1/13/09

::clover::

[Mr. IWS]

Wayne Root

Chairman- Evansville
Millionaire- NC St

[Mr. IWS]

Spreitzer:

ATLANTA HAWKS
ORLANDO MAGIC
BRADLEY
KANSAS
LA LAKERS
MEMPHIS (College)

[Mr. IWS]

Dr Bob

Tuesday NBA Opinion
Orlando (-7 ½) over SACRAMENTO
The Magic are an incredible 80-46-4 ATS in all games under coach Stan Van Gundy and they’re on a current 15-3 ATS run. Sacramento applies to a negative 121-215-10 ATS letdown situation based on their upset of the Mavericks, but the Kings may be a bit underrated, as they’ve played considerably better since Kevin Martin returned to the lineup. My ratings favor Orlando by just 7 points using the Kings’ games with Martin and underrated big man Brad Miller both playing, so I’ll pass on this game and just lean with Orlando at -8 or less based on the negative situation applying to the Kings.

[Mr. IWS]

PP of Pitt:

4* EVANSVILLE
3* LA LAKERS
3* BALL ST
3* GEORGIA ST

[Mr. IWS]

Larry Ness' Las Vegas Insider-CBB
My Las Vegas Insider is on Evansville at 8:00 ET. When Northern Iowa lost 85-84 in OT to Indiana St on Dec 28, the Panthers were just 6-6 overall and off to an 0-1 start in MVC play. That's not the kind of start third-year head coach Ben Jacobson wanted. Jacobson had won 18 games in each of his first two seasons in Cedar Falls and neither mark resulted in a postseason bid of any kind. Considering that the Panthers had made three straight NCAA appearances preceding the last two years, "the faithful" were getting 'antsy.' However, the Panthers have won four straight games (all in MVC play), including road wins at SIU and Creighton. Northern Iowa has two solid big men in the 6-8 Koch (11.4-5.1) and the 7-1 Eglseder (10.6-6.50 plus a balanced backcourt. The return to health of guard Ahelegbe (11.3-3.5 APG) has been huge (missed LY with an injury), as has been the play of Div II transfer Farokhmanesh (10.5) and freshman Moran (9.9-3.9-2.3). Now Northern Iowa beat Evansville both times last year (and has won seven straight in the series) plus comes in on a four-game conference winning streak, but Evansville has yet to lose at home this season (10-0). Marty Simmons went just 9-21 in his first year with the Purple Aces but his team has made HUGE strides this year. Evansville can't match Northern Iowa's size but the Purple Aces "are playing their game" and getting the job done. Ely (17.5-6.4), a 6-4 small forward, is having an excellent year, as is PG (Holsinger (13.3-2.5-2.6). The 6-5 Garner (9.7-6.5) is adding a respectable "third scoring option" for the Purple Aces plus freshman guard Williams (6.1-4.4-4.5) and fellow guard Lacey (5.5-2.9-2.3) help form an excellent perimeter. The 6-9 Tongeren (4.9-2.6) and 6-7 freshman Haarsma (7.1-4.7) will have their work cut out vs Koch and Eglseder but let's note that Evansville has beaten 13-3 Drake (76-65), Western Ky (72-40) and recently Missouri St (a non-cover), here at home. Last year's Evansville team lost just 71-68 in this building and this year's team is WAY better than that group. Four straight conference wins is enough of a run for the Panthers, who run into trouble here vs an underrated Evansville team. Las Vegas Insider on Evansville.

Good Luck...Larry

Larry Ness' Weekly Wipeout Winner-CBB
My Weekly Wipeout Winner is on Old Dominion at 8:00 ET. Rod Barnes (former Ole Miss head coach) struggled through a 9-21 season last year at Georgia St but with a number of SEC transfers plus guard Dukes (from Wake Forest) being a big part of this year's team, things were expected to get better very quickly for him and his team, which plays in the CAA. So far, not so good. The Panthers opened 2-2 but have lost 10 of their last 12. Dukes (13.4-5.1-4.5) has been very good in the backcourt, plus returning players Goldston (11.5) and Mendez (8.9) give the Panthers a decent backcourt rotation. However, the 6-8 Hansbro (6.8-3.2) and the 6-7 Hampton (4.6-4.3), who both followed Barnes from Ole Miss, have been disappointments in the frontcourt. So has the 6-8 Rimmer (3.0-3.1) who came from Miss St and the 6-6 Echols, a JUCO who was averaging 7.4 PPG and 5.6 RPG, went down with an injury in mid-November. Blaine Taylor of Old Dominion has had some success in the CAA, entering this season with 136 wins, an average of 19.4 per season. The Monarchs opened 1-3 but then closed 2008 with seven straight wins. However, the team's first game of 2009 was a Jan 3 visit to Ga St and after overcoming an 11-point second-half deficit, the Monarchs lost 55-54, when Goldston hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds left in the game. ODU enters this game 9-6 overall and 2-3 in CAA play. Eight players have participated in every game, with the 6-10 Lee (15.1-5.5), 6-5 swingman Finney (10.6-6.8) and PG James (8.7-4.2 APG) all averaging over 30 minutes per contest. The other five all average between 13.5-to-24.1 MPG and 4.7-to-8.6 PPG. Georgia State shoots poorly from three-point range (29.5) and from the FT line (62.2), two poor stats if a team expects to win on the road. The team's big men have underachieved so far this year and that spells "bad news" vs an ODU team which has out-rebounded its opponents by an average of 6.7 RPG on the season. ODU leads this series 9-2 but that Jan 3 loss at Georgia St snapped an eight-game winning streak by the Monarchs. Playing with a little 'revenge motive" never hurts and I'm predicting a 20-point win. Weekly Wipeout Winner Old Dominion.

Good Luck...Larry

[Mr. IWS]

BIG AL's 85-30 ATS TUESDAY NIGHT NBA STEAMROLLER.
At 10:05 pm, our selection is on the Orlando Magic minus the points over Sacramento, as Stan Van Gundy's men fall into a super 85-30 ATS system of mine which fades certain bad teams (with win percentages less than .300) off straight-up wins. Indeed, one of the characteristics of bad teams is that they rarely put two good games together. And a quick look at Sacramento's season reveals this to be the case with the Kings this year. Sacramento has not won back-to-back games since November 9 and is 0-6 straight-up after its last six victories. So, with Sacramento in off a 102-95 upset win over Dallas (the Kings' first victory over a winning team in over a month), we'll look for a letdown tonight vs. Orlando, which sports the NBA's best road record (14-5) this season. On Sunday night, the Magic went into the Alamo City and defeated the Spurs to open a four-game road trek. San Antonio had won nine of its previous 10 games, so that road win was further evidence that Orlando is one of the league's four best teams this season. The Magic are a super 46-22 ATS on the road since April 2007, including 21-4 ATS vs. the Western Conference (and 9-0 ATS since November 2008). Take the Magic. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie.