Recap: Week 4

Inter-Conference Games
4-4, Rhythm Drive vs Chunky Monkeys
7-2, MoRRie's Pogiboys vs Sour Snails
Conference Games
6-3, Funk Coalition vs Phanatics
5-4, The Poobic Heirs vs Pooh Bears
6-3, Fat Jubas vs Buffy
7-2, Squirtle Squad vs Human Amoebas
(statistics)

4-4, Rhythm Drive vs Chunky Monkeys
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a tie! The first time in league history belongs to Reno and Evan. The category? Blocks! With 32 blocks each, the two teams faced off and came away even. Maybe Andris Biedrins (15 blocks) might have helped the Monkeys? Whoops. Biedrins 50 REB might have helped the Monkeys secure a win too. Fire the coach! The Rhythm Drive are one of the biggest teams in the league, you don't think they can REB and BLK you to death? Was going small the way to beat them? Apparently not this week.

Looking deeper into the numbers, the two teams competed hard in PTS, AST, and TO -- with each category being determined by a handful of stats. Reno's big man Dwight Howard is starting to assert himself, with 18.5 PTS, 14.25 REB, and 1.5 BLK on the week. Way to go and get a historic tie guys! Parade on Main Street next week?

7-2, MoRRie's Pogiboys vs Sour Snails
What happens when you pitch two desperate hungry dogs against each other? Well, if it's anything like this week's game betwen Alvin and Trieu, one dog gets eaten. The Pogiboys secured their first win of the season behind a 5 GP difference and some good play (finally) from Chauncey Billups (9.5 AST a game, 2 3PT) and Elton Brand (13.5 REB, 1.5 BLK). Neither are scoring much, but at least they led the way to a victory right? Let the good times roll!

For the Snails, the season is starting off at a, well, snail's pace. Four straight losses and Steve Nash (mistakenly) sitting on the bench last week. Morris Peterson got 9 points in one game before sitting out. Ron Artest tallied 22 PTS, 11 REB, 5 STL and oh, 28.6% FG before taking a seat after two games. This team is in trouble. At least Jason Richardson is showing signs of life with 17.25 PTS, 5.25 REB, 1.5 3PT and almost 5 AST a game. Richardson's gonna have to step up, way up, to help Iverson and Nash get that sour losing taste out of their mouths.

7-2, Squirtle Squad vs Human Amoebas
From one beat-down to another. The Squirtles dispatched the Amoebas quite handily this week. When it came to game time, Brian's players were just more clutch I guess. They narrowly won in AST-STL-BLK-FTP and showed some poise near the end. The Amoebas made it interesting late -- Raja Bell hit 20 3PT this week, 20! -- but they ultimately fell short. Is it time to call out the bust alert on Ben Wallace? Where's his headband? What's going on here? And the crown for early season MVP, based on this win, sits firmly on Carlos Boozer's head. Can he get any better? 25.5 PTS, 12 REB and 62.3 FG%. Zach Randolph who? And look at that, the other Jazz on the Squirtles, Deron Williams (9.75 AST) is starting to hit threes again (7 3PT). Rise of the Squirtles?

Btw, I love David Lee. A white guy who gets 10 PTS, 10 REB and 1.5 STL in a game? And he doesn't even start! He also shoots well from the field and the line. Trade for him Danny Ainge! I'll start the fan club!

6-3, Funk Coalition vs Phanatics
It's a shoot out! Well, sort of. The Funk Coalition match up against the Phanatics very well, since they have such high PTS, AST, STL and 3PT numbers. The Phunk can beat you if you aren't on your game scoring or rebounding, but they don't do enough of the little things to take out a team like Funk, especially if Funk's going to fire on all cylinders with Kyle Korver dropping in 10 3PT, Carmelo 125 PTS, and Lebron adding a little bit of everything. The Phanatics had a decent week, but they weren't overly explosive and finished out dominating only in REB, which is a moot point in this matchup.

6-3, Fat Jubas vs Buffy
The Jubas are proving to the world that they belong on top with an even handed drubbing of Buffy. Despite narrowly losing in PTS (by 6), Jubas came up big in just about every other category. How about those 132 assists! Nearly ten a game from Wade, a big handful from Tracy McGrady and Andre Iguodala (16.75 PTS, 8.75 REB, 5.25 AST, 3.25 STL and 1.5 3PT this week), and that's enough to overtake Buffy -- sans Baron Davis. Speaking of Baron, he lost a few games to injury and Buffy lost. Coincidence? Maybe not, we'll see how they fare when Baron returns. Who's more important to this squad? Chris Paul or the Baron?

5-4, The Poobic Heirs vs Pooh Bears
These two, owners of the fourth and fifth round picks in the draft squared off for the first time. Let's start by comparing the incomparable Matrix with the Black Mamba, aka Kobe Bryant. Marion had a "bad" week (16.5 PTS, 8.5 REB, 2.5 STL, 1.25 STL and only 4 3PT) while Kobe's finally rounding into superior form (28.6 PTS, 5.33 REB, 5.66 AST and 4 3PT). Which one would you rather have? Hard to lose with either one right?

It looks like Kobe's (fantasy) supporting cast is stellar this year. Following their leader's example, swingmen Ricky Davis, Kevin Martin, Caron Butler, and the amazing Monta Ellis are dominating foes. Monta can pass, score and swipe. That's a triple threat. The "new" K-Mart shoots, shoots, and well, shoots. Caron does it all, and so does Ricky -- plus pout. And you want a taste of big men? How about the best center in the game, Yao Ming, paired with vanilla Andrew Bogut and anything-but-vanilla Rasheed Wallace? And oh look, Devin Harris is itching for some playing time off the pine.

The Heirs should have beat the Pooh Bears by more than just one category actually. They narrowly missed out in AST and STL -- then again, they barely won in BLK and TO. So I guess this game was the game of the week right? The Bears are hurting with AK47 down and out (we seem to say this every week), and maybe Pau Gasol is the answer, but he's a long way off from returning. For now, it's still the Matrix show for the Pooh Bears.