truTV's March Madness Review

Last night was the premiere of the First Four and the first tournament games under the CBS/Turner banner and it made for interesting television for the first official night of the tournament.

I'm definitely a television sports connoisseur as evidenced by my countdown of the best TV sports themes, so I figured I would give my take on the initial effort by truTV.

I'm not thrilled with the revised CBS NCAA theme, but it's okay considering the entire graphics package has been overhauled for the new agreement. I thought the new look was definitely more Turner than CBS, but it was clean and effective enough to make the points it needed to make. Although, I love the new openings splicing past and recent tournament memories.

The pairing of Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr has to work a couple bumps in the first game, Nantz was really shaky throughout the night, but he did get better as the night went on. He didn't seem very into the 16 vs. 16 matchup, although I can't blame him for that.

The game became the best of the night and best displayed what we should be seeing starting Thursday afternoon. The UAB and Clemson tilt made for boring TV, but what can you do when the game is a 20 point laugher midway through the second half.

The halftime shows and studio wrap ups were interesting because I think we saw more vintage Charles Barkley tonight than we did during the Selection Sunday show on CBS. A move I found intriguing was that the networks decided to split the analysts from their normal host, so Kenny and Charles were working with Greg Gumbel and Seth Davis and Gregg Anthony worked with Ernie Johnson.

The Johnson trio worked the best simply because of the insight the NCAA guys were able to provide along with Johnson's continued perfection of the studio host position. That's not to say Gumbel, Barkley and Smith were terrible, but when it came to dissecting highlights, it was clear they weren't familiar with the college game.

Barkley and Smith were at their best when the discussed topics off the cuff and talked about teams being slighted by the media like UAB and how people thought they didn't deserve to be in, I think they should leave the highlights to the NCAA guys and the other stuff to the NBA guys.

The production was smooth and slick and the Inside March Madness postgame show was to the point and effective and had some signature Inside the NBA type humor. Overall, it was a good first night for the tournament presentation wise and I'm actually looking forward to the conclusion of the First four tonight, although the toughest part of the process will be finding truTV again.

Hustle Points: Nuggets > Knicks?

Well, at least two people believe so: Raymond Felton and Al Harrington think that at this point in time the Denver Nuggets are superior to the new-look Knicks.

The idea of Denver being superior now was an idea I've been kicking around since the trade, while others were quick to predict the downfall of the Nuggets, I sat quietly and watched because for some reason I saw them as a better unit without Carmelo, but of course without much to go on, I stayed silent.

Now that we have a small sample to extrapolate from, we can compare the records and stats and overall chemistry of the two teams since the blockbuster trade and I would have to agree with Felton's assessment.

“We’re a better team (than New York), I feel like. That’s it,’’ said Felton.

Here's some numbers courtesy of ProBasketballTalk about the two teams. The Nuggets are 8-2 in their last 10, the Knicks are 5-5. The Nuggets are outscoring their opponents by an average of 12.8 points per game in that stretch, shooting 48.4 percent while holding their opponents to 44.2 percent. The Knicks are outscoring their opponents by an average of 1.4 points per game in the last 10, shooting 46.1 percent while allowing opponents to shoot 48.4 percent.

Al Harrington added this interesting piece of info:

“A lot of people said we were going to be the Cavaliers of the West and stuff like that,’’ Denver forward Al Harrington said. “We got a lot of guys with a lot of pride and we got some good players (in the trade). So we’re just going out with a chip on our shoulder for sure. The New York guys (acquired in the trade) are definitely pissed off that they were moved and stuff like that. We’re just going to make the best of the situation.’’
The Nuggets possessed a roster full of really good pieces before trading Carmelo and when you take into consideration that they only moved two important pieces of their team (Billups and Anthony) for four (Gallinari, Mosgov, Chandler and Felton), this is a team that was getting much deeper with versatile talent.

This team became harder to defend following the trade because of the balance they now possess, opposing teams aren't just looking at one guy in the fourth quarter, they have to worry about four to five guys on the floor and can attack the paint and score, not to mention shoot the three point shot.

The depth of this roster is what impresses me the most, when you have a team that can go, six-eight guys deep, then you're talking about always having guys on the floor that for the most part are fresh and that gives you an advantage late in the season when some teams experience tired legs and injury concerns.

Denver had an issue with the loss of Galinari, but were able to quell that concern by just having more playable guys than most other teams in the West right now.

The Knicks on the other hand, have had a hard time getting into any type of rhythm with Anthony and Stoudemire. They've had great wins followed by puzzling losses. And the biggest issue was the one almost everybody pointed at the time of the move, defense.

New York gives up 110.9 points allowed per 100 possessions when both stars is on the floor. That number should scare Knick fans, because that's a number that's not going to change anytime soon, the only way to combat the pojnts allowed is points scored and because of the clear lack of options for the Knicks. It has to be 'Melo, Stoudemire or Billups every single night or the end result is a loss.

That's an absurd amount of pressure to be placed on a team at midseason, and while the Heat have been able to make the best of having three guys carry an entire offense, their defense is also exponentially better. I may have to change my expectation of the Knicks getting out of the first round.

Photos Courtesy Getty Images

Random Thoughts: What I Missed

I've been away in New York City winning....ahem, and I want to touch on a couple of things that I've missed over the weekend, so let's get to it.

- The NFL officially have locked out their players and law suits are pending and America weeps. The NFL lockout has been the talk of the sports world since the end of the Super Bowl and now that it's underway, we are going to see a lot of negotiating through the media and a lot of finger pointing, if we haven't already. Both sides are going to be quick to say how it's not their fault, but honestly it doesn't matter whose fault this is, all that matters now is if this holds up, then we won't have football and there will be enough blame to go around for that.

- UConn completed one of the most impressive runs through the tournament ever by winning the Big East Championship in New York and I must say that Kemba walker after taking a cat nap through the middle of the season is back now and ready to ball and the only thing I wish could have happened with the seeding of the tournament is the pairing of BYU and UConn in the same region, because Jimmer vs. Kemba would've been the ratings beast for CBS or TBS or TNT or whatever.

- The Sixers had a very interesting two day stretch of basketball this weekend. They went out and beat the Boston Celtics in what may have been their most impressive win of the season and then laid the biggest egg they've laid this season by getting obliterated by the Milwaukee Bucks of all teams on Saturday night. I can understand that tired legs argument and sometimes you have off nights, but don't lose by 30. That aside, I'm sure coach Collins is preaching now as much as ever their one game at a time mentality. This team hasn't lost two in a row since January and the Sixers have a down on their luck Jazz team coming up, now is not the time to get complacent for the Sixers.

- The WVU Mountaineers managed to get a five seed in the tournament, I would imagine on the back of their severely difficult schedule and the way the finished the regular season, but they weren't given much favors in the first round having to wait for their opponent to determined following the play of the First Four. WVU can't get caught looking past their potential second round matchup with Clemson towards a rematch with Kentucky or else they could become the first team to lose to a First Four team, which would draw this season to a head scratching conclusion.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

Sixers are Rolling

The Philadelphia 76ers are introducing themselves to the rest of the NBA right now, even ESPN showed some Sixer highlights last night on the 11pm edition of Sportscenter.

Last night, the Sixers defeated the team chasing them for the seventh spot, the Indiana Pacers by a score of 111-100 and looked solid while doing so. Philadelphia is now six games in front of the Pacers as they continue to solidify their playoff positioning.

I've talked a lot about the continued rise of Andre Iguodala and last night he was at it again, following up his consecutive triple-double performances with another double-double showing with a 16 points and 10 assist game and in March, Iguodala has stepped up his game huge.

This month, Iguodala is averaging 17 points per game along with nine assists and eight rebounds a game.

Those are big-time numbers from a player who has risen to the occasion as we enter crunch time for this NBA season and it'll be very interesting how much will Iguodala continue to improve going into this next two game stretch of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics.

Philadelphia has won seven out of eight and three in a row and have been a fun team to watch over the last few months as I've become more and more invested in this team because I think people are starting to realize that this roster isn't as bad as people thought going into this year.

This team has played .600 basketball since the first month of the season and are as even keel a team that you can see in the NBA and that can play to your advantage in a NBA where you have teams crying in the locker room following losses (couldn't resist). Losses don't bother this team because they have great leadership and terrific balance. 

The Sixers can easily go nine deep and have the most productive bench in all of the NBA and last night, it showed again as they put up 39 points and seven out of nine players scored double figures, this team is versatile and crazily enough, they are deep enough to make some noise here at the end of the regular season and I believe they can make an impact in the playoffs.

Photo Courtesy US Presswire

ill Take: Tressel Looks Like Typical College Coach

How many times have we seen college football coaches compromise standards and loyalty and team for the sake of winning and money? Just about every single season in one environment or another and now we have yet another instance of a college coach looking the other way to protect himself and the bottom line for his university.

Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel received an e-mail last April telling him that two of his players were caught up in a federal drug-trafficking case and the sale of memorabilia, breaking NCAA rules.

Tressel implied that he was going to get on the matter "ASAP", but as he said yesterday he wasn't sure where to go with the info.

I understand that there are certain departments that handle different violations, but how about starting with just telling somebody, so that you know that the buck doesn't end with you. He sat on that email for months and it's hard to believe that he couldn't have said something to somebody regarding what he learned.

I get the idea of Tressel trying to protect his players, but once the news broke and the school was caught, what was stopping Tressel then from saying that he received info of a possible infraction but he either didn't believe it or thought the problem was fixed, at least then he would have been able to say that the reason he didn't speak out then was out of respect and trust for his players, instead he was silent and that silence was to protect himself from penalty.

Tressel hung his players out to dry and preached about honor and respect and how his players shouldn't leave and come back to play another year and serve their penalty, but wasn't going to out himself for any wrongdoing.

And now the "hammer" comes down on Tressel as he has to pay a fine of 250,000 dollars and sit out only two games.

I'm not saying it's all college coaches that act in such a fashion, but it's amazing how often these coaches are willing to hide behind their players and use these players as pawns in a chess game that either results in a raise or a new job, when as a college coach you sell these guys on the idea of the team is your family, but they'll leave at the drop of a hat with no remorse.

The arrogance is unbelievable and it never ceases to amaze me what these guys are capable of, and the fact that Tressel was caught hiding information is just another reason why many of these college coaches are just scam artists, they talk a huge game but lack moral fiber and in the end, these are the men teaching college kids about life. That's a lose-lose situation if I've ever seen one.

Photos Courtesy the AP and US Presswire

It's Big East Tourney Time

What other tournament can you get nine ranked teams in action on one floor, what other conference tourney can you get powerhouses like Villanova and UConn playing in the opening round and of course what other tourney gets the chance to play at Madison Square Garden, it's Big East Tournament time, one of the most exciting sports events of the year.

It's been a crazy year in the Big East, but not for the usual reasons. This year, the story in the conference has been about how every team has had literally two sides to them this season.

Teams like Syracuse that started out on fire and had a stretch mid season when they couldn't stay in games, let alone win them and yet they finish the season with a 25-6 record.

There are also teams like Notre Dame, had got bit by the upset bug a couple times then go on to utterly destroy a team like Villanova and the Fighting Irish was able to finish with a crisp 25-5 record.

Then you have the truly schizophrenic teams like West Virginia, Villanova, St. John's and UConn. These four teams have embodied just how unpredictable the Big East can be.

Villanova (21-10, 9-9) went from competing for a double-bye in the tournament to playing on the first day, they've endured one of their worst stretches of basketball since Jay Wright has become head coach and yet they have 21 victories and a talented roster that knows how to play in March, so hands are in the air in regards to 'Nova.

St. John's (20-10, 12-6) has been the surprising upstart to the Big East party since the hiring of Steve Lavin and they've played the role of Giant Killer really well, it's those little fish they have problems with.

They've lost games this season to: St. Bonaventure, Fordham and Seton Hall, go figure. But they've put themselves in a great position in the tournament getting a fifth seed and having to play the winner of Rutgers/Seton Hall, but then again Seton Hall could be a tough out for the Red Storm considering their history.

UConn (21-9, 9-9) started the season with a 17-2 record and was viewed as the real deal thanks to star guard Kemba Walker, but have lost four of their last five down the stretch and are as cold as a team in March can be, but will definitely be energized by the fact they aren't in the NIT this year and who knows where that energy will take them in the tourney.

The West Virginia Mountaineers (20-10, 11-7) have been the definition in inconsistent, but if you've followed the Mountaineers at all the last couple of years (football or basketball), you would know that's the only way they know how to do it. The Mountaineers are suddenly hot after two huge wins over two ranked opponents in UConn and Louisville.

At many points throughout this season, WVU has looked and longed for some offensive identity bouncing from guy to guy with nary a play maker in sight, but coach Bob Huggins has turned that into an advantage as in the last two games it's been a round robin of production capped off by a impressive Kevin Jones.

The Mountaineers can easily make a run in the Big East Tournament as they have in year's past and are pretty comfortable in New York, being the reigning Big East Champs from last year and with that this Big East Tournament may be the most unpredictable ever.

Photos Courtesy the US Presswire and All-Pro Photography

Hustle Points: Struggling Star-Crossed Teams

Last night was a night two of the marquee NBA teams would like to forget, The Miami Heat got stomped out by the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks lost to the Cleveland Cavs.

First I'll start with the Knicks, I understand that Chauncey Billups was out of the lineup because of a bruised left thigh, but as we all remember, they lost when he was the starting point guard as well.

The best game the Knicks have played since the 'Melo trade was against the Heat, which is looking more and more questionable by the second.

New York since the trade has struggled to beat a terrible Bucks unit and dominated a lost New Orleans roster and of course there's that Heat victory.

It hasn't been an impressive showing from the New York Two Step (I want that to stick), and I honestly thought there wouldn't be as many issues as there have been because of the ability of Carmelo to take over games and come through in tight situations.

Well, he hasn't done that much at all, since he's become a Knick it's been hit and miss with the misses overwhelming the hits. When he's not shooting 10 of 26 for 25 points, he's committing the game ending foul like last night to effectively seal the game for the other team.

The one thing I didn't think the Knicks would have to wait for is Anthony's ability to control games, in New York it seems like the moment of playing at the Garden is controlling him a little bit.

There's no doubt that Billups will make the Knicks a lot more cohesive than they looked last night, but maybe I got ahead of myself when I said that this team could compete for the second round berth in the playoffs.

Now to the Miami Heat, I honestly thought they were past their early season struggles, but I was wrong about that too...I'm usually never incorrect. The Heat look as bad as they did in that 9-8 and maybe even worse.

There's nothing that can be said about last night's 30 point destruction, so I'll instead try to look at the other games, the Heat have blown in the past week.

The biggest thing about the Heat has been how there's no direction in the final possession of close games, but the ball always inevitably ends up in LeBron's hands which has proven as of late to be the wrong move.

And on Thursday night, Chris Bosh was set up for the final shot, Chris Bosh?

Why hasn't Dwyane Wade been in that position this season, I can count on one hand the amount of times Wade has taken the final shot in a game, if the Heat wants to be able to finish games off vs. winning teams going into the playoffs, the ball has to be put in Wade's hands in the final minute much more often.

Is fixing the Heat as simple as putting the ball in Wade's hands in the final seconds and is fixing the Knicks as easy as getting Billups back and giving him a bigger piece of the scoring pie, as of today, yeah I think so.

Photos Courtesy Reuters and the New York Daily News

Iguodala Takes Over

Last night's victory for the Sixers wasn't a game changer by any means, but it showed once again how this team has been able to avoid the dreaded slump that a bad loss could cost and the Sixers also looked like a better team down the stretch after the T'Wolves made a charge in the final minutes, both really good signs as the Sixers prepare to battle the Knicks for the sixth seed.

Philadelphia climbs over the .500 mark once again, now at 31-30 on the season and are only a half game behind the Knicks, who faltered at home last night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Andre Iguodala has been a gigantic reason behind the resurgence of the Sixers this season and last night is a reason why.

Iggy has been the vocal unselfish leader for this team and quite frankly, he's put his money where his mouth is and has stepped it up with his attitude and play rather than only with his numbers.

Andre has had good stats this season, not superstar level stats, but they have been what this team has needed to be competitive night after night against the best and worst in the NBA and as a result this team is in the race and Iggy is a big reason for that, so we have to give him the props he deserves and last night he lit it up again.

Iguodala had a big-time triple double last night of 22 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists and every single play he made last night has a big one as he appeared on many occasions to be in multiple places at once.

Andre is one of the most discussed "superstars" in Philadelphia and it's mainly because of his large contract, but honestly you can't dis a guy when he's performing and to me averaging 14/6/6 is just what Doug Collins is asking for and on top of that, his teammates love him.

It's about time the Iggy haters take a step back and look at the larger picture which is, this team isn't as good as they are now without him.

You can want the video game numbers and LeBron-like performance, but we have to realize that's not Andre's game. He's a great slasher with lock down defensive ability and he's been exactly what we've needed this season, let's appreciate that.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

ill Take: Palmer's Ultimatum

It's never a good situation, when players want to bail on your organization. It's even worse when we're talking about the quarterback of an NFL team. And it gets even worse than that, when the team we're talking about is the Cincinnati Bengals. Oy vey.

The Bengals have been a down on its luck franchise since the late 80's-early 90's, and it's been through every single low you could imagine from the Akili Smith pick to the Dick LeBeau years as the head coach. It's been a forgettable 12 or so years until they hired Marvin Lewis and then things began to look up, sorta.

Lewis went .500 for the first time in six years and then drafted Carson Palmer with the first overall pick and they went 8-8 again while Palmer got acclaimed with the system and then the team improved drastically and made it to the playoffs and then Palmer went down and everything changed.

The Bengals went 8-8 the following season, but all people could wonder is what if Palmer didn't get hurt and it was a question that plagued the Bengals for most of the season and the next couple years after that were miserable and also included another Palmer injury in 2008.

The injury in '08 tainted his numbers during a resurgent 2009 season for the Bengals which still ended with a wild card loss and we all know and remember just how terrible the Bengals were this year and that was probably the final straw for Palmer with this team and organization.

You have to wonder about the inner workings of a organization when both player and coach have to evaluate a team's front office.

Marvin Lewis, before resigning with Cincinnati had reservations about returning because he thought the team had to perform better in regards to personnel moves like the Baltimore Ravens.

And now Carson Palmer has the same concerns as Lewis and isn't as easily encouraged about the future of the Bengals as he now views them as "hopeless" and it's not a secret that the Bengals are not the picture of stability by any means, but Palmer is doing more to hurt their image this way than anything Chad Ochocinco has done the past five years.

It's understandable where Palmer is coming from in terms of wanting to win and hating the uncertainty of not knowing whether your bosses are going to do what's needed, but have some tact in the matter. There's nothing wrong with wanting to leave a city, but understand that there are ways to go about doing it.

You don't bash an organization on the way out, because it devalues your character and even though Carmelo forced his way out of Denver in the guise of "wanting to win a championship", I can't remember a single comment that was either said to the media or leaked to the media that resembled him bashing the Nuggets.

Frustration is one thing, but remember Carson, even though this team hasn't won a single playoff game during your tenure and have shot themselves in the foot more times than many people can remember, don't forget that in both of those games you were the starting QB under center. So yeah, the Bengals are now hopeless and that's partly because you lost hope.

Photo Courtesy of the Associated Press

Sixers Try to Build Following Tough Loss

Last night's defeat to the Dallas Mavericks at the Wells Fargo Center wasn't an easy one for the Sixers to swallow because it was a game that could have easily gone the other way, not just because of plays here and there but because of the way the team responded down the stretch.

There's no other way to say it, but calling it like it was, the Sixers flinched, bad. When the Sixers pulled to within a point of the red-hot Mavs, a combination of bad decisions and missed free throws made Philadelphia look unprepared for such a situation.

Now we all know that the Sixers have made serious strides this season and even at 30-30 on the season are progressing greatly every night, but I didn't like what I saw in the final two minutes of play and neither did the boisterous crowd that saw free throw after free throw clang loudly off every part of the rim.

Winning games late in the NBA is hard to do and it's been hard for the Sixers to do this year as they are among the bottom in the league in regards to their record in close games.

Teams like the Celtics and the Lakers and even the Suns as of late have been able to make the most of those clutch moments and as we've seen this season, finishes like those can make your season easier and propel you into a stretch of play that lifts the team in the standings and the mood in the locker room.

So if there is one thing that needs to improve with this Sixers team, it's definitely the late game nervousness of some guys on this team because the later we get into the season the tougher these games are going to get and even though the Miami Heat are also with the Sixers in relation to having an equally terrible record in close games, they have the advantage of having two top five players on their roster.

I've loved the development of guys like Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner, but we saw last night that they were not ready on a couple of occasions to make a big play and I feel that with Jrue, that big shot feel will come because he definitely has it and has displayed it at different points this season.

While with Turner, I would seriously think about limiting his late game minutes if the game is in doubt because he's still a raw offensive talent and in closing moments you need guys on the floor that can get you easy points and it's been an all season struggle for Turner to get on track, I'm not knocking him, but he's not far along enough in his development to be on the floor late in the fourth quarter.

I've been as positive as anybody regarding the Sixers this year and this right now is the most pressing concern to this roster, to become more comfortable in a late game environment when the game is in doubt.

The sane thing almost occurred in Cleveland when the Sixers almost blew a double-digit lead late in the forth quarter, finishing games is an acquired skill in the NBA and it'll take time but if the Sixers expect to be a threat going into the playoffs, then adjustments have to be made or else playoff time will come and no one will be looking at the positives anymore.