Taking Flight

Not even a month after moving out franchise centerpiece Kevin Love, Trieu was on the move again. This time they flipped two for one, acquiring a top five fantasy talent to replace Love: the explosive Russell Westbrook. The Thunder guard has been tremendous this year, with averages of 22.5 PTS, 8.1 AST, 5.2 REB, 2.0 STL, and even 1.3 3PT, a new gadget in his repertoire. In exchange, Funk Coalition received Josh Smith and Andre Drummond.

Smith was touted to have a breakout year but has been slow to start, with only 16.9 PTS despite the absence of Joe Johnson from the Hawks. Smith's other numbers have been superb though, as his 8.5 REB, 4.0 AST, 2.2 BLK, and 1.3 STL makes him a unique force. Trading away Smith marks the end of championship era 1.0 for Trieu, as they won their SlamNation crown behind Lebron, Smith, and Gerald Wallace back in 2010.

Now, with Westbrook and a plethora of guards, they are leaning more heavily toward a traditional small ball formation. Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, Monata Ellis, and Klay Thompson will be the force that drives the evolving Sour Snails toward another championship. Having taken control of the Silverhawks division with just a few regular season weeks to go, Trieu is looking for a deep post-season run.

As for Jon, the loss of Rajon Rondo has dampened his championship hopes so he's in retool mode, despite likely heading toward the playoffs. And while he appreciates the wonder that is Russell Westbrook -- acquired in 2011 -- the fit on the team wasn't quite right. Westbrook's 42.5 FG% didn't sit well with management and Jon had long coveted Josh Smith's defensive stats from the small forward position.

Since acquiring Rondo and Dwight Howard, Funk Coalition had been leaning in a decidedly defensive direction. Adding an athletic piece in Drummond, averaging 8.0 REB, 1.8 BLK, 1.3 STL last month before he went down with injury, will insure that Funk can sew up the STL and BLK categories. Plus, Drummond is excited to get some free throw tips from both Rondo and Dwight. Games of knock out on this squad take forever, as you can imagine.

Further moves are expected from both teams.

Mid-Season Report: Transformers

For our last mid-season division peek, let's go see what the former, and undisputed "best division in the league" teams are up to. Suffice to say, they are no longer the scary top to bottom contenders, and in a surprise, an old division champ has risen again!

LA Buffy (11-3)
Roger's team has really fallen back to the pack eh? After a blistering 11-1 start, they've lost two in a row! Woohoo! There is hope on the horizon! Of course, one of those losses was just one block less in WK13, but for opponents of almighty Buffy, it lends some hope that someone could upset them in the Chamberlain Conference playoffs. Otherwise, the Phoenix-like rise of Roger's team has reinvigorated a fan base that thought their core was getting long in the tooth. While Buffy doesn't rank in the top three in any category, they do have tremendous balance and are average or above average in just about every category.

Despite little nagging injuries to many of his players -- and some major ones --Roger has managed to at the top of the standings. Tim Duncan's throwback year might be on hold for a bit, but Andrew Bogut's return will fill that gap nicely. And let's not forget that Danny Granger is looking to return soon too. Put him into the lineup, and Buffy will upgrade from Kyle Korver and/or J.J. Redick to Granger. And it's not like those two haven't added value, as they combine to shoot 5.3 3PT a game. With veterans stepping up like Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer, Jameer Nelson, and Vince Carter, there should be a run for the best record in the league and then an all out push for a championship coming from Buffy.

Squirtle Squad (8-5-1)
We haven't heard much from the defending division champs this season, as they were erratic to start the season and they got lost in the shuffle. However, they're now on a four game win streak and are in the hunt for a post-season spot. They'll need to finish strong as only a game or two separates them from three teams in the rival Silverhawks division. Overall, the Squirtles are average across most of the categories, aside from being strong in REB and BLK, and being dead last in STL. What has held this team back a little is the lack of supporting depth on the team.

Despite making the second most moves in the league, all that flipping around hasn't shored up the seventh and eighth spots in the lineup. Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Ty Lawson have been a good backcourt trio -- although all three are having slightly underachieving seasons -- and there's no arguing with what new addition Al Jefferson, Serge Ibaka, and Greg Monroe can bring to the table. But after those six, there's a big drop off. Only Emeka Okafor and Bradley Beal have played 20+ games for the Squirtles and that means Coach Brian has been short of answers. To make a real playoff push, a timely free agent or two would go a long way toward helping the Squirtles become a true threat.

Half Man Half ImAsian (4-8-2)
One silly general manager recently asked Oliver what it would take to pry Kevin Durant from Half Man Half ImAsian. The answer: "Your entire team." That might not even be enough, as Durant is averaging a mind boggling 29.4 PTS, 7.5 REB, 4.4 AST, 1.9 3PT, 1.6 STL, 1.2 BLK, while shooting 51.6% from the field. Oh, and 90.3 FT%. I don't know what else you could want in a fantasy player. However, Durant is captaining a sinking ship. Half and Half has lost seven of their last nine and will surely miss the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. We said in the pre-season that this team would be a championship contender. Whoops?

Oliver's team is second in FT% and TO but average or below average everywhere else. LaMarcus Aldridge has been strong, but with Anderson Varejao and his 14.1 PTS and 14.4 REB out for the season, Aldridge is all alone on the front line. When JaVale McGee has played the second most games for your team, that's not a good sign. Stretch big man Ersan Ilyasova took a long time to warm up, but hopefully he'll trend upward toward last season's heights. Aside from that, there's not a whole lot of other positive signs for this team. Mario Chalmers, Tony Allen, Rodney Stuckey? Poor Durant will have to wait for next season as he's headed straight for the Toilet Bowl.

Eron, Joven and Chandler (4-10)
First year SlamNation owner Chris-L is having a rough start. After inheriting a 0.500 team, Chris took the bold step of shipping out franchise cornerstone Dwight Howard for Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin. It's hard to argue that Melo's career high 28.4 PTS and 2.7 3PT haven't been worth it -- plus Griffin is at 18.5 PTS, 8.6 REB, 1.5 STL. But it's the returning players that haven't performed well. Manu Ginobili is possibly winding down, Ricky Rubio is barely stirring back to life after his knee injury, and Derrick Favors is still waiting for the Jazz frontcourt jam to clear. After starting off 2-2, EJC has gone 2-8 and will now wait for a shot in the Toilet Bowl.

For other teams, being middle of pack in every category might be a bad thing, but for this team, we think it's a positive. Aside from BLK, where they are ranked second to last, this team has some balance and no glaring weaknesses. Faced off against inferior Toilet Bowl competition, there's a chance that Melo and Blake could lead a ragtag bunch to a win or two, plus a coveted high draft pick. After all, Jeff Teague has been decent, with 13.7 PTS, 6.6 AST, 1.5 STL, 1.1 3PT, and Amir Johnson can help on the boards. We're hoping EJC gets the chance to start the rebuilding process as we like our new owners to be successful as soon as possible!

Mid-Season Report: Thundercats

What was once a very competitive Thundercats division, with each team over 0.500 quite a few weeks into the season, has now turned into a victory lap for NJ All-Stars. While it could be said that this was by far the strongest division this season, that title is now up for debate after some big injuries to key players. Let's analyze!

NJ All-Stars (12-2)
Eddie's team didn't win the division last year but there's no doubt they'll win it this season. Just a short few weeks ago, the All-Stars had some competition nipping at their heels but both Evan and Jon's team have dropped off, giving NJ All-Stars an insurmountable lead. But in just his second season at helm, semi-new owner Eddie won't be satisfied with just a division crown. With the best record in the league currently, and plenty of fear on the other owners' faces, the young gun is aiming for nothing short of a championship. Riding a six game win streak, the All-Stars are nothing short of a juggernaut. They are first in REB, second in PTS and 3PT, third in STL and FG%, and fifth in AST. Their worst category is TOs, and they aren't even that bad there, considering how high powered they are.

Led by Lebron James, who is having his usual monster season, NJ All-Stars are even better than last year because Paul George has become a fantasy force, with 17.3 PTS, 7.7 REB, 2.2 3PT, and 1.8 STL. With two multi-talented stars like that, it's hardly a loss that Kyle Lowry has regressed -- although he could be back soon with Jose Calderon traded. Add in surprise seasons from Andrei Kirilenko (1.5 STL, 1.2 BLK) and J.J. Hickson (13.0 PTS, 10.8 REB), and this team has added even more pieces. Oh did we mention Ryan Anderson bombing three 3PTs a game? Or how about Luol Deng, another multi-cat contributor at small forward. Seriously, who is going to beat this team? So far their only vulnerability has been to a few big men teams, but that's about it. If there isn't one on the horizon during their post-season run, Eddie could destroy the field. Heck, NJ All-Stars might do that anyway!

Chunky Monkeys (8-5-1)
Evan's squad got off to a supernova start, going 8-2 in the first ten weeks of the season. Since then, they've failed to win a single game in the past month and are now completely out of the running for Thundercats division. What happened? Well, James Harden came back to semi-Earth, although he is still in high orbit with 24.6 PTS, 5.9 AST, 5.1 REB, 1.8 STL, 1.6 3PT, and then injuries hit this squad hard. Andrea Bargnani, Arron Afflalo, and Byron Mullens have each missed large chunks of games this season. They may not be sexy names but those three added very important 3PT and PTS from the SF and PF/C positions. Along with that, Chris Paul has been basically M.I.A. for a month, and Evan has had to juggle to replace everyone. The good news is that Jrue Holiday and Goran Dragic are both fine point guards, with Holiday elevating himself to All-Star level on the court and in fantasy. Plus David West has been resurgent with 17.0 PTS, 7.7 REB, 1.0 BLK, 0.8 STL a game.

The thing is though, while the Chunky Monkeys are still first in FT%, AST, and STL, they are but third in PTS and 3PT. For a team that is basically small ball dependent -- the 2013 draft for some big men diversity mostly failed -- losing either PTS or 3PT kills them. They aren't far off the pace on PTS but if they face either NJ All-Stars or Sour Snails, they are staring at a huge gap in 3PTs. We'd love to see how much damage a full roster of small ball could do -- is David West really doing anything alone on the front line? -- and we might just get that chance as there's another month for Evan to get his team healthy and ready to cause some troube in the post-season. At least that's the hope.

Funk Coalition (8-5-1)
It's been a roller coaster ride for Funk already. After starting off 1-4 and being declared one of the worst teams in the league, the Jon's team pulled it together for a seven game winning stream between WK6-12. That should be enough to get them a wild card pass into the playoffs -- they have a two game lead on MoRRie's Pogiboys. However, any hopes of Funk being a dark horse contender were shattered when Rajon Rondo went out for the season. Rondo wasn't having the best season ever, but without his 11.1 AST and 1.8 STL, this team will have a hard time pulling off their new look competitiveness. Add in the day to day status of Dwight Howard, and this team is likely headed for a quick post-season exit.

When they were churning, Funk Coalition featured fantastic field goal shooting, top notch rebounding, awesome passing, and enough in PTS, STL, and BLK to get to their wins. Sure they can't shoot from the line or beyond the arc, and won't win many turnover battles, but after going 3-9 last season, at least Funk had a winning formula. The roster is still stocked with talent -- especially the huge front line of Dwight, Brook Lopez, Marcin Gortat, and breakout Nikola Vucevic (12.1 PTS, 11.3 REB, 1.2 BLK) -- but Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker probably won't be enough to hold down the backcourt. Unless you think old farts Jason Kidd or Andre Miller are the answer. "Don't cry for me Rondo!" sang Rondo. But Jon must. Sigh, I hate sports.

100 Acre Wood Heffalumps (5-7-2)
After going 12-6, 15-4, and 8-4 in their past three seasons, J's team is going to have to fight to avoid their first losing campaign. They started off fine, with only one loss in their first seven outings. Then around mid-December they collapsed and haven't managed to win a single week since. Seriously. A tie in WK13 has been their best outing in almost two months -- and that took the Rondo injury to squeak out the victory. With essentially seven games lost in a row, and four of their last five matchups against winning teams, it'sll be a minor miracle if the Heffalumps can finish 0.500. And unlike some other teams, there hasn't been too many injuries plaguing this squad. Kawhi Leonard has missed a few games, but everyone else on the roster has played over forty games and mostly stayed super healthy.

Kobe Bryant is having an incredible season -- 27.7 PTS, 5.4 AST, 5.2 REB, 1.9 3PT, 1.8 STL, 46.4 FG% -- while Al Horford and Kenneth Faried combine for 28.0 PTS, 19.5 REB, 1.9 BLK/STL per game, as well as outstanding shooting from the field. On top of that, J has unearthed Omer Asik's 11.4 REB per game and Jamal Crawford's sixth man magic. Overall though, the team seems to be unbalanced. They are fourth in REB, third in TO, but second to last in AST, third to last in STL, and not that high on BLK. Most damning of all perhaps, is that they have low to mid-tier FG% and FT% ranks, without the benefit of high PTS. Doctor Jack Ramsay thinks this team needs a bit of re-tooling and refinement before they can return to their winning ways. Either way, it's off to the Toilet Bowl this season for J, barring that aforementioned miracle.

Playoff Race '13