing it up. It wasn’t just one thing.
Did it help me predict who’d win? Not really. Sports are too unpredictable for my little spreadsheet. There were moments my data suggested one thing, and the game went completely the other way.
End Result?
In the end, this whole exercise wasn’t about becoming some stats guru. It was more about engaging with the games on a different level. Instead of just consuming, I was actively looking, questioning, tracking. It made me appreciate the complexity of the game even more, the coaching strategies, the player adjustments.
It was kinda fun, in a nerdy, time-consuming way. Made me realize how much work goes into the real analysis teams do. My little project was just scratching the surface. But yeah, that was my Luka vs Celtics deep dive. Just me, my screen, and a whole lot of pausing and rewinding.
