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AC TITTICOCK'S WEEKLY FREE NBA BASKETBALL PICKS AND WINNERS
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AC's 2004-2005 NBA Picks Season Record
Wins: 100 Losses: 76 Ties: 4
NBA Picks Winning Percentage: 56%
Record updated Saturdays and Mondays
Contact AC at ac@wagercom.com or post your questions/comments on the Wagercom Message Board
Read AC's Bio
5/20/05 NBA Playoff Picks - Week 6
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 improved that to a 56% winning percentage against the spread so far this season.
What a great week of basketball it has been. For those of you who haven’t been watching the Dallas-Phoenix series and have missed the San Antonio-Seattle series, you have missed the most exciting pro hoops action since the late 1980’s. The games have had more back and forth and up and down action than a Peter North film.
Anyway, after watching the Sonics get eliminated last night, I thought I would devote my column to their team because they can flat out play. I know I have dogged them all year, but I was dead wrong and to make up for the abuse, I thought I’d give them their props today with 5 observations from last night.
1. If Rashard Lewis were healthy, who knows what the outcome would have been. The Sonics needed one more scorer to help take some pressure off of Ray Allen and open up the court more. A healthy Lewis could have done that. Ray Allen did step up like he was in a contract year (oh wait, he is) and the Fortson/James/Evans trio was solid, but they needed one more scoring threat. However, aside from Allen, who definitely needs to have a urine test, the three players who impressed me most were Luke Ridnour, Nick Collison, and Damienique Wilkins.
2. Before I watched the games closely I couldn’t have told you the difference between Luke Ridnour and Luke Jackson except for the fact that they will both be out of the NBA in two years, but I was wrong, only Jackson will be out of the NBA in two years. This Ridnour guy can play, he kind of reminds me of a more in control/worse long range shooting version of Danny Ainge. While I still don’t know who Luke Jackson is (apparently he sat on Cleveland’s bench this year next to LeBron’s mom, LeBron’s pit bull, Brad Daugherty, and Jiri Welsh), Ridnour will have a solid career. He is a classic third guard, first player off the bench.
As an aside, I dug back into my archives and this is what I had to say about Luke Jackson after last year’s draft:
Luke Jackson-Cleveland Cavaliers: Luke didn’t show up because not even he could believe an NBA team would draft a white guy at the guard position in the first round. Hey, if everything works out he’s Jim Paxson, if not he’s Dan Dickau, I’d call that upside, and yes that was sarcasm.
3. Nick Collison brought a lot of energy and disproved the rumors that he and Mark Madsen are one in the same. He is going to be a solid double-double guy, not as good as PJ Brown, but at least as good as a Joe Smith type player (and yes I meant that as a compliment). I do have to say that the highlight of the night was Collison missing a breakaway lay-up. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to dunk it or just lay it in and when he planted he kind of slipped and totally flubbed an open layup. It really set white people in the NBA back about 20 years. Between that and Chris Andersen’s dunk contest showing, I think American whiteys (those Euro’s can leap) should stick to shooting threes and practicing hook shots.
4. Has a guard taken longer to develop than Antonio Daniels? He was the 4th overall pick in 1997, ahead of Tracy McGrady and the immortal Serge Zwicker (although if you look at the draft, not including Duncan and McGrady, everyone pretty much sucked) and yet he never has put up numbers. He was deemed a bust in Vancouver and San Antonio and it wasn’t until this year and last year that he has really stepped up. I was very impressed with his decision making and leadership. He has turned into a solid pro, not an all-star, but a guy who excels in his role.
5. Is it just me or does Damien Wilkins look like a smaller version of Anthony Mason? Not the body type, but the face. Either way, he is this year’s version of Tayshaun Prince from 2002-2003. He did nothing in the regular season and then stepped up big time in the last few playoff games. Though, I have to admit that until last night I didn’t know if he was Dominique’s, Gerald’s, or Shawn Kemp’s kid.
In all, the Sonics were a fun team to watch. Nate McMillan did a nice job with a bunch of talented, mid-level players, and if Ray Allen comes back, they will make a run next year since Collison, Wilkins, Rashard Lewis, and Ridnour will all be a year more experienced.
Before I get to tonight’s pick, there were two news items that caught my attention this week.
1. Reggie Theus got two more transfers to NMSU, including Charlotte’s 7 foot center . Now normally I wouldn’t care about, NMSU basketball but Reggie Theus is the coach. And let me say that one more time, Reggie Theus is their coach. This is unbelievable. I think it is the first head coaching job he has had since Hang Time. He must be a pretty good coach though because they won the state title with a girl in their starting 5. Wow, Reggie Theus coaching basketball for real, what is next, Nipsey Russell really running a high school ? As an aside, has there been a more asinine coaching switch than on Hang Time when Reggie Theus was replaced by Dick Butkus (I said Butt kiss). I mean, Butkus was a football player, jeesh, they could have at least brought in Stoyko Vrankovic or Jack Sikma instead of Butkus.
2. This may be my favorite all time item from a sports story. It is from a story on the Baltimore Orioles' suddenly power hitting second baseman Brian Roberts in the Washington Post
“The subject is religion. It's not one you can touch lightly. Church was always a part of his life, from the twice-weekly services to the trips to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes events. His faith was reaffirmed his freshman year at North Carolina when a dreadful fall on the baseball team and academic struggles prompted his mother to send him a book by the basketball player A.C. Green, who famously claimed he remained a virgin for religious reasons until he was married. She said she has heard her son say the book changed his life.”
I wonder if Brian ran out and got Jheri curls after he read the book. This is just brilliant stuff, Roberts may be my new favorite player now.
Free NBA Picks:
Friday's NBA Playoff Picks:
Phoenix at Dallas Under 222.5:
Dallas is going to have to slow it down a little to win and I assume they are going to play to win.
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