Mid-Season Review: East

Man, the East is kicking ass. They've got two one loss teams and four teams over five hundred. By the power poll, the third place team in the East (Pogiboys) are better than any team in the West. How you like that for dominance? The Poobic Heirs are milking a four game win strea, the Pogiboys have three going on, and the rest of the conference can compete on most every night. Let's take at what's going on mid-season.

Squirtle Squad (9-1)
The Squad is cruising once again. They aren't dominant in any one category but they are strong in FG% and AST. Actually, the team does suffer from some significant weaknesses, despite their sterling record. They're third to last in FT%, BLK, and 3PT and not great at REB. Then again, they have had Brandon Roy emerge, a mostly healthy season from Jamaal Tinsley, and a great year from Deron Williams. In addition, Carlos Boozer is a maniac. Who else is averaging 23.5 PTS, 11.3 REB, 3 AST, and 1.3 STL? Nobody! The problem is that Boston teammates Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are producing less than they did last year. Can the Squad fend off Poobic Heirs for the regular season crown?

Poobic Heirs (9-1)
With only one loss -- to Squirtle Squad -- the Heirs are in great position to defend their championship. They are tops in games played but that's not the reason they're winning; they're just very good. They are first in REB, FT%, STL, and BLK. Throw in the fact that they are second in PTS and very few teams will beat them. They are only 7th in FG% and AST (and horrible in TO) but no team can afford to be amazing across the board. Former teammates Kobe Bryant and Caron Butler are tearing apart the competition and Yao Ming, Kevin Martin, Monta Ellis, Udonis Haslem, Rasheed Wallace, and Samuel Dalembert are all great fantasy players. The only weak spot here has been the disappointing play of Kirk Hinrich but he's been picking it up of late.

MoRRie's Pogiboys (7-3)
The Pogiboys are the story of the first half of the season as they've gone for seven wins after winning a league low two games all of last year. They are a drastically transformed team with a full season from Chris Paul and his new cave man buddy Chris Kaman. The Pogiboys are no longer devastated by injury and are ranked very high in AST, STL, BLK, and FT%. They still have significant problems putting up PTS and REB but they're certainly very competitive, even handing the Squirtles their lone loss. Chauncey Billups is steady as ever, Rudy Gay has really emerged (and we won't even mention double double machine Kaman here), and Gerald Wallace is healthy and scoring. It's a shame Tyrus Thoomas and Darko Milicic can't really get it together but hey, the Pogiboys have Andrew Bynum and Al Horford to pick up the interior slack.

100AcreWoodPoohBears (5-5)
The Pooh Bears are a nice story themselves. They finished last season with a 38.1% winning percentage but they're playing even so far this season. As always, they can't score (PTS and 3PT are awful) but they shoot accurately and protect the ball. They have excellent FG%, FT%, and are tops in TO. If only they could get their STL and BLK numbers a bit higher, they would be a quite a threat. A full season of Pau Gasol has helped, as well as the return to form of Andrei Kirilenko (6 REB, 5 AST, 1.2 STL, 1.9 BLK). Let's crank up the defense!

Human Amoebas (4-6)
Always an intriguing team, the Amoebas have started off very average so far this season. They are ranked between 5th and 7th in FT%, PTS, AST, TO, and BLK. They are 9th in STL and 3PT with only one strength, REB (4th). They also shoot really poorly -- third to last. Still, this is a team with some serious talent. Dirk Nowitzki, Zach Randolph, Jason Kidd, Amare Stoudemire, and Richard Hamilton are standouts while Marvin Williams, Ben Wallace, and Daniel Gibons are all contributors. However, Raja Bell, Andrea Bargnani, Jarrett Jack, and Quentin Richardson have all turned in craptastic performances so far. What's next for the Amoebas?

Jedi Knights (2-7-1)
Our newest owner, Chris, is suffering from some growing pains. They are almost the exact opposite of the Sour Snails and Funk Coalition. The Knights are strong in REB, BLK, TO, and first in FG%. On the flip side, they're horrible in FT%, PTS, AST, STL, and 3PT. Their best bet to get a few wins is to push at least one of those latter categories up a few notches. Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Emeka Okafor, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas have been what you'd expect. However, everyone else aside from Luol Deng and Grant Hill has been somewhat disappointing. The team desperately needs more outside shooting to complement Mike Miller, unless his 3PT are no longer needed at all.