3-14-10

[GoBlue]

Brandon Lang

15 DIME - TEMPLE OWLS - This game starts at 1:00 pm eastern!

I went to war with this Temple team on Saturday, and I will go to war with them again on Sunday in this revenge spot against Richmond. The Spiders have been hot, but they were extended in their win over Xavier on Saturday, and that to me will be a major factor come the late stages of this game on Sunday.

FREE PICK - OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER

[GoBlue]

Big Al

3* Ohio State
Opinion Temple
Opinion Duke

[Mr. IWS]

Larry Ness' *10* TV TOTAL OF THE WEEK! (SIX IN ROW?) NBA
At 9:00 ET my *10* TV "TOW" is on the T.O./Por "over".

The Raptors are continuing their slide into mediocrity and are coming off a 124-112 loss to Golden State last night; Chris Bosh has 24 points and 11 boards. Toronto is now in danger of falling out of playoff contention; “Time is ticking and it’s counting down, and if we keep playing the way we are right now, we’re going to be on the outside looking in,” Bosh said. “Guys need to step it up," (note: the total has gone "over" the posted number in 13 of Toronto's last 19 on the road). Portland is rolling; the Blazers will be looking for their ninth win in 11 games. Brandon Roy is averaging 24.5 points in March and almost 30 in his teams three-game win streak. He had 41 on Thursday night against the Warriors and 28 in a 110-94 win at Sacramento the following night. Portland is averaging over 104 pp. over its last 10 and is chasing Oklahoma City for the fifth position (note: the total has gone "over" the posted number in six of Portland's last eight overall). The Blazers don't play again till Friday after this game so I expect them to come out and leave everything they have on the floor tonight; that said, if Portland takes the Raptors for granted tonight, they'll be in trouble as Toronto has the firepower to sneak out a victory (note: the total has gone "over" the number in five of these teams last six games vs. each other). This number is simply too low; as a result, play on the "over".

Good luck…Larry

Larry Ness' *10* ABC SHOWDOWN! (6-2-2 L2 days) NBA
At 3:30 ET my *10* ABC SHOWDOWN is on the Boston Celtics.

This is the first matchup between these teams since Shaq went down with a thumb injury. Boston had been playing a bit listlessly of late, but came out on fire in its last matchup, and I expect this team to carry that momentum into this contest. The Celtics crushed Indiana 122-103 on Friday. Rajon Rondo had 16 points and 11 dimes in 28 minutes against Indiana (note: Boston is 4-2 ATS its last six on the road). Lebron returned after a brief hiatus and had 23 points to go along with 20 dimes in the Cavs 100-95 victory over Philadelphia on Friday night. Filling in for Shaq is Antawn Jamison, who will return after a one game break (knee) (note: Cleveland is just 1-4 ATS its last five overall; 1-4 ATS its last five at home). Of course stopping LBJ will be of utmost concern for the Celt's today as he is averaging 37 in two games against Boston this season. Kendrick Perkins will once again be called upon to step up and get a body on Anderson Varejao; last time out Perkins connected on 4-of-6 shots for 10 points with seven boards, an assist and a block in just 23 minutes. "Perk was phenomenal," said Rivers. "When Perk gets into the role he played [Friday], where he didn't think about the offense at all, he gets dunks and layups. When he thinks about the offense, it gets tough. But when he does his job -- sets picks, runs the floor, and rebounds -- all of a sudden the offense comes to him and he's usually the guy under the basket by himself." Although its in third spot in the East currently, the Celts still have their eye on the prize and I expect them to leave everything on the floor today and use this game a litmus test to where they truly stand as they get set for the Playoffs; "I look forward to the game, seeing exactly where we are at," said Perkins. "We're going out and competing against a great team, at home, the best in the NBA, and seeing where we are at. It would be a great confidence boost for us if we could go into their home building and get a win,"; grab up the points.

Good luck…Larry

Larry Ness' *10* Daylight Savings DOMINATOR! (EARLY) CBB
At 2:00 ET my *10* DOMINATOR is on Temple.

Richmond needs to win this game for a shot at the "Big Dance"; no matter the outcome of this game, Temple likely already has a spot in the Tournament. That said, I expect the Owls to come fired up in this as they seek the A-10 Championship title. In the only meeting between these two teams this year, Richmond beat Temple 71-54 back on February 6th; the Spiders will also have the "revenge factor" working against them today. Although Temple had noteworthy victories over Seton Hall, Xavier and Villanova this season, and although they "most likely" will get a seed in the NCAA tournament, the Owls will not want to leave anything to chance and will look to finish off this tournament with one last convincing victory, and a third consecutive conference tournament title (note: Temple is 17-9 ATS this year as a favorite; 12-5 ATS vs. conference opponents; 14-6 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record). The Owls have gone on to win nine-straight since the loss to the Spiders back in February and have dominated teams on the defensive end of the court. Temple held the Rams to just 27 per cent shooting yesterday in its 57-44 semifinal destruction. Even the Spiders head coach is wary of the Owls tenacity; "They look great," Chris Mooney said. "They are one of the best teams in the country. Their defense is suffocating. It's going to be an enormous challenge." The Spiders needed OT to beat Xavier 89-85 yesterday. Temple has been unstoppable since that Feb 6th loss and I look for this team to avenge that loss, to put its stamp on this brilliant season as it will look to overwhelm the Spiders on the defensive end from the opening tip; lay the points.

Good luck…Larry

Larry Ness' PERFECT STORM! (2-0-1 this week) CBB
At 4:30 ET my *9* PERFECT STORM is on Ohio State.

The Gophers and Buckeyes face each other for the first time in the Big Ten Tournament. This is the "rubber match" if you will between these two teams as they've faced each other twice this season; Minnesota beat OSU 73-62 at Williams Arena, while OSU won 85-63 in Columbus. The Golden Gophers played one of their best halves of basketball all season yesterday and went on to win 69-42 over the Boilermakers. Minnesota led 37-11 at the half; however I believe they'll be in a dog fight today against the Buckeyes. Ralph Sampson III scored 13 points to lead Minnesota, which won its fourth consecutive game to boost its NCAA tournament resume (note: Minnesota is just 9-11 ATS vs. conference opponents; 7-10 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record; 5-9 ATS vs. good defensive teams that allow 64 points or less per contest). Although its had luck on its side to make it to this point after a miracle win on Friday over Michigan, and then another one on Saturday as OSU went to double OT to beat Illinois, I expect the the Buckeyes to continue to build momentum on their way to the "Big Dance. Three of Ohio States losses this season came when Evan Turner was out with injury; "We're kind of on a roll right now," said coach Thad Matta, "and Evan's the best player in college basketball," (note: Ohio State is 10-9 ATS vs. conference opponents; 11-6 ATS when playing against teams with winning records). The Buckeyes used a 20-0 second half run to take a 9-point lead before Illinois forced OT; so with that victory, OSU has kept its hopes alive of earning a No. 1 seed at the "Big Dance". The Golden Gophers are trying to become the first team since Iowa back in 2001 to win four Big Ten Tourny games in just four days, but I believe they'll come up short today after yesterday's dominating, but tiring performance. I expect the Buckeyes to control the tempo of this one and for Turner to further cement his legacy with another big game; no problem laying the points here.

Good luck…Larry

[Mr. IWS]

Ben Burns

UnderDog Game of the Month 10* MISSISSIPPI STATE

NBA Total of the Month 9* OVER Bucks

[Mr. IWS]

Ben Burns

UnderDog Game of the Month 10* MISSISSIPPI STATE

NBA Total of the Month 9* OVER Bucks
10* BURN'S SUNDAY AFTERNOON O/U MAIN EVENT
UNDER-194 1/2 (Boston Celtics @ Cleveland Cavaliers)

10* THIS IS BIG BURN'S NHL DIVISIONAL TOTAL OF THE YEAR
UNDER 5 1/2 (Calgary Flames @ Vancouver Canucks)

10* EARLY BURN'S CONFERENCE tourney UNDERDOG OF THE MONTH
MISSISSIPPI STATE + 7 vs Kentuck in SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

9* VERY EARLY BURN'S DIVISIONAL NBA TOTAL OF THE MONTH
OVER-202 (Indiana Pacers @ Milwaukee Bucks)

7* BURN'S EARLY AFTERNOON NHL ANNIHILATOR
NEW YORK RANGERS ML vs Philadelphia Flyers

[Mr. IWS]

PPP
TOP Ohio st
4* Jazz 4* Kentucky

[kar261]

Free Sunday College Best Bet
**Ohio State (-4) over Minnesota
Rotation #894 - 12:30 pm Pacific
Ohio State hasn't played well in the Big 10 Conference tournament, losing to the number in both of their games, but teams that make the championship game of their conference tournament without covering the spread in any of their previous tourney games are actually 20-7-1 ATS - so the fact that the Buckeyes haven't played well the last two days does not mean that they won't play well today. Minnesota, meanwhile, has covered the spread in all 3 of their conference tournament games, with the last two coming in upset fashion over Michigan State and Purdue. That run has the Gophers applying to a negative 56-131-4 ATS letdown situation that is 10-31 ATS in conference tournaments. My ratings favor the Buckeyes by 4 points and I'll take Ohio State in a 2-Star Best Bet at -4 points or less.

Sunday NBA Opinions
MILWAUKEE (-9 1/2) over Indiana
Rotation #872 - 10:05 am Pacific
Milwaukee hasn't lost to the spread in nearly a month and the Bucks are now 36-10 ATS this season in games without injured guard Michael Redd, who was having a horrible season before getting hurt. Indiana, meanwhile, is just 2-15-1 ATS on the road when not getting 10 points or more and facing a decent team (a team with a win percentage of greater than .375). Indiana's median road result is a 9 point loss and this game is 2 1/2 points more difficult than the Pacers' average road game, so there is a good chance that Indiana will lose this game by more than 9 points.

Boston (+7) over CLEVELAND
Rotation #873 - 12:30 pm Pacific
Boston has been much better against good teams that they've been against bad teams this season, as the Celtics are 11-29-1 ATS this season when favored by 5 points or more and 14-8-1 ATS when not favored by 5 or more. My ratings actually favor Cleveland by only 6 1/2 points in this game with everyone healthy for the Celtics and Boston applies to a decent 107-50-1 ATS situation. I'll lean with Boston plus the points.