Executive
600% Texas Tech -4
400% Florida-Atl -4.5
300% W.Virginia -5
300% UCLA -2
BARRY HOLTHAUS
Washington at USC
Pick: USC -2
Washington continues to struggle on the road this year in conference play getting blown out two weeks ago by Arizona State at Arizona. The Huskies lost Thursday night to a bad UCLA team by one. USC is coming off a home loss to Washington State last Thursday. Look for the Trojan defense to slow Washington down and get the home win.
Trent Citron
5 Units BYU
4 Units Nevada
3 Units Utah St
3 Units Cornell
Northcoast
Double Marquee - East
hey guys does anyone have wunderdogs NHL picks???
RAS
Colorado St/NM Under 139
Wash St/UCLA Under 139
George Mason/Towson Under 132.5
Street Rosenthal
*200 Minnesota Timberwolves +7.5
Trey Scott
*200 Tennessee -6
*200 Duke -1
*200 UCONN +2
DAVE MALINSKY
4* FLORIDA over SOUTH CAROLINA
No team in the nation is more of a ?One Man Band? than South Carolina
with Devan Downey, and over the next month we are going to find many
situations that we can exploit, as that 2-2 opening to SEC play by
the Gamecocks helps to create a bad power rating going forward. It
all starts here.
If we chart all games this season we can see the Downey presence ? he
has scored more than twice as many points as any other Carolina
player, with the losses of Mike Holmes and Dominique Archie up front
the Gamecocks a blow that will end up being devastating. But in SEC
play that lack of depth has them on an extreme tight-rope ? Downey
has scored 30.5 through those four games, and no one else is even in
double figures. And it is not just a lack of compliment on offense
that becomes an issue, but the fact that they are not taking care of
the basketball (56 TO?s vs. 37 assists in SEC play), playing defense
(conference opponents are shooting 49.5 percent), or hitting the
boards (dead last in the SEC). They opened 2-0 in the league because
they had favorable draws against Auburn and L.S.U. teams that would
not dominate them inside, but in losing the L2 to Vanderbilt and Ole
Miss they have allowed 53.1 percent shooting and lost the battle on
the boards 69-54.
Now it only goes from bad to worse. For once Downey has to not only
face a player of similar size and quickness that can hold him down a
bit in 5-8 Erving Walker, but the fact that the Gators deal with
Walker in practice every deal also helps them to cope with the way
that Downey plays. The rest of this is all Florida. The Gators played
an outstanding floor game in a hostile environment to win at Arkansas
on Thursday night, showing great composure against the Razorback
defense by turning the ball over only seven times, and they dominated
the boards to a 41-29 tune. That ball-handling comes to the forefront
again here, with the only viable South Carolina defensive option
being to force some TO?s, and when that does not happen the precision
of the Florida passing game can find open looks throughout here,
especially as the lack of depth has the Gamecock defense wearing
down. That makes it just a matter of time until the home team pulls
away for an easy win that we expect to reach into double figures.
4* XAVIER over RHODE ISLAND
The Atlantic 10 standings make this appear to be a showdown game,
with each team having one conference loss (both vs. front-runner
Temple), and the oddsmakers are pricing it accordingly. Our take is
different. Xavier is not only better, but physically stronger in a
way that makes it difficult for the underdog to compete on this
court, and with Rhode Island never having won at the Cintas Center,
losing the last four trips by an averaging of 19.3 points, this game
has been set in the wrong category.
Yes, the Rams bring an explosive offense and a 3-1 conference record,
but those wins came over light-weights Fordham, Duquesne and St.
Joseph?s. They do have some legit offensive punch, with their #1 spot
in scoring in the league no fluke, but there are severe shortcomings
elsewhere. The defense has to focus on taking the ball away from
opponents because they are not going to stop many folks around the
basket (allowing 45.0 percent shooting), and they are an awful -4.0
per game in rebounding in A10 play, a true ?awful? because of the
class of competition.
Now consider those rebounding problems as they have to go up against
the likes of 7-0/265 Kenny Frease and 6-9/265 Jason Love. And
consider the defensive difficulties because of the size that they
give up. Double-team the post? Not against this team. You can not sag
off of the explosive Jordan Crawford, who leads the A10 in scoring
and is shooting an excellent 38.9 percent from 3-point range, but
note that as well as Crawford has shot the ball from the perimeter,
teammates Brad Redford (47.5 percent), Dante Jackson (44.4) and Mark
Lyons (40.0) have been even better from long range. Jim Baron just
does not have the answers against this class of opponent on the road.
Xavier has won 26 straight conference home games and the matchups are
ideal to add another, as they score easily and control the boards
against a smaller opponent. And the fact that Rhode Island needs to
run to be successful only makes this better for our purposes,
increasing the tempo and subsequently making the pointspread even
shorter because of the high pace count.
Marc Lawrence
Oklahoma City +7.5
Lebron James and the Cavaliers return to Quicken Loans Arena to host the Thunder in the aftermath of Cleveland's 6-point super showdown victory against the Lakers Thursday night. When they take the court tonight the Cavs will be without the services of PG's Mo Williams and Delonte West, both of whom are sidelined with injuries. To make matters worse, Cleveland has consistently played down to the level of the opposition this season, going 13-4 ATS against .570 or greater foes, but only 8-18-1 ATS when facing sub .570 opponents. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that the Thunder is 15-3 ATS in games off a loss this season, including 7-0 ATS if they scored 91 or less points in the defeat. With Lebron in the middle of a Kobe/Dwayne sandwich, look for the Thunder to make a lot of noise when they improve to 5-0 ATS as a dog with same season revenge in this series here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Oklahoma City.
Bob Balfe
Philadelphia 76ers +3.5
RAS
N. Ill/C. Mich Over 127
Neb/Missouri Over 136
UNLV/TCU Over 135
Wayne Root
Perfect Play - Clemson +1
Tom Stryker
4* Pacific
The Hitman Guaranteed Selections
XXXXXX-LARGE PAC 10 CONFERENCE GAME OF THE YEAR
Arizona St -10
The Experts Guaranteed Selections
ULTIMATE EXPERTS PAC 10 GAME OF THE YEAR
Arizona +11
The Millionaires Club Guaranteed Selections
MILLION DOLLAR COLLEGE HOOPS DIAMOND CLUB WINNER
San Diego St +2.5
The Hitman Guaranteed Selections
XXXXX-LARGE COLLEGE HOOPS MONSTER WINNER
Duquesne -5
The Hammer Guaranteed Selections
PRIVATE INVESTORS CLUB #1 NBA TOTALS WINNER
Portland and Detroit UNDER 184
The Hammer Guaranteed Selections
PRIVATE INVESTORS CLUB SUN BELT GAME OF THE YEAR
Florida Atlantic -4.5
RAS
James Madison/NC-Wilmington Over 140.5
Pepperdine/Portland Under 138