President Barack Obama predicts Kansas, Kansas State, Kentucky and Villanova to make the men’s basketball Final Four.

Obama filled out a bracket for ESPN for the second straight year. This time, he’s also making picks for the women’s tournament, selecting Connecticut, Notre Dame, Stanford and Tennessee. ESPN will reveal the full brackets Wednesday. His interview about the men’s tournament will air that day during the 11 p.m. CT SportsCenter, with the discussion of the women’s tourney broadcast Friday during the 8 a.m. show. Last year, Obama correctly picked North Carolina to win the national championship. His bracket ranked 903,125th overall, just above the 80th percentile in the ESPN’s online contest.

Here is our official bracket. If you would like to test your bracket against ours, head over to http://games.espn.go.com/tcmen/en/frontpage and fill out your bracket.

Scolas hair was held scoreless!! NBAE via Getty Images

Saturdays matchup between the Rockets-Nets, and Mavericks-Knicks, was sort of New York against Texas. Nets are a couple years from playing in Brooklyn but New Jersey is about the same distance Houston is to Dallas. The Rockets had a three day rest before hosting the 7 and 58 New Jersey Nets. Luis Scola had tweeted earlier in the week that he was was ready for this game. Scola finished with a career-high 44 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and the Houston Rockets beat the Nets 116-108 to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. “Luis was awesome,” Battier said. “They’re erecting statues of him in Buenos Aires as we speak.” Scola hit 20 of 25 shots, many of them open layups, and reached the highest point total by a Rockets player since Tracy McGrady scored 47 against Utah in November 2007. The Rockets lead the NBA in offensive fouls drawn with 197, and since acquiring Kevin Martin have moved from 17th in the league in free throw shooting % to 13th. Aaron Brooks tied a Rockets franchise record by hitting a 3 for the 37th consecutive game. Brooks’ streak of games with a 3-pointer is the longest active one in the NBA.

Tony Douglas cant believe it either! NBAE via Getty Images

The Mavericks embarrassed the Knicks a couple weeks ago. The Mavs beat the Knicks by 50 points and put the city of New York to shame. The Knicks rolled into Dallas seeking revenge, and the Mavs slow offense early at home contributed to the end of their 13 game winning streak. The Knicks celebrated a rare highlight in an otherwise forgettable season, shooting 56 percent from the floor (50 for 89) and 16 of 30 from 3-point range. Dallas hadn’t been beaten by the Knicks at home since Dec. 16, 1999. “Revenge is sweet sometimes. That’s a really good team over there but we caught them at the right time. They were ripe for the picking,” said New York reserve Al Harrington, who had 20 points. “When you’re rolling along and the Knicks are coming in, you figure you can score 150 points on ‘em in your sleep. But that Knick team didn’t show up today. We caught ‘em by surprise.”

THE STREET STOPS HERE is a portrait of the nation’s best high school basketball coach, Bob Hurley, Sr. and his lifelong commitment to save the lives of inner city kids and the poor Catholic school that gives them hope.

Airs on PBS Wednesday, March 31, 2010, 10 pm ET

www.TheStreetStopsHeremovie.com

Marc Da Cunha Lopes

Just have to hope he is rooting for your team…to win!

According to multiple NBA sources, there is widespread concern that the four-time NBA scoring champion, who left the Philadelphia 76ers in February to deal with his daughter’s illness and will not return this season, “will either drink himself into oblivion or gamble his life away,” Smith reported. Iverson’s gambling problem is serious enough that he has been banished from casinos in Detroit (that one casino) and Atlantic City, N.J., according to Smith.

The report comes as Iverson is dealing with significant personal problems. Iverson’s wife Tawana filed for divorce on March 4, the same day the Philadelphia 76ers announced that the All-Star guard would not return for the rest of the season. In the divorce filing, made at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Tawana Iverson said the couple’s 8½-year marriage is “irretrievably broken” and sought full custody of the family’s five children, child support and alimony. Iverson, who played 25 games for the Sixers this season, returned to Atlanta in February to be with his family and deal with an undisclosed illness affecting his 4-year-old daughter, Messiah. Smith, who has covered Iverson closely for years, wrote in Monday’s column that Iverson needs someone with “the ideal combination of compassion and toughness” in his life. And former Temple coach John Chaney said that person is John Thompson, Iverson’s former college coach at Georgetown. ”[Thompson] is the one guy who’ll have a chance of slowing this train wreck down, who could wrap his arms around Iverson and have an impact, because clearly it has not been done,” Chaney said, according to Smith. “But there’s still this one question: Will [Iverson] listen?” (we hope so)

Iverson posted four messages Monday night on his Twitter account telling fans he expected to overcome the most recent obstacles in his life.

“To my fans: You all know that my life isn’t perfect. I am going through some very tough times right now, like I am sure that we all do from time to time,” Iverson wrote. “However, I will stand tall like always with ‘rhino’ thick skin.”

Allen Iverson said on Twitter it hurt to hear stories about his personal life that aren’t true.

“Even though I have become used to hearing people say things about me that aren’t true, it still hurts,” Iverson wrote. “I encourage you to continue your ongoing support and I want you to trust that this is another obstacle in my life that, with God’s help I will overcome.”

We wish Iverson all the best in whatever struggle he is going through. He has millions of fans that all understand playing basketball is what he loved to do. Now in his “second life” he must find a constructive way to live. Iverson said doing his press conference upon his return with the 76ers that he was put on this Earth to play basketball and be a good father. Now is that time to be that good father, and if he needs any help along the way we (thetruthsports) are there for him.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

When playing in the NBA and being a millionaire are not enough.....

We all seek out attention from time to time. Even the most introverted person accepts a notice here, and there. But when it comes to Ron Artest the ability to be noticed is at an all-time low. Why else would Artest color his hair blonde , and write defense all over in Japanese, Hindi, and Hebrew? Some would boast that he is crazy, or trying to be like Dennis Rodman. I think Ron is just bored, rich, and simply reminding Lakers fans that he is committed to defense, which the Lakers have had little of during this 3-game road trip.

After a loss to Miami, and Charlotte, the Lakers rolled into Amway Arena trying to avoid the first 3-game losing streak since Pau Gasol was traded to the team. Ron Artest didnt want to talk about his hair(why dye it blonde then?) and instead let his game do the talking finishing with 8 points on 2-10 shooting. Way to get noticed!

Lakers 94, Magic 96

I do hold Artests’ hair responsible for the referee whistle war. Both Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol had 5 fouls for the Lakers, and Dwight Howard and Vince Carter had 5 for Orlando.

But stealing the show from Dennis…I mean Ron, was the defensive play by Matt Barnes on Kobe Bryant. Barnes did about everything in the “piss of the superstar handbook”. For the most part Kobe didn’t really seem affected by Barnes until he missed the game winner, that he would have usually made with his eyes closed.

The Lakers are 32-4 when they score a 100 points. They are 14-14 when they don’t.  Kobe Bryant made 12-of-30 FGA (40.0 pct) Sunday against the Magic. The Lakers have lost seven straight games in which Bryant has attemtpted at least 30 FGA and made 40.0 pct of his attempts or fewer. Vince Carter had 25 points, Howard finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Wizards 83, Celtics 86

The Celtics are 21 games from the playoffs, and they cant wait. The entire Celtics season has been covered in fog, or leg braces, and arm sleeves,..and what the hell happened to Rasheed Wallace? Wallace and Kevin Garnett were a combined 1 for 10 from the floor. If the Wizards were still playing to make the playoffs this would have been a blowout win for them. The Wiz were up 13 with 6:11 remaining Boston responded with a 20-4 run to close out the game with eight points from Ray Allen and six from guard Rajon Rondo. Allen finished with a game-high 25 points.

A Penny for your thoughts Mr. Roy?? Photo by Garrett W. Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

Brandon Roy shot 3 for 14 and finished with 12 points. Carmelo Anthony shot 11 for 19 and finished with 30 points. Now guess who won…..Trail Blazers 106, Nuggets 118

Also Saturdays highlights:

This year, Noche Latina celebrations will begin on March 3 and take place in Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Antonio, Dallas, Chicago, Houston, New York, and Orlando, and highlight the impact of the league’s Hispanic players — including 18 players from six Latin American countries — while paying tribute to the more than 16 million Hispanic NBA fans across the country.

“With Hispanics comprising 15 percent of our fan base, we have a responsibility to connect with them in meaningful ways,” said Saskia Sorrosa, NBA Senior Director of Hispanic Marketing. “Noche Latina is an opportunity for us to thank the Hispanic community for their support and showcase how their pride and passion impact our teams and players.”

Noche Latina, first launched during the 2006-07 NBA season, features uniforms that display the team name as spoken by the Latin population. The Miami Heat, for example, is called “El Heat”; the San Antonio Spurs are referred to as “Los Spurs.”

To further honor Hispanic fans and players during Noche Latina games, participating teams will host in-arena Latin-themed activities, including music, performances, and giveaways. Noche Latina events will be supported with television and radio advertising on both English- and Spanish-language media across the country as well as on the league’s Spanish-language Web site. Noche Latina merchandise, including the special game jerseys produced by adidas, will be available at the NBA Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, Champs Sports retail stores, online at NBAStore.com, and at in-arena stores for participating teams.

About éne•bé•a

éne•bé•a (eh-nay-bay-ah) is the NBA’s comprehensive initiative to grow the game of basketball throughout the expanding U.S. Hispanic market. The NBA brings initiatives focused exclusively towards Hispanic fans under a platform that includes media, events, grassroots, and merchandising programs. Fifteen percent of the NBA’s total fanbase is Hispanic. Five U.S.-born Latino players and 18 players from Spain and Latin America are on 2009-10 season rosters. The NBA has played 25 preseason games and one regular-season game in Latin America.

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