Playoffs: Round 1 Recap

After Round One, only four teams are standing. However, all four of our finalists are missing integral parts of their team. The Jubas are short Dwayne Wade while their opponents, the Monkeys, are minus Joe Johnson. In the East, the Squirtles are without the services of Ray Allen (among many others) while Oliver's Poobic Heirs just lost Caron Butler for the season. Let's take a look at what transpired in the first week of the playoffs.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

5-4, Chunky Monkeys vs Buffy
The first of our absolute nail-biters this week. Buffy was in control entering Sunday but then, slowly, the victory slipped away. Losing by 2 in STL, 2 in BLK, and 3 in 3PT, this game was lost by the slimmest of margins. Then again, Buffy only won REB and AST by 2 each.

The difference? Perhaps C-Webb coming down with the flu mid-week, causing him to miss two crucial games. Perhaps James Posey or Nick Collison could have helped, but nobody is a seer, even Roger.

The Monkeys must be ecstatic to pull out of Round One with an epic win. Despite being hammered in PTS (594-703), the whole team worked together to manufacture a win. Josh Smith dumped in 14 BLK, Manu Ginobili had 7 STL, and Jason Terry and Gilbert Arenas paced Evan's squad with 12 and 9 3PT respectively. They're going to have to repeat that performance, and more, to upset the Jubas in the Western Finals.

9-0, Fat Jubas vs Funk Coalition
How embarassing. Suffering their first shut out of the season, the Funk went down in furious flames. Sure, Lebron and Redd missed a game or two, but in the end, it was the Jubas firing on all cylinders that prevented any chance of an upset. Andre Iguodala dropped in 20.7 PTS and 11.0 AST in three games, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard put up over 22.5 PTS per, and Tracy McGrady had his usual stellar all-around game to eliminate the Funk.

Even without Dwayne Wade -- and possibly Jermaine O'Neal -- the Jubas are our odds on favorite to take the whole enchilada. Players keep on getting hurt but Eric-L keeps plugging pieces in. Are we looking at a championship favorite here? I think so. Just one more win against fantasy nemesis Evan and Eric-L will be in the Finals and fighting for the coveted double-double -- a championship in both football and basketball.


EASTERN CONFERENCE

5-4, Squirtle Squad vs Human Amoebas
The East favorite, Squirtle Squad, didn't have quite as easy of a first round matchup as the West leader. By barely taking REB (+12) and STL (+4), the Squad escaped with a narrow victory over the Amoebas. In fact, if the Amoebas hadn't been derailed by injuries to Richard Hamilton and Zach Randolph (and a ding to Dirk Nowizki), they might have pulled off a major upset.

The Squirtles had a great week from Carlos Boozer (24.25 PTS and 11.75 REB) and Kevin Garnett (22.25 PTS, 13.5 REB, 5 AST) but it was the role players that really stepped up. Walter Herrmann with 19.3 PTS on 65 FG%. Sasha Pavlovic with 17.8 PTS and 2.25 3PT. Delonte West and Jamaal Tinsley also racked up some big numbers (16.75 PTS, 11.0 AST, and 3.5 STL combined).

There is literally no bench on this team (Ray Allen, Nenad Krstic, Andres Nocioni, David Lee, and until recently, J Garbajosa, are all injured) so what you see is what you get. Is that enough to take the East? Quite possibly...

7-2, Poobic Heirs vs Rhythm Drive
As predicted, the Heirs romped over the higher seeded Rhythm Drive. Without a functional Mike Miller, Sam Cassell, Steve Francis, Brad Miller, and Emeka Okafor, the Drive didn't really stand a chance.

The Heirs cement their didn't have one of their best weeks, but three games from Kobe (31.7 PTS, 6.7 AST, 2 STL) and a resurgent Yao (30 PTS, 12.5 REB, 2.25 BLK) was enough to eliminate the Drive. Rasheed Wallace (19.25 PTS, 3 3PT) and Kirk Hinrich (20 PTS, 8.5 AST, 2.25) had good outings too and they'll have to keep it up because the Heirs are now minus Caron Butler.

Can the Heirs beat the Squirtles without their defensive stalwart? It's hard to say. Either way, Butler wasn't in the lineup for this first round, so maybe the Heirs have gotten used to playing without him. This is still a very deep and talented team (Ricky Davis, Monta Ellis, Kevin Martin) so Oliver can still have high hopes for an appearance in the Finals.