3-19-10

[Mr. IWS]

NEW GUYS! LURKERS!

Dont be afraid to post services if you come across them. Your posts will be appreciated for sure.

Just put them in the appropriate section (regular or premium)

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

sportsbetsnow

ncaab round 1

3 units old dominion +2.5
3 units murray st. +2.5
3 units butler -2.5
3 units northern iowa +1
3 units cornell +3.5
3 units purdue -4
3 units clemson -1.5
3 units utah st. +3
3 units florida st. -1.5

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

BEN BURNS

*10 Tournament GOY

I'm taking the points with UTAH STATE. I respect Texas A&M. However, considering that they are a #5 seed, I feel that the Aggies from Texas got a really unfortunate draw here.

Many will be down on Utah State, as it lost its Conference Tournament Championship game and hails from a "weaker" conference. Both those points are true. The Aggies did lose their Tournament Championship game and the WAC is certainly not as good as the Big 12. That said, there are several reasons why I feel that Utah State can and will earn the upset here.

Yes, the Big 12 is better than the WAC. However, Utah State is the best team from the WAC, the loss in the finals notwithstanding. The same cannot be said of Texas A&M in the Big 12. Yes, Utah State lost it the WAC Finals. However, the Aggies may have assumed that they already had an NCAA berth wrapped up and may have been already looking ahead. Either way, let's not forget that they had won 17 in a row, before that loss.

Unlike a lot of teams from lesser conferences, getting to the Big Dance is nothing new for the Aggies from Utah State. Indeed, this is their second straight appearance and the seventh time that they've been here in the last 11 years. They lost in the first round last season. However, that was against a Marquette team which had started the season 20-2 and which had been one of the better teams in what was a very powerful Big East Conference. Additionally, that loss came by just a single point. Note that they limited the Golden Eagles to only 47 shot attempts and a mere 36.2 percent shooting.

I feel that this year's Utah State team is every bit as good as last year's team, arguably even better. Yes, they did lose a star when forward Gary Wilkinson graduated. That was admittedly a big loss. The other four starters have all improved though and Nate Bendall (10.4, 5.4) has done a capable job in stepping in for Wilkinson.

As is generally the case when a team that comes from a lesser conference faces a team from a conference like the Big 12, Utah State doesn't necessarily have the type of athleticism that Texas A&M brings to the table. However, the Aggies are more athletic than people probably believe and they also make up for it in a number of different ways.

For starters, they're one of the best shooting teams in the country. In the regular season, the Aggies led the WAC in field goal percentage (48.9), 3-point percentage (42.0) and free throw shooting (76.6). They pass the ball very well and every starter averaged greater than eight points during the regular season.

Additionally, the Utah State Aggies are an extremely efficient team which rarely turns the ball over. Indeed, they had single-digits in turnovers in each of their final six regular season games. For the season, Utah State finished sixth in the nation in fewest turnovers.

They also run a complicated 'motion offense' which can be difficult for opposing teams to prepare for. Fresno State forward Sylvester Seay described preparing for them like this: "They have like 100 damn plays. It's like taking a test and guessing what things the teacher's going to put on the test."

Texas A&M does have excellent guard play. However, Utah State is also strong in that area. Pooh Williams is one of the best defenders in the WAC and he'll be asked to stop A&M senior Donald Sloan. Meanwhile, senior (first-team All-WAC) point guard Jared Quayle is one of the better players that many haven't heard of. He averaged 11.9 points, 4.3 assists and an impressive 6.2 rebounds during the regular season. I expect him to do a good job in slowing down the tempo.

While Utah State doesn't have many senior players, they're not as 'young' as many might imagine, as many of their players have taken two-year church missions.

Utah State coach Stew Morrill, the WAC Coach of the year, said of his team: I like this team. They show up every day. They are great acting kids. They don't care about stats. They care about winning. They share the ball; they play hard.

Over the years, we often see #12 seeds upset #5 seeds. With this game being played at Spokane, Washington, I feel that there's a great shot that we'll see another upset here. *10 Tournament GOY

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

David Malinsky

4* XAVIER over MINNESOTA

Perhaps it is over-rating the Big 10 and under-rating the Atlantic 10, or a misread by the markets of Minnesota’s performance in the Big 10 tournament last week that buoyed the Gophers into this field, but this is the wrong price range between these teams. Not only does it mean the usual value aspect, but by reducing this to a pick’em range it also brings in those special “win the game” handicap elements that are so important at tournament time. And it gets us in play.

Xavier made a seamless transition to Chris Mack on the sidelines this season, and much of that could be expected. Mack captained the Musketeers into the NCAA tourney during his playing days, and there has been little change in the system that Sean Miller put in place. So for a program off of four straight trips to the Big Dance, including the Elite Eight and Sweet 16 the past two campaigns, there is a tremendous winning legacy. It carries over to this court, with Dante Jackson and Jason Love playing 121 tourney minutes in that run two years ago, and then Jackson, Love, Terrell Holloway, Kenny Frease and Brad Redford bringing back 279 minutes of floor experience from LY’s tourney. When you add super talent Jordan Crawford to the mix you find a team without a weakness – they can score inside and out; handle the ball with an unselfish focus (three players scored at least 11.8 per game, and four of the top six in the rotation have more assists than turnovers); defend the length of the court (including allowing just 29.4 percent from 3-point range); and knock down their free throws. We show them playing one genuinely poor game all season, an ugly loss to Dayton that they avenged in the A10 tourney, and in the only non-conference game over the past two months they went to Florida and dominated the Gators by a dozen on the scoreboard.

Contrast the polish and winning experience with a Minnesota team that had to adapt early to being without Royce White, then later to the loss of Al Nolen, and had to scrap and claw to get here. That is what the Golden Gophers do, playing hard on defense to make up for shortcomings elsewhere, like the lack of a natural point guard. But while it may look like they made a run last weekend that shows they are peaking at the right time, if Chris Allen had been available for Michigan State it is more than likely that this presence would have been enough to turn around that Friday O.T. decision vs. Michigan State. And beating a Purdue team that was without Robbie Hummel, and had an ailing Lewis Jackson, does not mean anywhere near the power ratings upgrade the markets have made. While the late blowout on Sunday vs. Ohio State can be excused a bit because of it being four games in as many days, there is a residual toll that kind of cycle can take going forward, especially with still toiling 142 minutes in that one.

So what is the bottom line? Xavier brings no weaknesses to the matchup, and plenty of tourney experience, with a combined 16 NCAA wins from key cogs in the rotation. Minnesota does not have a player that has won a game in this field, or any other post-season tourney. And even if it is close late, we much prefer Holloway to get the Musketeers into better offensive sets than Devoe Joseph, a natural #2 guard still learning his way at the point, and with Crawford the best go-to scorer at crunch time the tools are there for Xavier to get this win. In only calling for the win to get the money, the markets have made this one easy for us.

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

RAS

Texas A&M -2.5

California +1

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

David Tuley the Tout NCAABB


FRIDAY
Louisville -1 vs. California
New Mexico St. +13 1/2 vs. Michigan St.
Siena +4 vs. Purdue.

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

gaming today

morgan st + 16.5
siena +4.5

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

Arthur Ralph Sports
413 - 300 run 58 %

Free Play Pittsburgh -10

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

Sportsmemo Newsletter selections:

ERIN RYNNING Last Week: San Antonio (Win)
Game - Minnesota vs. Xavier (Friday @ Milwaukee, Wis.)
BEST BET: #845 Minnesota -1

FAIRWAY JAY Last Week: None
Game - Morgan State vs. West Virginia (Friday @ Buffalo, NY)
BEST BET: #827 Morgan State +17.5

MARTY OTTO Last Week: Orlando Over (Loss)
Game - Wofford vs. Wisconsin (Friday @ Jacksonville, Fla.)
BEST BET: #833 Wofford +10

ANDREW LANGE Last Week: Boston Under (Loss)
Game - New Mexico State vs. Michigan State (Friday @ Spokane, Wash.)
BEST BET: #847 New Mexico State +13.5

TEDDY COVERS Last Week: Milwaukee (Loss)
Game - Utah State vs. Texas A&M (Friday @ Spokane, Wash.)
BEST BET: #852 Texas A&M -2.5

HELMUT SPORTS Last Week: None
Game - Cornell vs. Temple (Friday @ Jacksonville, Fla.)
BEST BET: #832 Temple -3.5

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

Sean Higgs
Free play

Utah State
+3-110
Taking these Aggies as my FREE PLAY. Don't get down on Utah State since they didn't win the WAC Conference Tourney. This team did run off 17 straight wins before that loss. They don't turn the ball over and shoot the ball well.

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

Doc’s Sports.

#838 Take California over Louisville (Friday 9:55 pm CBS) California played a brutal schedule to open the season but they have finished strong winning six of their last seven games. The PAC-10 was bad this year but Cal has talent, experience, size, and coaching. Louisville had a major drop-off in talent this year and if they do not make shots from the arc, I see them losing this game by double-digits. The Cardinals shot under 45% this season from the field. As good of a coach as Rick Pitino is, Mike Montgomery is no slouch either. Louisville is just 1-4 ATS in their last five NCAA Tournament games. California is 6-1 ATS in their last seven games overall.

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

Matt Fargo Comp

Purdue
-4-105
When the matchups came out on Sunday night, one team that stood out to me was Siena. This is a very veteran team that has won in the tournament before. In 2008, the Saints defeated Vanderbilt by 21 points before losing to Villanova. Last year, they defeated Ohio St. in overtime before falling to Louisville. My opinion changed once the lines came out a few hours later however. I expected Siena to be catching at least eight points against Purdue but the number came out anywhere between 3.5 and 4.5 depending on the shop. As of Tuesday morning, the number sits at 4 pretty much across the board and this is a huge overreaction to the Purdue situation. The Boilermakers lost Robbie Hummel for the season back on February 24th against Minnesota and he is no doubt a huge loss which likely takes Purdue out of making any sort of big run during this tournament. There was talk of a possible number one tournament seed before Hummel went down and his absence was definitely taken into consideration when these seedings were announced. It did not help that the Boilermakers lost to Minnesota by 27 points in the Big Ten Tournament but I still think the seeding is a spot lower than it should be. This is still a very solid team that returned four other starters from last season and it will be up to center/forward JaJuan Johnson to pick up the slack in the post. The frontcourt was thin to begin with and it is even thinner now but the matchup here should not matter much. The backcourt is loaded and this time of year, a solid backcourt is key to making a tournament run. E'Twaun Moore is the only double-digit scorer up top but the depth of the backcourt more than makes up for the lack of another viable scorer. Purdue has a 1.28 assist/turnover ratio and the top three guards are all hitting better than 72 percent from the free throw line, another huge advantage. Taking nothing away from what Siena did this season, but it is lucky to be here. It won in overtime over Fairfield in the MAAC Championship thanks to a big second half comeback and after two years of NCAA Tournament upsets, it will not be sneaking up on anyone. The Saints defeated no other notable team this season as it went 0-4 against other tournament teams. Siena is once again going to be a public choice but the value clearly lies on the favorite. 3* Purdue Boilermakers

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

IM FEIST COMP

(821) MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
(822) LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Take "(822) LOS ANGELES LAKERS"

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

RatedPicks

Xavier -1 2units
Georgia Tech +2 2units
Louisville +1 2Units
*BP* Temple -4 5Units *BP*

[Catherine]

Re: 3-19-10

FYI BIG AL WENT 0-9 ON THURSDAY!