Welcome to the Monday edition of The Cooler, where a little snow and cold can't keep us down. Let's get to it:
*The Big Ten men's basketball season is a rugged affair, and it's only become more so this season with the expansion to a 20-game conference season.
A single game probably won't define a team's fate, but some are more important than others. The Gophers' 92-87 victory over Iowa on Sunday felt like one of those "more important than others" types of wins.
It boosted the Gophers to 5-4 in the conference, netted them a win over a ranked team and sent their RPI soaring from No. 40 to No. 30. With a home win over Illinois — a chance to avenge an ugly loss earlier this month — Minnesota would reach the midpoint of the Big Ten season at 6-4. From there, it might just take four more wins to get to the NCAA tournament.
Aspirations should be higher than just making it, but the only way to build gradual goals is to keep banking wins. Sunday was a big one, particularly with some tough second-half games looming.
*In a move hinted and and speculated about for a while now, Pelicans star Anthony Davis has indicated he won't re-sign with New Orleans and wants a trade. This is pretty much textbook NBA, with the Celtics and Lakers likely to be bidding for his services via trade this offseason.
Of note for Wolves fans: Davis can be a free agent in the summer of 2020 because the five-year max extension he signed at the end of his rookie contract contained a player option for the fifth season. Karl-Anthony Towns' five-year deal, signed this past offseason and taking effect next year, does NOT have a player option. So the Wolves have another year beyond what the Pelicans had to convince Towns he should stay here beyond that deal.
*Speaking of guys named Anthony, trades and eyebrows, it at least raised my eyebrows a little Sunday when the Wolves' Anthony Tolliver was a DNP against Utah.
