Prop Bets for rest of 2009 NBA season--Barkley included

It's usually the dark ages of pro sports--mid-February through the end of March.

We are learning life without football for the first time in months and waiting anxiously for the NCAA Tournament to begin. In the mean time, we have some NBA and NHL to hold us over.

Though, that's like saying we've got another episode of Seinfeld to hold you over until The Office or 30 Rock airs on Thursday. It's palatable, but the joke about George trying to park cars for Sid while he is away has run its course--it has.

We're ready for prime-time.

But to make matters more interesting following the Super Bowl--and in the spirit of gambling Americana--I've devised some prop bets for NBA fans for the rest of the season.

• Over/under for Blake Griffin references in Wizards and Thunder broadcasts: 58 1/2.
• Over/under on post-season victories for Houston Rockets: 1.
• Talk of Tyler Hansbrough being an impact No. 9 off an NBA underachiever (New York Knicks) during the second round of the NCAA Tournament: 3-1.
• Over/under for T-Mobile commercials featuring Charles Barkley and Tara Reid in an SUV searching for a Denny's at 3 a.m. during NBA playoffs: 26 1/2.
• Over/ under on the number of charges Steve Nash takes after Josh Smith planted his nuts in the two-time MVP's face: 3.
• Chances that Tyrus Thomas makes a play in the 2009 stretch where the broadcasters mention "witty" or "quick-thinking": 450-1.
• Chances that Rasheed Wallace has Allen Iverson in a headlock by the second-round of the playoffs: Even money.
• Over/under for number of times broadcasters talk about the Portland Trailblazers' "potential" during the first-round defeat of the playoffs: 72 1/2.
• Over/under for the date Vinny DelNegro loses his first job as head coach in the NBA: April 13.
• Chances that Kevin Garnett floors Yi Jianlian on a screen in the first round of the playoffs after the Chinese forward nearly robbed him of a starting spot on the all-star team: 2-1.
• Over/under for the number of times Garnett blocks Jianlian in the first-round: 21 1/2.
• Chances that Kevin Durant scores 50 by the end of the season: Even money.
• Over/under for all the minutes that Michael Beasley will play in the fourth quarter of the playoffs: 10.
• Chances that some broadcaster mentions James Posey as a "everyone-needs-one-type player" on a TNT playoff broadcast: 5-1.
• Odds that Stephon Marbury will be kicked off the Boston Celtics by season's end only to talk about playing in Russia or China, and then build up more anti-American sentiment in the East: 5-1.
• Odds that Derrick Rose will be Rookie of the Year while his coach and a third of his team will be different by the playoffs: 8-1.
• Odds that Rudy Gay has O.J. Mayo in a headlock by the end of the year: 2-1.
• Odds that Michael Jordan's best score by season's end will be 3 under par: 10-1.
  

It's the coldest time of the year and the Super Bowl is usually a let-down, except for 2008, so we'll need something to look forward to--aside from Hansbrough praises (see Brett Favre of 2008).

I'm still coming up with a bet for the amount of times Larry Brown quits this season.