Pesky Patriots

Pick of the Day – Pacers @ Jazz

Indiana Pacers @ Utah Jazz

Jazz (-10)

Wednesday, March 7th – 9:00 PM ET

The Utah Jazz keep fighting the odds to remain the in the Top 4 of the Western Conference, while the Pacers are doing their best not to fall off the face of the earth. This should be interesting, as the Pacers just lost another last night in Sac Town.

Bottom Line: This is not the kind of road trip the Pacers needed to keep their spirits up. A back to back with the Kings and Jazz, right before you play the Spurs and Mavericks… Nice. Good luck to anyone in the league who wants a win out of that scheduling nightmare. There best chance at a W was last night against a Artest-less Queens’ squad. No dice. Deron Williams has been the 2nd best point guard in the west, (Steve Nash #1) while big man Carlos Boozer, just coming back from injury, has become one of the league’s premeir power forwards. Jermaine O’Neal can’t do it all. He’ll have a big game, but don’t expect much from the rest of his marry men, as Utah should cover, even with the double digit doozey. To put the Pacer woes into perspective, they’ve lost 5 straight, and in those 5, they haven’t been closer than 10 in any one contest. Bet those Jazz, don’t let the spread fool you.

New England Dynasty: The Patriots are breaking the bank to sign some big time guys this offseason, and it’ll pay off. The thing is, they got the best guy out there, Adalius Thomas, before the market went boom. He’s the best player for their system, as he’ll be an enormous version of the versitile Troy Brown. This is what makes the Patriots so much better than every other team; the sign big time players when they should spend cash, and let the others go. The Patriot front office isn’t loyal to individuals, they are loyal to the team, and they are consistent with that. More big name guys who can help the Pats look to be on the way, like Donte Stallworth, and possible even Randy Moss though I think the latter is a stretch, just because of the high price the Raiders are asking. Expect Tom Brady to have his greatest weapon package in years, as his best receiver last year, Reche Caldwell will be his 3rd receiver, at best, this year. Laurence Maroney, chosen at the right time to spell an again Corey Dillon, will be the best running back out of last years’ class, and New England always has good linemen. What else can they do? If they can assure Asante Samuel a long term deal, they’d be set for the next 5 years, but I don’t know how they can spend that kind of money after the shopping spree they’ve been on thus far. I’m not a New England fan, mostly because I hate awesome teams that always seem to get better, but this is how you run a successful franchise, and the rest of the league should pay attention. Its not just free agency, its not just the draft, its the best of the free agents, or the best prices out there, while selecting the perfect players. If only Ron Artest could be so perfect.