Conference Recap & Finals Preview

We're not sure what happened last week, but somehow both underdogs took the conference championship games and are now on their way to a Finals matchup.

After catapulting out of the gate, Roger's Buffy was backsliding as the post-season came around. But they have emerged from the tough Chamberlain Conference behind primo shooting and squeaking by both Squirtle Squad and Sour Snails. Shockingly, we think Steve Blake's five 3PT in his one appearance last week sealed the win for Buffy -- along with Chris Bosh's unexpected six BLK -- as they narrowly edged out Sour Snails. Trieu's team floundered behind horrific shooting from Damian Lillard and Klay Thompson (10.5 FG% on 2of19 with only two 3PT). It was shocking to have the high powered Snails taken down, but Buffy fully deserved the victory, especially considering Tim Duncan and Carlos Boozer only played two games apiece. It should be noted that recent trade acquisition, Raymond Felton, acquired from Sour Snails a month ago, played the most minutes for Buffy, and contributed four 3PT on 65.2 FG%. Did Trieu contribute to his own upset?

Over in the Russell Conference, division rivals 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps and Chunky Monkeys faced off in a game that turned into a semi-blowout. The final score was close, but the Monkeys were without the full services of James Harden, David West, Byron Mullens, and Goran Dragic. By the time Carlos Delfino and Markieff Morris got in there, it was pretty much over. Still, it took a monstrous week from Kobe Bryant to give Heffalumps the win, as they needed every one of  Kobe's 29.0 points averged over the week. With Al Horford dinged up, Kobe Bryant and Jamal Crawford teamed up to shoot J's team into the Finals. In subsequent weeks, Heffalumps has dispatched both of the higher seeded Thundercat teams in front of them, shattering the championship hopes of NJ All-Stars and Chunky Monkeys -- while going 6-1 in the last two months. Now Heffalumps will be the third Thundercat team to make a Finals apperance. Can they be the first to win it all?


SLAMNATION FINALS PREVIEW
#2 Buffy (13-6) vs #4 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps (9-8-2)
Well, here we are, one week to determine the 2013 SlamNation champion. We're not even sure how to handicap this matchup as we're still shaking our heads over how these two teams made the Finals. Neither are the most talented teams in the league. Both are middle of the road in most categories -- Buffy isn't top three or bottom three in any category, Heffalumps are second in REB, third in FG%, and thirteenth in AST -- and the rosters wouldn't scare too many people on paper, but these are our true championship contenders.

The first factor, injuries, would seem to leave Buffy at a bit of a mismatch. Jameer Nelson, a key cog on this team, is still day-to-day. Tim Duncan, the heart and soul for Buffy this season, is returning after a one game absence and a 5 point, 4 rebound performance. Duncan had been averaging 24.7 PTS, 12.3 REB, 3.0 BLK over his last three games, so Roger really hopes he can go the rest of the week. Chris Bosh is going to continue putting up huge numbers in Lebron and Wade's absence, and he'll need to team up with Carlos Boozer to take over the paint against Heffalumps' combo of Horford, Kenneth Faried, and Omer Asik. Both Bismack Biyombo and Elton Brand could enter the game for their blocks, and that could be a hotly contested category, especially if Duncan can't go.

As for the backcourt, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Martin, Jamal Crawford, and Jason Terry will face off versus Jeremy Lin, J.J. Redick, Raymond Felton, Vince Carter, and maybe Jameer Nelson. We'll assume Buffy gets the AST edge here, but PTS and nearly everything else will go to Heffalumps. We think Kyle Korver will be inserted for Buffy to hit 3PT, while Kawhi Leonard's all around contributions will be missed by Heffalumps. We're thinking Kobe will slide to the small forward slot, and make that a strength. Overall, this championship game looks to be very evenly matched, and as of midweek, it looks like PTS, STL, and TO could be the categories that determine who wins the title. Then again, it's only Wednesday, and anything could happen!


TOILET BOWL PREVIEW
#2 Half Man Half ImAsian (7-10-2) vs #3 MoRRie's Pogiboys (8-10-1)
In somewhat lackluster fashion, the Toilet Bowl also features two teams that upset their way to the best of the worst top of the heap. Half Man Half ImAsian destroyed Fob Stars to advance to the Toilet Bowl Finals. Ersan Ilyasova, aka James Franco, is officially back in full effect averaging 21.0 PTS, 11.0 REB, 2.8 3PT, and 1.8 STL over the past week. He's picked up all the slack from LaMarcus Aldridge and he's paired with Kevin Durant to drag Oliver's team to a high pick next season.

They'll be facing off against Pogiboys, who are in their second straight Toilet Bowl Finals. If Pogiboys win this week, ending up with back-to-back number one overall selections, Alvin better not be back here next season. Pogiboys put down streaking Super Ninja by riding Mike Conley Jr., the destructive force that is Roy Hibbert, and the even more destructive force that is J.R. Smith, who averaged almost 30.0 PPG during the matchup. Thien's Super Ninja had a similarly gigantic week from John Wall -- averaging 24.5 PTS, 8.3 AST, 6.8 REB, 1.0 BLK over his last four games -- but he couldn't offset the lack of games from Dwayne Wade, Rudy Gay, and Nikola Pekovic.

We want to give the edge to Half Man Half ImAsian, but we're not sure if they can pull of another win with LaMarcus Aldridge sitting. Basically it'll be Durant and Ilyasova versus everyone on the Pogiboys. We're excited to see who'll win this game, but congrats to both Oliver and Alvin for securing the #1 and #2 picks for 2014.