TRIVIA: Five players have won an NCAA championship and an NBA MVP award. Who are they? Answer below.
THE END OF CIVILIZATION AS WE KNOW IT: Injured Pacers center Andrew Bynum apparently got a haircut during halftime of Friday’s home game vs. Chicago.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Miami Heat big man Chris Bosh, after the team’s seventh loss in 11 games Saturday at New Orleans:
“We suck. We need to turn it around. There’s no passion. There’s nothing.”
TANKAPALOOZA!: In the NCAA Tournament, all the projected top-five picks are done except Julius Randle of Kentucky, who averaged 16 points, 12.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 blocks in two wins. Andrew Wiggins of Kansas, Jabari Parker of Duke and Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State combined to shoot 17-of-47 with 16 turnovers in four games.
LINE OF THE WEEK: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City at Toronto, March 21: 52 minutes, 15-32 FGs, 7-12 3-pointers, 14-19 FTs, 12 rebounds, seven assists, one block, one steal, five turnovers, 51 points in a 119-118 double-overtime win. Durant has had better shooting games but took on the scoring burden when Russell Westbrook went down in the third quarter. He scored 27 points in the fourth quarter and overtimes, including a game-winning 3-pointer from 30 feet with 1.7 seconds left. The MVP race is over.
LINE OF THE WEAK: John Salmons, Toronto vs. Oklahoma City, March 21: 18 minutes, 0-4 FGs, 0-4 3-pointers, 0-2 FTs, four rebounds, zero assists, one block, zero steals, three fouls, two turnovers, zero points in a 119-118 double-overtime loss. Yep, same game. Pressed back into action after Greivis Vasquez fouled out in the second OT, Salmons looked like the hero when he blocked Kevin Durant’s potential tying shot, corraled the loose ball and was fouled with nine second to go. But he missed both free throws, leaving the door open.
TRILLION WATCH: Before we get into the top inactivity of the week, a warm welcome to Kings 
forward Royce White, who made his NBA debut Friday night vs. San Antonio and promptly registered a 1 trillion in which he did not touch the ball. (And yes, you can avoid a trillion without touching the ball. You can foul.) Among better non-efforts, Mavericks guard Wayne Ellington had a 3 trillion Wednesday vs. Minnesota. The week’s top honors were shared by Hawks forward Cartier Martin, who had a 5 trillion Monday at Charlotte, and Thunder center Hasheem Thabeet, who also had a 5 trillion Friday at Toronto. (Boy, that game was chocked full of goodies, wasn’t it?) It should be noted that Thabeet ruined a 10 trillion by committing two fouls Monday at Chicago.
GAME OF THE WEEK: Miami at Indiana, March 26. The third meeting between everyone’s projected Eastern Conference finalists and a huge potential swing game in the standings. The Heat have lost seven of 11 with LeBron James averaging “only” 22.8 points with no double-doubles. The Pacers have lost lost six of 11 with Paul George averaging “only” 17.6 points on 36.5 percent shooting.
GAME OF THE WEAK: Detroit at Philadelphia, March 29. The Pistons have not won on the road since Jan. 18 and will be coming off Friday’s home meeting with Miami. The Sixers have not won anywhere since Jan. 29 and likely will be looking to avoid a 27th straight setback, which would be an NBA record.
TWO MINUTES: We’re still pretty sure the Eastern Conference finals will be a Heat-Pacers matchup, but the road there might not be as smooth as it once appeared. Since Jan. 1, the top five teams in the East 
are separated by just 2 1/2 games. Miami is 23-14 and Indiana is 26-14. By comparison, Toronto is 25-15, Chicago is 27-13 and Brooklyn is 27-10, the best mark of any East squad in 2014. The Nets have gotten a lift lately from Deron Williams, who may be past his chronic ankle woes. March has been the best month of the season for Williams, who is averaging a season-high 16.1 points, 5.8 assists and has four 20-point games, his most of any month. He even had his first dunk of the season in Monday’s win over Phoenix. “My confidence is getting back. That’s a good thing for me,” Williams said. “I tend to play well when my confidence is high. I just have to keep it there.” It probably should be noted that Brooklyn has played only one set of back-to-back games thus far in March. … Let the Kevin Love speculation begin. On Sunday, Love had 36 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, but the Timberwolves blew a 22-point lead at home and lost to the Suns. Minnesota trails Phoenix and Dallas (29 losses each) by five games in the loss column with 14 to play. “That was our playoffs right there, and we lost,” Love admitted afterward. The All-Star power forward has yet to make the playoffs in six seasons in Minnesota and can opt out of his contract next summer. … Has any team ever had three players sidelined at the same time with torn ACLs? Because the Nuggets do – J.J. Hickson, Nate Robinson and Danilo Gallinari. … In Houston’s win at Cleveland on Saturday without Dwight Howard, the Rockets scored 101 points through three quarters. Despite taking just 15 shots, James Harden was responsible for 65 of them via baskets, free throws and assists. “A monster game,” Cavs coach Mike Brown said. … The Spurs are an astounding 21-0 on the road when leading after three quarters. … Although Portland’s overall play has clearly taken a step back over the last month, don’t blame it on the absence of LaMarcus Aldridge. Since the All-Star break, the Blazers are 2-5 with their All-Star forward and 7-3 without him. In the 10 games Aldridge has missed, Nic Batum is averaging 14.2 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists with four double-doubles while playing out of position at power forward. He is shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 16-of-33 from the arc. … In all likelihood, the Sixers are going to clear the decks this summer and create nearly $40 million of cap room. But among the detritus at the end of their roster that might be worth keeping for a longer look is 
big man Henry Sims, who arrived in the deal that sent Spencer Hawes to Cleveland and is averaging 9.6 points and 7.0 rebounds with three double-doubles in 14 games. … Pistons forward Josh Smith has missed 20 of his last 26 free throws, including a glistening 0-of-8 at Phoenix on Friday. … The Celtics went 0-15 on the road vs. the Western Conference. So did the Magic. The Bucks are 1-13. The Pistons are 1-12. That’s a combined 2-55 – or two wins less than the Sixers, who somehow are 4-8.
Trivia Answer: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Bill Russell. … Happy 54th Birthday, Larry Micheaux. … I’m trying to figure out whether Dante Exum or Joel Embiid helped their draft stock more with their performance in the NCAA Tournament.
Chris Bernucca is the managing editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
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I completely agree with this article. College basketball is like watching paint dry to me. The hand-offs for 30 seconds, just to jack up a terrible shot, drive me crazy. Every year during this time, I have to listen to people claiming that they play great defense in college. If this were true, why do most NBA rookies sit on the bench because they can’t figure out man defense or rotations?
You can have your NBA, where there is no defense, silent arenas and half the players just showing up for the paycheck. Oh, there are better players? Doesn’t make for a better game. Just because players hit every wide open jumper, doesn’t make the game more exciting, in fact it’s predictable and boring. Almost no ball movement, and scores in the 100’s for all of you people who desperately need instant gratification. All 30 dunks and 50 wide open jumpers, congrats, it should put people to sleep, they all lose meaning when there are too many possessions. Congrats that the game doesn’t matter until the final few minutes. Oh and yes college kids celebrating or crying…DAMN YOU “PASSION”…I DON’T WANT TO SEE PEOPLE CARING DAMNIT! So the NBA doesn’t have as many upsets…well congrats, but newsflash…the best team doesn’t always win in that either. Unless you end the season by crowning the best regular season team, it doesn’t matter, it’ll just make you postseason a little more fair, but not enticing to watch.
You are certainly entitled to your opinion and there are varying degrees of truth in some of the issues you raise. But remember that the parallel comparison for the NCAA Tournament is not simply the NBA, but the NBA playoffs, where many of your issues with the league vanish. I could point to the NCAA regular season where there are hundreds more meaningless games in empty arenas than the NBA at a quality approaching high school ball.
And to say that there is no defense and the best team doesn’t win is simply absurd. If you have ever watched an All-Star Game or one of the charity games played in the summer, you would no what not playing defense against NBA players produces – final scores in the 150s and 160s. Watch a tape of a game in the 1980s compared to today and you will see how much defensive strategy has evolved and improved. It is staggering. And no one I have met in my 30 years covering and editing all sports believes that a best-of-seven series does not produce the better team. The 1995 Rockets were a 6 seed and beat the 3, 2 and 1 seeds in the West and the 1 seed in the East. The 2004 Pistons beat the 1 seed in the East and took out the powerhouse Lakers in 5 games in the Finals. Unless Game 7 is tied with 10 seconds to go and there is a bad call, the better team always wins. And that’s what I want – absolutely no question about who is the best team. Thanks for reading.
Meaningless? There is this thing called rivalries in the NCAA, ones that don’t go away regardless of record. Not overhyped “rivalries” in the NBA which only pop up when both teams are good. Conference titles mean a ton in the NCAA, so do rivalry games, seeding etc. And I’ve seen the NBA, there is no comparison…almost no ball movement, all 1 on 1 garbage. Basically half the time it’s 4 guys standing around the wing, it’s a superstar league, it is pretty boring. A few teams play defense sure…Indiana/Memphis comes to mind. But there are far too many possessions and points scored which really take away from each play. And please don’t talk about rabid fans, I recall the Heat fans walking OUT. As for no question about best team? Ray Allen misses one more shot and you have a different champion, please don’t make that argument so black and white.
And of course the Allen shot, was in game 6. But my major point is…nobody disagrees there are better players in the NBA, but I don’t think that always translates to a better product. Watch a team like Mercer…would the Heat destroy them? Of course. Do all NBA teams play team ball quite like that? No. The individual players are far too good, and it just waters everything else down. I don’t care how many jumpers Bosh can hit in a row from the elbow, it’ll put me to sleep. The entire West scores over 100 ppg basically, that does not have to do with amazing defense, good god spare me of that BS.
Part of the allure of the tournament is the first two rounds where the “upsets” are most likely to happen, so it’s less about sports and more about novelty/surprise. But, frankly, since a few of those happen every year, even that novelty is lost. There are really only two true shocks left – a low-seeded, non-power conference team winning it all or a #16 beating a #1. I don’t even bat an eye at a 12 over a 5 any more and barely do at even a 15 over a 2 or a 14 over a 3.
Thank you for this article. I’ve been saying the samething the last 5-6 yrs. College basketball is unwatchable to me from the poor officiating, sloppy play, among other things. I do complete the office NCAA bracket, but it’s a guess at best. This Sunday I watched WSU vs UK then turned to the Wiz vs Nuggets. Ending this….I’m right there with you Chris. NBA > NCAA.
I couldn’t agree more with everything you are saying, but here is why most people will never accept your logical points as such.
NCAA fans enjoy being able to say these kids do it for the love of the game. That it isn’t about the money (which they are all hoping to one day get paid for basketball), or the fame (even though teams like Mercer dance it up after a win), or the individual player, but instead it is about the team as a whole. The problem with that though is that those same people don’t realize how the elite teams in the NBA do play incredible team ball, but they play incredible team ball with elite players.
Even non-elite teams like Atlanta, which leads the NBA in assists, play remarkable team ball. So does Toronto. So does Dallas. Thanks for reading.
What’s your beef with Men’s Wearhouse. You’re gonna like the way you look. I focking guarantee it.
AJ, I actually occasionally shop there for myself. My wife shops for me at Brooks Brothers. Thanks for reading.
Yeah, but your wife shops for you at Aaron Brooks Brothers. That’s not quite the same thing.
Kevin Brooks Brothers
The mad is palpable.
Not really. Just a choice what I now do with my personal time after a solid quarter century of evaluation.
If my problem was a Death Star, this article is a photon toreodp.
Appalling. He does this to one-of-a-kind books? Why not just burn down a library? Even if it weren’t destroying a book, it’s still a bad design for kids since the clock has no numbers. It’s tough enough to teach kids to read a clock without giving them the abstraction of lack of numbers. How about just reading that book to your kid instead?
I don’t agree with all the pro-nba points (the NBA is also flawed) but I do 100% agree with the rest. College basketball has taken a turn for the worse over the last 10+ years. I also dislike to lack of creativity on offense. Part of it is the coaches and part of if it is one-and-done. Why change your game plan to suite your players if your good players change so often? Look at the senior laced teams who always out perform their rankings, some of it is they are older and more mature but a lot of it is the team structure has change over the course of 3-4 years to suit those players.
I’m not standing up for coaches, they should adapt faster and most are utilitarian dictators caught up in their own money grabbing power games but the trend of high player turnover is not a compelling long term way to create good basketball games.
That is for sure. However, I am old enough (and you may be too; I just don’t know) to remember before the HS-to-NBA wave began and coaches imposed their system on 3 and 4 year players then as well. Good coaches by and large adapt their systems to their talent. The game is for the players. And I am a scholastic coach in my spare time. Thanks for reading.
Wow Chris, maybe it’s time to hang up the typewriter and stop being bitter about what others love. You make good points which I actually agree with that not every NCAA is great and the quality of basketball is not the same as 15 years ago.
Just because the NBA has better players does not make it a better product. When you have a team like Philadelphia who ‘gave up’ on this season and its paying customers to “build for the future” where is the rebate check? And as bad as the Sixers have become in losing 24 in a row, they still have not caught Milwaukee for the worst record in the NBA.
Talk about home crowds, I’ll be happy to buy an Atlanta t-shirt if they come within 90 percent of capacity for their home playoff game against Indiana or Miami, because we all know how “rabid” Hawks fans are.
And talk about playoff excitement Chris, since 1969, only one team that did not finish in the Top 3 in their conference standings has won the NBA title. That was Houston in the 1990’s when Michael Jordan was playing baseball.
Maybe the NCAA Tournament is not for you Chris, but among basketball fans your comments are about as useful as the Lakers front office these days.
Technically, Jordan wasn’t playing baseball when Houston won in 1995. He was rusty, but he played.
And you’re contradicting yourself. How often does 1983 North Carolina State and 1985 Villanova happen. About as often as the 1995 Rockets happen. Had there had been a shot clock, even North Carolina State and Villanova might never have happened. The NCAA is no different than the NBA when it comes to the high-seeded teams winning the championship every year, even though a billion more teams have an opportunity in the NCAA tournament every year than have an opportunity in the NBA playoffs. This happens every year despite the fact it’s a one and done which can theoretically have a fluke winner, as opposed to a series which always exposes who the lesser team really is.
The last non-power conference team to win NCAA championship was UNLV. NCAA is just as predictable as NBA…..different teams wins, but same big conferences….