2025 Championship: The North Triumphs

It’s not all about talent, winning a championship. Sometimes it takes a dash of luck as well. Our 2025 Finals matchup featured the two winningest owners in SlamNation history—as SCRM just surpassed SOUR for number one on that list after this past regular season.

However, as we noted, eighth-seeded SOUR was the likely favorite, with their super powered team taking out SQSQ and MELO in succession, the one-two seeds from this season. Up next in SOUR’s sights was third-seeded SCRM, and it was looking like SOUR could pull off a triple upset on their way to another title as the two teams entered Sunday neck and neck, both with full eight man lineups ready to go. In the end, SCRM pulled off the 6-3 victory as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kawhi Leonard played the night cap in Los Angeles needing just a few rebounds and points for SCRM to secure to win.

For SOUR, it was close but no cigar, as Steph Curry was only available for two games while Damian Lillard was suited up for just one—with Dejounte Murray already long gone on IR. In contrast, SCRM’s two biggest stars, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo missed just one game between them. Plus, they had the resurrected Kawhi Leonard, who came to life just in time to bring Canada another coveted title.

This was not an easy victory for SCRM however, as SOUR was getting major numbers from Miles Bridges, Deni Avdija, and whoever the heck Justin Edwards was. Jimmy Butler and Scottie Barnes did their best to pick up the slack, but fell just a bit short. In all, SOUR played fifteen guys during championship week, and had Avdija absolutely cooking to the tune of 24.8 PTS, 10.3 REB, 5.3 AST, 1.8 STL/BLK and 3.5 3PT on 52.5 FG%. Wowza!

It took owner Jordan physically attending the Toronto versus San Antonio game—cheering against the Raptors as a Canadian!—to secure the win for SCRM.

Since joining us in 2021, Jordan has been a model owner and it’s only fitting they won their first championship the year after dispersal mate KSKT won theirs. Even from the start, Jordan has shown a willingness to take big swings and to deal deal deal. Their first move in SlamNation was actually to trade in the dispersal draft, moving De’Aaron Fox and Jaylen Brown for Gilgeous-Alexander and OG Anunoby, two of Jordan’s favorite players.

SCRM emerged from their dispersal with Anthony Davis, SGA, Anunoby, Dejounte Murray, Mitchell Robinson, and Davis Bertans. They took a 7-8 record into the Toilet Bowl and made it all the way into the finals—losing to the slightly lower seeded SQSQ—but that gave them 2022 RD1.3, who turned out to be Evan Mobley. SCRM also added Isaiah Stewart as a keeper after their inaugural season.

In five seasons, SCRM has gone 61-27-4 with four playoff appearances, two Chamberlain Conference wins, and one regular season crown in 2024. They’ve had plenty of postseason success too, as they upset top seeded SQSQ in 2022, and also made the Slam semi-finals three times, including this season—with their one non-semis appearance in 2024, as they were upset in the first round by eighth seeded SQSQ as payback. Note: A real back and forth rivalry between SCRM and SQSQ!!!

While this certainly wasn’t SCRM’s best overall team—as it was just a third seed—it’s the one that’ll go down in history as SCRM’s first title winner.

A deeper look into GM Jordan’s moves. In 2023, he began the all-in era, acquiring James Harden in exchange for Mobley. Then, later that year, SCRM acquired Karl-Anthony Towns and DeMar DeRozan in a nine player mega-trade—which cost them Dejounte Murray and Anunoby.

Not satisfied with those big moves, SCRM traded pre-draft in 2024 and landed Antetokounmpo by moving Anthony Davis, DeRozan, and a future RD1 and RD2. He then added Walker Kessler for a trade pick, reshaping his entire team. Oh, but 2024 wasn’t even into November yet and Jordan was on the move again! He landed Kawhi Leonard and Ben Simmons for Kessler and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

But 2024 was still not over and SCRM moved off Towns in February, shipping KAT, Collin Sexton, and TJ McConnell off for Fred VanVleet, Coby White, and Brook Lopez. Yowza, what a year!

And in a relatively quiet 2025, SCRM sold off Jalen Duren for a pick pre-draft, and then showed us a pivot away from title chasing by moving James Harden for Scoot Henderson and a future first a mere six weeks ago. This signaled a change from management, perhaps a sign that they were looking to explore a future with Jalen Suggs, Dyson Daniels, and some young mix and match pieces. But then SCRM won the damn title!

We are fascinated with what SCRM will do with his keeper roster now, as a championship has been secured and there’s now a mix of young and old on the team. Note: SCRM also beat out SOUR this week in scooping up 2025 rookie Jared McCain from the waiver wire—a strange short sighted move by TRUO. So that was another small win for SCRM!

As for SOUR, this was certainly an unexpected Finals run. While they fell short in their ninth Finals appearance—for only the second time—this was one of their more impressive seasons as Steph and Dame had a whole bunch of versatile wing types working together to power them to upset victory over upset victory. In the end, they fell just a little short but as always, nobody is going to overlook SOUR, now or in the forever future.

(Full Stats)

Post-Season RD2 Recap and RD3 Matchups: 2025

  👑 Playoffs RD3

3 SCRM vs 8 SOUR

Playoffs RD3 Consolation

2 MELO vs 4 SWMP

5 SPDE vs 7 ILCN

1 SQSQ vs 6 KSKT

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD3

11 FUNK vs 12 BUFF

Toilet Bowl RD3Consolation

9 SBUK vs 10 CHMK

13 FJUB vs 15 TRUO

14 ABCX vs 16 UFOS

Playoff RD2 Recap

Uh oh, SOUR is on a heater! With Miles Bridges leading the way, SOUR wiped the floor with MELO, dashing their postseason hopes. While some of the categories were closer, a 7-2 victory is pretty dominant. Now they’ll make their return to the SlamNation Finals, where the stage is set. This will be SOUR’s ninth Finals appearance, their first since 2023. And despite being the lesser seed, there’s no question they are the favorites. Plus, their track record in Finals is seven wins in eight tries, so their Finals opponent will have their work cut out for them. Triuuuueeee does it again!

As for SCRM, this will be their first Finals, as they dispatched SWMP in a slightly closer game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 34.5 PTS and took down SWMP behind SGA’s offense and a strong overall defensive effort. This will be SCRM’s first Finals after joining us in 2021. It’s a bit of a surprise too, as SCRM had more all-in rosters in the past, and actually traded away James Harden midseason. 

This will be a gargantuan week as SOUR would’ve won RD1 vs SCRM 6-3, while SCRM would have turned the tables for their own 6-3 victory in RD2 had they faced SOUR. Now we’ll see who will win this epic 2025 SlamNation Finals!

Over in the consolation games, both SQSQ and KSKT got waxed 1-8, leaving them in the final week matchup as ILCN and SPDE face off for a higher pick in next year’s draft.

Toilet Bowl RD2 Recap

What a doozy over in the Toilet Bowl! FUNK had already conceded by Saturday night to CHMK, with the owners trading “congrats, ggs” and Jon already booking his post-Toilet Bowl vacation. Lo and behold, Sunday brought CHMK’s required five rebounds from Oshae Brissett but then Coach Evan didn’t pull his players and ended up losing the matchup by one turnover! Incredible stuff!

We love the CHMK attitude to play it out and let the fates decide, but perhaps they’ll rue letting FUNK slip through. Either way, this now sets up an actually exciting RD3 because FUNK and BUFF can now play for 2025 RD1.1 and RD1.2, while CHMK and SBUK will duke it out for RD1.3 and RD1.4. Thanks Evan for giving us some drama! (Note: CHMK and SBUK were slotted for those picks anyway, with the SWMP Rule in effect--which we'll revisit this offseason.)

BUFF is on a heater as well, despite having both Jalen Brunson and Brandon Ingram out. Similar to the upset filled playoff side of the bracket, Toilet Bowl 2025 has the lower seed, BUFF, tapped as the slight favorites in Capture the Flagg.

Over in TB consolation, ABCX almost upset TRUO, as they were a few STL and PTS away from a victory. Alas, they’ll face off against UFOS—who lost to FJUB handily—perhaps as a “winner goes home” match for SlamNation?!

Post-Season RD1 Recap and RD2 Matchups: 2025

 👑 Playoffs RD2

2 MELO vs 8 SOUR

3 SCRM vs 4 SWMP

Playoffs RD2 Consolation

1 SQSQ vs 7 ILCN

5 SPDE vs 6 KSKT

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD2

9 SBUK vs 12 BUFF

10 CHMK vs 11 FUNK

Toilet Bowl RD2 Consolation

13 FJUB vs 16 UFOS

14 ABCX vs 15 TRUO

Playoff RD1 Recap

Unfortunately for SQSQ, it’s deja vu all over again as they get toppled as the top seed by a lowly eighth seed, just like back in 2022. Sadly, our must-win all-in team was missing Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Richuan Holmes, leaving a big hole in the middle. While James Harden and Derrick White had some heroic games, Miles Bridges and Steph Curry equaled their insanity and then some, giving SOUR a gigantic upset. Suddenly, SOUR looks like a real threat to win the title, again!

We almost had another huge upset between #2 MELO and #7 ILCN. Their match went down to the wire and even tied up at 4-4-1 apiece. ILCN was down Jaren Jackson Jr., Dereck Lively, and Mark Williams, leaving their interior wide open to assault. MELO fought through their own long list injuries but pulled out the win, with STL being the tied category but 3PT and BLK being very closely contested. And now MELO are the highest seed left, but they’ll have to face off against SOUR for an in-family matchup for a Finals appearance!

SCRM used solid defense and rebounding to take down the defending champs, KSKT. Despite Cade Cunningham and Anfernee Simons’ offensive explosion, SCRM was just too good behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dyson Daniels’ thievery.

SWMP and SPDE tied in REB but that was about all the positives SPDE had for their opening playoff week. With no Wemby, they still dominated BLK—thanks Walker Kessler—but tripling up the opponent in blocks won’t help the other categories, and SPDE went quietly into the playoff consolation bracket with a 3-5-1 loss. They’ll have a tough time ahead with Wemby and Tyrese Maxey both still injured. On the other hand, SWMP is showing seven players OUT to start the week, and while they have a very deep and talented roster, the Nikola Jokic, Zach LaVine, and Jalen Williams show will have to really drag this team forward.

I can’t believe it… is eighth seeded SOUR somehow the odds-on favorite of the 2025 title?!

Toilet Bowl RD1 Recap

Nothing too exciting here, as all the higher seeds advanced. SBUK had 27 GP versus UFOS 19, and yet only won BLK by three and REB by twelve, so conceivably UFOS had a chance at a big upset there. But UFOS’ coach hasn’t adjusted his lineup in weeks so a win would have been undeserved.

The same thing with ABCX, who basically didn’t adjust their roster—with Bobby Portis still in SSPD and yet starting—and with all the injuries they had, ABCX actually managed to get one extra GP over FUNK, which still resulted in a close 4-5 loss. There was possibly an upset shot here too but as they say, “that’s why they play the games!” Or not, in UFOS and ABCX’s cases.

BUFF did take out FJUB by a mere two BLK and three 3PT, which was pretty exiting down the stretch, as the matchup was pretty close throughout. CHMK waxed TRUO to easily advance, and is looking like the best of the four remaining teams.

Playoffs Teams: 2025

[ Power Rankings 2025 | Toilet Bowl Teams 2025 | Midseason Tiers 2025 ]

We ended the regular season with an exciting matchup between #1 and #2, and there were tie-breaks to be had at the bottom of the playoffs, as four teams vied for positioning. At the end of the 2025 regular season, SQSQ emerged as the winner, with a victory over MELO. Let’s take a look at the eight teams into the 2025 playoffs.

#1 SQSQ (14-4)

ODE: 13/4/1

SQSQ started the regular season off with six straight wins and ended the season with six as well, securing their fourth regular season crown and third in the past six years. Unfortunately, all that regular season success hasn’t translated to the postseason, as SQSQ has never made a SlamNation Finals. To rectify that, SQSQ’s already all-in roster went even further all-in in February as GM Brian traded for James Harden, Rudy Gobert, and CJ McCollum to create a potential playoff juggernaut. The only remaining question heading into their best shot at a title is the health of Anthony Davis, and to a lesser extent Daniel Gafford. Still, this is the team to beat and we love seeing owners go all-in!

#2 MELO (12-5-1)

ODE: 5/13/11

Recovering from a bit of a midseason slump, MELO finished the regular season strong, with a 5-1-1 record and the H2H tie-breaker to take the second seed in the playoffs—and winning their first ever Russell Conference title. This will be MELO’s second playoff appearance—their first came in 2021 when Jack entered the league—and they are well positioned to challenge for a title. Likely R.O.Y. Stephon Castle (2025 RD1.7) has been fantastic lately and he’ll have to pick up the slack from a hurt Brandon Miller. Otherwise, MELO is all locked in and ready for a long playoff run!

#3 SCRM (12-5-1)

ODE: 9/1/15

Another team that ended the regular season on a hot streak, last year’s crowns winner SCRM has been 8-1-1 since mid-December and has now gone 43-10-3 over the past three years. Even with a slight pivot to more youth—trading away James Harden for Scoot Henderson—SCRM has managed to ride SlamNation’s best defense to a top-three seed. With a healthy Kawhi Leonard on-board, maybe this is Jordan’s shot to get to their first ever Finals after building another deep and talented roster. Note: With their 0.694 regular season this year, SCRM Jordan has overtaken SOUR Trieu as the winningest regular season owner in SlamNation history—by winning percentage. Congrats!

#4 SWMP (11-6-1)

ODE: 2/5/6

After missing the playoffs last year—after making five in a row—SWMP is back to their winning ways, finishing up 2025 with a 4-1-1 streak. While SWMP’s glory years of leading the league in wins might in the rear window, it looks like they could still be a dark horse contender for the title as they have the league’s most balanced combined ODE. It’ll be a tough road ahead with Jalen Johnson—and Deandre Ayton—out, but SWMP still has Nikola Jokic and to lead the way. They took the Toilet Bowl last year, can they add a long awaited title this time around?

#5 SPDE (10-6-2)

ODE: 5/6/10

After starting off the season 3-5-2 and looking like a bottom tier team, SPDE went on a seven game win streak, ending their season on a 7-1 run and are now back in the playoffs as a mid-sized threat. Note: SPDE finished with the second most regular seasons last year. Interestingly, a lot of the win streak was done with Victor Wembanyama out and Tyrese Maxey and Tyler Herro bouncing in and out of the lineup. Unfortunately for SPDE, those injury woes persist and even the reappearance of Chet Holmgren won’t fix the Wemby-sized hole in the middle. So that’s a sigh of relief from the rest of SlamNation, as the franchise with the best keeper core heading forward seems to have taken a pause this year on contention. Next year/decade though…

#6 KSKT (11-7)

ODE: 4/9/13

After an electric title run last season, KSKT has slipped just a little back to the pack. Their title defense will be an uphill one, even as Cade Cunningham has elevated himself to All Star level. Kristaps Porzingis is likely out for a few weeks while Tyrese Haliburton will miss the first round of the playoffs at least. That leaves KSKT a bit shorthanded, even with Zion Williamson available. KSKT did take out ILCN, SBUK, and SOUR during their four game win streak to end the season, proving that they still have some bite in their championship follow up season. Are their back to back chances legit?

#7 ILCN (10-7-1)

ODE: 12/7/3

As our top rated combined ODE team, ILCN has a strong defense and efficiency paired with a lackluster offense. However, that lack of offense is deceiving because Paolo Banchero and Luka Doncic have traded off being injured. Given full health, ILCN can score with anyone, giving them a very solid all around team. However, ILCN has stumbled a bit since midseason, registering only two wins in their last six, and looking a bit out of sorts. For the playoffs, they are going to need Mark Williams to step up, as Jaren Jackson Jr. and Dereck Lively II will likely start the week on the shelf. Will Luka magic be enough for ILCN to go further in the postseason this year?

#8 SOUR (10-7-1)

ODE: 1/9/14

The ever dangerous SOUR franchise has been good this year but not great by any measure. Still, SOUR are in the playoffs—fourth year in a row, after two years in the Toilet Bowl in 2020-21— and are always a tough out. The loss of Dejounte Murray for the season is a big blow to the backcourt but the rejuvenation of Jimmy Butler—now on the same real life and Slam team as Steph Curry—could result in playoff magic for SOUR. There’s a top ranked offense to contend with here for SOUR’s opponents and as Trieu has proven over and over: never count SOUR out!

2024 Championship: Original Glazed

In a matchup that was closer than the final score indicated, third-seeded KSKT took out fourth-seeded BUFF in the 2024 Finals, acquiring the championship for Krispy Kreme Team! Up through Friday and Saturday, the matchup was a back and forth, even as BUFF piled up the Games Played. Heading into Sunday, it would be seven players on-deck for KSKT to wrap up a title. In the end, even with Cade Cunningham a scratch, Zion Williamson pulled through with a huge 36 PTS, 6 AST, and 13/14 FT% performance. That, along with Paul Reed’s two blocks, really sealed the deal for KSKT.

For KSKT, it was a glorious playoff run as Williamson, Tyrese Haliburton, and Cunningham all came together for the stretch run. We always knew that KSKT mainly needed health to contend, and this was the year it all came together, as championship week also featured Kristaps Porzingis, Anfernee Simons, Michael Porter Jr., and D’Angelo Russell playing their hearts out. The real secret sauce of the matchup was KSKT winning both percentage categories, which was too big a challenge for BUFF to overcome.

For our youngest owner to take a title with the youngest SlamNation core seems very fitting!

How did they acquire this core? Well, since entering SlamNation as the sole owner of a franchise in 2021, Matt has steadily risen the ranks, valuing a strong foundation over early success. With their training from helping run dad’s SQSQ franchise, GM Matt clearly had a vision for his Krispy Kreme Team. That first year, KSKT only notched six victories but already had the core of his future title winning team in place with Williamson, Porzingis, and Porter Jr., on-board via the dispersal draft. That year’s RD1.4 pick by Matt was Haliburton, and after SQSQ won the 2021 Toilet Bowl, KSKT got the 2022 RD1.1 pick due to the SWMP Rule. That first overall pick was used to take Cunningham, and the 2022 season also featured grabbing Anthony Simons as a FAAB pickup.

As for trades, in 2021 KSKT moved a future RD1, basically for Clint Capela and Keldon Johnson, which resulted in it being a future RD1.4—which was used by CHMK to take Richuan Holmes. Aside from that, most of KSKT’s other moves were around the edges, as GM Matt had a penchant for acquiring multiple picks for each draft and drafting a slew of players each year.

However, as we can see, all of KSKT’s core is homegrown, and they had their foundation set up from nearly the start. It was only a matter of waiting for some seasoning—and health—for KSKT to make a title run. Their first playoff run, last season, was after a 16-4 season that saw them win the regular season crown. (Note: KSKT is 44-29-1 in four regular seasons, good for seventh best owner winning percentage in Slam, out of thirty owners.) Unfortunately, they were upended by FJUB in the semifinals. This time, KSKT got it all right, taking out defending champion SOUR in RD1 and then taking care of business from there on out, including eliminating SQSQ—who had already taken out heavily favored SCRM in RD1—for their Finals shot.

It’s wonderful to see such great ownership rewarded by a title, and with the way this roster is constructed—and the emergence of a thrilling backcourt—KSKT could look for many titles in future years, congrats!

As for BUFF, making it into the Finals was no small accomplishment. It’s been eleven years since BUFF last made the Finals behind a Tim Duncan led team that barely lost the title to 100 Acre Wood Heffalumps—three points literally decided the title. That loss sent BUFF on a seven year decline before they started to build some respectability back four seasons ago—they’ve had a regular season record of 37-36-1 and last made the playoffs in 2021 with a 0.500 record.

All those down years did result in some talent coming back via the draft, as BUFF managed to acquire Brandon Ingram (2017 RD1.2), Trae Young (2019 RD1.4), and Anthony Edwards (2021 RD1.6) with top selections. Young and Edwards were both eventually traded, while Kyle Kuzma was also a 2021 draft pick, at RD4.8. A huge win for GM Roger was grabbing free-agent Domantas Sabonis in 2018. That was also the year Klay Thompson came on-board as a keeper, in exchange for Khris Middleton.

Still, nobody expected this BUFF team to be in contention for a title but here they were, slugging it out with the best, as new trade acquisition Jalen Brunson was having some huge games. The additions of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and Jalen Duren really fleshed the depth out on this team, and there’s a world where a healthier Brandon Ingram might have tipped the balance. In the end however, getting to a Finals was a huge win for 2024 BUFF, and we hope to see them in the title hunt again next year!

(Full stats)

Postseason Recap & RD3 Matchups

Another wild week in Slam! A tie in the Toilet Bowl and two Toilet Bowl contestants that have already made history for their franchises. Note: Matchup  and then 2025 RD1 draft picks being played for in parentheses.

👑Playoffs RD3

3 KSKT vs 4 BUFF ( Pick RD1.16 / RD1.9)

Playoffs RD3 Consolation

7 FJUB vs 8 SQSQ (10 / 11)

1 SCRM vs 6 SOUR (12 / 13)

2 SPDE vs 5 ILCN (14 / 15)

For our title game featuring two teams who've never grasped the championship, we have a matchup between "the team that’s been promised," KSKT, versus a longtime franchise that’s been adrift recently, BUFF.

Since spinning off into their own team in 2021, KSKT has gone 44-29-1 in four regular seasons, capturing one regular season wins crown and making two playoff appearances. Now, after defeating dad’s team, SQSQ, in the semi-finals, owner Matt will have a chance to make history as the youngest SlamNation champion! The team itself is also incredibly young, as Tyrese Haliburton, Cade Cunningham, Zion Williamson, Anfernee Simons, and Michael Porter Jr. are all twenty-five years old or under. The lone “old man” of the core, Kristaps Porzingis, is still under thirty himself.

During this same four year period, BUFF has gone 37-36-1, meandering from back-to-back 0.500 records to a 7-13 2023 season, and then an unexpected 12-6 record this year. As the fourth overall seed, it’s maybe not an objective surprise that BUFF is in the Finals--which they reached once in 2013--but this team sure wasn’t on anyone’s contender radar.

As a true dark horse, BUFF has been on an 11-1 run since mid-December, including a win versus KSKT in WK12—who was minus a healthy Tyrese Haliburton and Kristaps Porzingis. Overall, BUFF hasn’t lost a game since mid-January and all their playoff success can’t be just credited to juicing up the roster after trading away Anthony Edwards. (Of course, getting 35.7 PTS and 3.7 3PT from Jalen Brunson and 17.5 PTS and 15.0 REB from Jalen Duren for the week was crucial.)

On paper, this is KSKT’s championship to lose as they have all the star names, but BUFF clearly has the momentum and the support of the fans who love cheering for underdogs. For this matchup, Porzingis will likely still be missing, but the rest of KSKT’s oft-injured lineup looks fully healthy. They also have two clear winning categories—3PT and BLK—while BUFF should win REB. After that, the rest of the categories will be a toss up, with KSKT getting the slight edge in PTS and AST.  However, Jalen Brunson is gamer and as the 2024 playoffs has proven: anything can happen!!!

🚽Toilet Bowl RD3

9 SWMP vs 12 FUNK (3 / 1 ) 🔒

Toilet Bowl RD3 Consolation

14 TRUO vs 15 UFOS (2 / 4)

10 SBUK vs 11 CHMK (5 / 6)

13 MELO vs 16 ABCX (7 / 8)

In the Toilet Bowl, it’s another case of a post-CHMK trade partner powering their way to the final game. SWMP jettisoned home-grown Alperen Sengun—who got hurt last week--for two Jalens (Williams and Johnson), and those two have combined for an average of 19.1 PTS, 5.75 REB, 4.6 AST, 1.3 STL, 0.9 BLK, 2.1 3PT, and just about 50% FG for the past two weeks.

A Toilet Bowl title is likely, however that doesn’t mean SWMP will get their choice of top picks next season, as they will be locked into 2025 RD1.3 pick, as the benefactor’s of the SWMP Rule. That means, as the next team up, FUNK falls into the first overall draft pick next season, and did it by the skin of their teeth.

In a matchup that came down to a handful of rebounds and tie in steals, FUNK and TRUO ended Sunday tied up at 4-4-1, necessitating a visit to the rulebook. After a short consultation with the commissioners, it was decided officially that the higher seed would win in any postseason matchup, thus sending FUNK to face off against SWMP. [ Playoff Tie-Breaker System, updated ]

While there isn’t any draft positioning at stake, there is still something on the line. Both FUNK and SWMP have won repeat Toilet Bowl titles, and one of them will join CHMK in the exclusive three time Toilet Bowl winner club. It may be a ignoramus distinction, but for teams in the Toilet Bowl, a win is a win is a win!

Note: Due to the SWMP Rule, TRUO and UFOS will be playing for the 2025 RD1.2 and RD1.4 picks.

Postseason Recap & RD2 Matchups

In a shocking WK1 of SlamNation 2024 playoffs, we maybe had our most upset filled week ever! (And we thought last year’s RD1 was exciting!) Down went #1 and #2 overall, as well as two higher seeds in the Toilet Bowl. With karma playing a huge role—and injuries—we already have a very interesting final four in the title and Toilet Bowl chases.

👑 Playoffs RD2

3 KSKT vs 8 SQSQ

4 BUFF vs 7 FJUB

Playoffs RD2 Consolation

1 SCRM vs 5 ILCN

2 SPDE vs 6 SOUR

In an extreme shocker, eighth seeded SQSQ took out the seemingly invincible SCRM. Toward the back half of the regular season, some owners were convinced that SCRM was unbeatable. However, once you get on the court, anything can happen. In this case, SCRM sort of had sewn the seeds of their own unexpected destruction.

The early season trade for Kawhi Leonard has been great all season for SCRM but at Leonard took the most in inopportune time to miss a game. And then last week’s pre-deadline move to bring in rim deterrent Brook Lopez only netted SCRM five total blocks in four games, which was way below Lopez’s average. And then there was the big revenge game. Ex-SCRM franchise cornerstone Anthony Davis came through huge with a gigantic week, highlighted by a 27 PTS, 25 REB, 5 AST, 7 STL, 3 BLK career day to cap off Sunday. Now that’s a revenge game!

Overall, SQSQ took REB, BLK, TOS, and both percentage categories. This has to be a huge moment for the franchise—perhaps their biggest win ever! SQSQ has not advanced past the first round since 2019 and have never pulled off an upset of this magnitude. Now coach Brian will have a chance to face off against his son Matt for a chance to advance to SQSQ’s first SlamNation finals.

As if one major upset wasn’t enough, FJUB—who backed into a playoff spot--called upon the fantasy gods himself to take down future fantasy gods Viktor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren. Sure, it helped that Wemby only suited up for thirty-one minutes total, but it was still quite a feat to match SPDE in blocks, with Isaiah Hartenstein and Herbert Jones really came through there. With major injuries on both sides, this upset ended up being not all that close as FJUB used three extra Games Played to emerge with a stress-free 6-2-1 victory.

For the semi-final round, we’re looking at three teams that have never been in the championship game before—KSKT, BUFF, SQSQ—with only FJUB having any previous title game experience. Our eyes will be glued to the father-son matchup but BUFF versus FJUB is also a showdown for the (Catch the Damn Ball) ages. Congrats to all four teams still left alive in the chase for the ring! Note: KSKT took care of business at home and eliminated the defending champs, SOUR, so the repeat is out the window.

🚽 Toilet Bowl RD2

9 SWMP vs 15 UFOS

12 FUNK vs 14 TRUO

Toilet Bowl RD2 Consolation

10 SBUK vs 16 ABCX

11 CHMK vs 13 MELO

Over in the Toilet Bowl, the upsets didn’t stop, as TRUO and UFOS both pulled off huge wins versus CHMK and SBUK respectively—and MELO was one block away from tying FUNK.

With recent trade acquisition Alperen Sengun being carted off the floor on Sunday, CHMK entire front line let him down as Evan Mobley was hurt and Bam Adebayo had been slumping. Thin after all their recent mega-trades, the stage was set here for an upset already. TRUO still had to take care of business however and they did with some accurate shooting, plenty of threes, and winning PTS by a mere eleven as De’Aaron Fox averaged 28.8 points over four games.

And then there was UFOS toppling tenth seeded SBUK, who mismanaged and hit the games cap on Saturday, although it’s likely their fate was sealed regardless Joel Embiid and Desmond were out of action anyway. For a fifteenth seed with just one win on the season, UFOS taking out one of the top-two seeds in the Toilet Bowl has to be the highlight of the year. Damian Lillard flanked by rebounding and defense was the winning formula.

Now both TRUO and UFOS have guaranteed themselves at least a top four pick in the 2025 draft, great job! In RD2, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the SWMP versus UFOS cousin face-off to see if Victor can pull off another huge upset! 

2023 Championship: Steph Shimmy

Is the Sour Snails dynasty back?! After winning four titles in five seasons between 2015-2019, we thought the specter of Steph Curry would be gone from the championship dais for awhile. Instead, much like the real life 2022 Warriors, SOUR entered the season as a semi-dark horse and emerged with another title, their record-setting sixth in SlamNation.

This title run was a real nail-biter, as SOUR eked by SWMP in round one by only one three-pointer (and six points), and then followed that up by sneaking past the higher-seeded SCRM in the semis, winning that matchup by only a handful of points on the last day. Whatever lucky charm SOUR was working with in 2023, it worked out amazingly! And then in the Finals versus FJUB, SOUR unleashed their sharp shooting, dropping forty-one three-pointers to their opponent’s eighteen, as SOUR shot a blistering 51.7 FG% for the week while still winning TOs.

The title team from 2019 has mostly flipped over, with only Steph Curry and Pascal Siakam remaining on-board. That team featured Kevin Durant as the second banana but Curry had playoff superhero Jimmy Butler this time around, plus another backcourt All-Star in De’Aaron Fox. 

On the year, SOUR wasn’t showing many signs of dominance, as their combined ODE was middle of the pack, and their strong categories only consisted of a top ranking in FG% and a top-three in REB. But when the time comes to push for a title, Trieu never disappoints. GM Trieu acquired Butler mid-season for Wendell Carter Jr. and Christian Wood, and had gotten Fox the season prior in exchange for then rookie Scottie Barnes.

Even with Curry, Siakam, Butler, and Fox, SOUR needed all the help it could get from their bench, as Jerami Grant, Josh Hart, Deni Avdija, and Lakers super-hero Austin Reaves proved instrumental in their playoff appearances. All in all, it was an incredible postseason run for SOUR, and congrats to Trieu once again!

SOUR’s accolades:

• Winningest regular season team ever: 179-76-5, 0.702
• SlamNation titles: 6
• Finals appearances: 8
• Toilet Bowl Finals: 1
• Most Regular Season Wins: 4
• Playoff appearances: 11
• Division titles: 7

FJUB fought their way to the Finals through tough matchups throughout, with a huge win versus regular season juggernauts KSKT in the semi-finals. Their defense-first approach was good enough to get them back into the championship game—for the third time—and despite winning REB, AST, STL, and BLK as designed, they were just short in one other category. (The injury to Terry Rozier might have made a difference, as the late season trade acquisition was a key contributor to FJUB’s offense.)

The point guard duo of Chris Paul and Fred VanVleet did their best though, and while the FJUB roster has some age on it, FJUB has proven once again that concentrating on defense can be a title contending strategy, as evidenced by two Finals appearances in the past three seasons, plus their shiny title from 2021.

(Full stats)

Post-Season RD3: 2023

Finals 2023

• 3 SOUR vs 5 FJUB

How did we get here?! I don’t think any prognosticators would have picked this Finals matchup heading into the playoffs but here we are, an epic matchup for the ages. SOUR is the winningest franchise in Slam history while FJUB is the third. SOUR has five titles under their belt--in seven appearances—while FJUB is two for two in their Finals appearances and subsequent wins. This is a true battle for the ages!

FJUB last won the title in 2021, while SOUR’s last ring was in 2019. They’ve never faced off against each other in a Finals before, but SOUR actually has an undefeated record against FJUB in the playoffs, dispatching FJUB in the first round in 2010, 2013, and 2019. As the third seed this season, SOUR may hold the advantage yet again.

If last week’s stats mean anything, SOUR would have won six categories to FJUB’s three—FT%, REB, BLK—so we’ll go ahead and name SOUR the favorites. It’ll be up to FJUB to fend off the quartet of Steph Curry, De’Aaron Fox, Jimmy Butler, and Pascal Siakam. It’ll be a tall task for Fred VanVleet, Chris Paul, Myles Turner, and hopefully new trade acquisition Terry Rozier (currently a tad injured). Good luck gentlemen!

Playoffs Consolation RD3

• 1 KSKT vs 2 SCRM
• 4 ILCN vs 7 FUNK
• 6 SWMP vs 8 SBUK

In the playoff consolation games, FUNK took a clean upset versus SWMP while ILCN took care of business versus SBUK, nudging last year’s champs out with the return of Luka Doncic.

Toilet Bowl Finals

• 10 CHMK vs 13 SPDE

Our Toilet Bowl finals doesn’t have any draft implications, as SPDE and SQSQ have locked in the first and second picks for the 2023 draft—thanks SWMP Rule—but there is history at stake, as CHMK can become the third back-to-back Toilet Bowl winner with a victory here, as well as increasing their total Toilet Bowl wins to three. As for SPDE, they’ve already won the Wembanyama sweepstakes so it’s already party time in Spade-land!

Toilet Bowl Consolation RD3

• 9 MELO vs 11 SQSQ
• 12 BUFF vs 15 TRUO
• 14 ABCX vs 16 FOBS

As for the consolation games, SQSQ put up a good fight versus CHMK--almost putting them into a battle with SPDE for the top 2023 pick--and should secure a victory versus MELO, who only managed a putrid twelve Games Played last week. Going this far does net SQSQ the 2024 RD1.2 selection, which will be a huge boon to this proud franchise. On the other side, BUFF and FOBS also went under the GP cap last week, at twenty-one and fifteen games respectively, so this week's matchups could be a case of teams simply winning if they can get anywhere near a full lineup. C’mon guys, we can do better!

Post-Season RD2: 2023

It was a very exciting first week of playoffs as many matchups came right down to the wire!

Playoff Recap & RD2 Matchups

1 KSKT vs 5 FJUB

Both teams here escaped by narrow margins as a Tyrese Haliburton-less KSKT survived a near upset by just one assist. We don’t know who Spurs center Sandro Mamukelashvili is, but he came up with five huge assists to get KSKT past defending champs SBUK.

As for FJUB, they had to fend off a Luka Doncic-less ILCN team that still threatened to take the win. It was a matchup frenzy on Sunday as FJUB and ILCN both adjusted their rosters multiple times. In the end, it was Devin Vassell’s five threes—not to mention Fred Van Vleet’s seventeen during the week—that helped secure the upset win for FJUB.

Heading into a big matchup, FJUB is cruising along at full health while Haliburton is out at least until mid-week, giving the edge to FJUB in another possible upset victory.

2 SCRM vs 3 SOUR

After a close back and forth for most of the week, SCRM also avoided an upset by taking AST by two and BLK by one over FUNK. In the end, DeMar DeRozan’s ten assists on Saturday was a difference maker—making SCRM happy to have acquired him (I hope). Don’t look now but the Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden, and Anthony Davis trio might be in the driver’s seat for the title.

In yet another game that came down to the wire, SOUR outlasted SWMP, winning 3PT by one—while tying in STL and BLK. At one point, SOUR versus SWMP had the incredible late Sunday line of 3-3-3 in categories. Instead, Austin “White Kobe” Reaves dropped in thirty-five points on 9/14 FG shooting, and 16/18 FT, along with six key assists. While Jerami Grant is still ailing for SOUR, it’s looking like Steph Curry and crew have just as good a shot at returning to the Slam Finals as any team. This is definitely gonna be the match of the week!

Playoff Consolation

4 ILCN vs 8 SBUK

With all four teams nicked by close victories, the battle for a few draft positions commences. ILCN is looking a little injury ravaged, but SBUK also could be dealing with a dinged up Kyrie Irving and Rudy Gobert. At stake here is a slightly higher draft pick for next season.

6 SWMP vs 7 FUNK

As for SWMP versus FUNK, it should be another battle of big versus small as FUNK will try to steal this game against Nikola Jokic and crew. The only thing making this exciting might be a side bet between SWMP and FUNK? What say you fans of SWMP?!

Toilet Bowl Recap & RD2 Matchups

9 MELO vs 13 SPDE

The dream of Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama is still alive as Tyler Herro delivered exactly what was needed for SPDE to take a nail-biter against BUFF—winning STL and TO by just one each. Who needs Kawhi?!?

MELO will face a much tougher matchup for them this week, after wiping FOBS with relative ease in round one of the Toilet Bowl. With the career renaissance of James Wiseman in full effect, MELO would love to add a top pick to their rebuilding cache, even as they’ve already secured a top-four pick in next year’s draft.

10 CHMK vs 11 SQSQ

CHMK went through a stress-filled Sunday as well, as they were down pretty big to TRUO, who had maxed out their roster on Saturday. CHMK snuck out the victory by a mere two AST, with Bam Adebayo and Jalen Williams contributing five each. Whew!

Now CHMK will face off against SQSQ, who had an easy win versus ABCX—who maxed out at twenty-one games. As noted before, LeBron James and Began Bogdanovic are both hurt, so for SQSQ to secure a Toilet Bowl finals, they’ll really need Giannis Anteokounmpo and Jrue Holiday to come up big versus CHMK’s deep and healthy roster.

Toilet Bowl Consolation

12 BUFF vs 16 FOBS

After such a narrow loss, BUFF can still aim for the fifth pick in next year’s draft, as they should be the strongest team left in the TB consolation bracket. Damian Lillard might put up a fight but FOBS is looking a little defeated at this point.

14 ABCX vs 15 TRUO

Does ABCX field a full roster here against TRUO? Or do they hand a free win over? TRUO came this close to taking out CHMK so we have to favor them in this matchup, especially as ABCX is down all their major players.

Post-Season RD1: 2023

Injuries are going to play a big role in the postseason--seemingly more than any other year. A huge number of superstars are ailing and the field is prety wide open for anyone to take the title--or the Toilet Bowl. Let's take a look at round one!

PLAYOFFS Round 1

#1 KSKT (16-4) vs #8 SBUK (12-8)

Last season saw KSKT go 0.500 in Matt’s second year in SlamNation and then boom, explosion! With the best regular season record in 2023—taking over from Dad’s SQSQ team by the way—KSKT now gets a first round matchup against the defending champs, SBUK!

It should be a battle for the ages as both teams have a league leading combined ODE of seventeen, with KSKT ranked first in offense and eighth in defense and efficiency. On the other side, SBUK sports a 6/6/5 in their ODE so this match should come down to who can play the better defense.

Even without Zion Williamson and Cade Cunningham, KSKT has been rampaging, but with Tyrese Haliburton day to day, the window for an upset could be open. Unfortunately, SBUK is dealing with injuries to Jalen Brunson, Kyrie Irving, and Rudy Gobert as well, so it’s again to take a monster Joel Embiid effort for SBUK to muster up a title defense.

#2 SCRM (15-4-1) vs #7 FUNK (12-8)

After a mega-deal that included nine players back in January, the idea was that SCRM would trade some present day production for a playoff run featuring Anthony Davis and Karl-Anthony Towns. Instead, our second seed will now play FUNK, the team that has half his former players in Dejounte Murray, OG Anunoby, and Derrick White—plus the addition of PJ Washington via Terry Rozier.

Looking to fend off FUNK will be the trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, DeMar DeRozan, and James Harden, along with the now healthy Davis. It’s going to be defense versus offense as SCRM and FUNK have diametrically opposite teams, but all of it could just come down to who can score more. [Editor: Sorry for the KAT dump, I swear it wasn’t by design!]

#3 SOUR (14-6) vs #6 SWMP (12-8)

Quietly lurking in the shadows all season has been SOUR, who finished just outside of taking the Chamberlain Conference away from SCRM. Letting Trieu sneak up on a title is never a good idea and it’ll be up to SWMP to stop this championship threatening menace.

SWMP find themselves in the bottom half of the playoff teams for the first time in five seasons—much of it could be attributed to a January stretch when they racked up three GP violations—but Nikola Jokic is a fearsome competitor. The bad news is that Khris Middleton and Alperen Sengun could possibly miss some games, which could be balanced out by SOUR’s Jerami Grant missing some time as well.

SOUR took care of SWMP pretty handily in a WK14 matchup but with these two heavyweights, anything could happen!

#4 ILCN (13-7) vs #5 FJUB (12-7-1)

Injuries will play a big part for ILCN in this first week of the playoffs as well. This dark horse contender will have to make do with—at least—one missed game apiece from Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell. Even a deep roster that includes dueling fantasy Rookie of the Years in Paolo Banchero and Walker Kessler might not make up for ILCN missing out on his offensive engines.

For FJUB, they are dealing with a missing Myles Turner but everyone is relatively healthy, and the pre-trade deadline move for Terry Rozier (at the cost of PJ Washington) should give the backcourt some added oomph.

Both of these teams have terrific numbers but with the top two scorers missing from ILCN’s top-two ranked offense, this could be a pretty even matchup across the board. We’re going to need some brilliant individual performances from either team to tip the scales!

TOILET BOWL Round 1

#9 MELO (10-10) vs #16 FOBS (3-16-1)

With FOBS ownership already slated to transition out next year, this will be a last hurrah for owner Jimmy—after fourteen seasons! As much as we’d like to see a Toilet Bowl win for incoming owner Victor to build on, with eight weeks worth of Games Played violations, the fantasy gods will not be kind to FOBS. Indeed, they are already staring at Damian Lillard, rookie Jaden Ivey, and Jarrett Allen missing at least one game each. Who’s left to power the potential upset? Jamal Murray and um, Rui Hachimura?

MELO hasn’t exactly been a Games Played star either, as they’ve racked up five violations this season—third behind FOBS and SPDE. They are dealing with some major injuries themselves, with Kevin Durant, Andrew Wiggins, and Norman Powell all out. So actually, this matchup could be somewhat even! However, here’s betting that Jaylen Brown and Lauri Markkanen are enough to power MELO one step further in the Toilet Bowl.

#10 CHMK (8-12) vs #15 TRUO (4-15-1)

With a youth focused roster that is hitting its stride at just the right time—have you seen Evan Mobley and Jabari Smith Jr. lately?—CHMK could be the heavy favorites for a Toilet Bowl win. However, finishing as one of the top-two Toilet Bowl seeds will take them out of Wembayama or Scoot contention. Still, an overall third pick in next year’s draft would be a nice prize for them. Everyone here is healthy—minus Robert Williams III—and rookie sensation Jalen Williams has been an absolute beast recently.

As for TRUO, they are turning toward youth themselves, with Jalen Green, Scottie Barnes, and rookie Keegan Murray all looking good so far this season. The big question here is if the Julius Randle-led TRUO has the firepower to punch through CHMK’s second-ranked defense. If not, TRUO will have to hope that CHMK takes it all, elevating them to a possible higher pick behind the “SWMP Rule.”

#11 SQSQ (7-13) vs #14 ABCX (6-14)

There’s a world where SQSQ threatens to grab the top pick next season, but with LeBron James out of the rotation—along with Bojan Bogdanovic—it’ll be tough avoiding an upset. Then again, ABCX is also down their big star, and not just one but two! LaMelo Ball just had season ending surgery and Ja Morant has been exposed as a less than shining star, and could be out for the duration of the postseason.

If it’s down to Team Giannis versus Team Russell Westbrook, we may have to go with Giannis on this one. Both of these teams ranked very low in combined ODE—fifteenth and sixteenth actually—so this is going to be a slap fight to see who advances. Either way, both of these owners deserve an injection of fresh talent for their rosters, and we hope one of them can go the distance!

#12 BUFF (7-13) vs #13 SPDE (7-13)

Injury plagued and rarely at full strength this season, BUFF made the ultimate positive chemistry move by not pulling their players in WK20 in a tight game against KSKT—with a possible #10 seed, and thus a lost chance at a top-two 2024 pick. That is the kind of competitiveness we love to see and if there is any justice in the world, BUFF will secure the number one overall pick. They’ll have to do it amidst injuries to Kyle Kuzma, Collin Sexton, Steven Adams, and the corpse of Ben Simmons, but karma can go a long way in the Toilet Bowl.

As for SPDE, they tempted those same fantasy gods themselves by racking up six Games Played violations in their first twelve weeks of action. However, after refocusing, they avoided any more GP demerits. That means they should be at least even on the karma ledger—“TJ hates quitters!”—and they’ll be taking a healthy Kawhi Leonard and Devin Booker into the Toilet Bowl, giving them a pretty decent chance to surprise people and take it all. Imagine a Chet Holmgren and Wembayama pairing on SPDE next season!?!

2022 Championship: So Sweet

After a thrilling 2021 run to their first Finals appearance, So Buckets came back for more in 2022. Instead of sneaking into the playoffs like last season, SBUK dropped a 13-6-1 record—good for the third seed—and was one of the top contenders heading into the postseason. After an easy wipe of SOUR in round one, followed by a barely harder round two versus FUNK, SBUK came face to face with the Russell Conference champions, Swamp Dragons, who was making their fourth Finals appearance.

Despite being the slight underdog, SBUK pulled out a 6-3 win, taking REB by just six, and STL by three. The twin defensive towers of Joel Embiid and Rudy Gobert won SBUK the day, and we crowned a new champ!

After taking over the Bayside Bombardiers franchise in 2012, Josh and the So Buckets have reached the mountaintop in their eleventh SlamNation season! Coincidentally, this Finals matchup was the two 2012 replacement owners facing off against each other, as SBUK and SWMP entered Slam at the same time. Back then, Josh elected to gift Eddie LeBron James while inheriting a Bombardiers’ Toilet Bowl win and the 2012 RD1.1 pick, who turned into Kyrie Irving.

The keepers SBUK took in that initial dispersal draft: Pau Gasol, Andre Iguodala, Gerald Wallace, David West, Darren Collison, and someone named Toney Douglas. Those early SBUK teams had some good success, nabbing two Voltron division titles in their first three seasons behind Gasol, Irving, Igoudala, and Evan Turner. However, two 8-10-1 seasons in 2015-6 left them out of the postseason.

It was during this down period that we start to see the current championship roster begin to toke shape, as GM Josh drafted Embiid (2015 RD1.12) and Gobert (2015 RD4.12) in the same class. DeMar DeRozan was also added to the keeper mix by 2015, and Myles Turner came on-board as a rookie one year later (2016 RD1.7). That core led to a SBUK resurgence, leading to a 14-6-1 record in 2018 and another Voltron division title.

Those heady days were short lived as SBUK slipped out of the playoffs in 2019 despite a winning record. They did win the Toilet Bowl that season—and got the 2020 RD1.3 pick due to the first year of the “SWMP rule,” which didn’t allow the #9 or #10 Toilet Bowl teams to win one of the first two picks. That third pick ended up being RJ Barrett, who was the odd man out from the one-two punch of Zion Williamson and Ja Morant.

Despite assumptions that SBUK would leap back into the playoffs in 2020, they instead went 8-10-1, as some real life things--hi Baby SBUK!--took the coaching staff a little out of focus. However, SBUK management pulled it together in 2021 and 2022, resulting in two Finals appearances and SBUK’s first SlamNation title!

This was truly a homegrown title, as we can see by the Irving, Embiid, Gobert, and Barrett draft picks. Even Myles Turner was directly turned into CJ McCollum via trade. Incredibly, GM Josh has only ever made three trades ever, and only two involving actual players. The first was the 2017 big for small Turner and McCollum exchange, and the second was in 2021, when they moved DeMar DeRozan for the promise of Jonathan Isaac. (Imagine if this team still had DeRozan!) Otherwise it’s just been savvy drafting and good free agent pickups!

New keepers Jalen Brunson (2022 RD5.11) and rookie Franz Wagner (2022, free agent) were both value finds that could make SBUK even stronger than before. Heck, RJ Barrett—who led SBUK in playoff minutes—will be cut as a keeper. At least Barrett will get a ring when he makes a visit to his old team!

Overall, owner SBUK boasts a 105-92-6 regular season record in eleven seasons—good for sixth best out of the current Slam owners—with six playoff runs, three division titles, two Finals appearances, and one shiny new ring! Congrats to our new league champ, may a zesty title defense be in SBUK's future!

As for Swamp Dragon’s eternal chase for a title, this Finals appearance marked SWMP’s fourth appearance in the championship game—2012, 2014, 2018, and 2022—with no hardware to show for it. SWMP has been the most dominant regular season team in SlamNation going back the last four seasons, with a 56-15-4 (0.777) record, three Russell Conference titles, two Most Wins, and two Finals showings. Heck, they even had a rule named after them, due to their Toilet Bowl success!

Losing a hard fought Finals to SBUK can only fuel Eddie’s fire, as that elusive title has to be around the corner soon, right?

Post-Season RD3: 2022

Post-Season RD2: 2022

Playoff Recap:

In a shocking upset, eighth seeded SCRM took out regular season champion SQSQ, sending Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James to the consolation bracket. (This was the second straight year the lowest playoff seed took out the top team.) They did it by winning the two percentage categories, eking out the battle of the boards, and defending the rim with Evan Mobley, Onyeka Okongwu, and Mitchell Robinson. For newish owner Jordan, this was yet another franchise highlight, coming off the heels of last year's Toilet Bowl finals appearance. Dejounte Murray and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have another huge matchup to go in the next round, but so far they're undefeated in the playoffs!

FUNK also pulled off an upset, albeit a minor one -- just a fifth versus fourth seed -- as defending champion FJUB was felled by injuries heading into the postseason and then taken out of the playoffs by a Sunday that featured three injured starters. It's likely Fred VanVleet or Malcolm Brogdon could have led the comeback but FUNK won and the door is now open for a new 2022 champion...

Toilet Bowl Recap:

A pretty hefty upset occurred over in the Toilet Bowl as well, with fifteenth seeded SPDE pulling out a Sunday night victory over tenth seed BUFF. Randall's team won by 5-4, by a handful of threes and a mere eleven points, which meant just about everything was needed from Devin Booker, Darius Bazley, and Tyrese Maxey. Now SPDE can look forward to a possible shot at a top two draft pick in 2023, if they can get by top-seeded ILCN.

The rest of the Toilet Bowl played out as it should've, although it should be noted that both MELO and FOBS essentially conceded their matchups by not putting in maximum rosters. Indeed, GM Jimmy had only seventeen games played last week, as he was purported to be frolicking in Vegas...

Post-Season RD1: 2022

 

2021 Championship: Juba Again

After a year where we crowned no champion, it was quite the celebration when Fat Jubas took the 2021 title, putting a capper on a shortened season that came on the heels of an aborted season.

While FJUB had always been a good team — with seven straight playoff appearances and counting — they have been just a little below the elite in recent seasons, hovering as a fringe contender. However, a stellar 2021 regular season campaign had them entering the playoffs with the second-best overall record and a great shot at the championship.

Once top seed SWMP was upended by #8 BUFF in round one, and #3 CHMK and #4 MELO were similarly upset, the crown was there for the taking. While Jubas faced a little adversity in round one — barely slipping by #7 FUNK — it was nothing compared to their Finals matchup versus SBUK. Missing two key players for the final round, FJUB won by just one three pointer overall, with unexpected hero Georges Niang hitting five in his last game. This had to be the closest Finals matchup ever, and FJUB escaped by a hair with their second title.

The last time Jubas took home a Slam trophy, it was 2012 and their big three was Steve Nash, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. This time around, it was another Suns’ point guard, Chris Paul, leading the charge to a ring. That offense-heavy team was a far cry from this version of FJUB, which featured a league-leading defense  — tops in steals and blocks — paired with three-point threats across the board.

Paul was flanked by Fred VanVleet and Malcolm Brogdon alongside him in the backcourt, while Tobias Harris, Robert Covington, and Danny Green filled in the wing spots. Myles Turner held down the middle, with Brook Lopez as an important backup big, since Turner didn’t make any postseason appearances.

This FJUB roster wasn’t full of grade-A superstars — it certainly never rated highly year-to-year in the keeper ratings — but it had been tinkered with over time, as GM Eric kept true to his vision. With a declining core post-Nash and KG, Jubas’s keeper core two years after their 2012 title look like this: Gordon Hayward, Jeff Green, Jonnas Valanciunas, Marc Gasol, Nicolas Batum, and Tyreke Evans.

Decent, but nothing thrilling. The full rebuild started with the acquisition of Chris Paul ahead of the 2014 season. Turner came aboard in 2017 via trade, as did Jrue Holiday in 2018. The 2020 draft brought Fred VanVleet at RD3.10, which gave FJUB enough offensive punch to shift toward some more balanced pieces like Brogdon and Harris (in exchange for Holiday) during the past championship year.

Overall, this title winner was more than the sum of its pieces, and a hearty congrats to a FJUB franchise that has been on the championship podium before — becoming only our second two-time champ — and will look forward to being again!

As for SBUK, it was two years of non-playoff seasons before a thrilling run to their first Finals appearance. After winning the Toilet Bowl in 2019 with a stacked roster, it was assumed SBUK would ascend into contention status. Finishing with the sixth-best regular season record in 2021 proved they were on their way, and this Finals appearance will give them even more optimism for the future. Losing by one three must hurt but that just means they could storm back next season to win it all!

Post-Season RD2&3: 2021

POST-SEASON ROUND 2: SEMI-FINALS

• #2 FJUB vs #8 BUFF (FJUB)
• #4 MELO vs #6 SBUK (SBUK)

POST-SEASON ROUND 3: FINALS

• #2 FJUB vs #6 SBUK (FJUB) 👑

CONSOLATION ROUND 2

• #1 SWMP vs #7 FUNK (FUNK)
• #3 CHMK vs #5 ILCN (CHMK)

CONSOLATION ROUND 3

• #4 MELO vs #8 BUFF (BUFF)
• #3 CHMK vs #7 FUNK (FUNK)
• #1 SWMP vs #5 ILCN (ICLN)

TOILET BOWL ROUND 2: SEMI-FINALS

• #10 SCRM vs #16 TRUO (SCRM)
• #11 SQSQ vs #12 KSKT (SQSQ)

TOILET BOWL ROUND 3: FINALS

• #10 SCRM vs #11 SQSQ (SQSQ) 🚽

TB CONSOLATION ROUND 2

• #9 SOUR vs #15 SPDE (SOUR)
• #13 FOBS vs #14 ABCX (FOBS)

TB CONSOLATION ROUND 3

• #12 KSKT vs #16 TRUO (TRUO)
• #9 SOUR vs #13 FOBS (SOUR)
• #14 ABCX vs #15 SPDE (ABCX)