Good thing he went with his head over his heart, because if Kevin Durant had picked Texas to win it all there would have been endless mocking.

Instead, Durant blogged on his site that he is taking the chalk in the NCAA tournament.

As far as some of the more intriguing matchups of the tournament, you can mark me down for Louisville-Cal, Temple-Cornell and, of course, Texas-Wake Forest. I think those will all be worth watching. And I think the second round games are going to be a real joy to watch, too.

As far as the Final Four goes, I'm going to roll with all the top seeds, so Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky and Duke. I expect to see you all playing in Indy. I've got Kansas-Kentucky in the title game, and my National Champion will be....Kansas! Yeah, that's right, I'm going with the Jayhawks. First off, they're from the Big 12, they've got a ton of weapons and they'll pose a lot of matchup problems.

Pretty safe choices, KD. We'd mock you for the Kansas pick, except that's who we have winning it all, too.

Josh Howard -- traded from Dallas to the Washington Wizards at the deadline and subsequently injured his knee three games later -- not only will miss the rest of this season but also could miss the start of next year.

Surgery Tuesday repaired ligaments in Howard's let knee, but the recovery is expected to take six to eight months. The far end of that timeframe would have him missing the start of next season.

The injury -- which happened Feb. 22 against Chicago -- will not help him on the free agent market. The Wizards have the option on Howard's $11.8 million salary for next year, and are almost certain not to pick that up. Negotiating a new deal while undergoing major knee surgery rehab that could cause you to miss the start of the season does not give you much negotiating leverage. Even for a guy who was an All-Star just three years ago. 

We all love the NCAA tournament, but as NBA fans we watch it with a different eye -- who is going to be coming out of this showcase and on to the NBA. This is part of a series looking at future NBA players you should watch this weekend.

Here's what you need to know about Aubrey Coleman -- he led the NCAA is scoring at 25.6 points per game.

He is why Houston is in the NCAA Tournament. And if you can score that much scouts want to see you.

Coleman takes a whopping 34% of his team's shots when he is on the floor, and while he has not been a terribly efficient scorer you can't expect him to be when he has to create everything. That also explains his relatively high number of turnover.

So is he legit? DraftExpress has him going in the second round and the site's Assistant Director of Scouting Joe Treutlein gave us some exclusive comments on Coleman:

"Aubrey Coleman is one of the most productive scorers in college, but he probably helped his draft stock most by doing all the little things during Houston's C-USA Tourney run. While Coleman isn't the most efficient scorer due to the way Houston's offense relies on him, the success of Marcus Thornton with New Orleans this season, another undersized 2 with similar scoring instincts, should make teams thinks twice before passing on Coleman in the second round."

Right now, every team wants a Marcus Thornton, so this is a guy worth watching, especially against a good Maryland defense Friday night in Spokane.

According to the Detroit News, Former Detroit Pistons player and Michigan State star Mateen Cleaves has joined the Pistons broadcast team. Cleaves led the Spartans to an NCAA title in 2000, and has his numbers in the rafters at MSU. Cleaves never did have the same kind of success in the pros, spending time with the Pistons, Kings, Cavaliers, Sonics, Huntsville Flight, Fayetteville Patriots, Bakersfield Jam, Unics Kazan, and Panionios BC. 

UPDATE 4:55 pm: Jason Terry was at Mavericks' practice Tuesday, complete with mask. Which he hates. Click on this link from Dallasbasketball.com and you can see why.

"If I miss the first shot, it might be coming off," Mavs guard Jason Terry said after Tuesday's practice, during which he wore his new protective mask. "Take a good look now. It might be the last you see of it."

11:14 am: The hottest team in the NBA is about to get better -- Jason Terry could return to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday against the Bulls. If not then, by the weekend.

That is a fast recovery from surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone -- the eye socket -- for Terry, whose face had an unfortunate run in with Ronnie Brewer's elbow back on March 4.

"Jet has a track record of missing very few games," Rick Carlisle said. "He's always come back earlier than expected. The injury was serious, but the fracture was such that it was a lower timetable than it could have been. It could have been several weeks."

Terry will be wearing a specially-designed plastic mask to protect his face, going with the Rip Hamilton look that is all the rage in Paris this season.

Thaddeus Young got the start at his natural small forward position Monday night but didn't seem to do much with it -- just 2 of 8 shooting and pretty uninspired play as Philly lost to New York.

But we'll cut him some slack, since he was playing with a broken thumb (according to Rotoworld's Adam Levitan).

In the first quarter Young suffered a cracked thumbnail but after a visit to the trainer's room came out for more in the second quarter. Later in the third quarter Young was back in the trainer's room -- after bleeding all over the court -- for what was reported to be the same injury.

Turns out it was a broken thumb, he was in a cast on Tuesday. No timetable has been set for his return, but this is Young's non-shooting hand.

From a young age, every basketball player is told to get comfortable using their off hand around the basket and on drives, but few players master the skill. Even at the NBA level, the vast majority of players have a dominant hand that they would prefer to drive to, and most of them are good enough to get away with it. After his crossover was done, AI would usually end up driving to his right. Dirk Nowitzki and Sam Cassell love/loved driving to their left to set up their mid-range jumper. Mega-prospect John Wall shoots righty, but favors going left on drives and finishes. 

Chris Anderson was not his usual self against Houston Monday night, meaning no blocks were sent into the third row. In fact, he had no blocks at all and played just 16 minutes.

The reason might be the broken ring finger on his right hand (as reported in the Denver Post), which happened in Saturday night's game. Or it could be the ongoing ankle issues he has. Or the ongoing knee issues he has.

None of these are expected to keep Anderson out of the lineup. But it may mean his spectacular block percentage will drop a little.

We all love the NCAA tournament, but as NBA fans we watch it with a different eye -- who is going to be coming out of this showcase and on to the NBA. This is part of a series looking at future NBA players you should watch this weekend.

Georgia Tech has a long list of NBA studs to its name -- Chris Bosh, Kenny Anderson, John Salley, Mark Price, Thaddeus Young, and the list just keeps going.

And will keep going -- Georgia Tech has two players to watch when they take on Oklahoma State Friday night. One would think that with two potential first round picks the Yellow Jackets would be higher than a 10 seed. But their problem is a lack of guys to fear on the perimeter, so their two big stars have a lot of company in the paint.

The big name is Derrick Favors, the power forward (certainly at the NBA level) who likely will go somewhere between three and five overall in the draft. Favors is as athletic as anybody in college basketball right now, he can just explode at the basket -- watch him on the boards.  He shoots well (hit 59% of his shots this season). But at the NBA level he ideally needs to be on a team where he can use those gifts in the open court because this season has shown limits to his halfcourt game. Like having enough post moves to consistently create his own shot. But this is a case where a guy can get over-analyzed -- you can teach him post moves (and he has been better lately at that). You cannot teach leaping out of the building.

On the opposite low block is Gani Lawal -- another big long athlete (seven foot wingspan) who likely goes in the first round. DraftExpress Assistant Director of Scouting Joe Treutlein gave us some exclusive comments on Lawal:

"Gani Lawal has flown a bit under the radar this year, but playing alongside Derrick Favors on a team with shaky guard play, specifically in terms of post entry passes, certainly hasn't helped him stand out. A high energy athlete who's very good on the boards and could do some garbage work, he's a fringe first rounder now, but could contribute quickly in the NBA in the right situation."

How good either of these guys look in the NCAA tournament may depend on the guard play the Yellow Jackets get -- if you can double team without fear of getting burned on the perimeter, you can slow anyone.

But what you want to see out of an NBA prospect is how they deal with the adversity and big stage of the tournament. That will be interesting to see for Favors and Lawal.

It's easy to think of Lakers backup center DJ Mbenga as a funny guy. He's big, he's goofy, he mostly rides the bench for a championship team, and he's on the Lakers' infamous "taco unit." However, in a recent interview with Mike Trudell of the Lakers' website, Mbenga showed that he's got some important things on his mind. Via TrueHoop, here's what Mbenga said in reply to Trudell's question about Mbenga appearing on MTV's "The Real World": 

"I'll tell you something. I have a contract sitting in my house, any time I want to sign it, to do a reality show with a major TV network. An African coming over here, having success, winning a championship and how an African copes with the culture here. But I can't do a reality show. That's not my persona. I'm a leader. I'm not a leader on the (Lakers), but I'm a leader where I come from. People are looking at me. People hear what I say, they know what I do. I can't do some stuff that's stupid like that. That's all we have over there. We have messed up everything (in Congo). We've messed up politically, we've messed up our education, our economy ... so I can't come with something like that. People are looking to me for inspiration and so I will live up to that."

Bobcats swingman Stephen Jackson was part of the Pacers for some very good years. He was also an instrumental part of the lowest moment in Pacer franchise history when he gleefully charged into the stands after Ron Artest went up, punched a fan, and then egged on the crowd as he was escorted out of the arena. Later, Jackson got himself in trouble for firing a gun in a parking lot outside of a strip club, and after that got a chest tattoo to remind himself of the incident. 

"I think people are not looking at the fact that I'm human and I make mistakes," Jackson said after the Bobcats' practice Monday. "I made two mistakes, but I haven't been in any trouble since.

"They need to realize I can play this game and I've been effective ever since I've been in this league. I help teams win and people should let the negative stuff go and look at the positive things."

As Jackson led the Warriors to one of the most shocking playoff upsets in NBA history and has the feisty Bobcats ready to play the role of first-round spoiler this season, things have not gone well at all in Indiana. Whether Pacer fans blame that on Jackson or not remains to be seen. 

According to a press release, the Oklahoma City Thunder have signed former Arizona Wildcat guard Mustafa Shakur to a 10-day contract. Shakur played four productive seasons at Arizona, but went undrafted in the 2007 NBA draft. He spent the next few years overseas, spending time with Prokom Trefel Sopot, TAU Ceramica, and Panellinios BC. 

It's all about the goose eye.

You already see the goose eye all over the basketball landscape -- college games, NBA benches, even that geek in your rec league -- and you can thank the Cavaliers for that. Everybody is doing it.

Wait, I see that confused look on your face. Let's let the people from the Cleveland News-Herald explain (via TrueHoop).

The origin of the gooseneck is traced back years ago, when players stopped shooting two-handed set shots. In a normal shooting stroke, a player's hand extends forward after releasing the ball.

Careful examination of a player's hand after the shot resembles what the Cavs' resident comedians thought looked like a goose's neck.

"I guess when you shoot, it actually looks like a gooseneck," Cavs forward Jamario Moon said. "Way back in the day, they say when you're shooting, you leave that gooseneck up."

Cleveland took it a step farther -- their players close the thumb and forefinger to form sort of an eye on the side of the goose. And there you have it -- another of Cleveland's team signs of unity. That and overly complicated pregame handshakes.

Now every time a threeball goes up, the bench gives it the goose eye -- that's 19 times a game on average (more like 22 a game in the last 10). Which is a lot, but clearly the goose eye works, because Cleveland is shooting an impressive 39% as a team from beyond the arc.

Sure, somebody is going to tell you that what the bench does has no bearing on the shot falling, that it's about the shooter. We know that's crap -- rally caps (or even monkeys) work in baseball. Goose eyes work in basketball. It is indisputable fact. What other reason do you have for the Cavaliers having the best record in basketball? Because they have the best player? Whatever. We know the real reason.

In the two weeks since his thumb surgery, Shaquille O'Neal has been recuperating in his palatial home in Orlando. Nothing wrong with that -- if you had to choose between the weather in Cleveland and Orlando in February, you'd choose Florida, too.

But now Shaq is back in Cleveland, has met with team doctors and doing thumb/hand rehabilitation exercises. Insert your own joke here about him going blind from that, I'm not going to help you out.

The timeline for Shaq's return is still right around the start of the playoffs. Shaq will not be traveling with the team yet, just hanging in Cleveland doing rehab. And probably going to the Barley House.

Fans everywhere are going to love Carlos Boozer the free agent this summer. Well, except for Cleveland, where the mention of Boozer's name still can lead locals to punch you just for uttering it.

But that will be different in other cities across the land. It's easy to picture Boozer -- one of the game's best power forwards -- as a strong inside presence to counter a slasher on the perimeter. Like Dwyane Wade. Or Derrick Rose.

Or Deron Williams? The Jazz are a good team with Boozer so why not try to keep him? Well, money most likely, but the Jazz at least will go through the motions according to the Desert News (via Ben Maller).

But sometime before their starting power forward becomes an unrestricted free agent this offseason, the Jazz do plan on talking with the Carlos Boozer camp about the possibility of his remaining in Utah, general manager Kevin O'Connor said Monday night.

"We've had conversations with everyone's agents throughout the year," O'Connor said, "and I don't think we ever said we'd rule out anything."

Just like Cleveland -- but without the venom -- there has been a strained relationship between the Jazz and Boozer. After an injury-filled campaign last season it was thought he would walk, but instead he stayed. There were $12.6 million reasons why Boozer picked up his option for this season (reasons he could not find as many of on the open market, and he knew it).

Now things are different. Boozer says he is happy in Salt Lake City. The relationship is mended, and while nobody expects Boozer to give the Jazz a hometown discount, the two sides will at least talk and a contract offer likely will be made. And ignored. But the dance is at least underway.