My Experiment Begins
So I stumbled across this forum thread yesterday where folks were fiercely arguing whether Lee or Jam was the better player. Stats flying everywhere but nobody actually showed how to properly compare them. Figured I’d just try it myself instead of reading more keyboard wars.
First thing I did was grab a cold beer and open three tabs:
- Lee’s official league stats page
- Jam’s player profile on the team website
- Blank spreadsheet because Excel never fails me
The Data Dump Struggle
Started copying everything from both players’ pages – points per game, assists, rebounds, you name it. Big mistake! Wasted like 20 minutes pasting numbers that didn’t even match up. Felt like trying to shove mismatched puzzle pieces together.
Lightbulb moment: Realized I needed to pick the SAME exact stats for both guys. Started fresh with just five key things both had: games played, field goal %, turnovers, plus/minus, and clutch shot stats.
Spreadsheet Showdown
Made columns side-by-side like this:
- Left side all Lee’s numbers
- Right side Jam’s numbers
- Middle column calculating differences
Added some conditional formatting – red cells when numbers were seriously different, green when close. Suddenly the important gaps jumped out visually. Jam’s plus/minus numbers were glowing red everywhere while Lee’s clutch shots looked neon green.
The “Aha” Visualization
Still felt dry though. Remembered my niece showing me that simple chart tool in Excel last month. Created quick bar graphs comparing their stats:
- Blue bars for Lee
- Orange bars for Jam
- Labeled each bar with actual numbers
Boom! The second that graph popped up, I actually gasped. Jam’s turnover bar was literally twice as tall as Lee’s. No wonder people get heated about this!
Real Talk Conclusion
After wasting half my afternoon, here’s what actually worked:
- Stop comparing apples to oranges – pick identical stats or don’t bother
- Calculator beats opinions – do the actual math on differences
- Make it visual – my eyes understood the bar charts instantly
Crazy how just five comparable stats plus simple graphs made the whole debate crystal clear. Should’ve done this before drinking that second beer though.
