After annihilating the competition during the regular season, suffering just one loss and one tie, the Sour Snails were heavy favorites to win the 2010 championship. While they did indeed finish out the season and prove their dominance, it wasn't easy. There were quite a few unexpected bumps during the playoffs as they
barely squeaked by the Fat Jubas (tied heading into the last day), very
barely beat back Half Man Half ImAsian (it took some amazing FG% and PTS numbers on Sunday, mostly from LBJ, to seal the win), almost suffered the biggest upset in SlamNation history
against the Chunky Monkeys.
There was some controversy during the Finals week as the Monkeys made a clerical error and filled their lineup to the max, negating their Sunday games. Gracious as ever, Snails' owner Trieu offered to count the crucial last few games, even though going by the strict letter of the law would have ensured a victory. That set up a very exciting Sunday slate of games, which caused at least four fans to faint and another sixty sent home for overly exuberant celebrations.
The return of Chris Paul for a full week was huge to Evan's upset chances, and while he averaged nearly 10 AST per game, Paul's scoring and steals numbers were off his normal pace. What CP3's return did however was drastically reduce Snails' rookie Darren Collison's contributions, which really hurt Trieu's lineup.
Still the combination of top picks Lebron James (30.7 PTS, 9.7 REB, 7.3 AST, 1.3 STL) , Josh Smith (15 PTS, 9.7 REB, 4.7 AST, 2.3 BLK), and Gerald Wallace (15.0 PTS and 9.0 REB), flanked by Stephen Curry (19.7 PTS, 9.3 AST, 2.3 3PT, 1.3 STL) and Aaron Brooks (18.3 PTS, 7.0 AST, 2.0 3PT) proved to be too much for the Monkeys.
In the end, the Snails showed class and character and deserve every diamond on their soon to be received twelve carat championship ring. Plus one championship for the Chamberlain Conference and the Silverhawks division. This is Trieu's
second SlamNation championship, and his team could be set for a huge repeat next year. Congratulations!
Let's not overlook the amazing post-season the Monkeys had however, toppling both Russell Conference division leaders, Nande ReBuRonSAN and Bayside Bombardiers in consecutive weeks. In the end, they lost 3-5-1, tying 3PT, winning the crucial STL category, and coming up just short in FG%. They proved that just getting into the playoffs gives any team a chance for success. Late in the season, coach Evan had all but given up on his playoff chances but he slipped in and pulled off a Butler-like run to the Finals.
In the end, the Monkeys were outdone by poor shooting. Trevor Ariza (7.0 PTS, 25 FG%), Rasual Butler (11.0 PTS, 34.0 FG%), Andrea Bargnani (19.5 PTS, 39.4 FG%), and Chris Paul (10.8 PTS, 42.2 FG%). Only Brandon Roy shot the ball well, with 18.0 PTS on 46.2 FG%. Strangely, Trieu had LBJ and Curry shooting over twenty shots a game but at only 47.1 FG% and 38.3 FG% respectively, which means the other guys really stepped up their accuracy during the championship week, burying open shots as James and Curry drew defenders away. Nets' rookie Terrence Williams was especially potent, hitting about half his shots on fourteen attempts per game. Williams for MVP?
Let's talk about Trieu the general manager. While we were
skeptical of his draft, Trieu proved all the analysts wrong by taking the right people and focusing on an incredible small ball team that could also compete in REB and BLK. And what about the fifth round selection of Stephen Curry, a Nostradamus-like move. At that point in the draft, no rookies had been taken yet but Trieu had the foresight to tag Curry ahead of Brandon Jennings, Tyreke Evans, and Blake Griffin. Over the playoff run, Curry averaged 20.4 PTS 7.5 AST, 4.5 REB, 2.8 3PT, and 1.9 STL, becoming the second offensive option and perfectly complementing Lebron. Add in the contributions of fellow rookies Chris Douglas-Roberts, Dejuan Blair, Darren Collision, and the aforementioned Terrence Williams and it's safe to say that Trieu has an eye for young talent.
Heck, he won the entire thing despite carrying just one center eligible player into the playoffs, sophomore Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan, who had almost 7 PTS/REB and 1 BLK per game. Okay, I'm just gushing at this point. Needless to say, Trieu had the Midas touch this season and we're looking forward to his continued success in future years. The Sour Snails are at the top of the heap and have the youth and talent to stay there, not to mention the rights to Lebron James for infinity!
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