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.