Saturday, March 07, 2009

Short Memory

As a gambler, you have to have a short memory. Some team that f’d you one day will help you the next. You may also find that the team that just got you “caught up” and you are now eternally indebted to, will also have to bet against in the next game.

Don’t get married to any of these teams and have a very short memory. What was I saying? Oh yeah, gambling.

There are a ton of games today. I feel compelled to break them into three different groups; Favorite games, Opinion games and Bubble games. Take a look.

Favorite games

9am UCONN +3.5 @ Pitt
I think we all know the story here. Two great teams battling it out. Here is my take on this. I think Fields will be less than 100% since he banged his back in the last game. This will somehow play out and help UConn as they are quick and have more guards to throw at Fields. Also, Thabeet was embarrassed in the last game. I thought he played himself out of the lottery. He needs to play better and will. The last time these guys played was the Huskies first game without Dyson. They have had a lot of time to figure out how to play without him now.

11am TEXAS A&M +2 vs. Missouri
Missouri; my team. I predicted these guys in the final four a few months back and they were not even ranked. Now, let’s bet against them. Huge win at home vs. Oklahoma last week. Mizzu is great at home, haven’t lost, but the road is different. This is a must win game for A&M. Tigers take a cat nap in this one.

1pm KANSAS -8.5 vs. Texas
KU lost badly to Tech the other night. Chalk it up to a bad night. They rebound in a big way today and beat Texas by DD.

4:30 ARIZONA -6.5 vs. Stanford
Az has their backs against the wall. Stanford did well by winning their first road game in the Pac 10 on Thursday by beating ASU. Johnny Dawkins and Co. will be in Disneyland today celebrating their big victory from the other night.

Opinion games

11am SYRACUSE +5.5 @ Marquette
Emotional night for Marquette. Senior night. I am sure Dominic James will get a huge ovation, which may help them get out to an early lead. However, I am selling this puppy. Marquette is done.

1pm AUBURN -2 vs. Lsu
Auburn is going to make a deep run in their tournament to try and steal a big to the dance. The momentum starts now against a mediocre LSU team.

2:30 WASHINGTON -7 vs. Washington state
Regular season Pac 10 title on the line. The huskies rolled in Pullman and will do it again today.

5pm DAYTON -6 vs. Duquesne
Remember the short memory thing? I should get credit for just typing Ducane correctly.

Bubble games

9am MIAMI -8.5 vs. NC state
Dirty team that has to win. Going by B. Anthony’s theory, they have the best player on the court who won’t allow a loss.

9am MINNESOTA -4.5 vs. Michigan
I probably should not be posting this one as this is such a low level game, but a win is a win. Michigan is 2-8 on the road and will lose this important bubble game to the mighty Gopher.

11am FLORIDA -5.5 vs. Kentucky
Another game that we should run away from. Both teams are a mess right now, but Kentucky is worse. Both teams coming off bad losses. However, Florida has Calathes and he will make amends for the last game. I was tempted to put this game in my "Favorites" group but I needed more Bubble games. I like this game a lot.

You still with me?
How about this –
MONEYline parlay: UCONN, TEXAS A&M, SYRACUSE

Good luck!
Money

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Careful Thursday

This weekend will present many games, so try not to go overboard on Thursday and Friday leading up to the weekend.

The talk on the web is that dogs are the play in conference tournaments. They were 5-0 in the SunBelt conference yesterday, but I am not going there with my research or picks.

I still hate Texas Tech, but they got into my wallet yesterday!

Today's Winners

Early-

Providence +10.5 vs Nova. They will battle to the end, and they score on offensive glass enough to keep this in single digits.

Temple -7 vs St. Joseph's. Owls are good at home, even though they have burned me in the past.

South Carolina -1.5 vs Tennessee. Like the GameCocks to roll at home!

Dayton +10 at Xavier- Battle for league supremacy will make both teams tight. Should be down to the wire!

Later-

Oregon St.+ 18.5 vs UCLA. Too many points in a slow down game!

That is enough for now!

Good Luck

b. anthony

Getting them in early

I have a good feeling about these three games. I don’t think the lines are going to change much, so there is no desperation here, but I do know that I like these three games tonite.

SOUTH CAROLINA -1.5 vs. Tennessee
The Gamecocks may be the best team in a very weak SEC. Tennessee is still living on their name. Carolina will win this game at home.

DAYTON +10 @ Xavier
Two very good teams here. Dayton has not won in Xavier for a long time, but is 6-5 on the road. Not asking for a win, just a close game, which Dayton usually delivers.

ARIZONA -4 vs. Cal
I think Cal gets blown out here and this game in the second half is not very competitive as Montgomery will try and rest his “big three.” This game means a lot more to Arizona than it does Cal and when the Cats pull away, Monty will throw in the towel.

Good luck!

Money

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Wednesday, Big night

Many games on the board, B. Anthony will try to be selective. The big spreads are proving tough to cover as the season winds down. This happens because the familiarity between teams, and often the heavy favorites slow the ball down in the final 10 minutes because they are happy to milk the clock with a ten point lead instead of trying to cover the 17 that we laid. For example, Michigan St went up 14 several times, but never stepped on Indiana's throat when they had them down. Subsequently, Indiana easily covered the 14 by hitting late 3's and making MSU sweat it out!

Tonight's Winners:

Memphis -7.5 vs Houston. Tigers are playing the no respect card and their defense is continuing to be the best in the country. 63-50 final!

Virginia Tech +9.5 vs UNC. Hokies and fans will be going crazy when this game is tied with 4 minutes to go. UNC 78-73, no cover, take the dog and under 161.

Marquette +10 vs Pittsburgh. Too much pride for Marquette and Jermel McNeal. Take the points. Pitt will pound them with Blair, but won't have an answer for the transition 3's and penetration. 72-68 Pitt wins, but again no cover.

Kansas -10.5 vs Texas Tech. Exception to the rule. Texas Tech sucks. Pat Knight is a farce. He is a disciple of his father, but his teams run and gun and play no defense. Collins and Aldrich make up a true old fashion post and point duo. They bury Tech even on the road. 84-67.

Leans on heavy dogs_

Northwestern +12.5 in a slow down game with Purdue. ugly basketball 58-51, no cover for Boilermakers!

Seton Hall +17 vs Louisville. Cardinals are at home and will get up big early before they start forcing up 3's and throwing alley-oops to wow the crowd. 75-62, but no cover!!! Seton Hall's funny looking scorer, Jeremy Hazell, will make some late buckets to get his 20 and the backdoor cover.

Good Luck

B. Anthony

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Tuesday games

I really like Florida State tonite. B. Anthony mentioned them below as well, but I second the notion. I wonder how we fare when we both like the same teams.

FLORIDA STATE +12 @ Duke
FSU will be bigger and hungrier in this game. As the B said, duke may be looking ahead to the big showdown this weekend. I think FSU wins the game.

WAKE FOREST -1.5 @ Maryland
This line seems too low and the public seems to be on this as well, which can’t be a good sign. I just don’t see Maryland winning this game, even if Greivis goes for 30.

Good luck!
Money

Countdown to Madness

B. Anthony must echo Money's sentiments about March. Conference tournaments start today in the Horizon league, and my anxiety is rising. This is a time to really warm into the upcoming frenzy, and there will opportunities to find some winners. I won't shave for work, but I never do. However, I will be glued to my computer as lines change and injuries are reported.

The key, which I have never been able to follow, is not to bet every game!!! There will be some clear favorable match-ups for underdogs, and there will always be 3-4 games a day where there is great "half-time line value". A big favorite will be down or close at half. The original lines are never that far off. So when you find a 15 point favorite tied at half, they will cover that 8-9 point second half line!!!

Let's look at some winners for today.

Cleveland St. -16 vs Detroit. Opening round of the Horizon League tourney. Cleveland St. was expected to win the league this year. They finished 3rd and now need to win the tourney to make the dance. Detroit is last in the league and ready to mail it in. This game is hosted by Cleveland St. and their suffocating defense will hold Detroit under 50. 71-46. Easy cover!

Florida St. +12.5 vs Duke. Florida St. has some very talented guards and will get to the basket consistently versus Dukes over zealous pressure. It doesn't matter how hard you slap the floor if you can't stay in front of your man. If Paulus plays more than 10 minutes, which he always does, this game will be close. Additionally, Duke is traveling to UNC this weekend, they can't help but look ahead.

Georgetown -6 vs St. John's. Georgetown is going to continue the strong defense they showed against Villanova. They still have a chance to make some noise. St. John's decided not to play against Syracuse the last time out, and I think it happens again.

Indiana + 14 vs Michigan St. I think this Indiana team would be a national Champion in Division III ball. However, they have a lot of pride and pretty much work the clock down every possession. Michigan St. is extremely talented, but they are likely to sleep walk through this game to a 9-11 point victory. They clinched at Illinois on Sunday, and they are slightly hungover from the celebration.

Good Luck,

B. Anthony

Monday, March 02, 2009

March is here

Before I get into the excitement of flipping the calendar page from February to March, I would like to begin with an apology. No, I am not going to apologize for my picks and missing them. They are my opinions and you can do what you want with them. Some follow them, others go opposite of me. Whatever works for you. I am happy to help in either event.

I would like to apologize in advance to the people that I will likely hurt, ignore or fall short on expectations. First to my wife Penny, she knows when March comes around that Money is pretty much useless. I am not a good listener this month and only do chores around the house on commercial breaks. I would like to apologize in advance to my kids. They will receive little from me this month. No baseball tosses on a Sunday afternoon with my son. No dance shows to Jo Bros with the girls. “There is your dinner, stick in the microwave and tuck yourself in bed.” The dogs won’t be fed this month. They are a little overweight so this will be good for them. The only thing my kids will likely get this month is a trinket that I pick up for them coming back from Vegas.

Work is another story. I will do my best to look professional. I will shave each day and brush my teeth. That is about as far as I will go. I will have a hard time concentrating. I will hear the term “Return on Investment” or other random phrases that come up in my day to day operations and my thoughts will immediately turn to a 100 dollar wager getting me 2500 when I pick my long shot NCAA champion.

However, The Truth will not be ignored.

VILLANOVA +3.5 @ Notre Dame

BAYLOR +7.5 @ Texas

It should be noted that I don’t have a great feel for either one of these games. Notre Dame is wildly inconsistent. Conventional wisdom would say that this is a game the Irish have to win. I say, that does not matter and ND sucks. Villanova will look to get back on track tonite and win easily. Texas is another team that is very difficult to gauge. They have talent, but no point guard. The sooner this team is out of the tournament, the better, as far as I am concerned. Baylor has struggled this year, but will put up a good fight in this game.
I may lay off both games, but if I bet, this is way I would do it.

Good luck!
Money