(Chamberlain Conference) Silverhawks

Fat Jubas (9-3)
"Hail to the champions, hail to the champions, hail hail hail!" Oh wait, wrong song. What is the Stanford fight song? Has anyone ever heard it? Whatever it is, Eric-L should hear it whenever he steps onto the SlamNation court because after a few disappointing years, they had a dream season in 2012. With a team aging by the millisecond, Eric-L won the Silverhawks division for a third time, tore their way to the Finals, and mostly waltzed their way to a championship. Can Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen (not a keeper but re-drafted) do it again? Keep in mind that original second round pick Brook Lopez didn't even play most of last season. The Jubas are going to get a chance to repeat because they just know how to play the game. Nicolas Batum and Gordon Hayward are quiet but efficient swingmen, Marcin Gortat is a defensive anchor alongside Garnett, and rookie Jonas Valanciunas could be quite a find. The bench will consist of Luke Ridnour, Brandon Rush, Landry Fields, and Carl Landry, typical efficient Eric-L selections. The only thing that might bring this team down is the sickening real life NBA trade of Steve Nash to the Lakers. Rumors are that Eric-L can't stomach this betrayal and will be looking to offload Nash, even at the expense of the Fat Jubas' championship defense.
Biggest Roadblock: Seeing Nash in purple and gold..

Sour Snails (4-8)
The Snails made the Finals two straight times, winning once, before imploding last year. They lost more games in 2012 (8) than in 2010-11 combined (7). What's next? We hate to tell you this, but that losing season is probably a blip on the radar. Trieu can't help not being in the finals of something and he made it to the Toilet Bowl finals last season, emerging with rookie point guard Damian Lillard as his prize. Lillard is exactly what the Snails need and teamed with Golden State's Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Trieu's backcourt will rain points on everyone. Sure Kevin Love is out for six weeks but that hardly matters. The Snails have been trying to get away from small ball over the past season or so -- despite having Josh Smith -- and they did some draft day maneuvering to add Andray Blatche and Robin Lopez. The rest of this team is all small though, with Danilo Gallinari, Raymond Felton, and non-rebounding swing forward Jeff Green. Marvin Williams and rookie Jae Crowder are also around to play SF. We can't imagine the Snails getting only four wins again this season, but there seems to be a bit of identity crisis here.
Biggest Roadblock: Stephen Curry's precious precious ankles

Jedi Knights (2-10)
A huge off-season has transformed this team. After winning only ten games in three years, the Jedi Knights needed a facelift. Gone are Dirk Nowitzki and Nene, in are Amare Stoudemire, DeAndre Jordan, and Luis Scola. The Nowitzki trade so far has netted Andray Blatche (not kept), Amare, and whoever shows up in 2014 RD1. We are bullish on the offensive capability of this team, as Wesley Matthews, OJ Mayo, and David Lee can certainly all fill it up. New additions Mo Williams and Gerald Green can do the same. Both Thaddeus Young and Chandler Parsons have some intriguing upside but they'll need minutes to perform. Late rounders C.J. Miles and rookie Jared Sullinger will mostly wait for an injury. The old Republic Knights were going nowhere so the new look Knights were very necessary. We're not sure how this team will gel entirely, but there seems to be a lot of shooting, scoring, and enough REB/BLK and make this team competitive.
Biggest Roadblock: There's no "D" in "Force"

Fob Stars (1-11)
I gotta stop inviting Jimmy to fantasy leagues. A few years after going winless in our football league, he sets the new bar for futility here with one win. We thought they were on the way up after last season's 6-13 campaign but that was obviously not the case. In his defense, it's not all his fault. Zach Randolph, Joakim Noah, Chris Kaman, and Emeka Okafor all played less than half a season each. That's the entire front line basically. Add in the loss of Chauncey Billups, who lost his entire 2012 season and that left Michael Beasley, Evan Turner, and D.J. Augustin to fend for themselves. Now Turner and Augustin are gone, and the big men are back, plus Lou Williams.

Jimmy wisely went young with his draft, scooping up Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller, and Kemba Walker. Waiters and Walker need to become the backcourt of the near future for the Fob Stars to have a chance to be semi-competitive. Dorell Wright adds 3PT and STL to the small forward position, which is good because Beasley will only chuck in PTS. Washington teammates Trevor Booker and A.J. Price can share time on the pine together. Overall, the Fob Stars should have the sort of front court to win all the big men stats, but the guard and wing positions are very unsteady. Still, more than one win is guaranteed, we hope.
Biggest Roadblock: Getting that first win early to prevent another downward spiral