2-Minute Warning - Florida
Alatex
Superplay- 15* Ohio St
Drew Gordon
1. 200,000* Florida
2. 50,000* Nets
3. 50,000* Red Sox
1. Florida- Rarely do coaching ploys work as well as Gators head coach Billy Donovan's has. He took away his players practice facility and anything that had the words "Florida" written across it, to show them, that unlike the Championship teams of the past couple seasons, this group had earned nothing. It must of struck a chord, because his players responded with 3 of their most impressive wins of the season... And I say they make it 4 in a row tonight.
For anyone's who been following the NIT closely, its clear the Gators are rolling. Crushing San Diego State and Creighton in Gainseville was impressive, but traveling to Arizona State and taking care of the Sun Devils with relative ease, winning 70-57 as 3-point dogs, was a big step forward for this young Gators team. They've been led by stud freshman G Nick Calathes, who's not only running the offense with incredible efficiency, but filling up the stat sheet (triple double against Creighton). His size (6'6), along with ultra-athletic backcourt mates, Hodge and Lucas, give the Gators the necessary match ups to defend the Minutemen, who are led by their guards, Forbes and Harris.
For anyone who saw Massachusetts comeback against Syracuse in their 81-77 stunner, two things become crystal clear: A. The Minutemen are in big trouble against the Florida frontline of Speights, Werner, and Parsons. Syracuse F Onuaku dropped 20 points on UMASS overmatched frontline, and he could've had 30 if he could hit a layup. Brower, Milligan, and Bonner are the weak link on this Minutemen team, and despite playing well against the Orange, they'll get exposed tonight. And B. The Minutemen may be in for a bit of letdown here. Unlike Florida, who's been rolling, the Minutemen are lucky to be here, and played a garbage first half against Syracuse last week... That kind of inconsistency will bury them against the Gators.
Finally, while both offenses can score, you've got to give the edge to the Gators defense, which is allowing almost 8 fewer points per game on the season than the Minutemen (75 ppg vs. 67 ppg for Florida). They've got size (Calathes) and speed (Lucas, Hodge) in the backcourt, and their frontcourt can win the battle down-low on both ends of the court.
In the end, Donovan's motivational tactics have served to galvanize this talented, but sometimes inconsistent Gators squad. Since taking away their privileges, the baby Gators have responded with their best basketball of the season, and I see little reason for that to change tonight. Gators roll!
Take Florida over Massachusetts as your top-rated play of the day.
2. Nets- There's no other way to classify this game for the Nets than a "must-win." Sitting 3.5 games back from Atlanta and 8th and final playoff spot in the East, New Jersey chances may be slim, but you have to expect they make a final stand in this game, because their final 8 games features some real tough road match ups (at Detroit, at Cleveland for example).
Good news for the Nets is they match up well with the 76ers, winning 3 of their last 4 meetings (2-2 ATS). Part of it is good match ups at the right positions, as Vince Carter has dominated Willie Green, and Jefferson is athletic enough to at least equalize Iguodala's contributions. Other than that, the addition of Devin Harris gives the Nets a huge edge in speed at the point guard position, as the veteran Andre Miller will struggle to defend him.
Its also important to note the Nets have been a solid bet of late, covering 4 of their last 5 contests, including at home against the Suns in their last one. Offensively, the Nets have really picked it up of late, averaging 107 ppg on 46% shooting over their last 5 games, and that's a good sign for anyone who watched this New Jersey offense sputter all season. It'll be tough against a hard-nosed Philly defense, but like I said before, the Nets have the right match ups to get it done.
Bottom line, the Nets might as well kiss what little hopes they have at a postseason goodbye if they lose this game. While they've been inconsistent at times, I expect one of their more focused home efforts to come tonight against a 76ers squad which has had its troubles with New Jersey in the past. New Jersey protects its house and keeps their hopes alive one more game with a solid home win and cover in this one.
Take the Nets at home over the 76ers in this NBA match up.
3. Red Sox- This is tough match up all the way around for the Athletics, who despite splitting the first two games of this series in Japan, will find themselves in trouble tonight at McAfee Coliseum and here's why:
First, the Red Sox batting order may have cooled against Rich Harden, but look for them to get back on track tonight. Blanton threw 5 shutout innings in their first meeting, but I'm a believer that seeing a team two starts in a row puts the pitcher at a disadvantage. When you've got as much pop as the Red Sox have, especially since Manny Ramirez has started the season red-hot, Blanton could be headed for rough sailing in this one. Note the Red Sox were a solid bet against righties away last season, going 32-21 in that situation.
Second, while the Athletics will also be seeing Matsuzaka for the second time in less than a week, he's proven to be pretty effective at McAfee, allowing just 2 runs over 7 innings back on June 5th of last season. He took the loss in that game, as the Red Sox fell 2-0, but I expect much better support this time around. In fact, the Athletics did not fare well against righties last season in Oakland, going 28-33 in that spot.
Finally, truth be told, the Red Sox cannot be happy with the way their Tokyo trip ended, an ugly 5-1 loss. Boston's offense was almost non-existent, besides Manny ofcourse, and I expect they'll come out swinging in this one. Blanton is no pushover, but again, I believe seeing him for the second time in less than a week, puts him at a distinct disadvantage against this high-powered Red Sox batting order. In the end, Boston's bats are too much, while Dice-K holds his own once again at McAfee.
Take the Red Sox behind Matsuzaka over the Athletics and Blanton in late MLB action.
Sportsbookfreepicks
Ole Miss +2.5 1.0 unit
San Antonio -9 1.5 units
Pointwise Phones
3* Florida
4* Mississippi
1* Highest
6* Lowest
Wolkosky Milan
10* CHICAGO +8
10* NEW YORK +7½
10* NOH/ORL UNDER 209½
10* BOS/CHI UNDER 198½
Root
Chairman - Ole miss
Millionaire - Nets
Money Maker - Sac Kings
No Limit - U Mass
Seabass
5 Seatle Mariners -1.5
100 Ole Miss +3 (Inside Steam play buy it up)
20 Florida
10 Mil Bucks
10 Bulls
10 T'Wolves
NHL
20 Ottawa
Vegas Runner 2* MLB BEST BET of the DAY
NYY -155 vs TOR
Same exact match-up that we had yesterday and absolutely nothing has changed except for Totonto having to spend an extra day away from home....Yanks on Opening Day at less than -180 believe it or not provides a lot of Value because you can't allow yourself to get caught up in the number when you are wagering on ML plays...we definately are conscious of what we feel offers value and sometimes the opportunity comes up where you are forced to lay chalk and still be getting the Value....we base our wagers more on the match-up and all the info we can gather, and finally set our own WIN % for the team we are looking to back and when we are being asked to lay less. like this evening, then we have no problem at all being on the Favorite just like the Padres last night...
So lets go ahead and lay the -155 with Wang as he should be able to seperate himself from the rest of the pack this season as the main Yankee Starter.
GOLD SHEET LTS
COLLEGE HOOPS
OLE MISS + 2 over Ohio State
NBA
"OVER" 202 points PHILADELPHIA at NEW JERSEY
MINNESOTA +7 1/2
SAN ANTONIO -8 1/2
Michael Cannon
10 Dime
FLORIDA
Take the Gators minus the points tonight when they take on Massachusetts in the NIT semi finals at Madison Square Garden.
The young Gators have responded to coach Billy Donovan calling them out after a late season collapse. Donovan banned the players from its multi-million dollar practice facility and barred them from wearing anything with the Gators logo.
The move evidently worked, because Florida has responded by winning the first two rounds in convincing fashion and a double-digit victory at Arizona State in the quarterfinals.
U Mass is an experienced team, but I don’t think they’ll be able to keep Florida’s Nick Calathes under wraps tonight. The 6-6 freshman notched a triple-double in the Gators win over Creighton and he has recorded 20 assists and only five turnovers in the last two games.
But this game is going to be decided in the paint, and it’s here the Gators have a decided advantage.
U Mass has 7-foot Luke Bonner, but he’s not a threat inside to score.
Florida counters with 6-10 Marreese Speights, who has averaged 16 ppg on 67 percent shooting over the last nine games.
Take Florida minus the points as they grab the win and cover.
MISSISSIPPI
Take Mississippi as the small dog tonight over Ohio State.
The wrong team is favored here in my opinion.
Mississippi has been on a late-season surge; having gone 6-2 SU in its last eight and with a couple of bounces could be on an 8-0 SU run.
The fast-paced Rebels are a balanced unit, with five starters averaging between nine and 16 ppg. Their road win over Virginia Tech was convincing on many counts, not the least of which was the 43-19 advantage the Rebels had on the boards over the Hokies.
I expect the Ole Miss frontcourt to outplay the Buckeyes unit, which doesn’t play as physical as the Rebels.
Mississippi is a perfect 17-0 SU in non-conference games this year and I expect that mark to improve to 18-0 after tonight.
Take the points with Mississippi, but they should grab the outright win.
5 Dime
BLUE JAYS (With Halladay as listed pitcher)
Take the Blue Jays as the underdog tonight over the Yankees.
It’s hard to pass up Toronto at a plus return when Roy Halladay is pitching, regardless of the opponent.
The fact that it’s the Yankees makes this a bit of a reach, but Halladay hasn’t exactly been intimidated by the Pinstripes in his career.
The right-hander is 10-4 lifetime with a 2.99 ERA in 24 games against the Yankees. What’s more, he’s 4-0 with a 1.77 ERA in his last eight starts against New York, which hasn’t beaten him since September 2004.
The Yankees will counter with Chien-Ming Wang, who was destroyed in the playoffs last year against Cleveland, going 0-2 with a 19.06 ERA in two games.
You have to wonder about Wang’s mental state after that disappointment, and going against Halladay only reduces his margin for error in this game.
Take Toronto at the plus return as they grab the road win.
CELTICS
Take the Celtics as the road chalk tonight over the Bulls.
Boston has been the league’s best road team both SU and ATS. They are coming off three straight 20+-point wins and they are 12-3 ATS over their last 15 games.
The Celtics have dominated the Bulls this year, winning all three matchups by an average of 19.7 points.
The Bulls are just 6-20 ATS in their last 26 against the NBA Atlantic, while the Celtics are 7-1 ATS in their last eight against the NBA Central.
Take the Celtics minus the number as they grab the road win and cover.
Jay Firestone
Play the Dodgers/Giants Under 7.5 for 2 units
We saw last night how bad this Giants team is going to be. I doubt very much that we will see this team score 5 or more runs more than 20 times this season, and especially not against good pitching. Tonight they get Derek Lowe who is a tremendous ground ball pitcher. The Giants have absolutely NO power at all, so I expect a lot of ground outs in this one. In fact, the Giants have always had trouble with Lowe, and thats one of the main reasons why these two teams have played Under in 6 of the last 8 meetings where Derek Lowe was pitching. Matt Cain takes the mound for the Giants today, and he will once again have to bring his A game all season if the Giants hope to win games. Pitching will win games for the Giants as they have 3 really good (or supposed to be good) pitchers. I expect them to play low scoring games all sason long because thats the only way they will win games. Two pitchers tonight that work very quickly so expect a lot of strikeouts, groundouts and a very quick game. 3-2 sounds about right
Bonus 1/2 unit play on Ohio St -2 in the NIT Semi-Finals
Northcoast Community Line
Mike Lee 3* Boston Redsox
Scott Sprietzer 3* San Antonio
Sports Monitor
Phoenix Suns (50-24) at Denver Nuggets (45-29)
Nuggets-5 /total 235.5
TRENDS
The Nuggets have covered nine of their last 12 games. The over
is 10-3 in Denver's last 13 home games. Eleven of Phoenix's last
16 conference games have gone over the total.
GAME SUMMARY
It took plenty of work for Amare Stoudemire and the Phoenix
Suns to move into a tie for the Pacific Division lead. Taking
sole possession of first place could prove even more difficult.
SPORTS MONITOR PREDICTION
Denver and Phoenix under the total
Johnny Guild
Massachusetts Minutemen + 4.5
Ole Miss Rebels + 2.5