Tommy Gold's NCAAB 2010.02.21 Picks

NCAAB 2010.02.21 last 2 picks:

Arizona State @ Arizona: Arizona State -1.5 -110 (1.91) The Greek

Virginia Tech @ Duke: Duke -12.5 -110 (1.91) Bookmaker

*One unit each always.

Virginia Tech @ Duke

This is a game between two of the stronger teams at ACC. They came from a 5 winning streak and one of them will lost today.

And it's a nice game that we can expect today on "Cameron Indoor Stadium", an Home Court which isn't the biggest, but is the most difficult to the other teams thanks to their "harsh" environment, with crazy people supporting the Blue Devils. And I thing that's the reason why Duke still without losses at home (14-0).

Where Duke likes to play is at home. They have good victories at home against strong teams like Maryland, Wake Forest and others. They shoot very well at 3 points line and have good averages at this kind of shooting. One reason for that is the physical constitution of the Duke's team: Kyle Singler, John Scheyer aren't big guys in terms of width or reach and against a team with big players, they loose the physical fight, so they avoid that kind of game.

Duke still has players from last year, and one of them is the best scorer of the team: John Scheyer with 19.1 ppg, who already did 4 double-doubles this season, the last one at last game, where he did 22 points and 11 rebounds. And Scheyer is a player who makes good games against ACC's opponents. Brian Zoubek is a senior who is growing. They score more points and do more rebounds, like Nolan Smith who's the 2nd best scorer of Duke with 17.7 ppg.

In my opinion, the biggest problem of Duke is the bench. They don't have players who can make forget the linup, but Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee and Lance Thomas can do good things. Another good point of this team is the quantity of turnovers they gain,forcing the opponents to lose the ball, and they gain the ball and go to the arc to score a lot of points.

On the other side we have the Hokies, a big season surprise, who is playing a good basketball, with a good defense and a very nice Free Throws percentage. With two players like Delaney and Jeff Allen isn't easy to the opponents winning to this team.

Delaney is the best scorer of ACC with 20.2 ppg, and Jeff Allen is the best rebounder (7.2 rpg). This guys make a nice team, and they have a good result at last game: a victory against Wake Forest at home by 87-83, a game where Delaney scores 31 points.

The coach Seth Greenberg still doing great things with this team, with great players and a team who can beat good teams. Virginia Tech have to Dorenzo Hudson (14.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.1 apg) who is a player who scores a lot of points and help the team at attack and defense.

I hope that will be a good game, with two strong defense teams with some best players of the conference. It will be a good "fight" with Scheyer/Singler and Delaney/Allen. Duke is the favorite team, and if they win they have almost the entry to the NCAA's Tournament.

They play at home against a defense team, and on my point of view this will be good for the Blue Devils because they will do the best they like: 3 points shooters. I think that Virginia Tech will lose by a lot of points (15 or more) against the 1st of the conference. When they start to score isn't easy to catch they. Take the Duke's points.

Pick: Duke -12.5 -110 (1.91) Bookmaker

NCAAB 2010.02.21 results:

Ohio State @ Michigan State: Over 136 -110 (1.91) Bookmaker (67-74: WIN)
Arizona State @ Arizona: Arizona State -1.5 -110 (1.91) The Greek (69-73: WIN)
Virginia Tech @ Duke: Duke -12.5 -110 (1.91) Bookmaker (67-55: LOSS)

NCAAB 2010.02.21 finished 2-1 and +0.82 units won/3 units risked on HDP & OU.
NCAAB 2009-2010 HDP & OU record: 271-265-7, -16.19 units lost (536 units risked)

NCAAB 2009-2010 Moneylines record: 26-71-1, -31.92 units lost (97 units risked)
Villanova @ Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh ML +125 (2.25) Diamond (DSI) (70-65: WIN)

Last 424 picks on HDP & OU: 218-206-5, -5.34 units lost.