SlamNation: 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.