PLAYERS Conventional Wisdom Parity ( + ) Duke dynasty dead. Six college teams held No. 1 ranking this year. New Orleans ( + ) Final Four bon temps will help locals forget about underachieving Saints. Black Coaches ( + ) Tournament showcases a few who’ve crashed white-boy frat. CW wants more. Thugs ( - ) National Basketbrawl Association. Fights and trash talk getting old. Play ball. Salary Cap ( + ) NBA pay ceilings adopted by restructuring NFL. Can baseball be far behind? Rookies (+,-) Shaq, Mourning and Gugliotta best crop in years. But they’re no Bird and Magic.
