51-36-1 +33.20 units
Well, certainly an interesting evening Tuesday. I did hedge out of New Jersey and didn't take a bad juice hit but the fact was I had the right play. I rarely pull those sort of shenanigans and next time I try you guys will remember. I for years have been leery of ML's on short dogs for the exact reason of what happened tonight in Philadelphia. Ray came through huge with the two late three-pointers. Crushing loss for the Sixers who were in control with 3 minutes left. That one didn't make me mad, Houston made me mad. Without even knowing that Tyrus Thomas jacked up that moosing three pointer I would be mad. That just makes it even worse. I was watching on my phone and they were up fourteen with two and change left. I get on the ocmputer and the lead is 6 less than ninety seconds later. Tough pill to swallow but I would say that moment there was make up for the gift by the bay Monday night. In a predictable moment Denver had no fire playing against the Spurs B-team but luckily covered on a late shot.
No one said it is easy fellas and Tuesday night was a good smack in the face to get back to reality after a great stretch. So, we move on to Wednesday. First, saw a couple of questions in the Discussion Thread and will engage in them here.
Cogenman,
Between the local sports radio and the local forums its pretty bad. You have AI haters, AI lovers and a sheetload of MC(Michael Curry) haters. Its the same stuff over and over again. I will say this about Hamilton; he has done his job off bench and you can tell the old guard there rallies around him when he is in the game. Iverson is lost here but playing hard. The problem is with him here and Stuckey in lineup they need to play a more uptempo style. When they have they look very good and dangerous. Its tough to get Dice, Sheed and especially Prince used to playing uptempo. They are so ingrained. This team doesn't play to strengths and in all honesty who knows what they will show each night. Nice efforts against the two best teams at home but playing 36 good minutes doesn't cut it. No clue what to think tomorrow. Was tempted to play Miami but will sit out a few Detroit games to regain a feel.
Greencastle,
It was a thought of playing the moneyline in both Knicks remaining homegames this week. The Boston one sets up nice situationally. I decided against it though and may just play Friday solo. I think LeBron puts on a show tomorrow night in all honesty. Mo may want to show up bigger too so he gets that injury replacement spot over Ray Allen in Nelson's place.
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Lets move onto Wednesdays card. At this point I will have one play it looks like. Pretty busy tomorrow so I will re-evaluate when I have time in the afternoon. A few games where some movement may make me look again.
Dallas has been pretty hot as of late, winning three in a row since the debacle in Boston. This included a Sunshine state sweep which is pretty impressive. Sandwiched into there was their lone home game against the Warriors. The Blazers meanwhile have rolled off five straight wins. Now, the 5th obviously was aided by injury but they still pounded the boards and played a helluva 4th quarter offensively.
Scheduling: Portland hasn't played a B2B in three weeks. The scheduling has been pretty consistent for them. This is the middle of a interconference three game road trip then they have a nice easy schedule rolling into the all-star break. Dallas on the otherhand is in the middle of a not so favorable set-up. Four games out east and then the sunshine trip was backending the Golden State game at home. Mind you, they did have a few days off there but they travel to Utah for a game right after tonights. They basically have been living out of a bag for 7 days straight by the time they get back to Utah. The scheduling advantage here goes to Portland
Previous meeting: In Portland on Christmas night. The Mavs used a great 4th quarter to win 102-94. They outscored the Blazers by eleven in the final stanza. Roy struggled, Bayless wasn't playing back then and Oden was a non-factor.
Tonight: Portland is the better team in my opinion. I know I am not high on Dallas but they have shown me something. Oden, sans fouls the past few games was starting to round into form the previous five. Bayless is going to be an excellent player in the league. Love his game. He was instrumental in the win in New Orleans. Roy had down game in New Orleans so I expect him to bounce back.
Again, I said I personally believe Portland is better which means at best they should be getting 2 here. If they were even we are talking 3 to 3.5. Thats how I would evaluate it. I personally see in this situation, with these teams, with revenge a PK game. Gimme the 4 points. I would ML it too tomorrow if not scared off from tonight..lol. Blazers on the court 101-96
Portland +4 -110 3 units<!-- / message --><!-- / message -->
Well, certainly an interesting evening Tuesday. I did hedge out of New Jersey and didn't take a bad juice hit but the fact was I had the right play. I rarely pull those sort of shenanigans and next time I try you guys will remember. I for years have been leery of ML's on short dogs for the exact reason of what happened tonight in Philadelphia. Ray came through huge with the two late three-pointers. Crushing loss for the Sixers who were in control with 3 minutes left. That one didn't make me mad, Houston made me mad. Without even knowing that Tyrus Thomas jacked up that moosing three pointer I would be mad. That just makes it even worse. I was watching on my phone and they were up fourteen with two and change left. I get on the ocmputer and the lead is 6 less than ninety seconds later. Tough pill to swallow but I would say that moment there was make up for the gift by the bay Monday night. In a predictable moment Denver had no fire playing against the Spurs B-team but luckily covered on a late shot.
No one said it is easy fellas and Tuesday night was a good smack in the face to get back to reality after a great stretch. So, we move on to Wednesday. First, saw a couple of questions in the Discussion Thread and will engage in them here.
Cogenman,
Between the local sports radio and the local forums its pretty bad. You have AI haters, AI lovers and a sheetload of MC(Michael Curry) haters. Its the same stuff over and over again. I will say this about Hamilton; he has done his job off bench and you can tell the old guard there rallies around him when he is in the game. Iverson is lost here but playing hard. The problem is with him here and Stuckey in lineup they need to play a more uptempo style. When they have they look very good and dangerous. Its tough to get Dice, Sheed and especially Prince used to playing uptempo. They are so ingrained. This team doesn't play to strengths and in all honesty who knows what they will show each night. Nice efforts against the two best teams at home but playing 36 good minutes doesn't cut it. No clue what to think tomorrow. Was tempted to play Miami but will sit out a few Detroit games to regain a feel.
Greencastle,
It was a thought of playing the moneyline in both Knicks remaining homegames this week. The Boston one sets up nice situationally. I decided against it though and may just play Friday solo. I think LeBron puts on a show tomorrow night in all honesty. Mo may want to show up bigger too so he gets that injury replacement spot over Ray Allen in Nelson's place.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Lets move onto Wednesdays card. At this point I will have one play it looks like. Pretty busy tomorrow so I will re-evaluate when I have time in the afternoon. A few games where some movement may make me look again.
Dallas has been pretty hot as of late, winning three in a row since the debacle in Boston. This included a Sunshine state sweep which is pretty impressive. Sandwiched into there was their lone home game against the Warriors. The Blazers meanwhile have rolled off five straight wins. Now, the 5th obviously was aided by injury but they still pounded the boards and played a helluva 4th quarter offensively.
Scheduling: Portland hasn't played a B2B in three weeks. The scheduling has been pretty consistent for them. This is the middle of a interconference three game road trip then they have a nice easy schedule rolling into the all-star break. Dallas on the otherhand is in the middle of a not so favorable set-up. Four games out east and then the sunshine trip was backending the Golden State game at home. Mind you, they did have a few days off there but they travel to Utah for a game right after tonights. They basically have been living out of a bag for 7 days straight by the time they get back to Utah. The scheduling advantage here goes to Portland
Previous meeting: In Portland on Christmas night. The Mavs used a great 4th quarter to win 102-94. They outscored the Blazers by eleven in the final stanza. Roy struggled, Bayless wasn't playing back then and Oden was a non-factor.
Tonight: Portland is the better team in my opinion. I know I am not high on Dallas but they have shown me something. Oden, sans fouls the past few games was starting to round into form the previous five. Bayless is going to be an excellent player in the league. Love his game. He was instrumental in the win in New Orleans. Roy had down game in New Orleans so I expect him to bounce back.
Again, I said I personally believe Portland is better which means at best they should be getting 2 here. If they were even we are talking 3 to 3.5. Thats how I would evaluate it. I personally see in this situation, with these teams, with revenge a PK game. Gimme the 4 points. I would ML it too tomorrow if not scared off from tonight..lol. Blazers on the court 101-96
Portland +4 -110 3 units<!-- / message --><!-- / message -->
illow:
