Let's Hope for a Sweeter Night

By Dan Rodgers

Well, last night was unfortunate. Tonight, I'm not feeling the Sweet 16 match-ups so much as a few NBA games. I'm just going to enjoy March Madness and leave the games tonight alone.

Phoenix Suns @ Indiana Pacers -3.5 = This spread is WAY off. The Pacers were down over 20 points last night in Washington and fought back for the outright win. They come back home tonight and face a Suns team that isn't playing poorly but has lost two straight and struggles on the road. The Pacers should rebound from their off-night yesterday and put together a complete game that should lead to them scoring well over 100 points. Go big on Indiana tonight. INCORRECT - Apparently, Indiana didn't feel like playing defense last night. They should be embarrassed by that loss and giving up those points to a far inferior team.

Minnesota Timber Wolves @ Oklahoma City Thunder -10.5 = The T-wolves haven't been playing very good defense, and I fully expect the Thunder to take advantage of that. Oklahoma City has scored over 100 points in four of their last five games while Minnesota has given up over 110 in three of their last five. This is just a game between two teams where one team is clearly the better team. I don't see any way Minnesota has the offense to keep up with an Oklahoma City team that tries to play defense. INCORRECT - Basically the same thing as written above, but the Thunder were able to win. Minnesota scored 140 points (in double OT, 116 in regulation). Kevin Love scored 51 points, including seven threes. He is clearly their best player and the one player OKC should have keyed in on him.

The last is another 8-point sweetheart teaser:

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Orlando Magic -1 = Once again we have the Cavs on the road against a team that is better than them. This is the same scenario and I wouldn't be surprised if Orlando covered the original nine, but we will play it safe and take them to one. CORRECT

Miami Heat -.5 @ Detroit Pistons = I got the Pistons game wrong the other night and they threw everything they had at Denver. Now they come home, most likely completely deflated because they lost at the end to the Nuggets. Miami will probably win be 20, but once again we will play it safe and make it so they only have to win. CORRECT

New Jersey Nets @ Atlanta Hawks +1 = The Hawks came through the other night when we needed them to so we will go with them again. The Nets struggle on the road, and Atlanta can even lose this game by one. The Hawks need to get their act together and play consistently if they want to put up a fight in the playoffs. CORRECT

The Knicks go into Toronto tonight looking to go 6-0 under interim head coach Mike Woodson. I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks took care of business again tonight because they are clearly a more talented team than the Raptors. Hopefully they can keep this good defensive play going and get some confidence going into the playoffs. INCORRECT - Of course, the one night I write about the Knicks they get destroyed...

Enjoy the Sweet 16 and the NBA action tonight. I've got Baylor, UNC, Kentucky and Kansas advancing in my bracket.

Rodgers That

So far so good

By Dan Rodgers

Well, I'm perfect thus far with my bracket. UNC-A made it interesting against Syracuse, but the Orange came out on top. Murray State absolutely owned Colorado State as I predicted. There is nothing tonight that I like as much as I liked Murray State.

Kansas State/Southern Miss is the only game that you could have gotten wrong. The other games have included relatively high enough seeds so that you shouldn't have gotten any wrong.

Long Beach State vs. New Mexico is the game to watch right now. LBSU is up by two with a few minutes left. There is usually a 5/12 upset so this could be it. New Mexico separated themselves with some free throws at the end and won by seven.

I think Gonzaga should beat West Virginia and since that spread is only Gonzaga by one point, you aren't really risking much besides picking the Zags to win straight up. CORRECT. There should be some great games the rest of the night, so if I were you, I would just sit back and enjoy them.

However, when it comes to the NBA there is one game I like.

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Utah Jazz -2.5 = The Jazz are 15-6 at home this season, and even though Minnesota is a solid road team, I don't think they can overcome Utah at home. Utah knows they need to stay solid and get some wins if they want to make the playoffs so they should take care of business at home like most teams. CORRECT

Rodgers That

Can't Buy Me Love

By Dan Rodgers

This NBA season has two big names being talked about for the MVP race. Heat forward LeBron James and Bulls guard Derrick Rose.

Chicago is coincidentally tied for the two-seed in the Eastern Conference with the Miami. However, there is someone who is not being mentioned for the MVP and I think he should be leading the discussion.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love is dominating the NBA this season and should be the leading MVP candidate.

Love: 20.9 ppg 15.7 rbp 2.5 apg
Rose: 24.6 ppg 4.4 rpg 8.1 apg
James: 26.2 ppg 7.5 rpg 7.1 apg

Love is leading the NBA handily in rebounds, and obviously he isn't going to be anywhere near the top in assists. I understand the Timberwolves (15-49) suck but they would easily set the record for the most losses in a single season without Love. He has a double-double in every game played in December, January and February. He has set the Twolves franchise record for most double-doubles and he is one short of the all-time NBA record of 51 set by Moses Malone in the 1978-1979 season.

I understand the Twolves suck and that will probably mean that Love won't even get consideration, but just consider what the guy is doing on a terrible team. He is shooting 47% from the field, 42% from three-point range (yes he can shoot long distance) and he is 86% from the free-throw line. I mean the guy gets double digit points and rebounds every game and does it efficiently.

All three of those percentages are better than Rose's and they blow James' numbers out of the water except FG% in which James is 2% better. That should mean something in the MVP talk.

So we'll see what happens as we approach the end of the season, but I hope Love destroys the record and wins MVP (and not just because he is on my fantasy team).

Rodgers That

Big Apple 'Melo-ing out

By Dan Rodgers

Of course the day I decide to write a tidbit about the trade is the day that the trade finally get done.

Carmelo Anthony has reportedly been traded to the New York Knicks, according to the Denver Post. Apparently, the trade involves Anthony and at least two other Nuggets, four Knicks, draft picks and cash.

WOW...I'll write more when I know what players were involved...

UPDATE:

Knicks Get:

• SF: Carmelo Anthony
• PG: Chauncey Billups
• G: Anthony Carter
• G/F: Sheldon Williams
  
• F: Renaldo Balkman (former-Knick)

Knicks C Eddy Curry and PF Anthony Randolph are reportedly going to be traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Nuggets Get:

• F: Danilo Gallinari
• F: Wilson Chandler
• PG: Raymond Felton
• C: Timofey Mozgov
• Knicks 1st-round pick 2014
• Warriors 2nd-round pick 2012 & 2013
• $3 million cash
  

This is an awkward trade for the Knicks. They gave up a ton of depth to get Anthony and if Billups retires they will have to start Toney Douglas. Douglas has looked good at times but I don't know if he's ready to start.

The Knicks are now forced to either play a very small lineup with Amar'e Stoudemire at center or start Ronny Turiaf or another bench player there. They'll probably do the latter of the two options.

I can't wait until Sunday Feb. 27, 2011 when the Knicks play the Heat. That will be a great game and early test for the Melo/Amar'e combo.

Rodgers That