4-10-09

[Mr. IWS]

::moneybag::

[Mr. IWS]

Spreitzer 25*- Spurs

[Mr. IWS]

Brandon Lang
Friday ...

10 Dime - Indiana Pacers

10 Dime - Memphis Grizzlies

10 Dime - L.A. Lakers



FREE - Twins

[Mr. IWS]

Larry Ness
Eastern Conference GOY 20* Det Pistons.

The Pistons have fought their way into the Eastern Conference finals for six straight seasons. This year, they may have to satisfy themselves with the modest goal of just making the Eastern Conference playoff field! The early season trade of Billups for Iverson never worked out, as the Pistons, who were a collective 334-158 (.679) the past six regular seasons, enter tonight's game 38-40. That leaves them a half-game behind the 39-40 Bulls for the seventh playoff seed in the East. However, the good news for Detroit fans (I'm assuming there are Detroit fans!), is that the Pistons lead ninth-place Charlotte by three games with just four to play. The Pistons secured the head-to-head tiebreaker in the season series by beating the Bobcats 104-97 on Sunday, meaning a win Friday or a loss by Charlotte at Oklahoma City will earn Detroit a postseason spot. I like Detroit's chances of "taking care of business" themselves, tonight. They draw the perfect foil in the New Jersey Nets. The Nets, who once upon a time went to back-to-back NBA Finals (2002 and 2003), will now miss the postseason for the second consecutive season. The trio of Kidd, Martin and Van Horn led them to the 2002 Finals, with Jefferson taking Van Horn's place in 2003. Martin then left via free agency and Carter joined Kidd and Jefferson to regularly help the Nets into the postseason but the team never went very far. Now, if one could call it that, the team's "Big Three" consists of Harris (21.8-7.0 APG), Carter (20.9-5.2-4.6) and rookie center Brook Lopez (13.0-7.9). Harris is an All Star and Lopez has been terrific in his first year (with a very mediocre team), while Carter is probably playing his last few games in a Nets uniform. The Nets have lost NINE of their last 10 road games and going back to a Dec 31 loss in Detroit, have lost 20 of their last 25 road contests! Detroit's starting-five these days is Hamilton (18.2-3.1-4.4) and Stuckey (13.4-3.5-4.8) in the backcourt plus a frontcourt of McDyess (9.5-9.8) at center, surrounded by forwards Prince (14.3-5.9) and Wallace (12.3-7.6). All five scored in double digits in Detroit's 113-86 win at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, with Hamilton leading the way with 22 with Wallace (14-12) and McDyess (13-16) both contributing double-doubles. The Nets have NOTHING to play for and are coming off a tough two-point loss at Boston on Wednesday, where Carter had 33 points and 12 rebounds. However, Carter hasn't been much of a factor in three games against the Pistons this season, averaging 11.3 PPG and 4.3 RPG. Detroit surely wants to clinch this final playoff spot and wouldn't mind passing Chicago, which means the Pistons would avoid LeBron and the Cavs in the first round. Detroit will well-remember their April Fool's embarrassment at New Jersey, in which the Nets won 111-98, with six Nets scoring in double digits including Dooling (23), rookie Ryan Anderson (14) and Josh Boone (10). Turnabout is fair play and expect the Pistons to clinch their playoff berth tonight, with plenty of room to spare.

Eastern Conference GOY 20* Pistons.

[Mr. IWS]

Wayne Root

Chairman- Florida
Millionaire- Memphis
MoneyMaker- San Diego
Insiders- Portland

[Mr. IWS]

Larry Ness' Las Vegas Insider (1st of MLB '09)
My Las Vegas Insider is on the Ari D'backs at 9:40 ET. The D'backs got off to a strong start last year but it all fell apart for them down the stretch, while the Dodgers surged to the NL West title. The Dodgers 'limped' into Arizona a back on Aug 29 of last year, on a seven-game losing streak and lost the first game of a three-game set to the D'backs, giving them eight consecutive losses. However, the Dodgers took the final two games of that series and the following weekend in LA, swept a three-game series from the D'backs, taking control of the NL West. LA would finish 84-78 (two games clear of the Arizona) and advance to the NLCS, where they would fall to the eventual world champs, the Phillies. Arizona is strong at the top of its rotation with Webb and Haren but the D'backs are hoping that free agent Jon Garland will solidify and give some depth to a starting rotation which went 0-4 with a 9.75 ERA in that closing five-game losing streak to the Dodgers. Garland was a fairly non-descript starter with the White Sox in his first five seasons but went 18-10 (3.50) when Chicago captured the World Series title in 2006 and followed in 2006 by going 18-7 (4.51). He fell out of favor in Chicago after going 10-13 in 2007 and signed with the Angels last year, going 14-8 with a 4.90 ERA. His high ERA could be a concern but let's note that these last four seasons, Garland's teams are 75-55 in his 130 starts (includes the postseason), after the Angels went 20-12 in his 32 starts last year. Opposing the veteran Garland in his NL debut is LA rookie James McDonald, who makes his first major league start. McDonald made four appearances out of the bullpen last season and some may remember him pitching 5.1 scoreless innings against Philadelphia in last year?s NLCS. The 24-year-old right-hander was originally selected as an outfielder by the Dodgers the 2002 draft. The Dodgers announced last Saturday that McDonald will be the No. 5 starter in a rotation that lost Lowe and Penny from last year (who knows about Schmidt?). The starting rotation is set for now with Hiroki Kuroda, Randy Wolf, Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw and McDonald. McDonald pitched Sunday in the exhibition finale against the Giants. He went four innings and allowed three runs on six hits. He walked two and had five strikeouts. His spring ERA was 5.32 but manager Joe Torre likes him. Well see. The D'backs were 48-33 at home oeverall and 37-27 vs right-handers in Chase Field, averaging a healthy 4.9 RPG. Meanwhile, LA was only 22-33 (minus-$1,070) away from Dodger Stadium against righties last year, averaging a measly 3.7 RPG. Las Vegas Insider Ari D'backs.

Good Luck...Larry

[Mr. IWS]

Larry Ness MLB Phone Plays

15* St. Louis
15* Florida