Thursday/Friday
We have games again today, finally. I am very impressed with the lineup over the next couple of days and am looking forward to seeing who ends up in Detroit for the Final Four.
Quick thoughts on my all Big East final four vs. what I think now after 32 games.
Originally, I picked Pitt over Louisville in the finals with UConn and Syracuse joining them in the final four. I did not go with UNC because I did not think Lawson would be effective. He is hurt, but he will be effective and in my eyes, they are the team to beat. With that said, they have the toughest 2, 3, 4 teams to get through. Uconn has been playing great, but at some point all of these off the court distractions catch up with them. Louisville is one bad shooting night from getting eliminated. You could say that about any team, but I feel it is more relevant because Louisville is not a great shooting team to begin with. You could say Pitt has struggled because they have had a tough time in their first two games. However, they won and OSU was a good team. I agree with B. Anthony on this and that they do enough to win and keep advancing.
I hope my final four is correct, but my gut says UNC over Uconn with Pitt and Kansas joining them in Detroit.
Thursday:
UCONN -6.5 vs. Purdue
I really like this game. Purdue has no size and will get killed inside. Hummel will absolutely disappear in this game.
VILLANOVA +2.5 vs. Duke
Both teams are playing well right now, specifically Duke with the insertion of Williams into the starting lineup and moving Scheyer to the point. I feel these teams are very similar; not a lot of size and a lot of guards that can hit the shots. I believe Villanova has better guards/shooters and the better inside post player in Dante Cunningham.
XAVIER +7 vs. Pitt
I think Pitt will put together a solid all around game and make a championship run, but it won’t happen here (next game vs. Nova). Xavier is very similar to Pitt, but Pitt does everything better. This game will be close, but Pitt wins. Fields is the difference in this game.
MIZZOU +4.5 vs. Memphis
This is tough game to handicap. I could see a Memphis win and cover, more likely than I can see a Missouri victory. But, I look at three things that point me to Mizzou.
1) Tyreke Evans. He is a freshman. Is he Derek Rose and somebody who can lead your team to the Finals? I don’t believe so. He is talented, but not lottery pick talented. He needs to be flawless in this game and I don’t think he will.
2) Memphis has struggled to score. They got a huge game from Sallie off the bench in their first game. He went for 35 and his average is 7. Without that, they were dead. The next game, Mack was hitting the three. Missouri plays good defense and Memphis will struggle to score.
3) Mike Anderson (coach of Missouri) is very familiar with Memphis from his days at UAB where he competed against them well.
Friday:
SYRACUSE +1 vs. Oklahoma
The orange win this game. The zone and their size down low will give Griffin trouble. Syracuse is on a roll now and will upset the best player in basketball.
GONZAGA +8.5 vs. Unc
Gonzaga has the players to run with Unc and will likely try. If they make their shots, they can win this game. Regardless of the outcome, I believe the game will be close.
KANSAS +1.5 vs. Michigan State
MSU beat up the Jayhawks earlier this season by guarding Collins and Cole and making the rest of their team beat them, which they could not. MSU has size and depth down low to challenge KU. However, Bill Self has shown tremendous resiliency against teams that previously beat him in the past. He won’t let Izzo get the best of him this time.
ARIZONA +9 vs. Louisville
Arizona has no depth and needs a near perfect game and 22+ points each from the big three to beat Louisville. They have little room for error. But as gamblers, we are not asking them to win, just cover. Arizona has shown that their offense is not the issue. They will be able to keep the game under double digits.
Good luck!
Money
Quick thoughts on my all Big East final four vs. what I think now after 32 games.
Originally, I picked Pitt over Louisville in the finals with UConn and Syracuse joining them in the final four. I did not go with UNC because I did not think Lawson would be effective. He is hurt, but he will be effective and in my eyes, they are the team to beat. With that said, they have the toughest 2, 3, 4 teams to get through. Uconn has been playing great, but at some point all of these off the court distractions catch up with them. Louisville is one bad shooting night from getting eliminated. You could say that about any team, but I feel it is more relevant because Louisville is not a great shooting team to begin with. You could say Pitt has struggled because they have had a tough time in their first two games. However, they won and OSU was a good team. I agree with B. Anthony on this and that they do enough to win and keep advancing.
I hope my final four is correct, but my gut says UNC over Uconn with Pitt and Kansas joining them in Detroit.
Thursday:
UCONN -6.5 vs. Purdue
I really like this game. Purdue has no size and will get killed inside. Hummel will absolutely disappear in this game.
VILLANOVA +2.5 vs. Duke
Both teams are playing well right now, specifically Duke with the insertion of Williams into the starting lineup and moving Scheyer to the point. I feel these teams are very similar; not a lot of size and a lot of guards that can hit the shots. I believe Villanova has better guards/shooters and the better inside post player in Dante Cunningham.
XAVIER +7 vs. Pitt
I think Pitt will put together a solid all around game and make a championship run, but it won’t happen here (next game vs. Nova). Xavier is very similar to Pitt, but Pitt does everything better. This game will be close, but Pitt wins. Fields is the difference in this game.
MIZZOU +4.5 vs. Memphis
This is tough game to handicap. I could see a Memphis win and cover, more likely than I can see a Missouri victory. But, I look at three things that point me to Mizzou.
1) Tyreke Evans. He is a freshman. Is he Derek Rose and somebody who can lead your team to the Finals? I don’t believe so. He is talented, but not lottery pick talented. He needs to be flawless in this game and I don’t think he will.
2) Memphis has struggled to score. They got a huge game from Sallie off the bench in their first game. He went for 35 and his average is 7. Without that, they were dead. The next game, Mack was hitting the three. Missouri plays good defense and Memphis will struggle to score.
3) Mike Anderson (coach of Missouri) is very familiar with Memphis from his days at UAB where he competed against them well.
Friday:
SYRACUSE +1 vs. Oklahoma
The orange win this game. The zone and their size down low will give Griffin trouble. Syracuse is on a roll now and will upset the best player in basketball.
GONZAGA +8.5 vs. Unc
Gonzaga has the players to run with Unc and will likely try. If they make their shots, they can win this game. Regardless of the outcome, I believe the game will be close.
KANSAS +1.5 vs. Michigan State
MSU beat up the Jayhawks earlier this season by guarding Collins and Cole and making the rest of their team beat them, which they could not. MSU has size and depth down low to challenge KU. However, Bill Self has shown tremendous resiliency against teams that previously beat him in the past. He won’t let Izzo get the best of him this time.
ARIZONA +9 vs. Louisville
Arizona has no depth and needs a near perfect game and 22+ points each from the big three to beat Louisville. They have little room for error. But as gamblers, we are not asking them to win, just cover. Arizona has shown that their offense is not the issue. They will be able to keep the game under double digits.
Good luck!
Money
posted by Money at 10:39 AM
1 Comments:
Money,
Nice work yesterday...a clean 4-0. Should I dare go anti-Money today since you're due for a couple L's?
Ryan Drew
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