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AC TITTICOCK'S WEEKLY FREE NBA BASKETBALL PICKS AND WINNERS
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AC's Wagercom 2007-2008 NBA Picks Season Record
Wins: 62 Losses: 62 Ties: 4
NBA Picks Winning Percentage: 50%
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 4 consecutive winning seasons picking NBA games against the spread making 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 2007-2008 WEEK 16 FREE NBA PICKS & COLUMN:
With the Oscars on Sunday, it’s time for AC’s annual Oscar column where I match up the five Best Picture Nominees with five NBA story lines. I’ll save the trade deadline analysis for next week as I am still trying to figure out why Chicago traded for Larry Hughes when they already have a slightly better Larry Hughes in Ben Gordon and why they traded for Drew Gooden when they had a slightly better, though older, version of Gooden in Joe Smith. Is anyone running the Bulls?
Anyway, here are the Oscar nominated movies and the NBA stories with which they best fit:
There Will Be Blood:
This goes to Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics. Garnett plays with the intensity of a serial killer and this infectious intensity has driven the Celtics to the best record in the league. Half of the time I watch Garnett I fully expect him to rip his opponent’s arm off and eat the meat straight from the bone. Garnett doesn’t give anything up easy and if you challenge him, there will be blood. I would love to watch Garnett do simple things like butter his toast, pick up his dry cleaning, or kick a groupie out of his bed. He is so intense I think his stare would kill Chuck Norris even if Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird. While the Celtics may be struggling on their current West Coast trip, it is all irrelevant. As long as they have home court advantage, they will win the East and then you never know what will happen in a seven game series with Garnett on your side.
No Country For Old Men:
This goes to the Portland Trailblazers who were the surprise team of the first half despite being one of the two youngest teams in the league. They have five players in their rotation under the age of twenty-four and no one older than thirty. This team shows the NBA can be no league for old men, if the young players understand how to play the game. Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Travis Outlaw, and the rest of the Blazers understand their roles and rarely try to do too much when they are on the court. Sure they are slumping now but they were playing way over their heads before. Either way, their play this year has been inspired and their play shows that kids can win in the NBA with the right coaching and the right attitude (as opposed to the wrong coaching and the wrong attitude like Isiah and the Knicks, or the Boston Celtics from last year). Kudos to Nate McMillin and Kevin Pritchard for putting this team together and realizing character counts.
Juno:
As much as I would like to give this movie to Trajan Langdon for being the greatest Alaskan NBA player, he is no longer in the NBA, he was not great, and he’s from Anchorage and not Juno. So so much for that. Therefore this goes to David Stern for not having some sort of common sense committee to reject NBA trades such as the Memphis Grizzlies giving Pau Gasol, and likely the Championship, to the Lakers for some string cheese, Kwame Brown, and a half full can of Fresca. If David Stern were here I would rant about this trade to the point where I would incredulously exclaim to him “Jew, no. That trade couldn’t be allowed (and I can do that because I am a fellow semite).” Seriously, allowing the Gasol trade was a travesty. We all knew something like this would happen when Chris Wallace took over as GM but this trade is more lopsided than a fight between Herve Villechaize and Lennox Lewis (and not just because Herve was a midget, but because he is a dead midget). So for all of the teams in the NBA who now have to compete with the Lakers, I exclaim to David Stern “Jew No!”
Atonement:
I would have given this to Jon Amaechi if the movie had come out (pun intended) last year for being the gayyest movie to be nominated (not that there is anything wrong with that. And as a side note, I gave The Queen to Amaechi last year so it is the joke that keeps on giving http://www.wagercom.com/nba_07_16.html). However, it is a year too late for that so instead this movie goes to Isiah Thomas whose utter incompetence has to be on purpose as he tries to atone for his boorish behavior as a player. Despite his on court accomplishments, Isiah was responsible for freezing out then rookie Michael Jordan in the 1985 All-Star game, was quoted as saying Larry Bird would be just another player if he were black, and was poor sport enough to walk off the court before the final game was over after his Pistons lost to the Bulls in the 1992 playoffs without shaking any of the Bulls’ hands. I have to believe that the God of the NBA came down from the heavens and told Isiah the only way Isiah would be allowed into NBA heaven would be to publicly humiliate himself by destroying one of the most storied NBA franchises to atone for his dickish behavior as a player. This is the only excuse I can think of for Isiah’s utter incompetence. I mean he could only screw up this badly if he tried to, right? This all has to be Isiah’s way of atoning for his previous sins.
Michael Clayton:
I am tempted to continue in the tradition of past Oscar columns and give Michael Clayton to the Milwaukee Bucks as the movie no one has seen, just like the Bucks are the NBA team no one has seen, but that would be too easy (For those keeping track Capote and Babel were given to the Milwaukee Bucks the past two years). Instead Michael Clayton goes to Steve Nash as Nash is the George Clooney of the NBA. Let me explain:
1. Steve Nash’s performance has gotten better with age as has George Clooney’s. Nash went from being considered somewhat of a bust in his first stint with Phoenix, to rejuvenating the Dallas Mavericks, to being a two time MVP in his second stint with Phoenix. Clooney has gone from bit parts on TV shows (Riptide), to small parts on TV shows (The Facts of Life and Roseanne), to carrying a highly rated TV show (ER, the second ER he did, not the first one), to starring in the biggest movies of the year (those Ocean Eleven things), to being an Oscar nominated actor (Michael Clayton). Both of these guys have gone from bit players to superstars in a steady progression. There was no start at the top like Britney Spears or continue to flounder at the bottom like that awful Kathy Griffin.
2. Steve Nash bones hot actresses such as Elizabeth Hurley while George Clooney has apparently boned all of Hollywood. So jimmy hats off to both of them.
3. George Clooney had a pet pig named Max while Steve Nash used to play with Tim Thomas (and actually was responsible for making Thomas look good and thus getting Thomas a big contract with the Clippers proving you can put lipstick on a pig).
4. Both Nash and Clooney dabble in good causes such as the environment, ending international strife, and trying to get Robin Williams banned from ever making another movie (ok, I made that last one up). Clooney drives an electric car and tries to save Darfur while Nash has a foundation to help kids living in poverty and he is wearing Nike’s Trash Talk sneaker which is the first sneaker made from recycled materials.
5. Clooney and Nash are both from foreign countries with Nash having been born in Canada and Clooney having been born in Kentucky (ok, maybe Kentucky is in the US, but I can dream, can’t I?).
So there you have it, the similarities are uncanny and if Clooney wins Best Actor, both he and Nash will have been MVPs.
FRIDAY NIGHT NBA PICKS
It’s been awhile since we’ve made money here thanks to the all-star break. While I am still 100% convinced that Gerald Green’s birthday cake was the best dunk in the dunk contest thanks to the reaction of Kenny Smith, I will give Dwight Howard his props for brining it on every dunk. With all of yesterday’s trades, it is going to be hard to pick games tonight since it’s not clear who is playing for their new teams and how the teams will react. However, AC will do his best to win everyone some cash tonight in order to buy your own Superman outfits and Lois Lanes to go with them.
Toronto -6 at New York:
Given the state of disarray of tonight’s NBA games, we do know for sure that the Knicks didn’t make a trade and the Raptors only gave away Juan Dixon for another Euro, so the fact that this line is only six points is mind boggling. The Knicks just lost to Philadelphia by 40 points, Zach Randolph and Nate Robinson got into a spat during a timeout, and Isiah is still in charge. While I am disappointed the Knicks didn’t trade David Lee for Ron Artest, the Knicks are still just abominable. Take the Raptors, give the points, and enjoy the “Fire Isiah” chants.
Dallas -8 at Memphis:
The Mavericks lost in Jason Kidd’s debut to the somehow still underrated Whorenets so to make up for that they are going to obliterate the Chris Wallace eyesore known as the Memphis Grizzlies. Kidd is gong to want to prove his worth so Dallas should be fired up while Memphis has no one who can stop Dirk (seriously, who is going to guard him? Kwame Brown? Darko Milicic? Greg Kite?). Dirk should pee on the Grizzlies as if he drank 35 gallons of water and has been holding it in for days. The 197 over is enticing, but so was Janine Lindemulder’s Maneater, so buyer beware.
Houston at New Orleans -4:
Everyone knows I have been singing the praises of Houston all season. They have the talent, they have a decent coach (until playoff time), and they have the famous 500 (ok that doesn’t have to do with the Houston Rockets, but what’s a few Houstons among friends?). McGrady has to win a playoff series and is playing among the best basketball of his career right now leading the Rockets to 10 straight victories and 14 out of 15. That said, it is tough to win in New Orleans (or Charlotte, wherever the Whroenets play, I am never too sure) and Chris Paul can take over games, especially when the opposing team’s point guard is Rafer Alston. This should be a good match-up, but the Whorenets will squeak out a 5 to 7 point victory.
Atlanta at Golden State Over 218.5:
I’m not thrilled with this pick and am torn between taking the Lakers -5 vs Utah or the under 217 in the Celtics-Suns game. However, the Warriors will be playing without Andris Biedrins and he is probably the only guy on Golden State who even attempts to play defense, so the scoring should be up. The risk here is that the Hawks completely crap their pants as they are still getting used to the soon to be injured Mike Bibby running the team. Take the over and root for the Warriors to get hot from three.
Saturday Free NBA Picks:
We went 2-2 last night so I guess we all have to kiss that VIG goodbye. Tonight we’ll do better because those drinks don’t buy themselves (unless you’re a hot chick, and if you are a hot chick, why are you reading this column and will you send me a picture?).
Philadelphia at Miami Over 193.5:
With the addition of Shawn Marion, the Heat now have another reliable scoring option after Dwyane Wyane Wade so it is possible they can break 100 points. The Sixers always hustle and that hustle can lead to easy baskets. This won’t be a good game, even blind people won’t want to watch, but each team breaking 100 is likely. Just root for someone other than Igoudala on the Sixers to get hot, like Lou Williams who should want to show off to the young ladies in Miami.
Denver -3 at Milwaukee:
The Nuggets just got demolished by the Bulls. Absolutely demolished. Now they face the difficult task of having to play in the NBA hades of Milwaukee the night after getting run out of Chicago. The Nuggets need to win though since the West is so competitive. If they choke tonight, they have no heart and if I know anything about AI, he has heart so at a minimum he should take this game over. Add in the fact that Milwaukee sucks worse than hot a chick giving a hummer and you have the recipe for a Denver blow out.
Atlanta +12.5 at Utah:
I know, Atlanta is not a good team and Utah has the league’s best home record. I also know Atlanta is coming off a huge road win at Golden Shower State while Utah just played a stinker against the Clippers so there should be some reversion to the mean. That said, we don’t give 12.5 points on NBA games here at www.wagercom.com unless the Spurs are playing at home or the Knicks or Terrible Wolves™ are involved. Take the Hawks and hope Joe Johnson can catch fire to keep this game reasonable.
LA Lakers -9.5 at LA Clippers:
The scariest thing is that the Lakers are dominating and they are doing it without Bynum. Once Bynum comes back, this team is going to be a monster. So once again, F you Chris Wallace, F you.
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