I'll try and cobble some short writeups together before tipoff. LA Tech-SMC Under 142 (1.5 units) Utah State -7.5 (1 unit) Arkansas -18.5 (1 unit) Drexel +11.5(1 unit)
I'll add a few more as lines adjust.
As always, input is welcomed.
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To remove first post, remove entire topic.
Nice to have CBB back. It was a long offseason.
I'll try and cobble some short writeups together before tipoff. LA Tech-SMC Under 142 (1.5 units) Utah State -7.5 (1 unit) Arkansas -18.5 (1 unit) Drexel +11.5(1 unit)
In between classes right now. I'm just gonna spew out a bunch of random, scattered info. Typos galore... Openers
-ODU (wrongly) opened as a fave over Missouri State. It flipped before I had a chance to grab it, but I have MSU about 100 spots ahead of ODU in my power rankings. ODU home court isn't anything special. Won't play this unless it drops back to PK/-1
-Worst opener was South Alabama (-1) against Detroit. It's since been hammered all the way up to a more realistic -9. Take a look at the Titans roster right now. McCallum was easily (by miles) the best player in the Horizon and would have been a really good player at any high-major school. Minnerath (excellent stretch 4 and rebounder) and Doug Anderson (best dunker in the country) both graduated. Calliste, who would've been the new go-to guy, transferred unexpectedly. They'll put up some points just because of the tempo, but this is going to be a horrific defensive team.
-Utah State opened -6.5 against USC in a game I would comfortably play up to -9.5. The Trojans are getting hype simply based on Enfield's status as a media darling. Reality is, this is a team full of mismatched parts who just don't fit together as a unit. Haley and Howard are interesting additions, but you're asking a group that (a) hasn't played together, (b) with a new coach, and (c) totally different system to play its opener against a grizzled Aggie team at THE SPECTRUM? In the OPENER? Good luck.
-Everyone knows Saint Mary's lost Dellavedova to graduation. For my money, he's probably the most significant loss for any team in the country. Amazing floor leader, passer, scorer, initiator...ran the best pick-and-roll in the country. I can't even begin to quantify his absence. Giusti will step in at the PG spot, and I expect him to do a fine job in running the team. That said, he's .000001% of what Delly was as an initiator and leader. Of course, his first start at PG will come against a seasoned LA Tech team that plays a swarming brand of full-court pressing defense. The Bulldogs are deep in the backcourt and will have a major quickness advantage. That said, they'll likely struggle to score against an SMC defense that boasts tremendous size on the wings. Holt, Paige, Carter, and Levesque are all strong-bodied guards/wings whose height will present an issue for the smallish Tech lineup. Given the pressure LA Tech will apply, I suspect Randy Bennett will have a conservative, slow-it-down gameplan where the goal is to get across halfcourt and let things happen from there. Should be a somewhat fragmented game with a lot of awkward shots and contested jumpers.
-I expected to play SEMO, but they just suspended their two top frontcourt players (Stone and Johnson), the former of which is a popular pick for preseason OVC player of the year. Saint Louis loses Kwamain Mitchell, but I'm not convinced he ever returned to his pre-injury form. Bills are loaded again this year. Pass.
-Drexel should look 180 degrees different this year. Sure, much of the personnel is the same, but they get Chris Fouch back from a near season-long injury. His prolific shooting prowess changes literally EVERYTHING about the DU attack. Massenat and Lee played admirably in his absence last year, but the three-headed backcourt attack is going to be a problem in '13-14. No clue what to expect from UCLA. Alford could be a hit, but expectations are just freakishly high, and I don't like this current crop of players. They don't fit together. Gut says Bruiser mucks this one up and the Dragons hit enough shots - and play their standard bullying defense - to hang around for the full 40.
-I'll be on Oklahoma in a tease (+10.5). Both OU and 'Bama have serious question marks up and down the roster. This should be close one way or another.
-Weirdest game of the night: St. John's and Wisconsin. You would be hard-pressed to find two different types of rosters and playing styles. Flip a coin.
-Everyone loves Boise this year, and for good reason. But I'm always wary of teams unaccustomed to expectations who suddenly bear the weight of the world on their shoulders. UTA is no world-beater, but they're a pain in the behind to play against. Extremely disciplined defensively and they're going to force Boise to take even more jump shots than usual (amazing, considering Boise only shoots jumpers). I might hit this if it reaches 20+.
-Speaking of unpleasant, Arizona is in for a struggle against Cal Poly. The Mustangs play an unconvential style on both offense and defense. It's an excruciatingly slow pace and specializes in frustrating athletic and up-tempo teams (see: Arizona). Defensively, it's mainly a weird-looking 2-3 matchup zone that forces contested jumpers. They'll need to hit shots to hang around - and Arizona's depth should eventually be overwhelming - but don't be surprised to see something like a 28-24 halftime score here.
-Wofford probably pushes Georgia, but this should be a truly awful game. Terriers cover if they break 50?
-App State and NC State should be relatively entertaining. 'Pack might be better than many expect if frosh PG Anthony Barbour meets expectations. Offense will be explosive yet again, though the defense might be even worse than last year. App State D is a sieve, too, but Capel won't shy away from running, even against a more athletic 'Pack team.
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In between classes right now. I'm just gonna spew out a bunch of random, scattered info. Typos galore... Openers
-ODU (wrongly) opened as a fave over Missouri State. It flipped before I had a chance to grab it, but I have MSU about 100 spots ahead of ODU in my power rankings. ODU home court isn't anything special. Won't play this unless it drops back to PK/-1
-Worst opener was South Alabama (-1) against Detroit. It's since been hammered all the way up to a more realistic -9. Take a look at the Titans roster right now. McCallum was easily (by miles) the best player in the Horizon and would have been a really good player at any high-major school. Minnerath (excellent stretch 4 and rebounder) and Doug Anderson (best dunker in the country) both graduated. Calliste, who would've been the new go-to guy, transferred unexpectedly. They'll put up some points just because of the tempo, but this is going to be a horrific defensive team.
-Utah State opened -6.5 against USC in a game I would comfortably play up to -9.5. The Trojans are getting hype simply based on Enfield's status as a media darling. Reality is, this is a team full of mismatched parts who just don't fit together as a unit. Haley and Howard are interesting additions, but you're asking a group that (a) hasn't played together, (b) with a new coach, and (c) totally different system to play its opener against a grizzled Aggie team at THE SPECTRUM? In the OPENER? Good luck.
-Everyone knows Saint Mary's lost Dellavedova to graduation. For my money, he's probably the most significant loss for any team in the country. Amazing floor leader, passer, scorer, initiator...ran the best pick-and-roll in the country. I can't even begin to quantify his absence. Giusti will step in at the PG spot, and I expect him to do a fine job in running the team. That said, he's .000001% of what Delly was as an initiator and leader. Of course, his first start at PG will come against a seasoned LA Tech team that plays a swarming brand of full-court pressing defense. The Bulldogs are deep in the backcourt and will have a major quickness advantage. That said, they'll likely struggle to score against an SMC defense that boasts tremendous size on the wings. Holt, Paige, Carter, and Levesque are all strong-bodied guards/wings whose height will present an issue for the smallish Tech lineup. Given the pressure LA Tech will apply, I suspect Randy Bennett will have a conservative, slow-it-down gameplan where the goal is to get across halfcourt and let things happen from there. Should be a somewhat fragmented game with a lot of awkward shots and contested jumpers.
-I expected to play SEMO, but they just suspended their two top frontcourt players (Stone and Johnson), the former of which is a popular pick for preseason OVC player of the year. Saint Louis loses Kwamain Mitchell, but I'm not convinced he ever returned to his pre-injury form. Bills are loaded again this year. Pass.
-Drexel should look 180 degrees different this year. Sure, much of the personnel is the same, but they get Chris Fouch back from a near season-long injury. His prolific shooting prowess changes literally EVERYTHING about the DU attack. Massenat and Lee played admirably in his absence last year, but the three-headed backcourt attack is going to be a problem in '13-14. No clue what to expect from UCLA. Alford could be a hit, but expectations are just freakishly high, and I don't like this current crop of players. They don't fit together. Gut says Bruiser mucks this one up and the Dragons hit enough shots - and play their standard bullying defense - to hang around for the full 40.
-I'll be on Oklahoma in a tease (+10.5). Both OU and 'Bama have serious question marks up and down the roster. This should be close one way or another.
-Weirdest game of the night: St. John's and Wisconsin. You would be hard-pressed to find two different types of rosters and playing styles. Flip a coin.
-Everyone loves Boise this year, and for good reason. But I'm always wary of teams unaccustomed to expectations who suddenly bear the weight of the world on their shoulders. UTA is no world-beater, but they're a pain in the behind to play against. Extremely disciplined defensively and they're going to force Boise to take even more jump shots than usual (amazing, considering Boise only shoots jumpers). I might hit this if it reaches 20+.
-Speaking of unpleasant, Arizona is in for a struggle against Cal Poly. The Mustangs play an unconvential style on both offense and defense. It's an excruciatingly slow pace and specializes in frustrating athletic and up-tempo teams (see: Arizona). Defensively, it's mainly a weird-looking 2-3 matchup zone that forces contested jumpers. They'll need to hit shots to hang around - and Arizona's depth should eventually be overwhelming - but don't be surprised to see something like a 28-24 halftime score here.
-Wofford probably pushes Georgia, but this should be a truly awful game. Terriers cover if they break 50?
-App State and NC State should be relatively entertaining. 'Pack might be better than many expect if frosh PG Anthony Barbour meets expectations. Offense will be explosive yet again, though the defense might be even worse than last year. App State D is a sieve, too, but Capel won't shy away from running, even against a more athletic 'Pack team.
I'd imagine totals are high because books don't want to get burned with public pounding them because of the new rule changes.
This.
And I'm in the camp (probably a minority camp) which sees the rule changes as having a negligible impact on scoring. More fouls = more stoppages = less rhythm = less up-tempo basketball.
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Quote Originally Posted by TRoe15:
I'd imagine totals are high because books don't want to get burned with public pounding them because of the new rule changes.
This.
And I'm in the camp (probably a minority camp) which sees the rule changes as having a negligible impact on scoring. More fouls = more stoppages = less rhythm = less up-tempo basketball.
BOL. It takes a lot of heart to play an under with these new hand checking rules. Some of these exhibitions were real foulfests, although if you think about it, the totals are posted for every game. That did not happen last year until conference play. What do you make of that?
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BOL. It takes a lot of heart to play an under with these new hand checking rules. Some of these exhibitions were real foulfests, although if you think about it, the totals are posted for every game. That did not happen last year until conference play. What do you make of that?
And I'm in the camp (probably a minority camp) which sees the rule changes as having a negligible impact on scoring. More fouls = more stoppages = less rhythm = less up-tempo basketball.
Yeah I don't think it'll be nearly as profound as some people expect. Also, a lot of teams don't shoot free throws particularly well.
With you on the Johnnies/Wisco. Just completely contrasting styles, and it'll be interesting to see if Lavin can finally reign some of these guys in and play disciplined basketball. If not, we know what Ryan will do to them.
Uconn is getting a ton of hype, and rightfully so. Would you think they might be a good teaser option with UC Irvine?
Good luck as always Jfen.
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Quote Originally Posted by JFen31:
This.
And I'm in the camp (probably a minority camp) which sees the rule changes as having a negligible impact on scoring. More fouls = more stoppages = less rhythm = less up-tempo basketball.
Yeah I don't think it'll be nearly as profound as some people expect. Also, a lot of teams don't shoot free throws particularly well.
With you on the Johnnies/Wisco. Just completely contrasting styles, and it'll be interesting to see if Lavin can finally reign some of these guys in and play disciplined basketball. If not, we know what Ryan will do to them.
Uconn is getting a ton of hype, and rightfully so. Would you think they might be a good teaser option with UC Irvine?
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