FanHouse Matt Carroll

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

This weekend in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao will face Miguel Cotto in what is being described as one of the biggest fights of the year. In the locker room of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, the fight is the talk of the town. In this video, we catch up with Maverick JJ Barea, who tells us why he thinks his good friend Cotto will beat Pacquiao. We also get Mark Cuban's prediction and learn from Kris Humphries which Dallas star would make a great fighter.

Check out the video after the jump.

B-Ball, B-Fast is a weekdaily look at last night's NBA action from a fantasy perspective. Bookmark it and visit often.

Cup of Coffee
If you don't get the Bad Boys reference, I'm sorry. It appears my time has passed me by. Anywho, Kyle Lowry got the most run of the trio of young Memphis point guards last night, seeing 32 minutes and scoring 24 points with four assists and two steals. Javaris Crittenton had 30 minutes and scored 17 points with four assists and a steal, while Mike Conley, Jr., scored zero points (0 for six shooting) with one assist and a steal in 16 minutes. All of this is important, because for the rest of the season, the Grizzlies are essentially having a tryout for point guard. Whoever is playing well will keep getting the run. I love Conley, and he's legit, but I think people undervalue Lowry. Since it appears he's not going to have a tremendous leash, well, adjust accordingly.

Hot Cakes
Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes are both starters now (do these guys have dirt on a slew of NBA coaches?). Hughes put up eight points with five assists and two steals in 25 minutes while Gooden went nuts, albeit against Memphis, for 21 points and 14 rebounds. It's classic sell high on either guy, although they're certainly doing their best to spite LeBron James at this point.

Mike Miller has been out almost the equivalent of a week in NBA games for the Grizzlies, but is expected to return tonight. Consider holding him out one more game because back injuries = bad field goal percentage.

The Charlotte Bobcats' salary cap situation has long been the envy of every team in the league. Comprised primarily of rookie contracts and other scraps, their payroll has been about as low as it gets. The question was when, if ever, would they realize that wins cost money.

Well, it looks like that hour has arrived. First, they take on Jason Richardson's hefty contract instead of drafting Nick Young or retaining the guy they did choose (Brandan Wright). Now, they've both resigned Matt Carroll and are expected to make an announcement soon on the ever-mysterious Gerald Wallace.

According to the The Charlotte Observer, Carroll will soon ink a deal that pays $27 million over the next six seasons. Not enormous, but impressive for a guy who was in the NBDL three years ago. And who plays the same position as Jason Richardson.

Meanwhile, The Gaston Gazette reports that "officials for both the Bobcats and for Wallace have said recently they are having productive discussions and could be moving closer to a deal." That would be huge for Charlotte, since supposedly there are seven other teams in the running. That and Wallace is an all-defense caliber playmaker who led the team in scoring last season.