Sports Unlimited
5* Pitt -9.5
Sports Bank
400* Purdue
Trey Scott
*200 Florida State -2
*200 Minnesota -1
*200 Louisville +1
*300 Wisconsin -10
*200 Purdue -5
*200 Clemson -1
ATS Financial
5 Units Wisconsin
5 Units Morgan St.
4 Units Pitt
4 Units Clemson
4 Units Florida State
Lenny Del Genio
Siena +4
Fourth-seeded Purdue comes into this year's Tournament carrying the longest active 1st Round winning streak of any school in the nation at 11 games. However, never before have they faced the adversity they are dealing with in 2010. As little as three weeks ago, the Boilermakers were under consideration for a #1 overall seed, but then they lost the heart and soul of the team, Robbie Hummel to an ACL injury and their fortunes have seemingly sunk with it. Since Hummel went down, Purdue has yet to a cover a single game (0-7 ATS) and has posted a pair of real clunkers in the only two games where they faced quality opponents, scoring a COMBINED 86 points against Michigan State and Minnesota. We went against them in the Big Ten Semis vs. the Gophers when they found themselves down 39-11 at the half! They were actually favored in the contest! Even worse is the fact that E'Twaun Moore tweaked his ankle in the loss. Now, they find themselves drawing Siena, a 13 seed that has pulled upsets each of the last two years in the NCAA Tournament, including a 20+ point win as a 13 seed two years ago against Vandy. So, the Saints are tourney ready and experienced. They come in with a nearly identical record to that of the Boilermakers and are certainly the hotter team checking in on a five-game win streak. They did need OT to defeat pesky Fairfield in the MAAC Tourney Final, but that actually works in our favor here considering the Saints are 10-2 ATS the last 12 times coming off an ATS loss. Siena leads the nation in percentage of free throws per field goal attempts. Take Siena.
KELSO
100 Units Maryland -9
Power Play Wins
TEXAS A&M -3
OKLAHOMA ST -1.5
LOUISVILLE +1
NHL Pro Picks
San Jose +114
DON WALLACE
10*Minnesota +15
4* Indiana -1.5
4* Atlanta -5.5
4* Houston +2.5
4* Golden St. +12
4* Milwaukee -3.5
O.C. Dooley Guaranteed Selections
5 Units Vermont / Syracuse Under 144
Yesterday we saw a pair of extremely high scoring affairs in the “1 versus 16” matchups as both Kentucky and Kansas reached the 90-point plateau against opposition from very small conferences who obviously had major defensive issues. In the case of the “Lehigh/Kansas” tilt I personally placed a wager on above the total due to the fact that statistically Lehigh was a successful offense when shooting the basketball from “three point” territory but that is NOT the case in this “david versus goliath” evening matchup. The bottom line is that Vermont is the second-WORST “three point” shooting team from the little America-East Conference and posted spot reflects that fact. Tonight’s total is relatively low even though Syracuse all year has been one of the highest scoring offenses in the country averaging more than 81 points per game on approaching 52% shooting from the floor. This relatively low spot is even more curious when taking into account the horrendous defense that Syracuse flashed in the most recent pair of outings which both resulted in losses on the scoreboard. The last time we saw the Orangemen on the floor was an ugly 91-84 Big East tournament setback where the defense took the night off against a Georgetown attack that was less than prolific. Despite Syracuse playing above the total at a 5-1 clip down the stretch they have had plenty of time to grab some rest as the defense did not have to participate in most of the Big East tourney tilts which were for the most part very physical. One of the keys to this total has to do with INJURIES to some of Syracuse’s best shooters as lead scorer Wesley Johnson actually showed up on the injury report with an eye problem that leaves him less than 100% effective. The big news is that Orangemen starting center Arinze Onuaku (quad) will NOT play at all this evening and he just happens to be the school career leader in field goal percentage nailing near 65% of all shot opportunities from the floor. It turns out that Onuaku will be able to participate in later NCAA contest but at the very least is being held out tonight. Getting back to the subject of Vermont they are coming off a very high scoring 83-70 shootout in the America-East Championship game where the team was nailing “treys” right and left from long range. As mentioned near the top of this analysis Vermont is NOT a proficient shooting squad from long range so that performance was in my mind a mere aberration. What Vermont depends on is a stingy DEFENSE which in the postseason alone has permitted on average below 56 points per contest. In the America-East tournament semifinals that Vermont defense amazingly held an opponent to just 38 POINTS for the entire contest. In the past two years the Vermont defense has held the opposition to BELOW 50 total points on the scoreboard 8 different times. Even more mind boggling is the fact that this season Vermont allowed only 18 POINTS in an entire half twice which gives you an idea how proficient they are. As for Syracuse their defense for the entire season has permitted on average just 67 points per contest and I expect Jim Boeheim’s crew to find that defensive intensity again because in the past five outings they have given up (79 ppg) a very high average which may have been due to pure fatigue. One of the keys to Jim Boeheim’s long success at Syracuse has been his infamous “2-3 matchup zone” defense which has constantly confused the opposition who does not have the experience against that type of setup. Vermont’s offensive star is Marqus Blakely who is the only player in the country to lead his team in scoring, rebounding, assists, blocks and steals. What catches my attention with Blakely is that he is a three-time conference “DEFENSIVE player of the year” as he as amassed more than 200 blocked shots and steals in his career. At the beginning of this campaign Syracuse was looked at as a potential “bubble” team due to their overall youth. Due to their youth a very strong totals SYSTEM comes into play. Here is a 65-PERCENT SYSTEM (118-68 since 1997) which plays very young “neutral court” teams like Syracuse after a game where they allowed 80+ points on the scoreboard UNDER the total, with just 2 returning starters. As reflected by the relatively low posted total this particular “1 versus 16” matchup is the only one of the four where we have a pair of DEFENSIVE oriented sides and I am taking full advantage
The Hitman Guaranteed Selections
XXXXX-LARGE NCAA TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE TOTALS PLAY OF THE YEAR
Louisville and California OVER 148.5
JR O'Donnell
1st Round GAME OF THE YEAR
Vermont vs. Syracuse
Pick: Syracuse -16
Even if Jim Boeheim decides to hold out 6-9 sr. F Arinze Onuaku, who's questionable with a quad injury, the overmatched Cats will be hard-pressed to prevent Orange star 6-7 jr. Wes Johnson (16 ppg & 8.4 rpg), 6-7 soph Kris Joseph, and 6-9 jr. Rick Jackson from doing major damage around the bucket, which in turn will create some wide-open looks on the perimeter for dead-eye sr. sharpshooter Andy Rautins. Add in the fact that America East reps are just 5-13 vs. the spread in the tourney since 1994, and laying fair price with revenge-minded Syracuse looks like a great play and BLOWOUT CITY.
Joe Gaffney
Milwaukee Bucks -170
Atlanta Hawks -225
Portland Trail Blazers -12.5
Thunder/Raptors Over 209
Oklahoma City Thunder -109
Jorge Gonzalez
NCAA 1st round total of the Year!
Memphis U vs. Mississippi
Play: Under 148.5
Despite playing in difference conferences the Memphis Tigers and the Mississippi Rebels play one another on a regular basis up until 2006. Prior to that they played every year and the series was a good one. Memphis has won five of the last nine meetings with Ole Miss. Coach Calapari was there for those two wins but is now the coach of the Kentucky Wildcats. These two school have played tough physical games that saw the under prevail in five of their last six games. The Rebels are have seen the last four games go under while the Tigers have seen their last five of six games s an underdog go under the total. Take this to be a tough contested battle.
Steam On-Line Guaranteed Selections
NCAA TOURNAMENT ROUND ONE GAME OF THE YEAR
New Mexico St +13.5