Everyone is a Winner/Loser

Well this is exciting. The entire Voltron division is 2-4, with no clear winners or losers. While it’s great that everyone in SlamNation has gotten out of the winless column, I’m real intrigued by what’s happening in Voltron as it’s turning out to be our version of the putrid Atlantic division. Let’s take a peek. [Pre-season Voltron look]

Inept Henchmen
We weren’t entirely sure where Henchmen were headed before the season, with a dispersal roster and a draft that was veteran heavy. Well, now we know: They’re headed down and are near the bottom in PTS, REB, AST, and STL, with only an above average ranking in TO. Still, they nominally lead the division right now and that puts them in playoff contention! The bad news is that first round pick Kevin Garnett has only averaged 6.5 PTS and 7.5 REB in his way way over the hill season — and he’s still played 17 games for Henchmen, out of necessity. Also, Kenneth Faried has taken a step back statistically, along with his Nuggets. The really awful news is that franchise player Derrick Rose has been relegated to the bench for the entire season, setting this team back even more.

At least Dirk Nowitzki has returned to semi-franchise status, albeit with much lower REB than we're used to, and gunners Jamal Crawford and Eric Gordon (averaging a sneaky 1.7 STL) have been about as good advertised. Andrew Bogut has put up some monster rebounding numbers of late, and his 1.7 BLK are encouraging. Also, Harrison Barnes could be poised for a lot more playing time with Andre Iguodala out indefinitely. We’re not sure why Gerald Wallace and Thabo Sefolosha are still on this team, but a rebuild is in order here. We hope Trevor is ready to tackle this big feat, but it’ll be an exciting push for either the playoffs or the Toilet Bowl either way. Also: There's an empty roster spot on the bench, pick someone up man!
Advice: Tank hard, trade all remaining assets, and go for the full rebuild.

MoRRie’s Pogiboys
At this point we have to consider the idea that Alvin is tanking every season just to get all the assets. I mean, he’s got a newly acquired Brook Lopez (20.5 PTS, 1.9 BLK), Roy Hibbert annihilating the boards and opponents’ shots (3.0 BLK), plus the insane sophomore year emergence of Anthony Davis, and he’s still only 2-4. I mean, that frontline is amazing! Plus he’s got ROY candidate Victor Oladipo — 14.1 PTS, 5.0 REB, 3.6 AST, 1.8 STL, 0.9 BLK/3PT over the past month — and the surprise near double double emergence of Miles Plumlee. In addition to all that, John Henson could be on the way to becoming JOHN HENSON! if he keeps his 2.1 BLK up. Sure, Otto Porter Jr. could be a bust, J.R. Smith has regressed, but the pluses should outweigh the negatives right? We honestly have no idea how Alvin isn’t tearing up the league right now, maybe he hired Jason Kidd to be the coach or something. Heck, Mike Conley and Brandon Jennings (17.5 PTS, 7.8 AST, 1.8 STL, 1.9 3PT, 40.4 FG%) haven't even been mentioned yet!

Pogiboys is bottom four in 3PT, tops in BLK (by a HUGE margin), and just about average everywhere else. With assets everywhere, this team should be way better, but maybe locker room chemistry or behind the scenes shenanigans is weighing the team down. Or Alvin is tanking to get another high draft pick in the upcoming loaded draft. Come on, fess up before we expose your not-so-secret scheme!
Advice: Move some of those excess BLK for other pieces, or figure out exactly why all this talent can’t mesh together. Or just wait it out and see if this group can start winning eventually.

Beast Brawlers
Pre-season, we said that Thien’s team was "consistent winners but treading water without playoff success.” It looks like that could change now as he’s been aggressive in pursuing trades to reshape his roster. Moving Rudy Gay and Tyson Chandler for Damian Lillard has resulted in a nice 1-2 punch with Lillard and John Wall in the backcourt. Beast Brawlers is top five in AST/3PT/STL, and first in FT%. They have the makeup of a small ball team while also being respectable in TO/PTS, and are even top three in BLK — although losing Chandler will drop that some. This fast paced team even has Andrea Bargnani gunning away with his 1.0 3PT and 1.4 BLK average. It all makes for a very interesting, and theoretically competitive team.

However, having Bargnani and Robin Lopez be two of your top three in games played probably isn’t a recipe for success. Dwyane Wade has been having a great season but has sat out most back-to-backs, limiting him to sixteen appearances, and there’s rumors that he’s on the trading block. Paul Pierce’s game has calcified and there don’t seem to be a lot of young pieces ready to move into primetime spots here. Maybe Andew Bynum recent mini-resurgence is a sign of bigger things, but his health will always be an issue. There are role players of value here, such as Martell Webster's 3PT and Mario Chalmers' STL, but this team is likely still going somewhere and nowhere at the same time.
Advice: Time for a revamp and rebuild! Wall and Lillard are two huge assets but the rest of this roster is either too old or too ineffective. Still, this team is awfully high ranked in a lot of categories and that could mean there could be some light on the horizon.

So Buckets
Last year’s division winner is not looking great so far this season — they started off 0-3. If they were an NBA team, they would be playing absolutely no defense (second to last in STL/BLK), prone to turning the ball over (bottom three in TOs), and unable to hit their freebies despite being guard heavy. Twenty point scorers Kyrie Irving, Evan Turner, and DeMar DeRozan keep them semi-competitive in PTS, while a group effort fuels decent REB work but it's not enough. Granted, this team has been hit hard by early season injuries. First off, Larry Sanders has been horrible, and is now gone for weeks. (Seen his hilarious slip sliding dance video?) Same with Andre Iguodala. That can’t help the defense.

Pau Gasol is shooting 41.7 FG%, which is only barely offset by his 9.5 REB and 1.2 BLK. Nikola Pekovic has been non-existent as a BLK presence, and while he’s got good center value, he’s not exactly protecting the rim. And it's safe to say that keeper holdover Mo Harkless has been an absolute dud. Still, there are some nice surprises: Evan Turner (20.3 PTS, 6.7 REB), Jodie Meeks (13.5 PTS, 2.2 3PT), and Jared Sullinger (13.3 PTS, 7.0 REB) are all outperforming their expectations. It's too early to give up on anything, but it looks like Josh will have to fight uphill to climb back to league wide competitiveness.
Advice: Wait for Larry Sanders and Andre Iguodala to return and see what happens. Although we suspect this team needs to shore up the STL/BLK categories a bit to return to the top. The good news: 2-4 is tied for the division lead!