11-24-10

[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.

note:
ALL PLAYS POSTED ARE UNCONFIRMED UNLESS YOU BUY THEM YOURSELF. THERE HAS BEEN SOME BAD INFO BEING PASSED AROUND LATELY, SO PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 11-24-10

Ben Burns

9* Minnesota Timberwolves +7

The Spurs enter this game on a major role. That's caused them to be laying quite a large number here. Off a big win vs. Orlando and with some "bigger" divisional games (Dallas and New Orleans) on deck, I feel that the Spurs' current winning streak could cause them to be a little 'complacent' here, particularly against a team which they have dominated in recent years. Note that the game against the Mavericks is a rematch from last season's playoffs and the game against the Hornets will feature the two teams which have gotten off to the best start in the Southwest. While the Spurs are currently undefeated on the road, note that they're still just 11-9 SU (10-9-1 ATS) their last 20 road games, dating back to last season. A closer look reveals that five of those victories came by single-digits. As for The T-Wolves, they've won three of their last five home games and are a respectable .500 here on the season. In six games here, they've only lost by more than 10 points once. True, the Wolves are off back to back losses and are just 3-5 overall the last weeks. Only one of those games resulted in a loss of greater than 10 points though - and that came against the Lakers, a team they'd already played tough (lost by 5 at LA) earlier. In other words, this is a team which has been more competitive than its record indicates. While they haven't beaten them outright in some time, the T-Wolves have still covered the spread in six of their last 11 home games vs. the Spurs. Two of the last four meetings here were decided by four points or less and I won't be surprised to see this one also come down to the wire.


10* San Jose Sharks

While I respect both these teams, I expect the Sharks to be the "hungrier" team tonight. You may recall that these teams faced each other in the Western Conference Finals last season. Even though the Sharks had the best record in the West during the regular season, they were swept in four games by the Hawks in the playoffs. As this is their first shot at the Hawks since, that means that they've had this game circled since the schedule came out. Additional motivation comes from the fact that the Sharks are off three straight losses and as they were shutout in their last game. The Sharks have now been shutout four times this season. In two of the previous three cases, they played their next game at home. In each of those cases, they responded with a 5-2 victory in their next game. After the Blues blanked them 2-0, they bounced back and beat Tampa Bay 5-2. Prior to that, after losing 4-0 to Calgary, they bounced back and beat the Devils by a 5-2 score. Neither team is particularly pleased with their start to this season. The Sharks experienced far less personnel turnover from last season though and I believe that they're much better equipped to deal with the Hawks than they were last season. The Sharks are 59-27 the past few seasons, when playing a home game with a total of 5.5. They're also 23-10 (+3.8) when coming off a loss by two or more goals. I expect them to bounce back here and earn a small measure of revenge from last spring's embarrassment.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 11-24-10

PPP/Gavazzi

College

3 Utah State -10
3 LaSalle +9
3 Virginia Commonwealth +4.5
3 Ball State +10.5

4 Michigan State +1.5
4 Kentucky -5

5 Loyola Marymount -3.5


NBA
4 New Jersey Nets +11.5

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 11-24-10

Larry Ness

College

8 Illinois-Chicago
8 Villanova
8 Ball State

NBA

7 Phoenix Suns
10 Orlando Magic