Sports Cappers Picks

North Carolina is certainly nowhere the same team right now as they were a season ago. The Tar Heels lost a lot of firepower and experience, and replacing that is a lot of youth and inexperience. And that lack of experience has been quite evident in their first three games of the season. Carolina has turned the ball over an incredible 59 times which is a huge negative indicator for the Tar Heels. "We've got to stop turning the ball over," head coach Roy Williams said. "You've got to value the dadgum basketball. We have no chance in New York if we don't get some things changed quickly.”

Carolina will likely see quite a bit of zone tonight from Ohio St. And their turnover issues will be a huge problem because Carolina has not quite figured out how to play against a zone yet. "I don't think we're improving against the zone right now," Marcus Ginyard said. "There's no question we need to get better with the zone, our movement with the zone and continue to get the shot that we want."

Ohio St is the much more experienced team; seven juniors and seniors and no freshmen are among Ohio State's top nine players. The Buckeyes played in this tournament two years ago when they were extremely young. But they return tonight an experienced bunch. "Now, we've all played on the biggest stages," Jon Diebler said. "We've had big wins. We've been in the NCAA tournament. So we realize this is a great opportunity for us.”

Play OHIO ST ( + ).

These two teams match-up nicely for a high-scoring game. In their last two meetings, the Bulls and Lakers had point totals of 216 and 225. And with both teams playing with their full complement of players, tonight’s game should play-out just like the last two games have.

The Lakers welcome back Pau Gasol to their starting lineup. He’s missed the entire season, and the Lakers’ offensive production has definitely suffered without him on the floor. "His IQ," Kobe Bryant said. "His passing ability and the fact that he's a player that teams have to deal with. So that gives the opposition one more thing that they have to think about." With Gasol back, Lamar Odom will now come off the bench and ignite the second unit offense. "We're hopeful that it'll help the whole team," head coach Phil Jackson said. "Not only the move back to the bench, but when Odom comes in off the bench that he'll be a spark for us in both the first and third quarters when he goes in."

Chicago point guard Derrick Rose isn’t too happy with his recent play. But he’s looking to have a breakout game tonight. “This is the first time I feel like I'm not being aggressive. I'm playing terrible. I'm not going to the hole the way I used to. But it's gonna change tonight. I know that I'm gonna have to be aggressive from now on.''

Play OVER the total.

Miami is playing just about average football on offense so far this season. The Dolphins are averaging 24 points per game (versus teams that allow 21 ppg). Their strength is their running game (156 yards per game), but their passing game behind second-year quarterback Chad Henne is extremely weak. Henne is completing only 58.2% of his passes while averaging 166 yards on 6.2 yards per pass attempt (versus teams that allow 204 pypg, and 6.2 yppa).

But the Dolphins’ running game will face a stiff test tonight against a Panthers’ defensive line that has played well this year. Carolina has held four of their last six opponents to 94 rushing yards or less, and overall, their defensive rushing numbers are pretty good. They allow 128 rushing yards per game on 4.6 yards per rush (versus teams that average 4.4 ypr).

The Dolphins’ defense is very good against the run which is key when facing the solid ground attack of Carolina. They are allowing 98 rushing yards per game on just 3.7 yards per rush (versus teams that average 122 rypg on 4.3 ypr). Their secondary has been terrible as they allow 239 yards per game through the air on 7.7 yards per pass attempt (versus teams that average 6.9 yppa).

But the Dolphins are facing a weak Carolina passing attack under quarterback Jake Delhomme. He is a big step down in class for a Dolphins’ defense that has already faced Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady. The Panthers only throw for an average of 175 yards per game on 6.0 yards per pass attempt. Those numbers are extremely weak, and an indication that Carolina cannot take advantage of Miami’s defensive weakness of defending the pass. With both teams much better at running the ball, we’ll see a low-scoring game tonight.

Play UNDER the total.