AC TITTICOCK'S WEEKLY FREE NBA BASKETBALL PICKS AND WINNERS

Contact AC at ac@wagercom.com or post your questions/comments on the Wagercom Message Board

Read AC's Bio

1/07/04 Week 10 NBA Picks

AC's outlook on the NBA is an entertaining original column featured here at Wagercom. If you are prone to NBA betting or even just an NBA fan, make sure you come back often to read his articles and free NBA Basketball picks against the spread. AC will be providing us with a weekly outlook during the basketball season including free NBA Basketball picks on some of the weekend games each Friday and Saturday.

Our NBA expert AC wrapped up the 2003-2004 NBA betting season with a 51% winning percentage against the spread on his basketball picks after 190 games and has greatly improved that to a 61% winning percentage against the spread so far this season.

However, there are still some questions I can’t figure out answers to, questions that may boggle minds for years like others did such as the riddle of the sphinx http://www.dreamscape.com/morgana/pasiphae.htm, Fermat’s last theorem http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FermatsLastTheorem.html, and how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop (364 according to these Purdue buttmunches http://www.tootsie.com/memoriesLicksMachine.html). So in this week’s column, I will explore 5 questions that frankly I don’t know the answers to. I will try to make intelligent guesses but can’t promise I will be right.

Is Larry Hughes a franchise player, selfish scorer, or classic good player on a bad team?

I tell you, I just can’t figure Larry Hughes out. He left college early after tearing things up in St. Louis but has been already traded twice in 7 years and has yet to turn 26. He averaged 18 and 20 points over the last 2 years in addition to over 5 assists and 5 rebounds a game and now he is on a streak where he has averaged ~30 points over the last 5 games. I saw him tear up the Celtics last week, running the team, going 6 of 6 from three, and being unstoppable driving to the hoop. It was the best performance I have seen by any player all year. That said, it’s Larry Hughes. He has been like a better version of Jamal Crawford for the past 7 years. A shoot first, shoot second, shoot third kind of player with little defensive intensity. I don’t know what has gotten into him but he is averaging a whopping 2.9 steal per game, 20% more than the next closest player. So tell me, has Hughes turned the corner? Is he a franchise player? Or is this just a good player on a hot streak? I don’t know, but I’d love to have him on my team and see what he could do if he were playing with a big man. I would deal Paul Pierce for him straight up, and yes I just said that with a straight face.

Is Seattle for real?

No way, I just can’t believe that Seattle can keep this up especially as they have no big men, and don’t give me that Danny Fortson crap. Seriously, they are starting some guy named Reggie Evans (no relation to JJ) at center who apparently went to Iowa and I can tell you as a close follower of the Big Ten, I have never heard of this guy. They’ve had a fairly easy schedule to date, yet 23-8 is no small feat. I thought they would have cooled off by now but they haven’t, so what am I missing? Basically, if Ray Allen is on, they win, if not they lose. Do I expect Allen to keep doing this? No. Do I expect Seattle to keep this up when teams start playing with intensity? No way. That said I’ve been wrong about them so far, so I am willing to give them a longer look.

Can New Orleans really be this bad?

Hmm, let’s see, not only can I not name their starting 5, but I can’t even tell you their nickname. Is it the Hornets or the Bobcats? I really have no idea. That said, I just looked it up and they are now rolling out Bad Attitude Baron (I pity the fool that tries to cover him), Rodney “I ate New Orleans” Rogers, PJ “98 years old” Brown, High schooler JR Smith (not to be confused with fellow high schooler Josh Smith on the Hawks, and no I don’t know the difference but neither does Mrs. Smith), and the immortal Lee Nailon. Little known fact, Lee Nailon has actually never passed the ball in his 5 year career. He averages under one assist a game and those come from him dribbling the ball off of his foot to another teammate. So all of this said, is this a 2-28 team? Is that possible? Couldn’t Yatta (http://www.urbandictionary.com/images.php?imageid=4971) go 2-28 in the watered down NBA? I don’t know, with all of the parity and crappy players I can’t imagine a team could be this bad, I mean even Dan “That gonorrhea made my” Dickau has stepped up for them lately (actually, that’s probably a bad thing). I think they break out of this and win 15-20 games, but then again, I could be wrong.

Is Ricky Davis a guy you want on your team?

On the bright side, Ricky gives the same effort every night, is always enthusiastic on the court and the bench, cheers on his teammates, and generally looks like he has fun playing the game. That said, it’s not clear he always wants to win. He likes to dunk, he likes to talk, he likes run the court. If the Celtics were 0-29, I don’t think he’d care, and that is the crux of the problem. He can score almost whenever he wants, has a very high basketball IQ and feel for the game, and plays solid defense when needed. He is unselfish and fun to watch but I think the issue is that he approaches every game like he is on the And1 tour facing off against Spider and Escalade. He wants to make the exciting pass or dunk, let the other team score, and run right back up the court and try again. So you have a talented player who doesn’t mail it in (unlike Pierce) yet doesn’t seem to care about winning, so what do you do with him? I don’t know, I think you have to get rid of him as you need intensity to win but maybe in the right situation, he can be what puts a team over the top.

Is Reggie Miller an alien?

Just think about it. He is 136 years old, has a head that is a little too oblong for his body like the aliens in the movies (or Sam Cassell, take your pick), and in this day of steroids and performance enhancing drugs has a physique that rivals Olive Oyl. It is amazing what this guy continues to do, especially given the fact that I thought he retired 15 years ago with Chuck Person. So I ask you, is he human or did he come down in one of those ships in Roswell, NM in July of 1947?

After reading this, if any you have definitive proof of answers to these questions, drop me a line and maybe we’ll drop a Wagercom.com hat your way. As an aside, you’re all winning free money off of us so how about dropping a few bucks for one of our snazzy hats? The Professor of the Professor’s Corner (A must read if you haven’t already, his thesis on chronology has changed the field dramatically) sports his Wagercom.com visor around LA and has claimed it is an aphrodisiac for the ladies that make ruphies seem like placebos.

On to Friday's Free NBA Picks:

Miami at Portland +7:

Who is going to cover Shaq? No really, who is going to cover him? I don’t know, but Zach Randolph will destroy my boy Udonis. The Blazers will lose but I think it will be by 6. Take the Blazers and hope they can all stay out of jail before tip off.

Houston +3 at LA Lakers:

What’s the difference between McGrady and Kobe? One year and one rape charge. Seriously, these guys are the same player. They love to throw it up, bitch about their teammates (McGrady wanted to be on a winning team so cried his way out of Orlando, how’d that work moron?), and when they are on, they are unguardable. Tonight in LA, McGrady is going to remind everyone of this. The Rockets have actually been playing well lately. Take the points and hope Odom remains in hibernation.

Philadelphia at Minnesota -9:

The Wolves have not been playing well and Philly has. There’s a phrase for this us mafamaticians like to use, it’s called reversion to the mean http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ReversiontotheMean.html. Take the Wolves and hope someone other than Garnett steps up.

New Orleans at Memphis Over 183:

Pau Gasol is going for 63 by himself so as long as the rest of the players show up, they should hit 183.

On to Saturday Night’s Picks:

0-4 last night, just despicable and I apologize to all of you for that (and no DJ did not make my picks, that was me, ugh). Minnesota at home -9 against an Iverson-less Sixers and they only win by 5? Are you kidding me? If that game wasn’t fixed than the whole Wolves team needs to be demoted by the NBA. Also, I had over 183 in the Memphis and New Orleans game and they combined for 136 points through 3, so they just needed to combine for 47 in the fourth, which should be easy in the NBA but noooooooo. Those assmonkeys combined for 24 fucking points. I hate them all. The Rockets game was my fault and as for the Blazers I didn’t know Miles was out, that sucked. Oh well, I promise to win your money back tonight.

New York at Cleveland -6.5:

This is a tricky game but in LeDong I trust. If the Cavs come out with any intensity they should be able to take it to the Knicks, after all, Bernard King is not walking through the doors.

Phoenix at LA Clippers Over 209.5:

A lot of points but Phoenix lights it up and Maggette is going to love running against them. Should be entertaining and feel free to tease this with Phoenix -8.

Sacramento -9 at New Orleans:

The Kings have been playing like crap, that said, if you look up “playing like crap” in the dictionary, you get a picture of the New Orleans Hornets. I’m not sure what this means but take the Kings and hope they put it together.

Indiana at Dallas over 199:

Another big over here but Dallas is playing their best ball of the year, just smoking on the court and since O’Neal has been back the Pacers are also lighting it up. This game may turn into a slugfest but I think Nowitzki’s skill will push the scoring up. Take the over and enjoy the game.

contact AC at ac@wagercom.com or post your questions/comments on the Wagercom Message Board

To sign up to receive this column each week by email simply click on: info@wagercom.com, put your email address in the message box and hit send.

Check the current point spreads and game lines.