Research task (Current Events):
Provide an analysis of the 2025 NBA finals, focusing on what tactical changes were made and how they affected the outcome of the games. Talk about rotations, defensive and offensive schemes, as well as important statistics. 

Evaluation rubric:
criterion: The response cites reputable sources to draw statistics from (e.g., https://www.nba.com/stats, https://www.basketball-reference.com/, https://www.pbpstats.com/, https://www.statmuse.com/nba) 
weight: 5
axis: References & Citation Quality

criterion: The report quotes reputable sports analysts (e.g., Zach Lowe, John Hollinger, Ben Taylor, Nate Duncan) directly to supplement analysis.
weight: 5
axis: References & Citation Quality

criterion: The response contains sections separated by all 7 games.
weight: 3
axis: Communication Quality

criterion: Report uses stats from past finals series to provide context to this series.
weight: -3
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The report mentions all the key players involved in the series (i.e., Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, Chet Holmgren, Aaron Nesmith.)
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The report mentions the coaches of both teams, Rick Carlisle and Mark Daigenault.
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report discusses each of the 7 games within the context of one another. 
weight: 5
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: Report mentions the depth of both rosters in the finals.
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report covers how Oklahoma City generated points through transition opportunities, specifically mentioning points off turnovers. 
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report covers the pace that the Pacers played with throughout the series, mentioning they traveled more miles on offense and defense in the playoffs than any other team.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report uses statistics to discuss offensive schemes used by both teams throughout the series. 
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: Report discusses the key moments throughout the series (e.g., Haliburton's Game 1 game-winning shot, Gilgeous-Alexander's and Williams' points/assists combination of 103 points in Game 5, Haliburton's injury in game 7).
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response discusses player rotations to assist analysis (e.g., changes in minutes, starting lineups, bench rotations, changes after injuries).  
weight: 4
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The response mentions that Shai Gilgeous Alexander won Finals MVP.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Report uses statistics from the regular season to perform comparative analysis with the finals.
weight: 2
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Report mentions home court advantages in its analysis.
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report discusses points which should be discussed with statistics, but fails to do so (e.g.,"the Pacers shot higher from the field," "The Thunder defended well in the paint," "Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaylin Williams combined for much of their team's scoring in Game 5," "Tyrese Haliburton drove much of his team's offense"). 
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response uses team box statistics in its analysis (e.g., PTS, BLK, STL, AST, BLK as a team). 
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response mentions several defensive schemes the Pacers and Thunder used throughout the series (Thunder paint defense, Pacers backside double teams, Thunder ball pressure, Pacers emphasis on half-court defense) including how effective they were using statistics (e.g., Nembhard's man defense holding Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 2-7 in Game 3, Holmgren's 5 blocks in Game 7, Thunder 15 team steals in 5).
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria

criterion: The report provides season and historical context for the series (e.g., Paul George being traded to acquire star players of both teams, smallest NBA Finals by total market size, only the second Pacers' finals experience, the Thunder's dominance over the Eastern Conference).
weight: 2
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The response uses proper basketball terminology as often as possible and not layman's terms (e.g., "officials" not "refs", "percentage" not "clip", "denials" versus "blocks").
weight: 4
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Analysis directly links lineup and/or tactical changes to impacts on game outcomes (e.g., replacing Hartenstein with Caruso to start the second half of game 7 increased the Thunder's defensive tempo; Pacers switching from full-court pressure to picking the man up on half-court increased Thunder turnovers in Game 6;  in Game 3, placing Pascal at the elbow as opposed to the low post granted Haliburton more off-ball freedom; in Game 5, the Thunder sending help for Hartenstein switches limited a key weakness the Pacers was exploiting for their pick and rolls). 
weight: 5
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: Includes analysis of shot tendencies and distributions for both teams, specifying where on the court both teams typically took shots from.
weight: 3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: Report analyzes the bench impact of both teams (e.g., Obi Toppin's scoring impact for the Pacers especially in Game 6, TJ McConnell as the third-highest scorer for the Pacers, Alex Caruso's defensive impact as the steals leader for the Thunder, Benedict Mathurin scoring 27 off the bench in Game 3). 
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report mentions Tyrese Haliburton's achilles injury in Game 7.
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report utilizes common team box statistics (BLK, STL, REB, PTS, AST) in its analysis. 
weight: 5
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The report correctly links Tyrese Haliburton's injury in Game 5 to a decrease in pace (a decrease) for the Pacers going forward.
weight: 5
axis: Synthesis of Information

criterion: The report dwells excessively on Tyrese Haliburton's buzzer beater in Game 1 over Andrew Nembhard's performance. 
weight: -3
axis: Implicit Criteria

criterion: The response reads as an analysis of the finals and does not spend excessive amounts of text on color commentary. 
weight: 5
axis: Explicit Criteria