Michael Cannon
Wednesday's Plays...
10 Dime –
BOBCATS
Lay the points with the Bobcats tonight when they host the Clippers.Charlotte comes into this game well rested having last played three days ago and should be able to control both the tempo and the boards tonight.That’s because with Elton Brand out, the Clippers have trouble matching up with Emeka Okafor. Los Angeles is also playing its third game in four nights and second in 48 hours.With all the injuries the Clippers have this is a rare opportunity for the Bobcats to shine in the role as a favorite.
Lay the points with the Bobcats as they grab the home win and cover.
5 Dime –
MAGIC
Lay the small number with Orlando tonight on the road over Milwaukee.
The Magic have been one of the best road teams in the NBA this year and I expect them to bounce back here after suffering back-to-back losses for the first time this season. They are 11-2 on the road and getting away from home just might be the best thing for them to break out of their mini slump.Dwight Howard is one of the best low-post players in the league and it’s helped to open up the perimeter for Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu.
Lay the points as the Magic grab the road win and cover.
OHIO
Take the points with Ohio tonight when they travel to take on Maryland.
This is by no means going to be an easy task for Ohio on the road in ACC land, but Maryland is not the best shooting team out there which should allow the Bobcats to keep it close with their perimeter shooting.Senior forward Leon Williams should control the paint for Ohio. He’s playing aggressively and controlled on the offensive end, averaging 18.2 ppg while shooting 62 percent from the field. The Bobcats have a deep bench which will help them to stay fresh and keep Maryland from going on any extended runs.
Take the points with Ohio as they stay within the number on the road.
CINCINNATI
Take the big number with Cincinnati tonight when they face in-state rival Xavier.Now Cincinnati is not a very good team. In fact, they’ll probably finish at the bottom of the Big East standings this year.
But this isn’t the Big East and this is a nasty rivalry, so don’t be surprised to see UC bringing their very best tonight.It’s always a risky proposition laying this many points in a rivalry game. Just ask West Virginia. They were 28-point favorites over Pitt playing at home with a trip to the national championship on the line.The Mountaineers wound up losing outright to a super motivated Panthers squad.
My point is determination and focus can more than make up for the lack of talent a team might have.
The underdog is 8-0 ATS in this rivalry the last eight years. Xavier is also mired in a 1-5 ATS slump against the Big East. UC has cashed in four of its last five against A-10 foes.
Take the points as Cincinnati stays within the number on the road tonight.
Joe Wiz
NO +5 NCAA BB (his website)
Seattle +4.5 NBA (usafreepics)
WILL SYKE'S IS NOW 20-10 ON FREE PLAYS
FOR TODAY: NBA
Minnesota VS Philadelphia
MAJOR TRENDS
*Road team is 5-0-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.
*Underdog is 4-0-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Come on now, what is Vegas doing? This is another free gift. Yesterday I was against the T-Wolves and cashed in beautifully. Tonight the linesmakers are being too generous again. Let me emphasize this first, the Wolves were a 8.5 point dogs against a mediocre Wizards team who play pretty good at home. And again the Wolves find themselves as 8.5 point dogs against a 76ers team who are 5-7 at home? Yeah they beat Houston their last game out, but that puts me back in the situation yesterday, where the Wolves beat Phoenix which put them in a bad spot last night against the Wizards. Here catch the 76ers put up in a bad spot giving way too many points. I know those Wolves are a 3-15 team but the 76ers aren't better than the Wolves by 8.5 (some people took the 8.5 points against the Wizards, why not take e'm here against a worst team, alot more value in this one). The 76ers aren't in the same breath as the Wizards so why lay the same points against the same team? Forget about it, the linesmakers are making a huge mistake here and I'm ready to cash on it. They're making a huge mistake on trying to psyche you out on this one, just because we saw these Wolves get dominated last night, and saw that these 76ers can be Yao Ming and crew isn't going to get me to lay the points here. No way Vegas is psyching me out on this one, and they shouldn't psyche you either, just stick to Will Sykes and lets cash this.
Timberwolves +8.5
Jim Feist -COMP-
Take "CHI Bulls"
This is a difficult situational spot for the Pacers, the second of a back to back game, playing at Cleveland last night. Indiana hasn't been shooting the ball well at all, 43% in FGs, and Chicago is 7th best defensively allowing 44% shooting by opponents, and 8th best allowing 94 ppg. Indiana will struggle to score and will be playing on tired legs. Indiana has a losing record, both straight up and against the number, at home. The Pacers have a new coach and allow 104 ppg, 5th worst in the NBA. Chicago is rested and 4-2 SU/ATS the last six games. Play the Bulls!
North Star Sports
CBB - 12/12/2007 VANDERBILT -3.5
CBB - 12/12/2007 CAL POLY SLO 7.5
NHL - 12/12/2007 Best Bet! COLORADO 110
NHL - 12/12/2007 NY RANGERS at WASHINGTON Over 5
Wayne Root
Chairman - Maryland
Millionaire - Penn St
Money Maker - San Diego
asawins
Pro Basketball Picks
12/12/2007
6:00:00 PM CHARLOTTE BOBCATS(-5.5) over Los Angeles Clippers
1* (regular play) Charlotte Bobcats (-) vs Los Angeles Clippers @ 7 ET - The way we handicap, this is a perfect situation for Charlotte. The Bobcats are coming off of an ugly road loss against one of the best teams in the league. That game was on Sunday. As for the Clippers, they are coming off of an upset win at New Jersey last night. That was just the second win for the Clippers in their last ten games. Even though the Bobcats have also been struggling this one sets up very well for them. The Clippers are off of a rare win and playing in a back to back situation. The Bobcats are fired up about bouncing back from a loss and they are also well rested as they have not played since Sunday. In terms of match-ups on the floor, the Clippers are in trouble here. Already without Elton Brand, Shaun Livingston, and Sam Cassell, the Clips saw Quinton Ross take a bad fall in last night's game and he is likely to miss some time now. This further weakens the depth of the Clippers right now. One of the key players for the Clips this season has been Chris Kaman. However, the big man will be tested by Emeka Okafor tonight and that match-up favors the Bobcats. Jason Richardson has added some offensive firepower for Charlotte this season and, certainly, leading scorer Gerald Wallace is going to bounce back from a game in which he scored just three points. The Bobcats had lost seven straight before beating Cleveland on Saturday. They then played the second part of that back to back situation at Detroit on Sunday and got hammered. Coincidentally, the Clippers had also been going through a rough stretch, losing 8 of 9, before last night's win at New Jersey. Now, on the road for the second night of a back to back we see the same thing happening to the Clippers that happened to Charlotte in Detroit on Sunday! This game will turn into a blowout and the odds maker is not "off" at all when the line was set at the Bobcats -5.5 for this game. It may seem hard to lay the points with a 7-12 team but keep in mind that the Bobcats are a respectable 6-5 at home and all the edges are going their way in this one. One final motivational note: the Bobcats are 0-6 in their history against the Clippers. That will most certainly add fuel to their fire tonight. Play Charlotte minus the points as a regular selection.
Pro Hockey Picks
12/12/2007
9:00:00 PM OVER 5 GOALS(5) ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS -vs- Vancouver Canucks
1* (regular play) OVER the total in Anaheim vs Vancouver @ 10 ET - Similar to baseball, where a total of 7 or 9 carries extra value, we love going over 5 goals in NHL games when the situation is properly set up. In MLB, a 3-3 game with a total of 7 guarantees you are getting no worse than a push as the game, of course, can't end tied. It's the same with a 4-4 MLB game and a total of 9. As for the NHL, we need just two goals from each team to guarantee that we will do no worse than a push when playing over the total of 5 on the ice! In this case, there is every reason to believe that we should see a good number of pucks finding the back of the net in Anaheim tonight. The Canucks #1 goalie, Roberto Luongo, is being bothered by a rib cage injury. We don't expect him to get the starting nod tonight and, in fact, the Canucks called up a goalie, Drew MacIntyre to help back up goalie Curtis Sanford while Luongo recovers. Sanford is a decent goalie but he is no Luongo and we expect the Ducks to put plenty of pressure on him tonight. Anaheim is playing resurgent hockey right now as the news of Scott Neidermayer's imminent retun has triggered new energy on the club. The Ducks have won three of their last four games and there has been an average of 6.5 goals scored per contest. As for the Canucks, they have earned at least a point in three of their last four games and at least five goals have been scored in three of those four games! The Canucks offense has managed just three goals combined in their last two games but that means an extra emphasis on that end of the ice for tonight's game. Vancouver already knocked off the Ducks last month in a 4-0 shutout win. That was some measure of revenge for the Canucks playoff ouster at the hands of the Ducks last season. Needless to say, the Ducks are now looking for revenge from that ugly shutout loss at Vancouver. There is a lot of intensity on both sides when these teams meet because of their past history. That could mean a chippy game with some extra penalty calls leading to power play opportunities on both sides. Note that Ducks goalie J-S Giguere has allowed 3 goals or more in 5 of his last 7 games. With his recent struggles, and the Canucks forced to use a back-up netminder, this one should easily find it's way over the total. Play OVER the total in Anaheim as a regular selection.
Sebass
NCAA
10 BC
10 Wisconsin
NBA
10 Knicks
10 Dallas Under
20 Sacramento Under
20 Pacer
NHL
10 Atlanta
IndianCowboy
Sport: NBA Basketball
Game: Orlando Magic @ Milwaukee Bucks - Wednesday December 12, 2007 8:00 pm
Detail: IC'S WEDNESDAY NBA PLAY OF THE DAY!
Pick: 3 units (Play of the Day) TOTAL: Over 203 (-108)
The Magic are coming off their worst shooting performance of 2007 as they shot around 38% and chucked up 30, 3-point shots only to make a 1/3rd of them. This team has lost back to back games for the first time this season showing this team's consistency and are 11-2 on the road straight up for a reason and will look to get back on track at Milwaukee. Milwaukee comes off a frustrating road trip where they lost the final 4 ballgames including a close losses to the Blazers and Kings and they are glad to be back home and will look to get revenge on a Magic team that blew them out in the first game of the season. The over is 6-1 in the last 7 meetings in Milwaukee between these 2 teams and the over is 7-1 when the Bucks play a team with a winning record of 60% or more meaning that they show up against the better teams - in particularly at home
Sport: NBA Basketball
Game: Golden State Warriors @ Portland Trailblazers - Wednesday December 12, 2007 10:00 pm
Pick: 3 units (Normal) TOTAL: Under 208.5 (-106)
This is a trend that I have noted for a while and I believe it has some worth today. The Warriors have played under on the road (as the oddsmakers are wary of this team's offensive prowess obviously) 4 of their last 5 games. The Blazers held the most potent offense in the NBA yesterday to less than 90 points. This says a lot. The Blazers held a healthy Utah team, who was at home, who was coming off 3 straight road losses as they returned home to less than 90 points. That says a lot about this team's ability to play defense which is a trademark of Nate McMillan. The total on this g ame has also steadily been coming down as well which gives more merit to this play as the under is not a public play. Keep in mind the under is 7-1 in the last 8 meetings between these 2 teams.
Sport: NBA Basketball
Game: Chicago Bulls @ Indiana Pacers - Wednesday December 12, 2007 7:00 pm
Pick: 3 units (Normal) TOTAL: Over 198.5 (-109)
The Bulls are continuing to score points in a flurry as I have mentioned in the last week or so they did as this team impressively scored 98 points at Detroit in their outright win, Ben Gordon has been taking over this team as far as scoring is concerned wanting to get off to a fast start and his teammates are chipping in as well. Ben Wallace might not play in this game which allows for less defense as well on the part of the Bulls, but more importantly, the Pacers come off a frustrating loss to Cleveland where they were essentially run out of the building by the Cavs. The Pacers have played the over in the last few games and in particular the last 5 games at home and they have scored over a 100 points in their last 5 ballgames. Once again, the over is 5-0 in Indiana home games and the over is 6-2 when the Bulls are road underdogs of late.
Scott Spreitzer's 25* NBA Wednesday Night Blowout! *12-4, 75% ATS!
I'm laying the points with the Magic on Wednesday. At 17-5 ATS, we are wise to either play ON Orlando or stay away from their games completely. Tonight, we have a situation and an opponent that puts us firmly on the visitor. Not only are the Magic cashing tickets at a 77% clip overall, but they're also an unbelievable 12-1 ATS away from home. The Magic have had no trouble getting up for losing teams, covering six of eight chances. Tonight, they'll face a Milwaukee squad that's in one of their worst spots. They're 0-5 SU, 1-4 ATS playing with one day of rest between games, losing by an average of 105-97. They also don't matchup well with Orlando. The Magic have won three of the last four tilts between these two teams, winning by 23, 18, and 25! Look for Orlando to roll again on Wednesday with a comfortable win and cover. I'm laying the points with the Magic. Thanks! GL! Scott.
BLACK MAGIC SPORTS
NBA:
5 Unit Black Magic NBA Letdown GOTM on Portland Trail Blazers +5.5
The Portland Trail Blazers catch the Golden State Warriors in a big letdown spot Wednesday. Golden State is coming off their win over San Antonio last night while the Blazers just beat up on Utah. The Warriors won’t be up for this contest after their huge win over the defending champs. Portland is one of the most underrated teams in all of the NBA. The Blazers have now won 4 straight games and this young, talented squad is soaring in confidence right now. Portland is 7-3 straight up at home this season. Portland is 17-5 ATS in their last 22 games as a home underdog. Portland is 16-5 ATS in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons. Cash in with Portland as the underdog.
3 Unit Sharp Play on New Orleans Hornets +8.5
The Hornets will post a repeat performance from their earlier meeting with the Denver Nuggets this season. New Orleans got the best of Denver in a 93-88 upset in Colorado back in November. The Hornets have won 4 out of their last 5 games overall. The Hornets are 8-2 on the road this season which is even better than their home record. Going on the road doesn’t phase New Orleans so don’t be shocked when they come out on top tonight in Denver again. The Hornets are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 games as a road underdog. The Nuggets are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600. Denver has really struggled with some of the best teams in the league. Cash in with New Orleans as the underdog.
NCAA Basketball:
3 Unit Sharp Play on Santa Clara -5
We will play on the home favorites of 3.5 to 9.5 points in this rivalry, an excellent shooting team making greater than 52% on the season, and a dominant rebounding team outrebounding opponents by 7 or more boards per game. This System is 31-9 with a 78% winning ratio over the last 10 seasons. Santa Clara is absolutely dominating opponents this season. Pacific is coming off an 18-point loss at home as a 13-point favorite against Pepperdine. Their true colors showed in that match-up and they cannot compete in this big road game. Santa Clara beat Pacific by 18 points in their last meeting a year ago. Santa Clara is 19-7 ATS in their last 26 games as a home favorite of 3.5 to 6 points. Cash in with Santa Clara as the favorite.
Larry Ness' 20* Eastern Conf Game of the Month (2-0 Tues sweep / won 20* in Nov!)
My 20* is on the Ind Pacers at 7:05 ET. The Bulls exploded against the Sonics last night, winning 123-96. However, let's NOT forget that the Bulls rank dead-last in FG percentage (40.6), 29th (of 30) in scoring and 26th in 3-point percentage. The major culprits have been starting guards Gordon and Hinrich. Gordon's average is down from 21.4 PPG to 18.1 and his FG percentage has dropped from a career-high 45.5 LY, to a career-low 38.8 TY. Hinrich's scoring has seen a dramatic decrease, falling from 16.6 to 10.6, while his shooting percentage has fallen from 44.8 to a 35.9! The Pacers have struggled some TY at 10-11 but I like the nucleus of this team when healthy (they are tonight). Indiana got caught by a motivated Cleveland team last night (LeBron's return after a five-game absence) and also saw the Cavs shoot "lights out," making 54.7 percent (9-of-18 on threes) as a team. Case in point was Larry Hughes, averaging just 12.4 PPG, getting 36 (13-of-17 FGs!). Anyway, Indiana's getting excellent performances TY from SF Granger (17.6-5.9) and swingman Dunleavy (16.8-5.7), while centers Murphy (11.5-6.6) and Foster (7.0-9.5) form a solid duo. PF O'Neal (15.1-7.8) has battled injuries (as usual) but 6-9 Memphis rookie Williams (9.8-4.0) has filled in nicely. PG Tinsley (14.6-4.6-8.70 has off-court but NOT on-court problems, while SG Daniels (8.9) has been solid. Note that both teams played last night and that the Bulls are 0-4 SU and ATS in the 2nd contest of back-to-back games, while the Pacers are 4-2 SU and ATS in that role. Let's also point out that the Bulls are 3-7 SU and ATS on the road TY and 1-7 ATS as a dog! Eastern Conf Game of the Month 20* Ind Pacers.
Wolkosky Milan
315-250-13 last one hundred nine days
3-0 Yesterday!
Today:
10* MINNESOTA +8½
10* PHOENIX -7½
10* DAL/TOR UNDER 196½