First, I gathered all the game data I could find. I mean everything – scores, player stats, who was injured, even stuff like how many fouls they got. It was a messy spreadsheet at first, just a bunch of numbers staring back at me.
Digging into the Data
Then I started to look for patterns. Did they play better at home or away? Did certain player matchups make a big difference? I spent hours, honestly, just comparing numbers and trying to make sense of it all.
- Wins vs. Losses: I separated the games into wins and losses to see if there were any obvious differences.
- Player Performance: I focused on key players like Booker and Durant, checking their scoring, assists, and rebounds in different situations.
- Opponent Stats: I even looked at how the Suns performed against different teams – did they struggle against certain styles of play?
It was like putting together a puzzle, slowly piecing together bits of information. I started to see some small things, like how they tended to score more points in the third quarter when they were ahead at halftime. Small, but potentially useful.
Trying Out Predictions
Next, I actually tried making some predictions. Just simple stuff at first, like "I think they'll win this game by 5 points." Most of the time, I was way off. But I kept adjusting my "system," tweaking the factors I was considering, and slowly, very slowly, I started to get a little better.
It's still very much a work in progress. I'm no expert, and I definitely wouldn't bet any money on my predictions just yet! But it's been a fun project, and I'm learning a lot about basketball – and about how much goes into making even a slightly educated guess.
