Playoff Race '12

You all realize there's only four weeks to go in the regular season right? With All Star break around the corner, it's shocking but our NBA fantasy time is way past the midway point. What you say? You haven't made enough trades or moves yet (I'm talking to you Chris and Steve, with your paltry single digit moves)? Let's take a quick look at each division and the potential playoff picture.

(Chamberlain Conference) Transformers
We're gonna go ahead and say that Brian's Squirtle Squad has this division locked down. Sure he's not mathematically the winner yet but his team is deep and loaded -- and hasn't lost since WK2. Ty Lawson and Greg Monroe have emerged, Serge Ibaka is a shot blocking machine, and then there's Deron Williams, Blake Griffin, Joe Johnson, and the still relevant Al Harrington. Oh right, Squirtle also scooped up Linsanity. Both Steve and Oliver's teams are 5-3, just two games behind, but they are really racing against each other for the wild card spots. They have a two game lead on the Sour Snails in the Silverhawks division, so there's a decent chance they'll both get in.

Oliver's Half Man Half ImAsian has suffered through a ton of injuries -- Andrew Bogut and Anderson Varejao -- and has been hampered by the lack of frontcourt depth. However, Kevin Durant is a machine, LaMarus Aldridge is who we thought he was, and they might be able to pull the rest of the team together for a postseason run. As for Steve's 2005 All-Star Team, it's entirely the Dwight Howard show. They are ranked average or below average in every category except BLK, yet have a winning record. The pre-draft trade for Ricky Rubio was inspired but Jason Kidd is barely fantasy relevant now, Manu Ginobili has played nine games total, and the second best player on this team is Antawn Jamison. Dwight needs to demand a trade!

Last year's division winner, Buffy, is mostly out of the playoff picture. Unless he can somehow run the table, Roger will be making an appearance in the Toilet Bowl.

(Chamberlain Conference) Silverhawks
What a pathetic showing by nearly every team in this division. The two teams at the bottom, Fob Stars and Jedi Knights, have combined for one win. Yes, one win. And Jimmy's one win was at Chris' expense. If the Jedi Knights can't pull off a win during these next four weeks, we demand their name be changed to Jar Jar Binks for all of next season.

After two years of appearing in the SlamNation Finals, it looks like Trieu is in for the fight of his fantasy life as he'll have to make up a lot of ground to return to the playoffs. Led by the inestimable Kevin Love, the Sour Snails have a few nice pieces -- including Josh Smith and the currently injured Danilo Gallinari -- but with Stephen Curry only rounding into form now, it may be too little too late. We'd like to petition for Kevin Love to be traded to Funk Coalition, as his REB are a tad wasted on a semi-small ball team. Talk to my people Trieu!

With a 5-3 record and a two game lead, the Fat Jubas will likely repeat as division champs. Barring a total collapse, the old school crew of Steve Nash, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett will make one more run. Having Marcin Gortat emerge has been key, as Brook Lopez has played 22 mins this season. We are looking at a transition coming for this team soon, but for now they still have the smarts and savvy to win out in this suddenly uncompetitive division.

(Russell Conference) Voltron
Last year Alvin's team was 5-14, bottoming out after a 7-11 season before. Lo and behold, eight weeks in and he's leading the division with a sterling 6-2 record and a two game lead on his competition. After a historic 0-9 loss to start off the season, the Pogiboys have almost run the table excepting a close 4-5 loss to 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps. Behind Brandon Jennings, Roy Hibbert, Mike Conley, Marcus Thornton, and even an underwhelming Amare Stoudemire, Alvin has assembled a no-name big game type of team. We'd offer them a hearty congrats for their division win but we don't want to jinx them.

Defending champion Human Amoebas are gonna have a hard time getting back into the post-season. Losing Eric Gordon for most of this year has been tough. And Derrick Rose's constant injury woes have really curtailed this team's success. Yes this is still a high flying, high scoring bunch, but Monta Ellis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Paul Millsap can only take them so far. If Rose and Gordon can get into proper shape, Eric-A's team has a chance, but that's a big "if."

Also 4-4, Slam'N Dragon has an outside shot at the playoffs too but it's unlikely. This team would be quite scary however, as they are rounding into playoff shape with free agent sensation Nikola Pekovic added to the hefty front line of Andrew Bynum and Tyson Chandler. With Dwayne Wade, John Wall, Paul Pierce, and Rudy Gay handing the scoring, Thien's got a great shot at winning the Toilet Bowl (again) if they don't make the post-season.

So Buckets got their first win last week versus the Fobsters. Whew, a no win season is off the table! Time to focus on getting a good pick next year.

(Russell Conference) Thundercats
It's a three way tie at the top! Excepting the pathetic Funk Coalition, every team in this division could make the playoffs. The Chunky Monkeys, 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps, and NJ All-Stars are all 6-2 and these next four weeks could be huge. Although whoever wins the division could be joined by the other two anyway, as they all currently hold a two game lead for the two conference wild card spots.

We'd like to think of this Thundercats battle as mirroring the real MVP race. Kobe Bryant is carrying the Heffalumpswith huge numbers and a never say die attitude. The loss of Al Horford hurt but Jose is always great at plugging in the holes and soldiering on. Evan's Chunky Monkeys features Chris Paul in a small ball attack and it's been a hard combo for other teams to beat. They are ranked in the top three in all the categories they need to be, except PTS, which means they are vulnerable to teams that can outscore them. If Andre Bargnani and his 23.5 PTS can return, that would help solidify the Monkeys into true contenders.

Eddie's NJ All-Stars have lost to each of their division tying foes once, which could factor if there's a tie-breaker involved. The good news is that his team is led by LeBron James and a host of other wonderful pieces. Kyle Lowry is a standout point guard, Ryan Anderson is a rich man's Steve Novak, and Jose Calderon, Luol Deng, and Paul George are big contributors. The Jersey boys are by far the deepest team in this division and our odds on favorite to surge toward a division win.

Better Luck Tomorrow