Miami Heat – NBA Season Preview
The Heat are coming off losing to the Mavericks in 6 games in the finals last season, but they still won the Eastern Conference in the Big 3’s first season in South Beach.
Month: December 2011
Tigers vs. Tar Heels Betting Free pick
Texas is the favorite in this game, but lost 3 of their last 4 games of the season and their 2 leading rushers are banged up. On the other side of the coin Cal got over their slump in the middle part of the season and ended up winning 3 of their last 4 games.
Boston Celtics – NBA Season Preview
For the better part of the last decade, at the beginning of each season it was a foregone conclusion that the Boston Celtics would win the Atlantic Division and would be one of the top favorites to capture the Eastern Conference.
N.Y. Knicks – NBA Season Preview
The last time the New York Knicks won the Atlantic Division was in 1994 when they went on to win the Eastern Conference.
76ers – NBA Season Preview
The Philadelphia 76ers took a major step forward last season after managing to win just 27 games in 2009/2010.
Week 16 Waiver Wire
It’s Championship week for most of you – time to find some Waiver Wire Gold to put you over the top! There are some interesting names available in Fantasy leagues this week – none will be a catalyst for a Fantasy Title but they might just be solid enough to plug in and let your Studs do most of the work.
Categories
Butler v Gonzaga
It’s going to be a dogfight.
The Butler Bulldogs are searching for their first road win of the season and it won’t come easy against a Gonzaga Bulldogs squad that are 4-1 at home this season, and are coming off two consecutive wins including an 11-point victory over Arizona their last time out.
Date/Time: 9:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Venue: McCarthey Athletic Center, Spokane, Washington
Broadcast: ESPN2
Spread: Gonzaga -13.5
Over/Under: 134
It goes without saying that Butler just isn’t having a good year, and are by no means the team we have seen over the past two seasons. But Brad Stevens’ squad showed last Saturday that they aren’t going to quit and they aren’t going to back down or be intimidated.
After trailing for much of the game, the Bulldogs outscored the Purdue Boilermakers 32-19 in the second half en route to a narrow 67-65 victory a Conseco Fieldhouse.
Butler pushed hard and won the rebounding battle with 25 defensive boards and overwhelmed Purdue with threes for the win, shooting 43 percent.
Andrew Smith and Kameron Woods led all scoring against the Boilermakers with 12 points each.
As a team Butler is averaging 65.7 points and they are shooting just 39.1 percent, while defensively they are allowing 64 points and shooting 41.6 percent. The rank just 308 for offensive field goal percentage, shooting 38.1 percent.
That’s not going to make things easy against a Gonzaga squad that is shooting 44.9 percent while hitting an very good 70.2 percent from the foul line and nearly 40 percent from from three-point range so far this season.
Robert Sacre is averaging 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds, and along with Elias Harris, who was the high scorer for the Bulldogs with 25 points in their recent bout with the Wildcats, have helped Gonzaga to rebound after taking their first two losses of the season, to win their next two games and appear to once again be a force on the college basketball scene.
I see Gonzaga winning this one fairly easily, especially of Butler sends them to the charity strips on a regular basis. But if your betting the spread, it may be a lot closer than the 13.5 points their giving.
Free Pick: Gonzaga
NFL Game Previews – Miami Dolphins vs New England Patriots
The Miami Dolphins will try and play the role of spoiler when they face the New England Patriots this Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium in this AFC East clash. Kick-off is slated for 1 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on CBS.
NFC East Game Previews – Philadelphia Eagles vs Dallas Cowboys
The Philadelphia Eagles will try and keep their slim division title hopes alive this Saturday afternoon when they clash with the Dallas Cowboys at Cowboys Stadium in this crucial NFC East showdown.
New Orleans Hornets – NBA Season Preview
Well, all of the drama is over with, as New Orleans was finally were able to ship out disgruntled guard Chris Paul. While that likely means that the coming season will likely be one to forget, things are sure looking bright down the road.
Categories
UC Irvine v UCLA
The Anteaters who were picked to finish last in the preseason Big West poll, are 0-5 on the road this season, and will have to play lights out if they want to turn their season around with a win over a red-hot UCLA Bruins team on Tuesday at the at the L.A. Sports Arena.
Date/Time: 10:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, California
Broadcast: FSN Prime Ticket
Spread: OFF
Over/Under: OFF
Irvine had lost its first six games of the season before beating San Diego and Vanguard, but got right back on the skids falling to LSU and Wyoming in their last two.
The Anteaters have already fallen to a PAC-12 school–a 77-56 loss to Cal to open the 2011 campaign.
They are led by junior guard Daman Starring at 12.2 points per game, but it was junior forward Michael Wilder who stole the show in the loss to LSU, playing hard for the Anteaters with 19 points in 32 minutes, including 15 points in threes.
However, LSU overpowered the Eaters’ in free throw shooting and also got an edge in turnover margin to put it away.
Meanwhile, the Bruins have won three straight and are one game under .500 after having cruised to back-to-back victories by a combined 56 points.
Encouraged by coach Ben Howland to play a more zone defense lately, ULCA raced out to a 33-5 lead Saturday, in a 43-point romp of overmatched UC Davis at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.
The Bruins held UC Davis to 19-percent shooting in the first half, while center Josh Smith finally broke out to lead the team with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The Bruins have seemed to settle down after the dismissal of star forward Reeves Nelson left the team in turmoil, and will likely continue their dominance over UCI.
As a 15-point underdog, Irvine lost at UCLA 74-73 last season. The Anteaters cut a 13-point deficit down to a point with seven seconds to play and had the ball with a chance to win, but didn’t get a shot off as UCLA moved to 6-2 all time against their in state foe.
Free Pick: UCLA
L.A. Lakers – NBA Season Preview
The Los Angeles Lakers will enter the shortened 2011-12 season as the favorites for what feels like the fifth straight year. In this writer’s opinion, they may not even be the best team in Los Angeles after recent developments.
San Antonio Spurs – NBA Season Preview
There will always be those people that call San Antonio too old, but they have definitely added some young pieces this season. Two rookies that bring youthful legs look to energize this aging club. Cory Joseph out of Texas, and Kawhi Leonard from San Diego State.
Portland Trail Blazers – NBA Season Preview
The Blazers long odds got a lot longer recently when they learned that they would be without the services of star guard Brandon Roy. It was a sad day when he informed the organization, and the rest of the world that he would be forced to retire with degenerative knees.
Denver Nuggets – NBA Season Preview
It’s a new world for the Denver Nuggets. This will be the team’s first full season without Carmelo Anthony since the franchise drafted him back in 2003. But that doesn’t mean this team is short on quality talent though.
Belk Bowl – Louisville vs NC State
The Louisville Cardinals, out of the Big East will tangle with the ACC’s North Carolina State Wolfpack in this season’s Belk Bowl in Charlotte, NC.
