My Hooptie

-Here's my audition to become an ESPN announcer: If you didn't enjoy the Duke v Indiana game, then you just don't like sports.

This game featured two teams I hate, plus Dick Vitale, and I was still glued to my tv. It was an absolute circus atmosphere in Indiana, all the way down to the stilt walker costumes being worn by the Indiana bench (still looking for a pic). Indiana forward Marcus Killingsworth was an absolute manchild, going 15 for 20 with 34 points and 11 rebounds. I thought the day of the dominant bigman was gone in college hoops, but Killingsworth absolutely dominated the post; and he was being guarded by last year's defensive player of the year, Sheldon Williams. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers, he wasn't able to extend his defense 20 feet out where JJ Redick was drilling threes, all to the delight of Dick Vitale, who is likely tossing his salad in the showers as I type.

-The NBA refuses to give Las Vegas a sniff at a franchise because they're afraid of the gambling implications. Yet the Nuggets' broadcast was sponsored by GoldenPalace.com. And the commercials featured former NBA player Dennis Rodman talking about how he loves to gamble. Um, ok. What Rodman didn't mention is how much fun it is to gamble against the Nuggets when George Karl is missing from the sidelines. I don't know if head coaches are worth the multimillion dollar contracts they get, but the Nuggets are just a totally different team without Karl. They don't push the ball, their offensive sets are sloppy, and the defense is lazy. Other than that, they're a dream team.

-Does Ray Allen have a personal blog or something where he discusses whether he feels like playing that day or not? It would be really helpful to the casual bettor such as myself to know if he was dropping 30 that night.

-Back in the day, I used to cheer courtside with the student body at UCLA games and one of the players I loathed the most was Stanford point guard, Brevin Knight. Ten years later, Brevin gets two technical fouls that were essentially the difference between me losing and pushing my bets. So just for old time's sake, "F*ck you, Brevin Knight."

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Today's hoops 1-2. Season: 10-17-1.