Time out from college basketball. Let’s talk NBA…

Has the balance of power finally shifted in the NBA? The Boston Celtics are the NBA’s newest champions, giving the Eastern Conference three of the last five league titles. And the East will likely add both Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley to the fold at Thursday’s NBA Draft.

Still, it’s hard to find fault with the Western Conference. According to the Hollinger stats, six of the top eight players in the league (and 17 of the Top 25) are in the West. The East leads the plus-minus Roland Ratings with Cleveland’s LeBron James (+15.8) and Boston’s Kevin Garnett (+14.5), but the next four players are all from the Left Coast.

The West prevails for now because they’ve done a better job of scouting and signing top international talent. Yao Ming, Manu Ginobili, Dirk Nowitzki and Tony Parker all ply their trade for Western teams. The East has Jose Calderon and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. It’s a slam-dunk.

The NCAA men’s Tournament hasn’t visited Madison Square Garden since John F. Kennedy was president. Fans in the Big Apple have made do with preseason events, the Big East tourney and the NIT, on top of the home games played by the St. John’s Red Storm.

That could all change with the latest proposed monster MSG renovation. Rather than move to a new building, executives announced a $500-million plan that will spruce up the arena in time for the 2011-12 Knicks season. And it will be done on Cablevision’s tab.

MSG officials would love to include the March Madness East Regional championships as the centerpiece of their first season in the newly renovated arena. The NCAA says it’s booked solid through 2011 and isn’t thinking about 2012 yet, but their interest has already been piqued. The possibility of hosting the Final Four has also been raised. Somewhere, James Naismith is smiling.

Davidson came close to being a Cinderella story in 2008.

Things are pretty quiet out there on the college hoops front. Which means it’s the perfect time to go shopping. If you want value, it’s boots in the summer, swimwear in the winter, and the college futures market in the offseason.

There are teams out there on the market who are going to improve on their 2007-08 campaigns. Their odds will shorten as the victories pile up, so now is the time to buy. For example, Arizona (19-15 SU, 16-15-1 ATS last year) is coming off a season where coach Lute Olson took a leave of absence and Kevin O’Neill handled things. Olson’s style is more offensive-minded and suitable for his players.

The Wildcats (45-1 to win the title) were also No. 25 in the efficiency rankings last year; that hints at better things on the horizon. Ohio State (22-1) will also contend after finishing at No. 29 in efficiency minus the talents of Greg Oden and Mike Conley.

The dog days of the sports betting calendar are nearly upon us. The NBA and NHL playoffs will be over in a matter of days, leaving a big hole in the ground for the gambling industry.

Comprehensive handicappers will continue to build their sharp bankrolls on baseball, NASCAR, tennis, golf and other summer fare. Others will shut down until the start of the NFL season. Either way, the summer is a golden opportunity for college basketball bettors to get a leg up on the competition.

With 341 teams populating Division I last year, it’s very important for hoops handicappers to keep things organized. The Web as we know it today (Web 2.0) is a powerful tool for structuring and filtering information. You can access websites, glean their statistics, and even put the data into your own spreadsheets for some advanced analysis. This is where the top handicappers make their money - taking it from the pockets of the less diligent.