Insider Sports Report
4* Richmond
3* Phoenix
RINKPLAY SPORTS
7* Western Conference GOM Phoenix Coyotes
4* Nashville Predators
2* Blues / Dallas Stars Over
2* Ottawa Senators
Gold Medal Club
25* Washington
10* Richmond
10* USC
10* Washington St
Sportsbetsnow
3 Units Miami Heat +4.5
3 Units Jazz/Suns over 213
KBHoops
5* Richmond -3 *POD*
4* Missouri State -9.5
3* Rutgers +4
3* Drake +4
Jeff Hochman
10* Richmond -3
Richmond is coming off a tough 2-point loss at Xavier while Dayton is coming off a 28-point home blowout over UMASS. The Spiders are playing their last regular season home game and will be focused tonight for sure. The Flyers knocked Richmond out of the tourney last March by a score of 69-62. The Spiders are 13-5 SU off a conference loss over the last three seasons. Dayton is only 1-5 SU when getting points this season.
Stephen Nover
15 Units Pittsburgh -11
Bobby Maxwell
300 Units Oregon State -3.5
100 Units Utah Jazz +1.5
Chris Jordan
300 Units Pittsburgh -11
Michael Cannon
40 Units Richmond -4
Karl Garrett
30 Units Penn State +13
10 Units Rutgers +3.5
RAS
Cal State Fullerton +3
Rating: 1.00
DAVID MALINSKY
4* MEMPHIS over CHICAGO
The Memphis Grizzlies hit a wall in early February, and reached rock
bottom in those ?wraparound? home blowouts vs. Atlanta (108-94) in
the last game before the All Star break, and vs. Phoenix (109-95) in
the first game after the break. But as will happen with a good team
there is a rebounding process from that bottom. Our key in terms of
tonight?s line value is that the markets have not seen that
turnaround. Yes, the Memphis is only 5-4 since that Phoenix loss, but
take a closer look ? all five wins have come on the road, and three
of the four losses were by a combined five points at the end of
regulation, including an O.T. defeat vs. Miami, and that 99-98 loss
to the Lakers on Kobe Bryant?s game winner in the closing seconds.
And while they are being penalized in tonight?s line for this being a
back-to-back setting, note that they are 3-0 SU and ATS in the role
since the All Star break, all outright home wins.
Meanwhile we have to wonder if the Bulls have already played their
best basketball of the season. It is an entirely different look
inside without Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas, and in the first two
games since losing the former again they have suffered ugly losses
vs. Indiana and Atlanta by a combined 34 points. The problem is not
just losing their keys in terms of rebounding and defense up front,
but also of having to make up for it short-handed. Veteran Brad
Miller is now forced into a major role, but is limited by an ailing
left knee (from Vinny Del Negro - ''You have to pick Brad's spots
a little bit and make sure he has the energy.?), and building a
game plan for tonight was not helped by Miller, Derrick Rose (right
knee) and Luol Deng (left knee) all missing practice on Wednesday.
The Bulls have to have a lot of things go right to merely win this
game, and asking for a margin is too much for the matchups at hand.
In this case, the flat out better team is being offered more than the
value of the home court, and that is impossible to pass up.
4* RUTGERS over SETON HALL
Rarely do we see a team without major post-season aspirations pick up
their energy in the final month of the season that way that Rutgers
has, and tonight?s line shows that there has been little market
acknowledgment. So with a prime chance for the outright win, the
points being offered are an excellent cushion, especially with the
high level of emotion we expect to see.
Rutgers is on a 5-3 SU and 7-1 ATS run over the last eight Big East
games, and it has mostly been about effort and hustle ? they won the
battle of the boards by a major +38, and that included a 45-35
control in the 76-70 loss at Seton Hall two games back, an easy cover
as +12.5. Now a victory tonight would guarantee a winning regular
season record, a prime motivational target for a team that was going
nowhere a month ago, but there is so much more involved than that. We
can start with the memories of that intentional foul that the Hall?s
Herb Pope committed against Dane Miller at the end of that road loss
to the Pirates, which has some bad blood spilling over. And we can
add a prime Senior Night setting for Hamady Ndiaye, who still has a
chance to set the all-time program record for blocked shots (needing
10 more). For as much as the usual emotion comes into play for a game
like this it is truly special tonight, with his mother Henriette
coming from Senegal to see him play a college game for the first time
(his take - ?I can?t imagine what that?s going to be like for her.
I really can?t imagine. It?s going to be probably the most amazing
thing she?s ever seen.?).
Seton Hall brings no such energy. Instead of turning up the juice in
February to stay in the NCAA hunt the limited Pirates are running low
on fuel, the problem of having only seven players in the rotation
going through the Big East grinder. Even when they were fresh nothing
was coming easily ? in going 7-9 in conference play every win has
come in single digits. A soft defense has allowed Big East opponents
to shoot 45.8 percent, and they are losing the battle of the boards
by -3.6 per game, two prime areas that Rutgers can exploit to get the
outright win.
4* ARIZONA STATE over SOUTHERN CAL
Here is how Kevin O?Neill broken things down when it was announced
that Southern Cal would not be eligible for the post-season this year
- ?I hope I don?t ever have to do that again because when you
break young people?s dreams and hearts that?s hard to do.? Here
is how O?Neill views things right now - "Until this past weekend,
we were playing for something, a tangible goal of some sort. Now we
don't have any of that. We haven't shot the ball at all the last
three games. Basically, we're a little fried as a team. I don't know
how we'll react over these last two games being that we've got
nothing really to play for." That sums up the current state of
affairs quite well, and in going on the road to face an hungry
Arizona State team that brings a chip on their shoulder, we see this
one breaking wide open.
The Trojans overcame their loss of post-season prospects by going
hard through the first round of Pac 10 play, working relentlessly on
defense to try to win the conference regular season crown. Those
hopes came crashing down with a loss at Washington State two weeks
ago, and they responded with next to nothing against the two Oregon
schools at home last weekend, a pair of ugly defeats in which they
only scored 44 points each time, and lost to the spread by a combined
33.5. Now we fully believe O?Neill when he talks about the current
mind-set; this is a depth-shy team that is physically worn down, and
absolutely must play hard on defense to be successful because the
offense has no options (from O?Neill, concerning that offense -
"We have tried every way of manufacturing offense that I know of
throughout the year. I'm serious. When you're not making shots and
you have a high rate of turnovers at the same time, it's hard to
score. We'd love to get it inside more, but it's very difficult to do
when you're not making threes. If you don't make a few threes, why
would anyone come out and guard you?"). Now that offense faces
one of their worst tactical matchups, Herb Sendek?s zone, and after
only scoring 47 points in the first meeting, with more than twice as
many turnovers (13) as assists (5), it is going to be a major uphill
battle to find a flow.
Despite handcuffing the Southern Cal offense the Sun Devils lost that
first meeting 47-37, in what may have been the worst offensive
performance in the history of the program (they were 11-45 from the
field). But it is a much different Trojan defense now. With only
eight players available it has been all about effort, and they were
going to wear down physically even if there was plenty of motivation.
Now they have none of the latter, and in the next to last game of
their season this could be the biggest crash spot. Come Saturday they
can let it all hang out to try to go out on a positive note, but for
tonight we call for a physically and mentally ?fried? squad to bring
little to the table, and a host that still harbors post-season hopes
brings a prime revenge motive from that earlier debacle.
BEN BURNS
TNT GAME OF THE MONTH: MIAMI HEAT +5
TNT TOTAL ROAST: LAKERS/HEAT UNDER 189
PERSONAL FAVORITE: ATLANTA THRASHERS
C-Star Sports
1000 Units Northern Illinois