Service Plays Friday 3/9/18

[swaminator]

Punter Problems still rolling off the 4-1 Thursday

Houston Rockets @ Toronto Raptors
The Rockets will put their incredible 17-game win streak on the line in what could be their toughest trip to date.
Houston head North of the border to take on a Raptors team that still occupies the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
After dropping their first game back after the All-Star break, Dwane Casey’s men have gone 6-0 in their next six games and continue to impress on both ends of the court.
In their last seven games the Raptors are averaging 113 points per game and remain one of the most efficient teams on offence. The test will be whether they can balance their efficient offence and defence against a Rockets team that can score as well as anyone in the league.
Toronto own the best perimeter defence in the league and that will mean Houston will look to push and find their spot early in the shot clock in order to get into rhythm from beyond the arc.
Mike D’Antoni’s outfit are averaging 114.0 points per game this season and while they’ve shown an ability to grind out low-scoring games this one is likely to feature plenty of possessions as both sides try to find quick, easy buckets.
The last five straight meetings between these two teams have gone Over the points total, while the Rockets have seen their last five straight games against teams with a winning record also sail Over the total.
Our projections show this one comfortably sailing Over with a combined 230.4 points being recorded here.
Tip: Over 220.0 points @ $1.92 (Pinnacle)

Here’s our best bets for the action ahead:
Detroit Red Wings @ Columbus Blue Jackets
Tip: Under 5.5 goals @ $1.83 (Crownbet)
Anaheim Ducks @ Dallas Stars
Tip: Under 5.5 goals @ $1.80 (Crownbet)

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Goodfella

Conference Tournament GOY

3* USC TROJANS ( -131)

[Can'tPickAWinner]

adam thompson
smu +16

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Kenny white
kansas state +7.5
providence +8

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Larry hartstein
rockets -1.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Matt nolander
alabama +5.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Micah roberts
villanova over 152
st bonny over 148.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Stephen oh
jazz under 198.5
pacers under 210
raptors money line

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Zack cimini
rhode island -9.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Root Trust Basketball Service

Friday, March 9, 2018

Inner Circle
Georgia (+5½) over Kentucky
Friday @ 3:25 PM (EST) -- Scottrade Center
Georgia Kentucky has has 10 straight up losses, 12 games that have gone under and are 14-17 ATS. Not your typical Wildcats season. The Georgia Bulldogs have already won two games in St. Louis, beating Vanderbilt and Missouri. Georgia forward Yante Maten led the conference in scoring at 19.4 points per game during the regular season and earned first-team all-SEC honors. For Kentucky, Jarred Vanderbilt, a freshman forward who is a rebounding machine for the Wildcats, is battling an ankle injury that leaves him as doubtful–at best–for Friday and most likely out. That leaves a big hole in the paint. Georgia has the better defense and taking the points in a very close matchup is the way to make money on this game.

millionaires
Virginia (-7) over Clemson
Friday @ 7:00 PM (EST) -- Barclays Center


No Limit
Arizona (-4½) over UCLA
Friday @ 9:00 PM (EST) -- T-Mobile Arena

Perfect Play
Kansas State (+6) over Kansas
Friday @ 7:00 PM (EST) -- Sprint Center

Pinnacle

Nevada (-2½) over San Diego State
Friday @ 9:00 PM (EST) -- Thomas & Mack Center
Nevada-Reno
These two teams have split their games during the regular season. San Diego State took down Nevada six days ago but that came on their floor: the Wolf Pack beat the Aztecs by 25 in Reno. This one is on a neutral floor but it’s in Nevada and one that the Wolf Pack is familiar with. This is going to be a fast paced game of which the Wolf Pack is a little too tough for the Aztecs to handle. The Wolf Pack is an elite team on the offensive end of the floor as they are 18th in the nation putting up an average of 84 points per game. For pulling away at the end of the game from the foul line, Nevada has been good with their free throws, cashing in 75 percent of their chances this season. Nevada has three super players of which any one of the three can completely dominate and take over this game.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Ferringo

1-Unit Play. Take 'Over' 127.0 SMU vs. Cincinnati (Noon)

4-Unit Play. Take #840 UT-Arlington (-6) over Appalachian State (3 p.m., Friday, March 9)
UT-Arlington is the most experienced team in the country. They have five senior starters and three more seniors that they bring off the bench. And this is it. This is the team's final chance to try to get into the NCAA Tournament. They were the No. 1 seed in last year's tournament and couldn't get it done. But right now they are flying a bit under the radar and I think that they will be focused. Appalachian State has been a real nice overachiever in Sun Belt play. But this is still not a very good team and they have some ugly losses on their resume this season. Arlington is better on both ends of the court, they have the two best players, and I simply can't see the Mavericks not being extremely motivated and ready to play in this game.

2-Unit Play. Take #842 Georgia State (-4) over Troy (6 p.m., Friday, March 9)

2-Unit Play. Take #848 Kentucky (-4.5) over Georgia (3:30 p.m., Friday, March 9)
Georgia was able to pull a big upset yesterday. But they were really lucky that Missouri mismanaged the Michael Porter situation so badly. UGA is now playing its third game in three days against a fresh Kentucky team with a load of athletes. Coach Cal will have his team ready to go and I think Kentucky will wear down the Bulldogs.

5-Unit Play. Take #854 Marshall (-7) over Southern Miss (1:30 p.m., Friday, March 9)
Southern Miss had their fun yesterday, pulling a huge upset over Middle Tennessee State in overtime. But I think that they are going to hit a wall here today. This is their third game in this tournament and it is going to be tough to keep that level of intensity and emotion after last night's game. Marshall is a team that can turn your lights out just by virtue of the up-tempo style that they play. Eight of their last 10 wins have come by nine points or more and they blasted Southern Miss by 19 in the fonly meeting this year. Southern Miss is not a great defensive team and three of their last four losses over the past month have been blowouts, including a 73-44 shellacking at feeble UTEP. I think Marshall will run away with this one in the second half as they just have too much firepower.
1-Unit Play. Take #858 Xavier (-7.5) over Providence (6:30 p.m., Friday, March 9)

2-Unit Play. TEASER: Take #860 Villanova (-3) over Butler (9 p.m., Friday, March 9) AND Take #866 Virginia (-3) over Clemson (7 p.m., Friday, March 9)

1-Unit Play. Take #867 North Carolina (+4.5) over Duke (9:30 p.m., Friday, March 9)

2-Unit Play. Take 'Over' 155.0 North Carolina vs. Duke (9:30 p.m., Friday, March 9)
I think it is going to be very tough for Duke to beat North Carolina twice in a week. Especially on a neutral court. The Tar Heels were actually winning in Cameron Indoor at halftime, and they were up seven points with 11 minutes to play. But UNC went cold down the stretch and Duke went bonkers at home and ended up winning by 10. But I don't think there is that much that separates these two teams. Neither team is that great defensively and they only combined for 138 points in the last meeting. And that was with UNC shooting 37 percent for the game. Duke's zone is really not that good. And the Tar Heels were able to chew up and spit out a much better 2-3 zone when they hung 80 points on Syracuse. These two have alternated wins the last seven times they have squared off and I just think that the points could come into play down the stretch. This is a game I think UNC wins outright so I will take the points.

2-Unit Play. Take #869 Kansas State (+7.5) over Kansas (7 p.m., Friday, March 9)

1-Unit Play. Take 'Over' 141.0 Kansas State vs. Kansas (7 p.m., Friday, March 9)
For some reason Kansas State is resting Dean Wade in this game. He is 'unexpectedly' sitting to rest a sore foot. Or something. If that wasn't the case I would be all over Kansas State to win this game outright. I think that the Jayhawks are very vulnerable. Yes, they played great yesterday. But they were also extremely motivated in that game. Oklahoma State had already beaten the Jayhawks twice, including an absolutely blowout just last weekend. Kansas doesn't have anything left to prove. They won their 14th straight regular season and by resting their own big man they are showing that next week's NCAA Tournament means more to them. Kansas State has already lost twice to the Jayhawks this year so I expect them to be scrapping and clawing this entire game. And since neither team has their big man guarding the paint I can see this one turning into much more of an up-tempo affair than it would be otherwise. The last two meetings had 136 and 145 points scored, so they are right around this number. And without any big men clogging up the paint I can see both teams getting out and running and playing this one at a faster tempo. I still think the Wildcats find a way to hang around here and I can see this one being somewhere around 76-71.

1-Unit Play. Take #874 Nevada (-2.5) over San Diego State (9 p.m., Friday, March 9)

8-Unit Play. Take #878 Arizona (-4.5) over UCLA (9 p.m., Friday, March 9)
Note: This is my Conference Tournament Game of the Year.
Look, either they are or they aren't. Either Arizona is the best team in the Pac-12 or they aren't. And if they are then they should be able to handle the Bruins here. Arizona has had so much drama around them over the last few weeks. But you know what: Sean Miller is coaching, Rawle Akins is healthy, Allonzo Trier is healthy, and this team is really at full strength for one of the few times this season. I also think that all the drama surrounding this team has served to galvanize them and the Wildcats are playing hard-nosed, focused basketball. Arizona's only loss in the last month came in overtime at Oregon on Feb. 24. Other than that they have won their other six games and they just hit the jets on Colorado yesterday. On top of that, Arizona has some revenge motivation here. They actually lost at home to UCLA in the only meeting this year. Arizona almost never lose at home so they will want to get that one back. The Wildcats rolled to the championship last year and I think that this team might actually be better. Last season they blew out UCLA in the semifinals and I think that they can do it here as well. UCLA was not good off its home court this year. And they really didn't do anything in the nonconference to make me think that they are a top tier team capable of winning this tournament. They are almost solely dependent on Aaron Holiday for offense. He played 40 minutes again yesterday and admitted to being a little tired after the game. He should be. He shot 25 times and scored 34 points against Stanford. Now he has to face an Arizona team that is known for its defense and that has been making big strides on that end of the court. The Wildcats have held three straight teams below 70 points and five of their last six have scored 70 or fewer. Again, the one outlier was the game at Oregon - where Miller wasn't there to coach.
I think Arizona is trying to make a statement. They have more talent and more experience as team than UCLA. They also have a revenge motivation on top of everything else. The Wildcats have been better defensively and better in situations like this all year. They are also the more experienced team. There are a lot of things stacking up in Arizona's favor and I think that they can find a way to run UCLA out of the gym tonight. I have this one at 79-70 for Arizona in a game where they get up big early and hold off Holiday and Co. down the stretch.

1-Unit Play. Take #880 USC (-2.5) over Oregon (11:30 p.m., Friday, March 9)

4-Unit Play. Take #884 UC-Santa Barbara (Pk) over UC-Irvine (11:59 p.m., Friday, March 9)
Santa Barbara has been the best team in this conference all season long. They have a proven winning recipe for the Big West: high-major transfers and experience. And I think that they will ride that to a tournament berth. Irvine has overachieved this year and they are not as good as they have been playing. They were fortunate to advance against Hawaii and this team's youth is going to come back to bite them. I will go with the much older, more experienced (and more talented) team in this one.
Carpe diem. Good luck.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Doc's Sports

4 Unit Play. Take #842 Georgia State -4 over Troy (6p.m., Friday March 9 ESPN 3) The Trojans are not good enough to beat the Panthers three times in one season. Georgia State finished 12-6 in league play, three full games better than Troy finished. The Trojans are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games following a victory in their previous game.

4 Unit Play. #848 Take Kentucky -4.5 over Georgia (3:30p.m., Friday March 9 ESPN) Georgia's run will end today against Kentucky. The Wildcats have had a disappointing season but they still have talent and I do not see them going down in their first game of the SEC Tournament. Kentucky has covered the spread in 4 of their last 5 games. Georgia is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a victory in their previous game.

4 Unit Play. Take #686 Duke -4 over North Carolina (9:30p.m., Friday March 9 ESPN) The victory Carolina got over Duke they made three pointers. They have not been doing that of late and thus they will struggle against the zone of Duke. The Blue Devils pounded a good Notre Dame team yesterday and I see them pulling away late to win this game by double digits. The favorite is 4-1 ATS (1 push) in the last 6 meetings between North Carolina and Duke.

4 Unit Play. Take #873 San Diego State +2.5 over Nevada (9p.m., Friday March 9 CBSSN)

4 Unit Play. Take #874 Under 152.5 in San Diego State vs Nevada (9p.m., Friday March 9 CBSSN) The under has collected in 5 of the last 7 meetings between San Diego State and Nevada (1 push). Nevada did not shoot well at all yesterday and now face a much better defensive team in San Diego State on Friday. San Diego State has gone under the posted total in 5 of their last 6 games (1 push).

4 Unit Play. Take #880 USC -2.5 over Oregon (11:30p.m., Friday March 9 FS1) This is just not a good match-up for the Ducks. USC beat them twice this season in close games. This should be another close game but expect USC to pull away late and win this game by 5-7 points. The Trojans played well down the stretch winning 5 of their last 6 games. Oregon is 0-4 ATS (1 push) in their last 5 neutral site games. USC is 20-8 ATS in their last 28 games against teams with a winning record.

4 Unit Play. Take #884 Santa Barbara (pk) over UC Irvine (11:59p.m., Friday March 9)
Best of Luck - Doc's Sports

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Billy Coleman

CBB
3* #881 Cal State Fullerton +1.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Ats wins ncaab

kentucky -4.5
marshall --7.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Dom Chambers

50 DIME

Home Ice DOMinator
Dog Shocker

Minnesota -1.5