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AC TITTICOCK'S WEEKLY FREE NBA BASKETBALL PICKS AND WINNERS
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AC's Wagercom 2006-2007 NBA Picks Season Record
Wins: 58 Losses: 60 Ties: 1
NBA Picks Winning Percentage: 49%
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
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 has had 3 consecutive winning seasons picking NBA games against the spread for a combined 317-281 record yielding a 53% winning percentage which would have won you money including the VIG. AC does this out of the kindness of his heart and for the naked pictures of your girlfriends you send him as a token of your appreciation. So enjoy the columns and the picks..
AC'S NBA ALL STAR WEEKEND SPECTACULAR:
It’s All-Star weekend and I am as giddy as Jason Kidd on a road trip. With the All-Star game in Las Vegas this year there promises to be many exciting and acrobatic moves, and some of them may even be on the court (drum shot please). Having the All-Star game in Vegas is the best idea since Newton defined gravity or someone came up with www.welivetogether.com (it is debatable which is a better idea), and for that we are all grateful. So sit back, enjoy the action, and lay some money on Carmelo Anthony as the first to be arrested, or the MVP, take your pick.
Before I get to my picks for the all-star game (I mean you have to bet on something), and rather than my annual rant about needing a HORSE contest (though called GROUPIE) with old-timers vs current players (you wouldn’t want to see scrubs like Craig Ehlo destroy the modern NBA star?), I thought I’d look at 5 players who could have made the all-star team but lacked one thing or another and will have to wait until maybe next year.
Zach “Two Times Anal” Randolph: Randolph is averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds which is usually good enough to start for an all-star team much less be a reserve. However, his team is awful, his attitude is not great (to be generous), and he has more arrests/sexual assaults than Anna Nicole Smith had possible father’s to her baby. I believe the NBA left Zach off the roster because putting him in Vegas for 3 days would be like sending Tim Hardaway to the Manhole, in other words, not a pretty sight.
Elton Brand: Much like Randolph, Brand has put up all-star caliber numbers, but is stuck playing on an underachieving team. Brand is a solid player but it’s not clear he makes his team better. He’ll get his 20-10 every night, which is great, but he sometimes seems like he has all the emotions of a door knob. Brand needs to be more of a leader, more vocal, and play with some more outward fire.
Andre Igoudala: It’s easy to argue Igoudala does not belong in the all-star game since he doesn’t do one thing particularly well. However, over the last month he is averaging 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 7.5 assists per game. Those are terrific numbers, though one could argue someone on the Sixers has to get stats, but a forward dishing out 7.5 assists is something to be noted. Most of all though, Igoudala seems to play with intensity every night (or at least NBA level intensity which is somewhere between thinking about trying and kind of trying). I don’t think Igoudala will ever be an all-star, unless he gets to play with Phoenix, but I do think he can be a valuable glue-guy or third best player on a championship team.
Ron Artest: Taking away the crazies, and the possibility of seeing the first NBA player murder another on the court any time Ron Ron is out there, Artest is one of the better players in the league. Though he takes more nights off than Howard Stern does mornings on Sirius, Artest is a force when he decides to play. Artest is averaging 18 points, 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, and one 40 ounce of St Ides a night. I understand not naming him to an all-star game in Vegas since that would be on the level of the old Saturday Night Live Bad Idea Jeans commercial, but give Ron Ron some props for being an all around menace when he wants to be (and I am not actually sure that is a good thing).
Kirk Hinrich: Like the Tin Man only needed a heart, and Britney Spears only needs some class (well, that and some liposuction, make-up, brains, and self-esteem), Hinrich only needs a shot. As said here in past columns, Hinrich understands how to the play the game. He makes the right pass, rotates the correct way on defense, and does everything a floor leader should do. His problem is that he is a career 41% shooter (though he is up to a more acceptable 45% shooter this year). Even Dennis Johnson, who never saw a jump shot before the 4th quarter he could hit, shot 45% for his career. If Hinrich could drain the 18-25 footer with any consistency, he would be an all-star just about every year, but then again if I were 7 foot 2, I would probably be one too.
All-Star Game Bets:
With no games this weekend to bet on, I’ll give you some all-star game bets to keep things interesting.
Three-Point Shootout: Gilbert Arenas
Defending champ Nowitzki is the favorite but he faces good competition this year from Mike Miller and Jason Kapono who are the only shooters in the contest who hit above 40% of their 3-pointers. Rounding out the field are Jason Terry (not sure why), Damon Jones (who talks better than he shoots), and the darkhorse candidate Gilbert Arenas. I am going with Arenas and still calling him an underdog even though the Vegas money now considers his odds of winning at 9-2, or the same as Kapono, and just slightly worse than Dirk who is at 4-1. If you saw Gilbert Arenas hit more than 80 one handed college three-pointers out of 100, you’d be laying money on him as well.
Dunk Contest: Gerald Green
Gerald Green is a professional dunker. All Gerald thinks about is the dunk contest, seriously. He doesn’t care about playing defense, working on his dribbling, or learning the tendencies of other 2 guards. All he wants to do is win the dunk contest and for that kind of dedication, you have to believe in him. He is an electric jumper and has been working on some creative dunks I have been told. His competition is weak this year as Tyrus Thomas is too tall and too apathetic to win, Nate Robinson is a flash in the pan, and Dwight Howard is 7 feet tall and watching a 7 footer dunk is like watching soccer, in other words, it will put you to sleep faster than a large dose of tryptophan. While I applaud Dwight Howard’s efforts to raise the basket to 12 feet high, the only way Howard wins is if he dunks hard enough to break the backboard. Absent that, Gerald Green is going to own the night. This is what he has been preparing for for 20 years. Some dream of NBA championships, Gerald dreams of the dunk contest championship.
Western Conference vs Eastern Conference +3.5:
The East is tired of hearing how much better the Western Conference is and the West is playing without Steve Nash which means Tony Parker is the only point guard they have. While I think Carmelo Anthony is going to come out firing, as long as Gilbert Arenas gets home by 11am and with fewer than 6 groupies, he should match Melo shot for shot. This game is Arenas’ as he has to make up for saying he was going to drop 50 on Portland and then playing like Kedrick Brown inhabited his body. Arenas is just too bonkers to not take over this game and drop 50 so take the East and ride Agent Zero.
All-Star Game MVP: Gilbert Arenas
Gilbert owns Vegas like Vanilla Ice owns The Surreal Life: Fame Games.
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