Somebody was sayin' somwhere on the sbr sub forums the other day that capping baseball requires looking into any which number of factors and they aren't always the same set of factors for each game, though a lot of games will share common denominator type factors. The point was made though that perhaps more than with any other sport, baseball requires a good amount of consideration with regards to certain intangibles that could effect performances of teams and/or certain key players. Some of these 'intangibles' may be quite publicly known and therefore perhaps more likely to have been considered into the line set by the oddsmaker for any given matchup, where other 'intangibles' may be more elusive and perhaps truer to the nameskae in all natural sense of the word. In college basketball, just for example, you cap a game for the visitors to cover and then discover at the last moment that it's seniors' night and the Southeast Missouri Redhawks have always made quite a big deal out of seniors' night and so I have to know, does a linesmaker generally write in to the number generating equation - an item such as seniors' night? We know home court would be worked into the line, but would the usual basketball figure for home court in terms of how many points get worked into the line, be augmented by any stretch to address the fact that its seniors' night at a certain court?

   Now that's a basketball example, sure, but tomorrow (Tuesday night) I'm looking at the San francisco game and I see they're hosting the Colorado Rockies and it will be Zito vs Hammel, but to tell you the truth I get absolutely nowhere in terms of making a decision about who I think might win when I put my energies into all the regular factors of school boy handicapping. Basically I can argue either side - kind of like high school debating class. I remeber a teacher telling me to research, prepare for and argue the side of a debate that had as its reolution that that federal reserve board should be in place (as opposed to being abolished) and when I said I'm not sure if I agreed with the pro side for which they would have me argue, they said it didn't matter - research it for the pro anyways - "it's good practice to argue what you don't believe in." lol, like some of the users on the forum where there's speculation that some are deliberate fades (sharps in reverse) - I know I can relate to that as I recently finished deliberately next to last in a baseball contest trying to go for the consolation, but I gotta wonder how many of you think as I say that that I'm just covering up the embarassment of what are actually and genuinely bad picks, by saying I'm trying to tank it. I can honestly assure people in my case it was the former and that I indeed was tanking for the consolation, but how can say there's an intangible to the San fransicsco Colorad o match up Tuesday night with out looking bad if it prevails that my point has nothing to do with the eventual outcome of the game whatsoever.

   My point is this - unlike most baseball games where a starting pitching matchup is only one of many factors considered when capping, I feel in tomorrow evening's case at AT&T Park, that indeed the pitching matchup is all one really need look to to help make a decision. Now I may be wrong about this - it wouldn't be the first time, lol, but I think Zito's getting more and more pumped as the season rolls along. I think he's starting to reconeect with the energy levels he experienced over the course of his 2002 Cy Young year. It was after the money flowed in when Zito got a little spun. I don't know his pre-baseball upbringing background in great detail, but he strikes me as someone with a profound blue collar style work ethic, and I know some people like that who get all screwy when they get a $1.00 an hour raise they feel like they have to work even more than the amount of work they were doing that made them eligible for the pay hike. And I really do think Zito did a little bit of that, pushing himself - trying-too-hard kinda action and it ended up effectig his pitching detrimentally instead of favorably. But now I think he's had the time to settle into a kind of thinking where everything fels right and the money is in tha bank and become kind of abstract - and he's back to simply going out and pitching for the love and naturalness of it.

   Colorado's been playing better within their own division than has San Francisco, but the Giants do hold a slight edge in defensive play. The Giants may be out to rack up some divisional wins in June on the way to the All-Star break and so which better team to begin doing so with than the Rockies.

   San Fran hasn't played this season versus Hammel (at least I think I have that right), but last year I think they beat him close in May and the beat him two times in short order by large convincing margins towards the fall of 2009. And the Rockies haven't had as much success vs Zito.

   If Colorado has a slight bull pen edge it may not mean much here if Zito pitches deep into the game. Also Zito is a lefty so hopefully we see ground balls getting vacuumed up by the SF fielders.

   Taking SF ml -135 at time of writing to win 1 unit

   bol all

   Checkerboard

This is my first NBA playoff blog, so my posted record or 'year-to-date' for post season action stands at 0-0-0. I have been doing well this post-season and felt it might be a good time to start posting some plays - but watch it because it seems as if when I'm doing well and I start posting my plays immediately go south. Seems to be some kind of natural law ...

   Speaking of natural law, name 1 player or person in the Utah organiztion that wants to go back to Denver for a game 7. Obviously no one would have any interest in such a trip. First of all The Jazz are aware that they could potentially have a 7 game series or two ahead of them and so here would prefer to end the current series at home in an expedient fashion so as to conserve energy for these future rounds by avoiding a game 7.

   Even though the Denver performance on Wednesday - with its 12 point margin of victory (I think I have that right) has kept the Jazz line down, I'm still going to go with the money line here instead of what currently and essentially represents a -4.5 line.

   Anthony was getting some team help in the mid-week's matchup - the scoring got spread around a little, and heading into this game both teams will be looking to make some adjustments. It will be important for Utah to exert themselves for a full game. Coach Sloan will no doubt try to fire up his team in an effort to get the enthusiam of each player up to an intensity that will match the anticipated 'avoid-elimination' intensity the Nuggets should be playing with - we'll see.

   The jazz also have a secret weapon and that is the ancient notion that they will be playing looser while the Nuggets sould seize up a little. Plus I don't think the Nuggets have the potential to come back in the second half again like they did in Wednesday's matchup. If the Jazz are up at the end of the first half - people will look at the Jazz as being prohibitive.

   I hope Nene's knee is going to be ok, but the hyperextension has to be considered as a plus if considering the home team here. Billups has talked about the idea that perhaps the pressure is back on the Jazz now - but I dunno, sell crazy someplace else -we're all stocked up here! as Jack Nicholson said. I mean i can see the point, but I just don't think it will convert into any kind of tangible pressure that would have the potential to keep the Jazz from closing out the series on Friday night.

   My play is Jazz ml bol all! (got it at the SBR Sportsbook Thursday p.m line of -210)

  Disappointedly, I report my inability to date to shake the .500 hundred bug, as my posted picks for cbb here at SBR are now at 7-7. This renders my blog contribution completely worthless in terms of following or fading as having done either would see one losing on juice. The best thing to do for anyone who may be reading this is to fade the losers and play the winners. (old saying: half my advertising dollar is a waste of money - if only I could figure out which half ...)

    The Dayton Flyers have to have the wind knocked out of their them after their loss to the Duqs over the weekend. They're not the greatest of road teams to begin with and going into the Owls' Nest is a recipe for inducement to throw the towel in on their season. They may not look like quitters tonight. They may put on a decent show - a respectable one ... but some mis-weaves have caught up with their season and the kids can feel it - the notion that it's not the most happening of seasons is now in them and with college kids who lack concept in abstract on-the-road, low esteem and doubt antidote, strength mustering skills, this state of mind does no make for the greatest of bus rides into the edifice of wisdom - the Owl's Nest.

    The Flyers strike me as one of those woulda coulda shoulda teams that have had one of those seasons where at this tim of year I look at the early lines for the next day and I see Dayton at Temple -3.5 and I think right away, "Take Temple, but wait! Didn't Dayton beat ...? Who was it that they beat in that game a while back where everybody underestimated them and they ... which team was that? Better look it up ... oh yeah, they beat Old Dominion, and almost beat Pittsburgh ... and look! holy sh*t they beat Georgia Tech and played Kansas State and Nova to close finishing scores, but they lost those ... mmmn ... " What I'm getting at here is that Dayton has had a kind of close but no cigar season and it's gotta be catching up with their psyche that it just ain't gonna happen for them this year and it's hard to play tough down in the paint and go the extra distance to snag a loose ball when you feel like you've already been giving it your all and for some reason this year it just hasn't been good enough. Like the myth of Sisyphus, it's going to be hard for them to dig down inside themdelves for yet another effort when all it's been getting them to date is close losses against some very good teams.

    So I want to take Temple but what might holdme back is that Dayton's record indicates they're to be watched out for because whst they've been doing is covering some spread against teams where one would be inclined to pick the favorite, but it doen't take long to pick up on these forums the idea that if you're taking a short dog, you should have the feeling that they could win outright - or in other words, ideally I don't lay money on a short dog to 'cover' even though I think they'll lose ... because that's how I think here and feel here with this one - that Dayton will lose this game and I also think they don't have as much gas in the tank or desire to play like the dickens to come up on the short end with yet another close cover against a good team. I see the game maybe starting perfunctorily close for a bit with the Owls pulling away rather early and then maintaining a slowly growing cushion to a 12 - 14 point or so win margin - at least in double digits anyways. And one more note, the Flyers are just a little over 7-5 league record, and with some of the wins against teams below them. Selection committee won't even have the word Dayton in their vocabulary come selection Sunday and these kids know it and it's got to trickle down into their play tonight - at least that's my take on it and I'm sticking to it, lol ...

   And the Owls! Do I need to even talk about them?! If Dayton has anything going for them it's their number 4 conference defense, but like that's gonna show up tonight and even if it somehow does, Owls will penetrate it enough to take a lead and the Flyers can't shoot very well from the arc and I really don't see any inspired effort in the paint so where would the catch-up come from? Johnson? Wright? Those guys aren't the leader types that inspire squads onwards and upwards. They're the reason why tonight the scoreboard at the end of the game won't read Dayton zero, but they are not going to marshall in a victory in this one ...

   Temple -3.5

   bol everybody!

   Checkerboard

   It's Lady Gaga Blackout night at the Dunk and I'm on the under 161.5 and I'm 7-6 now in my college basketball blog, coming off my double mountaineer fade for two units worth of Pass Go. Not a good idea to fade me or follow when I'm hovering just one win over .500. I should note that today's play and my year to date record is a reflection of how I've made out on my first 13 college side plays. Today is my first play on a total with regards to my college basketball SBR posted blog plays. The trends I saw tend to point to the over and also it's the highest total on the board if memory serves - too lazy to go look it up again. When I say the trend point to the under, I'm referring to stuff like the Friars being something like 7-2 on homecourt on overs, which makes me think that the game will go under here and the line's man is using some kind of reverse psychoology that may or may not work on some, but not on me sorry. 

   Vincent Council is reportedly having his hand xrayed after some play in practice, ouch, (one unconfirmed source said it might've had to do with a bar brawl? hmm, just how much is a coach responsible for activity like that? I don't care if it was or wasn't off court, but these kids need to show some focus.) Council may not play according to another unconfirmed source of which I have no way of knowing for sure as to its degree of reliability. If these sources are true, and that's a big if, they also cite that Vincent has the hand in a soft cast which will protect it temporarily until an MRI can be taken. Also I have a feeling the Orange will be looking ahead to their big matchup on Saturday versus the versus the Villanova Wildcats and this is the reason I don't trust the Orange to necessarily cover the pointspread and prefer to take the under here instead - we'll see how I do with my first posted blog cbb total play. 

   Keno hasn't exactly got the Friars playing the most disciplined fundamentals on the court either. He had Drake playing some defense, but hasn't seemed to be able to get the current Friars squad focused for a string of any real great, inspired hoops action.  This aspect of things scares me a bit as I'm on the under, but I see this as a type of match up where the Friars fall behind early and then kind of throw in the towel. I also see it as the type of game where, because of the Nova lookahead) the Orange see the Friars as a pushover hump game that will get played out for a perfunctory matchup.

   Schoolboy handicapping of the total using cross multiplication suggest the line should be something like around 151, a noticeble 10 points or so under the opening number for the total of 161.5. The Friars are a game over .500 at home this season and haven't fared much better than .400 play versus teams with solid records. If Providence shows up firing on all cylinders, then I could be wrong about this under - wouldn't be the first time, however I see that Friars are a better free throw shooting squad with a tendency for scrappy turnover type ball - which can often lead to an under type game. 

  Late unconfirmed source indicates Council practiced today but the're a lot of misinformation out there, so I don't know who to believe. Hopefully someone who might be in the know might be able to chime in and fill in the blank ... In the mean time ...

   I'm on the u 161.5

   Bol everybody! 

   Checkerboard

  My Blue Ridge double fade on both Mountaineer squads, taking Uconn over West Virginia and Elon in a second Monday Mountaineer Fade versus Appalachian State. There's a song by the Boomtown Rats with Bob Geldof, "I Don't Like Mondays" and that's what the Mountaineers will be singing after tomorrow following their respective battles with UConn (that would be the Marlinton Mountaineers, of West Virginia, take me home Mountain Mama to the place where I belong ... always think of Marlinton West Virginia when I hear that tune.)  Now careful here as my double fade may be worth fading in that my posted cbb blog picks are officially in the red by a margin of one sitting at 5-6 after the Minutemens' debacle yesterday afternoon.

   So Elon hosts the north division's top team in the standings, the Appalachian State Mountaineers at the Alumni Gym at 7 p.m. (rotation number 715 to fade or 716 to follow.) The Phoenix won their bracket buster over the weekend. ASU beat them in January by a healthy margin of around a couple of dozen points, so there may be s pumped home team lying in wait here for a good old-fashioned North Carolinian ambush by a revenge minded team with not many games left in there regular season out to prove something fresh off their bracket buster coup. Elon is .667 in its last half dozen contests and are just under .500 on home wood. The Mountaineers are not bad apples - weighing in at 17-11 with a smoky trail of bracket buster victory in behind their arrival in N.C.

   Elon beat Appalachian State in the contest representing the first ever time these two teams played each other in the mid 1930s. They won that game by 13 points. A little over a month ago this year, Appalachian state prevailed over Elon as mentioned earlier, but what I neglected to mention is that the Mountaineers are on a three game outright win streak where these two teams getting together as of late is concerned. The Phoenix are on a bit of a roll (for them) at 4-3 so far this month. They're also only a game back of the third spot in the standings so I'm sure they'd love to win here and see themselves advance. Don't forget about a week into February, they won against West Carolina - a game which turned out costing the Catamounts their place atop the standings. Elon is something like 6-1 when they score over 80, which I don't think they'll manage to do here, but the stat implies they can keep pace when the play is a little more openly paced, which plays somewhat into Appalachian State's style. Hopefully it's not too choppy a game for this reason and as well because the Mountaineers have shown themselves to be decent free throw shooters down the stretch. 

   In the other match up, I like UConn over West Virginia which is something you have to at least give me credit for being objective as I do like West Virginia as a squad, but feel they're in a bad spot here as I expect the Huskies to be focused and intent on playing 40 minutes of solid basketball. Let's face it Calhoun and the Huskies are going to be out looking for a win. Huskies' lackluster season to date has seen their dormancy or (doormatsiness) awakened by the return of Calhoun and the question was would they (if they) awaken stretching and yawning from their mid season slumber, or would their revive level of consciousness rise from the flames with a vengeance? The wins over Nova and the Knights say enough for me. In fact I think they speak volumes about how this team has regrouped - and now have a chance to take on a high profile nationally respected squad like the Mountaineers. I think they'll be out to prove something here. 

   True the visiting team here has to be aware of their foe's situation and desire for a win, but knowing something doesn't necessarily mean you'll be ready for it in terms of handling that extra edge of desparation a squad with so few chances left to impress people for a tournament spot will show when push comes to shove. I think the Huskies will be playing with near-tournament style energy and that pitch of play is something that may catch the Mountaineers off guard.

  My 2 plays are Elon +4.5 and UConn +2

  bol everybody!

  Checkerboard

  





·

 My college basketball blog record year to date stands at 6-6, so this remains a fade-free zone because if you fade a .500 win percentage you lose on juice of course. I'll have to put a few more wins together (or losses) before my blog posts can prove to be of any assistance to anyone. JJ Gold says don't be a quitter, so even though I've been 'not happening' with blog picks, I won't 'throw in the towel' as JJ says in his video. Did anyone else see that one? It's one of JJ's better videos in my humble opinion. More to the point maybe, is the re-asking of a question I asked a few blogs back - but didn't hear back from anybody on and that is the question whether or not anyone reads these blogs - I have yet to get a post-back (not that I need that, just curious that's all.)

  OK, so the Saint Louis Billikens are most likely on the bus as I write this and sometime soon will be slinking into town  to play UMass at the Mullins Center on what is now today, but only just as I write this in the wee hours. At this point in the regular season capping has to at least consider seeding and the jostling that goes on in the standings of some divisions after a day's worth of games. St Louis comes in playing some really inspired hoops as of late - so I would have thought this line to be a little higher, but what do I know ... everybody's talking about how the lines are gwetting sharper by the day and if they're all right thaen perhaps this line is right on, but it feels to me like there's a slight tax on playing the Billikens, so strike one against them, but not in itself enough a reason to make a play on them - so let's look a little deeper and see if we find anything to support the hypothesis that Umass might be a good play (btw the line is -1.5 currently, so at this point the money line play seems reasonable enough to me for ensuring I don't get burned bu the hook down low in the pick'em range.

  There's a promo going on at Mullins for this game Kids' Day which should beef up the home town attendance and support. The Minutemen are something like 5 wins under .500 on the season to date, in 10th place - sporting a losing A10 conference record of a 1:3 ratio or thereabouts. In other words they don't make me drool with regards to wagering on them - whereas St Louis is kinda appetizing (more on this in a sec.) So why is the less appetizing proposition favored over the lesser enticing one - the team that comes in having prevailed victoriously in their last straight string of five match ups? It might be because in a lot of there recent games the Billikens have been falling behind for spells only to come back, but maybe it's felt here by the lineman that The UMass defense might be able to keep the Billikens from coming back should they fall behind early as has been there custom to some degree as of late.St.Louis is fourth or thereabouts in the A 10, and again even more appetizingly, they're 5 games over .500 in conference win percentage with eight wins and three losses. So Wy not take them?! Hmmm ...

  UMass lost a George Washington last hump day with Harris having a notably poor day in relation to his average play per game this season to date. So for the Minutemen to pull out a win and/or cover over St Louis today, Harris would have to pull up his socks a little from his last outing. Game should be on radio link on Massachusetts Biz Radio (http://www.wbix.com) or hopefully on a tv stream for those that don't have cable packages or access but like to follow their action in a play by play fashion. Harris's not so personally hot day mid-week past was more of what I believe to have been a speed bump in the course of some pretty solid play leading to his call for A 10 POW - I mean just look at some of the games - 32 points versus The Rhode Island Rams early this month and the around 30 points again at Duquesne just before Valentine's Day and then on Valentine's around 30 again in action against St Jo's. All through there he's shooting something like 50% from the floor for one of the highest scoring averages in the A 10 (I think he's second right now.)

  But it's not just Harris, the Minutemen can spread the scoring around and I look for them to have an inspired day and be on their toes and ready to go especially since the Billikens are coming in on a hot note and UMass had the mid-week loss.

  My play on Masachusetts Minutemen ml -120

  bol everybody!

  Checkerboard

•

 My college basketball blog record year to date stands at 6-5, so don't fade me yet, lol ... My Wednesday night bet ticket reads Northwestern Wildcats -3 because they are not only going to beat the Iowa Hawkeyes at the Carver-Hawkeye arens tonight, but they will also cover the magic basketball number of three as well - in my humble opinion. Tip goes off at a little past 7:30 EST and the rotation number for followers of my play is 775 and for faders it would be add 1, or 776. The Aaron Fuller led Hawkeyes will be hoping to benefit from some mid-week hump day fan support ensuring a true home court advantage as opposed to a theoretical one with an arena capacity of a little over 15,000 they should have some noise going from time to time, but perhaps not so much if Northwestern can jump out to an early lead - the kind of start that has the habit of quieting down the raunchy student fan base that turns out for a mid-week contest. It won't be the type of homecourt advantage a team like Iowa is wont to enjoy under the Friday night lights, though and here's the kicker ... the Northwestern Wildcats are 7-1 against the lines man's number in their last 8 road match ups. 

    Iowa tried to slink back into town after losing their last four, a recent series of performances with outcomes that have definitely left something in the nature of an improvement to be desired, but can a team win (or in this case snap a four game losing streak) just because they may want to? I mean if the Hawkeyes are in a funk and they return home for a Friday or Saturday night game then maybe you have something leading to a play on the home team catching a few points. But here you have a team in a funk that's playing on hump day on their own court with students who may want to support their team simply not being able to turn out in numbers resembling that which they would muster for a weekend game. And the bus coming into town with the Northwestern Wildcats aboard will be racing on in to a screeching halt with the hydraulic pump of the bus door opening at the terminal to let loose a pride of hoopsters intent on keeping their five game win streak alive and well.

   The Hawkeyes will probably try to get a little downtown shooting going (they were something 8 for 20 from the 3-point range on Suday in their 10 point margin loss at Columbus on Sunday visiting the Buckeyes. In that matchup the Buckeyes shot something ridiculously close to 90% from the free throw line, so I expect The Hawkeyes to be a little foul weary and thus play with a little less edge than they might normally which bodes well for Northwestern. Although true that Iowa is a decent rebounding team, coach Lickliter (who I've always liked as a coach) talked after the Buckeye game about the notion of his charges needing to focus on playing a full 40 minutes of basketball - especially in consideation of the caliber of teams thet have been playing of late.

   In the last little while, some noteworthy results involving Northwestern are their win over Purdue but their mid-Janaury loss to Ohio State as well - by 20 points. Hopefully some purple people fan support will trek in to take up some of the hump day empty seats so the Wildcats can enjoy a little home away from home traveling roadshow fan support - even a little bit of that can make all the difference. Northwestern coach Bill Carmody has shared that he's very conscious of how little margin there is for error when playing on the road, so I expect him to have his team focused and ready to put in a good solid 40 minutes, something that Lickliter is trying to get his club to accomplish.

  Northwestern have been killing it against the number as of late,  just 3 losses ATS in their last 16.

  Northwestern Wildcats -3

  bol everybody

  Checkerboard

  My cbb blog 6-4 now which is 60% so this remains a fade-free zone for the time being, albeit the winning record is a small sample, lol ... Tomoroow on Sunday February 7th, The St Peter's Peacocks will play host to the Canisius Golden Griffins at the Victor Yanitelli Recreation Life Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Game tip time is scheduled to go off for noon eastern standard time, so don't sleep in and get your chili con carne under way while this game is playing out so that it 's ready for the Super Bowl! Right now SBR Odds has the Peacocks posted as 5.5 to 6 point favorites depending upon which book's line you're looking at and I'll lay the 6 here for posting purposes because although I actually played five and a half I don't think I'll need the hay, and I certainly didn't buy it here.

  Ok i made good coin fading the Peacocks versus the Stags the other night. They struggled with turnovers in that one and the shooting of some of their go to players left something to be desired. Basically a somewhat uninspired performance with part of the problem being the Stags' Needham's class in how to have a great day on the hardwood 101. Canisius holds an edge here in average points per game scored, but in my opinion have had an arguably easier schedule than their hosting foes here. They also generally perform better in scoring field goal percentage as well as boasting a slightly higher free throw percentage. To counter this hopefully the Peacocks can take advantage of their rebounding and turnover edge to kind of cancel out whatever scoring quotas the Golden Griffins experience derivative of their play capability assets. 

  After the physical match up with the gigantic Stags team, the Peacocks play might induce some early fouls so it's good to note that St Peter's does have what I consider to be a notably superior contributor to team's playing results. I didn't know this, but it looks as if Canisius has problems covering on Sundays. They're something like 5 and 15 against the number on Sundays, maybe because they think it's a day of rest, lol! Meanwhile the Peacocks boast a proud 70% record over their last 10 Sunday games against the spread. Though these numbers can not or perhaps I should say, 'should not' be construed in any manner whatsover as having anything to do with this Sundays game and it outcome. Naturally there is no direct correlation between to separate sporting events. I do however feel that these are just kids after all and as such they can be susceptible to favoring certain days over others, They haven' taken on the degree of professionalism required by say an NBA player to keep pace even when it's tough to do so.

  On the 24th St Peter's Peacocks prevailed over Canisius on Golden Griffins court by a final score of 68-55, a game in which they were catching 4.5 points so they prevailed as a road dog both outright and against the number. You have to back a few years to find a result where Canisius came into the Peacocks' court. In their early February contest versus the Manhattan Jaspers the Peacocks looked very fine indeed basically laying a good drubbing on the squad from New York.

  I'm taking the St Peter's Peacocks -6 (5.5 is available but not as widely as the six at the time of this writing,don't want to post a number that no one cand get at.

  bol everybody

  CB

  My cbb blog record is now 5-4. Kent State is on a bit of a roll lately. They just beat Western Michigan with a buzzer beater. The score was 74-73. They play on Monday night with a record of 14-7 over all and a four game win streak on the line. Their opponent will be the Northern Illinois Huskies who sport a year to date over all win loss record of 8-11. The game tips at 7 o'clock EST at the M.A.C. Center. 

   The Golden Flashes have been playing .750 hoops over their last dozen contests. I just saw Sherman's shot on YouTube - the one that put the nail in Western Michigan's coffin last time out on the weekend. It was a totally happening dunk, but maybe more important than making the highlight reel, he got his team even more pumped than they already have been as of late. I mean if they won by 10, I don't think they would be going into tonight's match with as much of that young athletic energy that comes from exciting finishes like the one they experienced on Saturday. I bet they've been thinking of basketball and itching to hit the hardwood all day long yesterday on Sunday.

   Singletary's been marshaling the KSU points on a consistent basis whether he scores them himself or not, but he's good for twenty score tonight if not more in my opinion. On the other side of the court Northern Illinois will be trying to snap a three game losing streak. While KSU was busy taking care of WMU business on Saturday, Northern Illinois were not making out as well, losing to Buffalo by a score of 95-83. Silas is the man the Golden Flashes will want to be covering as he is one of the highest average scorers per game in the league if not the best last time I checked.

    The question in this one seems to me to be who can man Silas? Or will they use zone? It might be best to use zone and let Silas break coverage and score when he can, because the others are well guarded leaving him relatively free to make his shots, then you make it more of a one man show. I've seen teams do this with some success when their opponent is a team that's got an outstanding talent. It's almost as if you say, 'ok, look we can't stop the guy from scoring so we'll try to slow him down with zone and let him have his baskets as he can make them within that context ... while, and here's the game plan ... while we return the favor back at the other end of the court - trying as a team to outscore their comprised socring of a main guy and his squad.

    Kent State is well enough coached to bring Saturday's momentum into this match up and I think Northern Illinois is coming in on too much of a downswing to keep pace with the Golden Flashes here. One thing that bugs me a little here is chool boy handicapping says that if the Huskies beat WMU comfortably by 10 in January and the Golden Flashes had trouble taking their match up with the same team down to the wire with a buzzer beater, that via the wisdom of common opponent performance comparison the winning arrow would point towards a play on Northern Illinois perhaps to at least cover. Vut I'm going to wave this thought off for the momentum reasons I mentioned earlier. The Huskies were also on a nice run of their own previous to this skid they've found themselves on as of late, but they can want to end the skid as much as anything, doesn't mean they're going to be able to.

   So bring on the red and black attack, I think the Flashes will be ready and good to go for the cover anticipating a winning margin a just shy of around 17 or covering the number with a couple of baskets to spare.

   Kent State -13

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  I'm on the Manhattan Jaspers today this Sunday afternoon January 31st. I prefer to take the dog and the points versus St Peters. My cbb blog's year to date record is 5-3 so don't fade me yet because although it's a small blog posted sample, 5-3 is just under 63% which is good wagering percentage last time I checked laugh out loud. Broadway boogie woogie crosses the Hudson via Pelham to Jersey to take on the Peacocks - this game will be broadcast nation wide courtesy of ESPNU with the rotation number for a play on Manhattan being number eight hundred and forty-nine along with a scheduled tip time of 2 o'clock p.m. eastern standard time.

  As the NYC crew slinks on in via Pelham, they'll be bringing with them a not so enticing 7-14 win loss record over all and to make backing them even more distasteful, their road record boasts three wins and a few losses, well, nine to be precise, but hey, who's counting anyways? The point is that at a quick glance it really doesn't look like a very good idea to make a play on the Dutch bankers, until that is, that one looks a little deeper at this matchup and some of its intangibles. First of all, St Peter's is only one game above .500 at home and that's nothing to write home about, forgive the pun. Also their win loss record over all may be 12-9 but look at some of the soft teams they played early on and you may get thinking that the Peacocks are really just a .500 team at best. I mean, in January, they've only managed to beat  Niagara twice, Loyola Maryland (at St Peter's) and Canisius and Rider amd lost to, you guessed it Manhattan (in Manhattan) by a score of 76-53 for the Jaspars.

  So St Peters will be out for home and home revenge. Ahh, how sweet it will be to lay a thumping on the team that smeared their January record with its inaugural loss of just a pair of defeats, the other shortfall coming at the hands of the Siena Saints in the Peacocks' most recent effort losing by eight at home to Siena with St Peters hosting. So you lose at home in your last game and now you have a team coming in that beat you on their court earlier this month and you mix that peanut butter and chocolate together and you get an ass whooping to end all ass whoopings right? And the line maker has to put the game at 5.5 because Manhattan could have their number right? This is like one of those games ok where to place a wager you have to figure out which of two very feasible scenarios will play out. Either St Peter's is gonna look like the Globetrotters or Manhattan's gonna take'em to a lane way off the Deuce.

  One thing's for sure, the Yantelli Center's gonna be hopping for a good old-fashioned Sunday afternoon George Washington Bridge rivalry. Manhattan's lost like seven in a row or something like that don't quote me on it, but why only getting 5.5? Is the book telling us the revenge factor is for real? Let's say earlier this month St Peter's won by a buzzer beater in Manhattan, what would the pointspread then befor this one? 8? Are we getting value on a St Peter's play just because Manhattan beat them in NY? Wouldn't JP think "yeah but that was in NY" anyways? Without the help of the line maker's lean? I think so and that's why I'll be on the Jaspers.

  Manhattan better average points per game, better fg%, better free throw%, better thieves (steals), less lucky. But do they need luck when they play St Peter's. Was the win in Manhattan a fluke or does Manhattan simply match up well with the Peacocks? Sometimes a team has an achilles heal where they have an awesome season and by the end of the year you look back over the schedule and you're left scratching your head at the three losses they experienced over the course of the season to a more lowly team. And then also those lowly teams get up for the re-matches sometimes, "... hell yeah we beat 'em three week ago at our house now let's go get 'em in their house too why not?! We're up for the challenge, bring it Peacocks!"

  I will post now with the plus 5.5 if you want to follow wait and see if you can get more, but I'm posting the line that's available now and that's the line that will go in my record win or lock.

  My play is on Manhattan Jaspers + 5.5 

  bol everybody!

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