Okay so yesterday I wanted to really dig into that Fever vs Wings game beyond just the final score, you know? Like, who actually did the work? Who made a real difference? That title Impact Players was buzzing in my head. Needed to find ’em.
The Hunt Starts
First thing, I grabbed my coffee and fired up the laptop. Figured official league stats were the place to start. Tried the WNBA site first – easy, right? Wrong. Felt like running through mud trying to find the detailed breakdown for just that game. Box score, yeah, but where were the deeper numbers? Player comparisons? Felt hidden.
Switched to a couple of major sports news sites. Sometimes they present stuff cleaner. Scrolled past headlines like “Fever Crush Wings” – not helpful! Finally found a post-game stats page buried under a ton of ads. Annoying, but usable. Copied down the links.
Taming the Data Beast
Now the messy part. Opened a fresh Google Sheet. Columns out: Player Name, Team, Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, Turnovers, Minutes Played. Pretty standard stuff.
Started manually entering the data for the key players from both sides. Tyrese Haliburton? Wait, no, wrong league! Felt dumb for a sec. Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, Arike Ogunbowale, Sabally… got the names locked in.
Typing in numbers is tedious! Made me appreciate auto-import tools. Double-checked everything against the source page. One mistake screws up the whole analysis. Focused hard.
- Clark: Points: Yep. Assists: Tons! Key passes.
- Ogunbowale: Scoring machine as usual.
- Boston: Rebounds on point? Confirmed.
Sorted the sheet by points – obvious stars popped out. But points ain’t everything, are they?
Finding the Impact
This was the meat. Needed to see beyond the surface. What wins games?
- Plus/Minus (+/-): Scanned the sheet for this. Who was on court when the team gained ground? That’s impact! Spotted a Fever role player whose +/- was surprisingly high despite low points. Hmm!
- Efficiency: Looked at shooting percentages. Someone scoring 15 on 15 shots is worse than 12 on 8 shots. Highlighted those efficient performances.
- Hustle Stats: Picked out steals and blocks. Those change momentum instantly. Found a Wings player with steals creating real offensive chances.
- Setting the Table: High Assist numbers? Tells me who ran the offense, found teammates. Clark’s assists jumped off the page as massive for Fever.
Suddenly, the picture got clearer. Clark wasn’t just scoring, she was running the show for Indiana. Ogunbowale carried the scoring load for Dallas. But that Fever player with the big +/-? Got my attention for making a winning contribution without big stats.
What I Took Away
Doing the manual entry sucks, no lie. But forcing yourself to look at each number? Makes you see the game differently. The basic stat sheet tells you who scored. Digging into efficiency, +/-, and those hustle plays? That tells you who truly moved the needle. Clark and Ogunbowale were the obvious stars, sure, but finding that supporting player making quiet winning plays? That was the satisfying nugget. Stats are just numbers until you make them tell the story of impact. Piece of cake once you get into it!
