Geno's Picks for NCAA FINAL FOUR... don't be shy with the feedback...
Oh let’s end March on a high note people. Sure I had a bumpy 1-3 week last week but even with that proverbial hiccup, I am still 58% (14-10) ATS in college hoops and as long as you’re going to be gambling tonight, why not take a crack at these two picks. The cliff notes are below, but the vid is so worth the watch.
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Kentucky -8.5 vs. Louisville
Traveling to face the Kentucky Wildcats is a lot like traveling to Florida, the second you set foot down, you’re staring 80 right in the face. The Wildcats are not only averaging 88 points a game in the tourney but have beaten every opponent by double digits. With AP Player of the Year Anthony Davis and his 4.6 blocks a game and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist—who has many names as he does weapons—it’s easy to forget that when the year started it was Sophomore forward Terence Jones that everyone felt was the lock for a lottery pick. Now—much like the Midwesterners who won half a billion bucks last night—he’ll have to share the lottery with two other people in his backyard. Betting this battle for Kentucky is a lot like being a girl in that state—sure you’re attracted to the better shooter, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get into bed with his friend and after you do, you realize it’s not being a great shooter that makes you a man—it’s being able to stop a one that does. Rick Pitino’s defense—which has been holding opponents to 57.5 per game—keeps this one close and under.
LOU +8.5 and UNDER 136
Ohio State -2.5 vs Kansas
Last time these two teams faced each other in Lawrence on December 10, it was the rock and chalk of the Jayhawks that left the building with an impressive 11-point win but so much has changed since then. Since Thad Matta’s “come to God” meeting with the Buckeyes in late January, this team has been playing as well as anyone in the country as evidenced by Jared Sullinger’s 20.6 points per game and the incredible defensive play of Aaron Craft. Sullinger didn’t play in that last game and—while Kansas’s Tyshawn Taylor did—he too was banged up, so anyone expecting this game to remotely resemble their first meeting is in for a big shock. I look for Craft to take Tyshawn out of the game leaving the real match up between OSU’s big men Sullinger and Jeff Robinson which spells big trouble for Kansas as their big man underneath, Jeff Withey, has been playing less like a seven-foot Withey and more like a five-foot WHITE-Y. He has broken double digits in scoring just once all tourney as watching him play in March has been like watching Heather McCartney on Dancing With the Stars—either way you’re shouting “are they even using that extra foot?”
OSU -2.5
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/saHk8l6Q8UM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Kentucky -8.5 vs. Louisville
Traveling to face the Kentucky Wildcats is a lot like traveling to Florida, the second you set foot down, you’re staring 80 right in the face. The Wildcats are not only averaging 88 points a game in the tourney but have beaten every opponent by double digits. With AP Player of the Year Anthony Davis and his 4.6 blocks a game and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist—who has many names as he does weapons—it’s easy to forget that when the year started it was Sophomore forward Terence Jones that everyone felt was the lock for a lottery pick. Now—much like the Midwesterners who won half a billion bucks last night—he’ll have to share the lottery with two other people in his backyard. Betting this battle for Kentucky is a lot like being a girl in that state—sure you’re attracted to the better shooter, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get into bed with his friend and after you do, you realize it’s not being a great shooter that makes you a man—it’s being able to stop a one that does. Rick Pitino’s defense—which has been holding opponents to 57.5 per game—keeps this one close and under.
LOU +8.5 and UNDER 136
Ohio State -2.5 vs Kansas
Last time these two teams faced each other in Lawrence on December 10, it was the rock and chalk of the Jayhawks that left the building with an impressive 11-point win but so much has changed since then. Since Thad Matta’s “come to God” meeting with the Buckeyes in late January, this team has been playing as well as anyone in the country as evidenced by Jared Sullinger’s 20.6 points per game and the incredible defensive play of Aaron Craft. Sullinger didn’t play in that last game and—while Kansas’s Tyshawn Taylor did—he too was banged up, so anyone expecting this game to remotely resemble their first meeting is in for a big shock. I look for Craft to take Tyshawn out of the game leaving the real match up between OSU’s big men Sullinger and Jeff Robinson which spells big trouble for Kansas as their big man underneath, Jeff Withey, has been playing less like a seven-foot Withey and more like a five-foot WHITE-Y. He has broken double digits in scoring just once all tourney as watching him play in March has been like watching Heather McCartney on Dancing With the Stars—either way you’re shouting “are they even using that extra foot?”
OSU -2.5
