By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
+ Just a day after we riffed on North Carolina and Ohio State possibly giving college basketball a sorely needed elite team or two next year, Kentucky was dealt a serious blow to its candidacy for greatness in 2011-12. Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones and DeAndre Liggins all declared for the NBA draft on Wednesday morning. None has hired an agent, so perhaps UK's fortunes could improve on May 8. Michael Gilchrist and another huge recruiting class report to Lexington in the fall, so it's not as if the cupboard is bare for John Calipari. But if Knight, Jones and Liggins do stick with their decisions, that's a significant setback.
+ Jim Tressel sure could use some good news one of these days. It's now being reported that the embattled Ohio State coach's $250,000 fine isn't even expected to cover the cost of the NCAA probe into the mess in Columbus. It's not the worst development in the Tatgate debacle, but it sure doesn't strengthen his case to continue being the OSU coach beyond the 2011 season, especially considering Ohio native Urban Meyer will be looking for work in January.
+ I rarely side with the self-absorbed ballhog, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for Carmelo Anthony Tuesday night. He and his Knicks were without injured Amare Stoudemire for much of Game 2 against Boston, so Anthony took it upon himself to try to carry the Knicks to a series stalemate. Melo's 42 points and 17 rebounds had the visitors in position to win late. A nice take by Jared Jeffries gave them a 93-92 advantage with 19 seconds left. But Boston answered with an easy, go-ahead bucket by Kevin Garnett with 13 seconds left. New York called timeout to draw up a play for Melo, who drew two defenders on the right wing. He dumped it down low to Jeffries, whose awkward pass attempt to a cutting Bill Walker in the paint was blocked and ultimately stolen by the long-armed Garnett. New York has had chances to win both games in Boston, but instead returns to Madison Square Garden, down two games. This series is over.
+ Tonight will be the best night of the playoffs so far, at least from a couch-potato point-of-view. Denver is at Oklahoma City at 8 p.m. ET (TNT), Memphis is at San Antonio at 8:30 p.m. (NBA TV) and New Orleans is at Los Angeles at 10:30 p.m. (TNT).