Announcer swap meet offers betting chances
By Doug Upstone
For a second straight year, ESPN will flip-flop its top announcing teams from college and pro basketball to do games in the other sport. Last year Dick Vitale and Dan Shulman doing a NBA game was honestly no big deal, since Dicky V and Shulman have done games in the past and Vitales delivery doesnt come across the same in pro venue with quieter surroundings.
However, Mike Breen, Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy will be calling a college game again and they offer different insights, since they have a pro mentally and view the game from that point of view. Their player and coach opinions are interesting and their comments (at least from last year) about collegiate referees were hilarious.
Wake Forest at North Carolina
The main story line the trio is likely to follow is what is wrong with the Tar Heels. With a 12-6 record, North Carolina doesnt deserve to be ranked in the Top 25 and their under-performing ways are further shone with 6-10 ATS record. Since returning to Chapel Hill, coach Roy Williams has never suffered a three-game losing streak, however the answers as to why they are bumbling are present.
North Carolina doesnt value the possession of the basketball and despite trying to play a faster pace like previous Tar Heels teams; the guard play isnt there to do so. Guards Larry Drew II and Marcus Ginyard are part of the reason North Carolina averages almost 17 turnovers a game and the front court players though talented, are not especially good at creating in the half court. Look for Wake Forest to dial up pressure from the opening tap, since the Tar Heels have fallen behind by 20 points in each of their last two games and are 7-20 ATS in ACC contests.
Wake Forest (12-4, 6-7 ATS) has issues of their own, mostly to do with shooting the rock. The Demon Deacons shot 45.3 percent from the field, however that number has been plunging, with three of last five outings below 40 percent. Wake Forest lacks consistent shooting beyond 18 feet and does much better when playing 94 feet. Off their 70-50 drubbing by Duke, Wake is 15-29 ATS in road games after having lost two of their last three games.
Betonline.com has North Carolina as -6.5 favorite with total of 157.5. The Tar Heels are 7-0 ATS off an upset loss as a favorite over the last three seasons. The Demon Deacons are 18-34 ATS in road games versus teams outscoring their opponents by eight points a contest after 15 or more games on the season.
Look for the NBA guys to really like Al-Farouq Aminu, a 6-foot-9 forward for Wake Forest, if he keeps working on his shooting.
Utah at San Antonio
One thing hasnt changed since Vitale used to do radio playoff games in the NBA after his college basketball duties were completed, the San Antonio Spurs are still a very good home team and Utah doesnt do much in a visitors uniform.
The Spurs (25-15, 21-18-1 ATS) are 17-6 (13-9-1 ATS) at the AT&T Center, winning by 9.6 points per game. San Antonio doesnt have the look of a team ready to compete for an NBA title, especially this month, with a 6-5 SU and ATS mark. Granted the playoffs are still a half a season away, but coach Gregg Popovich is still looking for answers now and down the road, even utilizing little used center Ian Mahinmi. The Spurs do have rebounding deficiencies and a contributor with size could help.
Utah (23-18, 23-16-2 ATS) is 7-12 away from Salt Lake City, though is a competent 9-9-1 ATS. The Jazz have frequently been off key this season, though recent games have shown improvement, winning four of five and they are 5-0-2 ATS in last seven tries.
Utah has same identical record to Oklahoma City, tied for the last playoff position in the West. The team believes they have turned a corner and will start playing better basketball. We've lost some games we should have won," Carlos Boozer said. "That being said, we're still right in the thick of things. If we can put together a nice little win streak, we can make up some ground." The Jazz are off 119-112 loss to Denver as seven-point underdogs and are 10-3 ATS after a defeat.
The series is dominated by the home team, which is why the Spurs are a 6.5-point favorite. The white clad team is 20-6 ATS and San Antonio is 16-5 ATS hosting the Jazz. These two teams have tended to play high scoring contests, thus keep an eye on the total of 194, since the total is 8-1 OVER in Southwest Texas.