Funny part is that with the Blazers wrapping things up i had a nice 4-1 night, but i'm upset about 1 stupid game. Hows the NBA treating you so far Lyon?
-
Comment -
Again, we're 12 days into the season... How can you possibly expect to take meaningful conclusions from such a small sample, let alone at the beginning of the season when virtually all teams are still sorting out their team. That being said, so far, teams are 1-3 in the second game of the B2B2B sets and 3-0-1 in the third game. Given the nature of the three games in this particular series I would think the Hawks care the most about the Heat and Bulls, making the sandwich game on the road against the Bobcats very problematic following 3OT. You can call that insignificant if you like...
And chill... Barkley hit the nail on the head tonight when he described the Hawks as a talent-filled teams of role players with no true leader / star player. Disappointment is the norm with them...
And why are you including Ivan Johnson in that list of disappointments? He made a name for himself tonight.Comment -
I said Ivan Johnson cause i thought it was sad that Atlanta was so hopeless that some totally unknown 27 year old rookie was the highlight of the game.
As for the winning b2b2b trend, i'm not making a conclusion and i do think the trend will even out. I'm just saying that plenty of people were going into the season thinking that angle is gold and its not, plus the books are ready for it.Comment -
I dont buy that either. Certainly have not seen stats and prove a difference between early part of the season and the end of it. The lines books give us balance all of these angles out imo.
If anything, i thought since there was no summer league, no training camp and almost no pre-season and all these teams were coming into the season out of shape, no conditioning, etc they'd have a hard time dealing with the schedule during the early part of the year.Comment -
Still though, stats dont reflect anything consistent. I've looked at 1st 2 months of seasons, last 2, etc. Dont see any real trend. There are certain specific teams that dont do well on b2bs but no overall trend. As always, unless you're developing some crazy involved complicated models, its best to go on a game by game basis imo.Comment -
i think with alot of these injuries early in the seaosn - even minor ones - that teams will opt to rest these key players instead of subject them to the grind.... which will ultimate save their asses later in the year - ergo Heat -
Alot of bench will see minutes and increase value as well -Comment -
No one was suggesting there was a particular edge to any angle across the board. If you take any one strategy that won over any period and expand it over a large sample, it evens out. Without context of the games affected, the data is worthless. However considering this season has the most condensed schedule in the modern era, we're really talking about a different animal here. Past season data is less applicable than ever before.Comment -
Pistons ML (+498) x0.5Comment -
1/8:
Blazers -10.5 (-102) x1Comment -
Good too see you back manComment -
The best part of one of those really bad days is that there is one of those really good days right around the corner. That's the good part about variance.
As solid a capper as you are, I would say a big week is on its way
Comment -
Thanks LTA. The kind words are much appreciated
Comment -
-
My NBA Championship Future on them is at +3989 but rose after that to over +4700 before closing around +3700 on XMas. I definitely regret not playing it a little more aggressively along with the WCF prop (which I didn't touch at all). The thing about them is that while we know exactly what the Thunder and Lakers are capable of, the Blazers are still in the process of jelling as a team. They haven't hit their ceiling yet, and they're hungry.Comment -
I just don't see the Blazers coming out of this west this year. They've shown similar signs in recent years of being a serious contender only to fall short in the end. And that was with a stud in Brandon Roy. I think barring any moves the current 1-2 will be OKC-Lakers respectively. I definitely don't see them coming out of a 7 game series vs OKC, Lakers and maybe even Spurs when Ginobli returns.Comment -
This Blazers team has a totally different identity than in previous seasons. Length and shot-blocking inside, and a quick-closing perimeter defense, all leading to a more effective fastbreak offense in which they have greater control over the game tempo.
The replacement of Brandon Roy with Jamal Crawford is at worst a wash, and IMO, an improvement. Roy is an elite shooter, but didn't fit as well into the new look of the Blazers team. Same goes for Felton replacing Miller, as Miller was not the outside threat that Felton is. In general, all of the big health concerns of the past (Fernandez, Roy, Pryzbilla) have been removed and replaced with a MUCH more durable team. The Blazers biggest issue in previous seasons was injuries, and now the only remaining player with a poor injury history is Greg Oden, and he's really more of a bonus if he gets effective minutes this year than a necessary component.
Too early to say for sure, as we're only 8 games in, but failing to respect how good this team is compared to previous years is a big mistake.Comment -
Agreed. I just have this nagging feeling that Denver will somehow letdown this year, and I can't quantify that in any way. I just still think Thuggets in the back of my mind when I see them going into a tough matchup, so I'll probably continue to bet them sparingly. I should probably just make a point of watching their next few games and my reservations would subside.Comment -
what do you think about them tomorrow against the clipps?
think it's a good spot for them with the revenge angle also.Comment -
1/10
Wizards -2 (-105) x1
Raptors hosting the Wolves tonight and then flying to Washington for their 4th game in 5 days against a Wizards team that needs a win badly. I think the Raptors get handled solidly here.Comment -
Agreed, however this could be a tough game as the Clippers have the inside presence to matchup with the Blazers, and Paul/Billups are so tough to manage on the perimeter. I don't know if I want to lay -5. I think it could come down a little.
I kind of like the Kings +10 tomorrow as well, following what i expect to be an intense game tonight for the Sixers.Comment -
I agree on the Wizards. Best chance to get their first win.Comment
