2-12-09

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

igz1 sports

Thursday Action !!
Wednesday Recap: 3-0 CBB (+250 pts) : 0-2 NBA (-176 pts)

NHL
3* Carolina -130

CBB
5* The Citadel -3 (-110)
4* Fairfield -1 (-110)
3* Wisconsin Milwaukee +11.5 (-110)
3* St Josephs PK (-110)

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Indian Cowboy

4 Unit Play. #734. Take Northwestern +2 over Illinois (Thursday @ 9pm est). We have certainly gone around the merry-go-round once this week as we are 1-1-1 rolling into Thursday. Currently we are 17-9 out our last 26 college ball picks which is sound but I really want to repeat something similar to last week when we went 5-2 hitting at one point 5 straight underdogs, four of which won outright. We did solid in Januayr with +66 units and in February we are hovingering around +20 in total profit as we roll on with our tortoise and investment philosophy of 2 plays a day - 1 per college and 1 per the nba. For today's play, let's roll with an upset in the making in the Big10 - my favorite conference. Man, I love this conference. When it was announced that Tubby and Jimmy B were going to be two of the coaches in this conference, I was stoked. This is because I knew Penn State and Northwestern were going to be much better this year as they had recruited well and had a lot of returning talent come back. Such is the case when Northwestern went ahead and prevailed in countless surprising results this year. Remember, Northwestern is the same team that beat Wisconsin at home by 3, the same team that beat Minnesota at home, Michigan State on the road, and after starting the year 0-4 in conference play, now sit at 4-6 so they can certainly use all the conference wins they can get. They only play Illinois once this year and bear in mind, well over 70% of the public favor Illinois. I love Illinois basketball. In fact, it is the team that I have ridden the most in the 2008-2009 year for ATS covers. Heck, they were even my GOM twice this year. But, this is simply not a good spot for them. Illinois beat this team 70-37 at home last year so these group of young men who have now grown up and a are a bit more seasoned, remember that stomping. You don't think these fellas that defeated Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota do not have what it takes to take care of Illinois at home? Heck, this team even beat FSU at home as well. Illinois comes off a huge emotional win against Purdue and are in for a classic let down here as they are the same teams that of late have lost on the road to Wisconsin by 13 and Minnesota by 23. This game will swing back and forth, but let's ride the wave of the home crowd, with massive revenge from last year, our team that comes off a road loss as they return home and fading the public who is likely to get buried here as there is a reason why Northwestern is a +2 dog similar to what they were when they Minnesota and defeated them relatively easily.
Good luck,
Indian Cowboy.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

erin rynning
Notre Dame / playmaker

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Kelso Sturgeon
PERSONAL BEST BASKETBALL
Thursday, February 12, 2009
PAC-10 Game Of The Year
50 Units
Arizona State (+1½) over UCLA
9:00 PM -- Wells ***** Arena
Arizona State by 5-6

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Stephen Nover

Miami at Chicago
Play: Chicago -3.5

This is a case where the Bulls are playing well - 7-0-1 against the spread in their last eight games - and the Heat are in their worst slump of the season.Miami has lost and failed to cover in five of its last seven. The Heat are loaded with rookies and second-year players. They could be hitting the wall as All-Star break approaches.Miami is averaging just 88 points in its last four games and could be without Shawn Marion, it's second best player and top perimeter defender. He suffered an eye injury during practice Wednesday. The Heat may be wise to hold him out giving him extra time to recover since the regular season doesn't pick up until next week.The Bulls have plenty of talent and it's starting to come together. Chicago is 5-2 in its last seven games. The Bulls' only losses during this span came at Dallas by one point in overtime and to the Rockets in Houston by seven.Not only are the Bulls home, but this is a grudge match. The Chicago coaches were incensed during the Bulls' 90-77 road loss to the Heat on Dec. 26 that Miami took a timeout with 14 seconds left.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Mark Franco

Portland at Golden State
Play: Portland +3

The Warriors are off a 144-point explosion against the Knicks who play no defense. but are just 6-9 ATS as a favorite.The Blazers are a young team and solid in the second of back-to-back nights at 12-5 ATS. The Warriors show inconsistency after a win as they are 13-43-1 ATS in their next matchup. Portland is 9-1 ATS off DD home win while GS just 15-30 ATS as home favorite. Take Portland plus the small number.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Scott Pritchard

USC at Arizona
Pick: Under 134

I have one play, one time. It's not how many you play, it's how many you win. USC at Arizona. I like the UNDER. I'm coming off another winner yesterday and am having a great college hoops season. I also have an opinion on the Boston-Dallas pro contest. Play the USC game UNDER and see the cashier.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

NSA's Selection
CBB UCLA @ Arizona St 9:00 PM EST 20* UCLA -1
CBB Louisville @ Notre Dame 7:00 PM EST 10* Louisville -3
CBB Temple @ St Joe's 7:00 PM EST 10* St Joe's -1.5
CBB San Diego @ Loyola Marymount 10:00 PM EST 10* San Diego -13.5
NBA Boston @ Dallas 9:30 PM EST 10* Boston -2.5
NBA Portland @ Golden St 10:30 PM EST 10* Portland +3.5

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Kelso added
10 units Pepperdin
5 units Portland (CBB)3 units Bulls

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

RAS - 1.5 - Furman, 1- Idaho

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Scott Rickenbach
REASON FOR PICK: Scott Rickenbach’s NBA 1* (regular play) Chicago Bulls (-) vs Miami @ 7:05 PM ET – In the long grind of an NBA season, it is important for a capper to focus in on games where there are special edges. Let’s face it, the odds makers do a rock solid job on most games so the key is finding those games where there is a stronger edge than one would normally expect to find. That is the case here with the Bulls. Chicago has not forgotten losing at Miami in their first match-up this season. That occurred in late December and the Bulls felt disrespected when the Heat called a timeout with just 30 seconds left and a 13 point lead. They used the time out to pull Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem, and Mario Chalmers from the game. However, the Bulls definitely felt it was not necessary and was simply a way for the Heat to “rub salt in the wound” in what was already a dominating effort for Miami. Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro was quoted after the game as saying “we’ll play them again”. That time has come!

On Thursday in Chicago on TNT, the Bulls get a chance to execute payback and they won’t let it pass them by. The key here is that the Heat have been struggling badly. Miami has lost five of their last seven and a big problem has been having to rely too much on Wade. He’s the only guy giving steady contributions in many games. That’s a big problem in this match-up because the Chicago native actually hasn’t played well at the United Center. In his last five games there Wade is averaging 16.6 points on just 36.1 percent shooting! Look for the other Chicago native on the floor tonight, Derrick Rose, to key the Bulls victory here. Rose has come a long way since that game at Miami. The Bulls have won five of their last seven and, over the last seven weeks, Rose has impressed more and more with each passing week. He’s averaged 18.4 points on 57.1 percent shooting in his last seven games. Also, Rose has 47 assists versus just 14 turnovers during this stretch.

While the Bulls had to rally to win their last game (versus the Pistons) it is the growth of Rose that helped the Bulls have that strong game-ending run. Those are the kind of strong finishes that build confidence and this Chicago team has come a long way compared to where they were the last time they faced the Heat. In the first match-up, Luol Deng got hurt during the game and Larry Hughes and Aaron Gray were both playing significant roles. Now Deng is healthy and Hughes and Gray weren’t even in the box score of the Bulls win over Detroit Tuesday. Also, Kirk Hinrich is now back for Chicago and Joakim Noah has become a big contributor. This is a classic case of two teams going in opposite directions and the added incentive for the Bulls here made it a definite play for us! Play Chicago minus the points as a regular selection

Scott Rickenbach’s College Hoops Game #707 - 1* (regular play) Louisville Cardinals (-) @ Notre Dame @ 7 PM ET – This is a classic case of “hot versus not”. What’s interesting here is you would have never expected to see a line like this earlier in the season as Notre Dame has such a solid history at home. However, times change and if you don’t keep up with the times you lose! We’re speaking from the sports betting “perspective” there as this Irish team certainly doesn’t merit that much more respect here even though they’re on their home floor. They’ve lost seven straight games and two of those were at home. We love the fact that we’re able to get a short number of points to lay with Louisville, the far superior team, just because they’re on the road in this match-up. The key here is defense. The Cardinals play it and the Fighting Irish don’t!

Notre Dame has allowed at least 87 points in five of their last seven games. That is simply amazing as this is not the NBA folks! To be giving up that many points in College Hoops is a real issue! The streak of defensive demise – and Notre Dame’s current seven game losing streak – started with a loss at Louisville. While it’s true that the 87 to 73 loss to the Cardinals was an overtime game, it’s also true that the Cards held Notre Dame to just two points in overtime while Louisville scored 16 and got the win. Once again, it’s evident who has the superior defense in this match-up. The Cardinals are 10-1 in their last 11 games and the only loss was to Connecticut! Of course the Huskies are currently the top team in the country and Notre Dame is not on par with that team. The Cardinals defensive numbers are in stark contrast with how the Irish have performed lately. The most points that Louisville has allowed, in going 18-4 this season, is 75 points. Only FOUR times this season has Louisville allowed more than 68 points in a game! As for Notre Dame, they give up an AVERAGE of 73 points per game on the season!

Even though the Irish took this match-up to overtime in the first meeting between these teams, note that the Cardinals had edges in rebounds, blocked shots, and steals. Truly the only reason the game wasn’t more of a blowout in regulation is because the Irish made 9 of 20 three pointers while the Cardinals only made 10 of 30 from downtown. Overall, the Irish are the better team from 3-point land but it’s normally not that pronounced and the Cardinals have shown the ability to rely on their defense – as they did at St John’s on Sunday – when their offense is not clicking. Of the 18 wins the Cardinals have this season, only two have come by less than six points. Those were against Kentucky and Villanova. Both these teams are superior to the Irish. As for Notre Dame, all their losses have come by at least five points and many have been blowout defeats. We have no qualms about laying the short number here with the Cardinals. Luke Harangody will be the focus of the Cardinals defense and we saw at UCLA what happens to the Irish (a 26 point loss!) when Harangody is shut down. The only other guy to score in double digits when Notre Dame first met Louisville was Kyle McAlarney. However, McAlarney has only made 17 of 60 (28%) of his field goal attempts in his last five games and this has played a key role in the demise of the Irish. That’s another reason their losing streak continues here. Play Louisville minus the points as a regular selection.

Scott Rickenbach
REASON FOR PICK: Scott Rickenbach’s NHL 1* (regular play) Vancouver Canucks Money Line (-) @ Phoenix @ 9:05 PM ET – My analysis will be posted here between 3 PM and 4 PM ET. However, I feel the best value we’re going to see with this late night play is early this afternoon. That’s why I am first posting this without the write-up. My recommendation is to play this one as early as you can and then please check back for the details. Thanks and best of luck – Scott Rickenbach

Scott Rickenbach’s College Hoops Game #751 - 1* (regular play) Southern Cal Trojans (+) @ Arizona @ 10:30 PM ET – Under coach Tim Floyd, the Trojans have a history of performing very well as an underdog in Pac Ten action. We get another fantastic opportunity to ride that streak here. The Trojans are coming off of an embarrassing loss at UCLA in their last game. They’ve had over a week to “stew” about that loss and that means when they take the court tonight there is going to be tremendous mental and physical energy coming from USC. Before that loss to the Bruins, Southern Cal was a very impressive 15-6 on the season. Five of those six losses had come by an average margin of just 3 points per game. That easily “gets us into the game” here as the Trojans tremendous defense has kept them in all but two games out of 22 games this season! The key tonight is that USC is so hungry they will not be denied in this spot.

Before their loss to UCLA, the Trojans had held ten of their last twelve opponents to 64 points or less! As for Arizona, the Wildcats have allowed four of their last eight opponents to score at least 77 points! Yes, Arizona has won five straight games but, prior to this, the Cats had gone just 6-7 in their previous 13 games. This truly is very much a mediocre Pac Ten team. The Wildcats last three wins have all come against three of the worst teams in the conference. Their prior two wins including a non-conference opponent, Houston, and also a big win over the Huskies. Yes, beating Washington was somewhat impressive but they did give up 97 points in that game. The Wildcats got 51 free throw attempts in that game. That is ridiculous and they won the game despite getting outscored 84 to 65 from the field. That’s not going to happen very often. In their win over Houston they allowed 90 points!

The coaching edge also goes to USC in this match-up with Floyd going against interim coach Russ Pennell. The first match-up between these teams was a tight win for USC but they had five more field goal attempts and nine more free throw attempts. It was only a strong shooting performance from Arizona that kept the game close. The Trojans should give a much stronger defensive effort here. This is especially true with coming off of the loss at UCLA that was such an ugly one. The reserves ended up playing a lot of minutes in that game and the Trojans starters will come back hungrier than ever as they seek, and get, a big road win here! Play Southern Cal plus the points as a regular selection.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

ATS Lock Club
5 Notre Dame +3.5
4 Arizona -2.5
3 Arizona St. +1.5

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

ATS Financial Package
4 Troy -1
3 Gonzaga -4.5

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

CHARLIES SPORTS
CBB 500* Buffalo -9
CBB 30* Delaware +6
CBB 20* Notre Dame +3
CBB 20* San Diego -13
NBA 10* Portland @ Golden St under 217
NBA 10* Dallas +4 (free play)

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 2-12-09

Indian Cowboy

2 Unit Play. #706. Take Golden State Warriors -3.5 over Portland Trailblazers (Thursday @ 10:35pm est). Congrats on the Nuggets Outright last night at Orlando. Regardless of what happens today considering this is a 2* selection we will have our 8th straight winning week this week. But, I would love to hit this play as it will allow us to go 3-1 overall on the week and enable us to secure even more profit this week. The line has steadily increased for this game and it should not come as a surprise. For starters, the Trailblazers come off a big win last night and cover against OKC. After all, they had revenge against the Thunder and they got it done. Well, now, the Warriors have revenge against this tem from an earlier season loss. Given the style of play the Warriors play anyway which is an up and down style of play, they certainly will have their legs underneath them and the Blazers will not. Let's not forget, this is the same Blazer team that fell to the Thunder handily on the road and this is the same Warrior team that beat the Jazz, Celtics, Suns and nearly the Cavs by losing 1 point at home. Let's ride GS here with GS as they are rested, have revenge, have covered their last 4 at home against the likes of the Jazz, Knicks, Clippers and even the Spurs who they ended up losing to in OT. Let's ride the W's as they are 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 games at home and the Blazers are just 4-11 ATS in their last 15 road games.