Mid-Season Review: Part 1

We're halfway through the season; every team has played each other team once and we're about to reset for the second go-around. How're things looking?

LEADERS OF THE PACK
Still the top dogs, just like after the quarter mark, both of these teams are very strong in their division (Squirtles are undefeated, Jubas have lost one) and are tied for most Points For in the league. In their only head-to-head matchup, the Squirtles beat the Jubas by a very close margin in WK10.

Squirtle Squad (9-2)
Powered by an engine of Kevin Garnett and Carlos Boozer, alongside a top backcourt combination in point guard Deron Williams and shooting guard Ray Allen, this team is tough in all categories. Jamaal Tinsley has been a nice (healthy) suprise and Boris Diaw -- while disappointing to an extent as a third round pick -- is being used perfectly as an all-around talent with a strong passing eye.

An underrated key member of this squad is Andres Nocioni, who has turned into quite the gunner (1.7 3PT) in support of Ray Allen. Brandon Roy is back and putting up nice peripheral numbers, and even though Nenad Krstic is lost for the season, Brian is able to plug in any holes with a quick and effective free-agent trigger finger (David Lee, Erick Dampier). The Squirtles are poised to remain the top team for the second half of the season and heading into the playoffs.

Fat Jubas (8-2)
The Jubas are deep, and even with the sometimes injured duo of Tracy McGrady and Dwayne Wade, they can beat anyone on any given week. Wade and McGrady are two of the best all-around talents in the game, but behind them are two up and comers in Andre Igoudala and Josh Howard. Both are having breakout seasons and are bonafide stars. Jermaine O'Neal may be unhappy in real life but he's swatting shots for fantasy purposes (3.2 BLK). Alongside him is Al Jefferson, who is finally cashing in on some of his talent. Don't forget the resurgent Mark Blount, the pretty decent play of Zaza Pachulia, and of course, Darko Milicic

The other huge bargain basement pick made good this season is Leandro Barbosa, who is the little scoring engine that could. Drop in Tony Parker and we're talking about a team whose eighth best player is Al Jefferson, Barbosa, or Corey Maggette. And if the promising duo of Lamarcus Aldridge and Tyrus Thomas get some more playing time, that's even more frontcourt depth. Scary.

CONTENDERS
The following four teams have been good, but not great. Each have been close to, or sat atop, the standings at one point or another, but a few hiccups have them one step behind the favorites.

Rhythm Drive (7-3-1)
The Drive is on a four game winning streak and killing teams behind the big two of Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard. Howard is a manimal and Bosh is terrific when healthy -- which has been his one Achille's heel. The veteran twin towers -- Brad Miller and Zydrunas Ilgauskas -- are doing their part in support of the young bigs and with the emergence of Mike Miller and Luol Deng as fantasy darlings, Rhythm Drive is good on the wings and in the low blocks.

Point man Raymond Felton started slow but he's putting up gaudy AST numbers now that he's the main man in Charlotte. Rookie Adam Morrison has been having an airball or swish kind of year, but he still remains useful. Most of all, Grant Hill has been relatively healthy and serving nicely as a jack-of-all-trades. Is this team the third best in the league? The record says "yes."

Human Amoebas (6-4-1)
Why make a roster move when you keep on winning? The Amoebas defied all pre-season expectations and saw every semi-questionable draft pick turn to gold. Amare Stoudemire came back strong, Raja Bell and Quentin Richardson shot the lights out, Andrea Bargnani and Marvin Williams are both displaying their burgeoning talent, and most of all, Zach Randolph is going bananas -- that's not to say that he looks like a gorilla, but seriously, he does.

Big Dirk Nowitzki is steady as rain and Jason Kidd is still a nightly triple-double threat. Add in nice pieces like the consistent Rip Hamilton and the not-so-consistent Jarrett Jack, and this team is balanced and poweful. Of course, Ben Wallace lurks in the middle too. At full strength, this team should be able to compete with anyone in any category; plus they are excellent shooters from the field and from the stripe, which is always a nice edge to have.

Buffy (7-4)
Talent-wise, Buffy should be near tops in the league. Chris Paul, Joe Johnson, Baron Davis, Antawn Jamison and Rashard Lewis are the envy of any owner. Mid-tier picks Eddy Curry, JR Smith, Tyson Chandler and Jamal Crawford have been pretty great. Even with Chris Webber and Shaquille as dead weight on the bench (both soon to return to fantasy relevance?), Buffy is loaded. Tenth man Luke Walton is the perfect all-around player that any winning team needs.

The problem here is that Buffy is suffering from a serious spate of injuries. Paul and Lewis are both down for the count. In addition, Joe Johnson has gone a bit cold; Jamison is clearly the third option in Washington; and JR Smith is going to lose some value with AI in town. Still, this team is loaded from top to bottom and look for them to get healthy and make their way to the top in a few weeks.

Funk Coalition (7-4)
The Funk have done a good job staying afloat without Carmelo -- using hot streaks by Matt Barnes and Earl Boykins to win 3 out of 4 -- but this team is built a little too delicately to suffer games missed by their stars. Losing Michael Redd for six weeks will be that kind of big loss. With the ability to only win the five small ball categories, this team can be toppled by any imbalance in the force.

TJ Ford and Rafer Alston have been great; with Ford providing the AST and Alston the AST/STL/3PT trifecta but Jameer Nelson has been a big disappointment -- as a fourth round pick no less. A few white shooters (Korver and Dunleavy) are doing their part but it's really up to the Big Three to pour on the PTS. One overlooked stat: is Lebron hurting this team with his poor FT%? He might be, especially since all his other stats are also down from last year. The Funk are good, but they're only going to beat you one way, and if they can't do that, they run out of options pretty quickly.

Coming Tomorrow: The Dark Horses and the Toilet Bowl