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Guest -> RE: College Basketball (1/17/2009 10:01:28 AM)
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A great day for basketball.
Louisville at home against Pitt tonight, Louisville is a 2.5 favorite. Pitt is due for a loss, but it won't be tonight.
A couple of interesting matchups in this one. Blair and Samuels should be interesting. And I expect Young and Clark to be matched up as well. Terrence Williams is going to be a problem for Pitt, but I don't think Louisville has an answer for Fields. Both teams rebound very well and have similar bench production. Pitt takes care of the ball so well and they're extremely physical. If Pitt can shoot reasonably well from the perimeter, I think they win easily. They do have Syracuse on Monday, but in this conference you can't look ahead. Pittsburgh.
Pitino over Dixon. I was surprised that Pitt did so poorly against the press. Louisville really took them out of their game. I do think Dixon was too quick to pull Young and Blair in the first half, both with two fouls. Right after that, Pitt went over five minutes without scoring.
Clemson at home against Wake Forest, Clemson is a 2 point favorite in this one. Battle of the undefeated. I love the way Purnell teaches defense, and he gets the most out of his bench, but I think Wake covers and wins.
Contrast in styles in this game. Clemson relies heavily on the 3, while Wake takes fewer 3 attempts than anybody in the conference.
Players to watch, Clemson: Trevor Booker and K.C. Rivers. Rivers is a big SG, good 3 point shot and a great defender. He's a senior and I think he has a shot to go in the first round.
Wake Forest: Teague and Aminu. Teague's been getting a lot of ink lately but Aminu is one of the top freshmen in the country. Wake Forest
Wake's defense was outstanding. Clemson couldn't hit the 3's (5-23) and struggled from the line. Teague wasn't spectacular but his first step was too much for Clemson. He spent the majority of the game at the FT line.
Georgetown at Duke, Duke is a 9 point favorite. I talked about this one earlier. Georgetown has been an awful rebounding team and their man defense hasn't been that good. But I see a big game from Summers and Wright. And it will be interesting to watch Monroe against that Duke D, at Cameron. I doubt they'll pull off the upset, but I like Georgetown to cover. Georgetown.
Fun game. Summers did go off, but Wright struggled. Singler had 16 rebounds! If JT3 can figure out a way to get his guys to rebound, they're going to be really scary. The technical on Monroe really changed the game. They really are not the same without him on the floor. Amazing how this kid is the absolute leader of that team.
Henderson was a beast in the first half, Singler, like always, did everything, and Paulus showed up. Duke is one solid big man away from being the best team in the country, IMO. Unfortunately for them, they're going to struggle against teams with a big, physical frontcourt.
DJ: I was wrong when I said Singler is stronger than Dunleavy. There's no comparison. Singler has "it" and he's one of the strongest skinny guys in the country. One of those "don't let the looks fool ya" guys.
Other games I like:
Texas at Texas Tech, Texas is a 6 point favorite. I love Texas to cover in this one. Barnes ripped into his guys during and after the loss to Oklahoma. I expect big games from James and Mason. Texas.
James and Mason DID have big games. This one was like taking candy from a baby.
Marquette at Providence, Marquette is a 1.5 favorite. Providence is a good team and gets lost in that brutal conference, but Marquette has too many athletes. Marquette is the pick.
Marquette played the worst first half of basketball I have seen in a long time. No defense at all. At one point, well into the game, Providence was shooting over 70% from the field. Luckily Marquette got it together in the second half. They stepped up the D and got some easy baskets. Good win at a place where they haven't won before.
Arizona at USC, USC is a 7 point favorite. I really like this USC team and they've been playing well, even in their loss to UCLA, they were never out of it. Arizona hasn't been playing all that well and they are one of the worst teams in the country against the spread over the last decade, but I'm looking for a big game from Hill, Gibson gets in early foul trouble, and Arizona makes it close. They cover and possibly win. Arizona.
Hill and Buddinger were solid and Gibson did foul out, (what a prophet) but what a surprise, Nic Wise blew this game. I'm happy to win this one, but I really was disappointed that AZ didn't win. This team is way more talented than their record. They miss Lute.
4-2 ATS today, and kind of disappointed about it. Obviously I was expecting 6-0. I'd like to let it ride tomorrow on a football game, but I have been awful ATS in the playoffs this season. Hell, I'm not certain I can even pick the winners straight up. My guess would be Pittsburgh and Philly. So, take the dogs.
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Sorry about that. I rarely quote myself and accidentally hit edit.
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