Mighty Quinn
Columbia -8
RedZone Sports
Lakers
CTO
L.A. LAKERS over *Orlando (NBA)...Addition of Pau Gasol not only a major frontline upgrade for the Lakers, his acquisition has boosted team morale and intensity as well. Lakers covered 4 straight through Feb. 4, and with Gasol’s post presence and ball-handling ability giving L.A. another 20-ppg threat in the starting lineup, Kobe Bryant should be even more dangerous. Orlando is just 12-8 straight-up at home and 5-7-1 vs. the number last 13 at Amway Arena through Feb. 3. Lakers will be out to avenge a rare series defeat against the Magic, as Orlando’s upset in L.A. Dec. 2 was only its 3rd straight-up win in series in last 18 meetings.
L.A. LAKERS 110 - *Orlando 99 RATING - 11
Alex Smart
Niagara +7.5
The Niagara Purple Eagles have really impressed me during what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. Last time out they took down a tough Loyola Maryland team by a 83-79 count, and Im predicting they do not go down easily in this spot against another strong adversary the Rider Broncs(17-6). Final notes & Key Trends: Rider has failed to cover 20 of their L/27 after playing a road game as a dog, which they were last time out. Play on Niagara plus the points
Bob Akmens
Columbia -8.0
This play is the result of a successful computer model that has allowed Bob Akmens Sports to finish in first-place in 152 different categories of documented monitored handicapping contests since 1978.
The computer models I’ve developed for each sport look at the most-predictive variables that go into the winning and losing of games.
Several interesting factors in today’s play are as follows:
Surprisingly, many bettors are not aware that the Ivy League conference games are perhaps as formful as almost any other league – maybe even more so.
Why would this be? Well, consider this: the Ivy hoop teams are just about the only ones comprised 100% of actual, honest-to-goodness, win-one-for-the-Gipper-type, student-athletes, which is about as much of an oxymoron in college hoops as you can get.
You have morons on many squads, true – but not oxymorons, folks
There’s not a single stupid, illiterate, full-of-‘tude player on the court for any of the 8 Ivy League teams. I absolutely guarantee that’s a fact.
You’re just not going to get brainless idiots playing for, say, Duke or Stanford. Some of those guys might win a Nobel in medicine someday – or even be president (though that doesn’t say much, does it, these days). But those schools do have hoop scholarship players – the Ivy’s do not.
Thus, the Ivy players – black, white, yellow or any color of the rainbow – are smart players in how they play games. Watch almost any Ivy conference game and you’ll see college hoops the way it used to be played: timely passing and patience exhibited by good shot-selection (and very few watch-your-jaw-drop-stupid and selfish 30-foot turnaround 3-point jumpers).
All of this means that recent point spread performances in various categories often hold up better in these Ivy matchups than they do in some wild-and-woolly contest between guys who don’t hear or pay much attention to their coaches but have their own agendas of bad shots and generally non-teamwork behavior.
I played ball in college and if I had even attempted most of the shots so many college players try these days, I would have had endless wooden splinters in my butt from sitting on the bench.
With all that said, on the face of it, this looks like some sort of bum-game between two losers with Penn at 7-12 and Columbia at 8-11.
But forget what Penn has done at home and Columbia on the road for this one: focus on what they’ve done where they are tonight – and that’s at Columbia’s Morningside Heights gym in upper-Manhattan.
This is one of the poorer Penn team’s I’ve seen in years – especially on the road – where they’ve covered 3 of their last 11 affairs, and only 1 out of their 7 as a dog.
Most telling of their poor road-performance might be their large negative scoring- differential: 64.3 PPG offensively and 79.3 PPG defensively, which is a rotten -14.9 average differential.
The Columbia Lions have covered 6 of their last 7 overall, are a much better home-team than the Quakers are a road-team, and can handle this spot tonight
GO WITH COLUMBIA -8 IN THIS 700PM EST MATCHUP.
Robert Ross
Washington Wizards at Denver Nuggets
Washington has been struggling without Caron Butler (hip flexor). They've won one and lost four with him out of the lineup. Hopefully he'll be back in time for this one. The Wizards lost at home to San Antonio Wednesday then start their road trip in the high altitude of Denver. That's better than playing in Denver at the end of a trip and/or the second night of a back-to-back. Wizards don't play again till Sunday in Phoenix where Shaq might debut so have to see this as a more winnable game than that one. They also catch Denver off its first-place showdown game at home with Utah Wednesday night.
Play on: Washington
Nelly's FREE NBA PICK - Feb. 8
New York Knicks + over San Antonio Spurs
The Knicks are struggling having lost seven consecutive games but the first five losses came on a brutal road trip out West. New York has lost two competitive games back at home but they faced an exhausting stretch with eight games in less than two weeks. Now with a little recovery time New York should deliver a better performance. The Spurs have won three consecutive games but this is a spot where long travel could catch up to San Antonio as this is the sixth consecutive game away from home for the defending champions. San Antonio has been struggling with an 8-16 ATS mark in the last 24 games and the Spurs have especially struggled on the road until piecing together wins in the last three games. The Spurs had a very tough time just over a month ago against the Knicks, winning by just four at home. This could be a game the Spurs overlook with a big game against Boston next on the schedule and the Knicks should have a good chance of staying within an inflated number.
Dave Cokin's Free Friday Play!
737 Niagara @ 738 Rider 7PM ET
Play: Rider -7.5
Niagara already beat Rider once this season, and the Purple Eagles have a great history on the road in this series. But Rider is really hot right now, and I see the number being just a little short in this contest. In their current form and with the revenge factor, I'll lay the spot with Rider to get the money tonight.
Great |Lakes Sports NBA Free Selection For Tonight !!
NBA Selection:
Boston at Minnesota
Play on: Boston Celtics
The Celtics are a very nice 30-16 ATS this year, and 15-6 ATS when playing on the road this year. The Celtics are also 9-3 ATS when playing on Friday nights this year, and 24-15 ATS in the role of a favorite this year. We look for the Boston Celtics to grab the road ATS Win & cover tonight.
Greg Daraban's Friday Free Play
San Francisco (6-16) at St.Mary's (19-3)
WCC tilt in Moraga. This will be a very tough spot for the host to get up. They come off a win Monday vs league Giant Gonzaga. Now they must get up for lowly San Francisco. The Dons do play hard for HC Eddie Sutton,but fall short in the talent department.San Francisco keeps it close.
Take San Francisco
Marc Lawrence NBA Free Play!
Play On: Cleveland Cavaliers
Note: Cavs take on the Hawks in Atlanta off last night's 15-point loss at Houston with revenge from their last meeting this season. With value in this game with Cleveland unrested, look for the Cavs to improve to 7-1 ATS on this court here tonight.
Jimmy The Moose
Game: Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals
Prediction: Washington Capitals
Reason: Carolina has lost their last 2 goals and in those two games they have averaged 0.5 GPG. The Hurricanes are 1-4 in their last 5 games. Washington on the other hand has won 3 of their last 4 games and 8 of their last 11. The Capitals have won 5 of their last 6 home games. Washington is 6-2 in their last 8 games played with 1 day rest between games. Led by Ovechkin the Capitals are playing very well and currently are in top spot in their division. The home team has won the last 5 meetings in the series between the clubs. Play on the Capitals -.
WINNING POINTS
BEST BET
*Orlando over Los Angeles Lakers by 14
The Lakers have to be sucking wind at this point, playing their sixth road game in nine days. They have absolutely no way of slowing down Dwight Howard with Andrew
Bynum out and Pau Gasol a slasher rather than banger. Hedo Turkoglu has gotten hot again, helping the Magic winning seven of their past eight through Feb. 3.
ORLANDO 117-103.
BEST BET
*Atlanta over Cleveland by 10
Home since the beginning of the month, the Hawks draw the Cavaliers following
Cleveland’s nationally televised matchup last night at Houston. The Cavaliers are
down two key players, Anderson Varejao and starting guard Sasha Pavlovic. Cleveland’s bench was already thin before these injuries. The Hawks defeated the
Cavaliers at home last month, 90-81, holding Larry Hughes and Zydrunas Ilgauskas
to a combined 12 points on five-of-20 shooting from the floor.
ATLANTA 101-91.
BEST BET
*Sacramento over Utah by 10
The Kings are a team to watch out for now that they’re healthy. The Kings had a winning record in January, their first above .500 month of the season, and they have scored at least 100 points in 13 of their last 15 games through Feb. 7. The Jazz have struggled on the road covering only nine of their first 24 away contests.
SACRAMENTO 113-103.
Scott Spreitzer Comp
Fairfield
Cappers Access
Twolves
Joe Wiz
San Fran
Dave Cokin Comp
Rider
Brandon Lang
5 Dime - Blazers
5 Dime - Hawks
5 Dime - Sonics
Free Pick - Lakers
Lenny Del Genio
Game: Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando Magic
Prediction: Orlando Magic
Reason: Play on Orlando at 7:05 ET. Now that the Lakers finally came back down to Earth (lost at Atlanta Wednesday Night), it's time to start going against them. This will be their sixth road game in nine nights. They'll also be missing Andrew Bynum here, as LA has no interior presence to stop the Magic's Dwight Howard, even with the newly acquired Pau Gasol in the lineup. Orlando is hot right now, having won four of five, including a 100-84 win over New Jersey Wednesday Night. The Lakers were already a "public team," but with the Gasol trade they become even more overvalued. We know Orlando is actually a better team on the road (19-10 SU/20-9 ATS) than at home (13-9 SU/12-9 ATS), but the Magic should certainly be laying more than just a few points against a tired team like this. With both of these teams averaging more than 100 PPG, you can expect a bit of a shootout, which eventually will wear down the fatigued Lakers. Take Orlando.
Game: Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks
Prediction: Atlanta Hawks
Reason: Play on Atlanta at 7:35 ET. The Cleveland Cavs are not good in the second of back-to-backs. Back on 1/31 they lost in Seattle, just 24 hours removed from an upset win in Portland. Granted, they were Lebron-less, but tonight's Cavs lineup has its fair share of holes as well. F Anderson Varejo, G Sasha Pavlovic and F Drew Gooden, who comprise half of the team's top six-man rotation are all out. You could see the effects in Thursday Night's 92-77 loss in Houston as the Rockets outrebounded the Cavs 55-35. They did manage to get by Boston, 114-113, at home on Tuesday Night, but the Celtics were without Garnett. Last night, Houston was without McGrady. The Cavs have been hot for a while now, but it's time they started cooling off. After a big win over Boston and a nationally televised game with the Rockets, this one has all the makings of a letdown. Atlanta is playing pretty well right now, having won three straight at home and going 3-0 against the spread in the process. In Al Horford and Josh Smith, the Hawks have the horses to dominate the Cavs inside just like Houston did. Atlanta beat Cleveland, 90-81, right here in the Phillips Center back on January 9th when once again the Cavs were coming in on the second night of back-to-backs. In that game, Larry Hughes and Big Z combined to go 5 from 20 for the field. In other words, no help for LeBron tonight. Take Atlanta.
Game: Utah Jazz at Sacramento Kings
Prediction: Sacramento Kings
Reason: Play on Sacramento at 10:05 ET. Yes, we're aware of Utah's 10-game winning streak, but the Kings are going to be fired up at home coming off a somewhat stunning home loss to lowly Seattle on Wednesday Night. Prior to that, Sacramento had won five straight at home (4-1 ATS), including outright wins over both Dallas and New Orleans. The Jazz come in also having last played on Wednesday, but they were involved in a very competitive and important overtime affair with division-rival Denver. Yet, another letdown situation. Before road wins over Washington and Toronto, Jerry Sloan's team started the year at 9-24 ATS away from the Delta Center. The Kings are coming off their first winning month of the season and now that they're nearly fully healthy (sans Brad Miller) they've scored 100 points or more in 13 of their last 16 games. Utah has a propensity for drowning out Sloan's cries for defense, so we like them to fall to 1-5 SU/ATS in Arco Arena after tonight. Take note that the Kings beat the Jazz by double-digits back in December. Take Sacramento.
Tom Freese
Game: San Antonio Spurs at New York Knicks
Prediction: San Antonio Spurs
Reason: You can expect the Spurs to be focused here as they struggled to beat the Knicks at home by just 4 points as 12 point favorites. The Spurs are 22-10-1 ATS when playing with one day of rest and they are 39-18-1 ATS their last 58 games vs. the Atlantic Division. New York is 0-9 ATS after committing 10 more turnovers then their opponent did in their last game. The Knicks are 5-14 ATS after scoring 100 or more points in their last game and they are 3-8 ATS as home dogs of 5 to 10.5 points.
PLAY ON SAN ANTONIO