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AC TITTICOCK'S WEEKLY FREE NBA BASKETBALL PICKS AND WINNERS
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AC's Wagercom 2009-2010 NBA Picks Season Record
Wins: 8 Losses: 8 Ties: 0
NBA Picks Winning Percentage: 50%
Contact AC at ac(at sign)wagercom.com or post your questions/comments on the Wagercom Message Board
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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 6 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 FREE NBA PICKS AND COLUMN WEEK 2:
The season is only ten days old and already we’ve had some great story lines. Gilbert Arenas appears to be back (for now) and is averaging 25 points and 5.5 assists per game (I won’t mention that Washington is only 2 and 4 despite Arenas’ play, oh wait, I just did). Phoenix is somehow 5 and 1 after beating the unbeatable Celtics last night and the Suns are doing this starting Channing Frye at center (really, can someone explain this to me? I mean I had Channing Frye rated above Carol Channing but below a french fry in my preseason rankings. I have no idea how the Suns are doing this. I am more perplexed by this than Paris Hilton taking the SATs and even more perplexed than her trying to spell SAT).
Finally, AC favorite Brandon Jennings has jumped to the front of the Rookie of the Year Award line by averaging 18.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and only 2.75 turnovers a game while shooting 43% from the floor. He needs to get that shooting % up and he needs to work on his assist to turnover ratio, but those are phenomenal numbers for a 20 year old point guard, who didn’t go to college, in his first four NBA games. He’s going to hit some turbulence any day now (and hopefully that turbulence doesn’t involve an angry stripper turned baby momma or AIDS), but he has talent.
The biggest story though is the Cleveland Cavaqueers. Fresh off of a 65 win season, the Cavs opened up this year by going 4 and 3. While they started off 1 and 2 last year, they did not lose their 3rd game until they had 9 wins. I know you’re all asking what is wrong with the Cavs and that’s why your boy AC is here to break it down for you. And in honor of Michael Jackon’s This Is It movie being number one at the box offices, AC is going to break down the Cavs using the seven best songs from the Thriller album to help you all understand.
1. Wanna be Startin’ Something: With Delonte West pulling a nutty and missing the first four games of the year, the Cavs were forced to start something and that something was Anthony Parker. Look, Anthony Parker is a fine pro, but he’s no starter. He’s 34 years old and spent six years of his prime playing in Europe because he wasn’t good enough for the NBA. So just think about that. In his prime he wasn’t good enough to even make and NBA roster and now that he is old for a basketball player, he is supposed to be a key starter on a 60 win team? No, sorry, it doesn’t work that way. Just to prove the point, Parker is shooting an abysmal 35% from the floor this year. He’s simply a role/bench player at best.
Since Delonte has come back, the Cavs have won 3 out of 4 games despite the noticeable uptick in herpes per player. Interestingly enough, Delonte isn’t really that good of a player, but he can hit a shot now and then and he is in his prime so he is athletic enough to stay in front of players.
2. Beat it: Zydrunas Ilgauskus’s legs seem to have beat it. He’s slower than a turtle with two broken legs and a piano on it’s back (and not some little junior piano, we’re talking baby grand). Ilgauskus is averaging 7 points and 6 rebounds while shooting a career low 38% from the floor. Having a center shoot 38% from the floor is like having a porn star not want to take load on the face. It is unfathomable. Forty percent of his shots are coming from the three point line and he defends as well as a flag pole. While I except some reversion to the mean, Ilgauskus may simply be washed up, which wouldn’t be surprising for a 34 year old slow seven footer with a history of foot problems.
3. The Girl is Mine: Danny Ferry shot his wad this year by acquiring Shaq and thus thinking he finally got his second fiddle for LeBron. Shaq can still play a little bit but he completely changes the DNA of the team. He is plodding and slow and takes up a ton of space. Plus now that he is the size of Mt. Hood, it is much easier to guard him as even though AC is no geologist, he knows mountains aren’t quick. It’s still way too early to call this move a failure, but it is also way to early to have things clicking. Sometimes even when you win the girl, you lose.
4. Billie Jean: This is for Mo Williams who may be the most overrated scoring guard in the NBA. Just like Michael Jackson sang “Billie Jean is not my lover” (mainly because she had a vagina, but then again, Billie could be a man’s name, so so much for that theory), Cleveland fans have to be singing “Mo Williams is not my point guard.” Mo is not a good distributor and relies too much on the three point shot rather than penetrating and kicking out or shooting lay-ups. He would be a great 6th man, but he should not be the second leading scorer on a championship team.
5. PYT: The best song on the Thriller album goes to the aging Cavaliers who have no pretty young things in their rotation. The best the Cavs can do is roll out AC favorite JJ Hickson for 10 minutes a night but Hickson clearly isn’t ready for a major role on a championship contender. Every other top team has a key young player in addition to other stars (Boston has Rondo, LA has Bynum, Orlando has D-White Howard) while Cleveland just has a bunch of aging mediocre supporting players. Yes, I know LeDong counts as the prettiest young thing since he is just about to turn 25, but he could use some youth to help him out.
As an aside, am I the only one (besides Macaulay Caulkin and Corey Feldman) who is creeped out by Michael Jackson having a song titled Pretty Young Thing? Isn’t that like if R. Kelly sang Smells Like Teen Spirit or George Michael sang Blowin’ in the Wind?
6. Thriller: The problem with having LeDong, the ultimate NBA Thriller, is that he covers up so many flaws. LeDong is the most dominant player in the game and he plays hard every night, but teams are getting smarter about defending him (even though there are nights where he is indefensible, like not swallowing after a hummer). When LeDong has an off-night, the Cavs simply don’t have the talent to win, luckily for them that will only happen about 10 times this year which means 60 wins is still possible.
7. Human Nature: Ok all of you Cleveland fans, back off the ledge. I know it is human nature to write this team off given their bad start and high expectations, but you still have LeDong and you still are integrating a major new teammate in Shaq. I have no doubts that Cleveland will put it together at some point this year and still win 55+ games and be a threat in the playoffs. LeDong is too good for this not to happen.
Friday Night Picks:
Phoenix at Boston -9.5:
Boston's average margin of victory at home this year is just a hair over 20 points, and as far as I can tell, 9.5 points is not over 20. This Celtic team is a force of nature right now, like Carmen Kinsley's ample buttocks. Sure they almost blew a game to the TerribleWolves™ but they managed to put together 3 good minutes of basketball and still won on the road against a shit team in the middle of nowhere. Phoenix in Boston on a Friday night is a completely different story. The Suns don't play defense and the Celtics have had better ball movement this year than Peter North at his peak. Until the Celtics have an injury or are giving more than 20 points at home, we'll be riding this gravy train all year.
Atlanta -3 at Charlotte:
Taking Atlanta and giving points on the road, after they have just won two consecutive road games, is a perilous proposition. I don't recommend this for the novice gambler, but have you seen the Bobcats play? They are only 12 players short of having an NBA team. They have two wins, but those are against the Nets and the Knicks, two teams who might not even beat LeMoyne College, heck those two teams might not even beat an emerging Div. III powerhouse like Suffolk University. Atlanta is sneaky good right now. They have been together for 3+ years, they have the playoff battle scars, and they are maturing together as a team. While it is difficult to play well in front of an empty arena on the road, the Hawks should pull this one out in the 4th quarter.
Denver at Miami Under 205.5:
I know, Miami is playing well and Denver likes to score, but still the Heat are not that good. In order for Miami to win they have to slow the ball down and in order for this game to hit the over, Miami will also have to break 95 points. They can't do both and they are going to try the first part so they are not going to hit the second part. Take the under and root for Udonis Haslem to play some nasty defense.
Cleveland -8 at New York:
While Cleveland has been struggling like Dexter Manley with a copy of War and Piece, they have the best panacea in the NBA tonight which is a trip to NYC to play the Knicks. To call the Knicks a bad team would be an insult to bad teams. They run, they shoot poorly, and they don't play defense. Cleveland has a lot of issues to work out and tonight will be a good start. Plus Bron Bron loves him some NYC, just hope he wasn't up too late partying with Jay-Z.
Saturday Night Picks:
Boston -13.5 at New Jersey:
Ok, the Celtics served us all a shit sandwich by refusing to play defense last night at home vs. Phoenix. Hey, it was going to happen sooner or later. Now they get to make up for it by playing New Jersey on the road with New Jersey likely playing without Devin Harris, Yi Dingaling, Jarvis Hayes, Keyon Dooling, and possibly Chrid Douglas-Roberts and Courtney Lee. This Nets team is bad with those guys but without them they are fucking putrid. Last night their starting line-up was Eduardo Najera, Trenton Hassell, Brook Lopez, Rafer Alston, and Courtney Lee. That’s not exactly the 1985-1986 Celtics, heck that’s not even the 1985-1986 Miami Heat and the Heat weren’t even in the league back then. So a combination of a pissed off Celtics team and a pissed on Nets team can not be good for New Jersey. This line should either be 25 points or off the board. You also may want to tease this with the under 180.5 as the Nets may not score 60.
New York at Milwaukee Over 194.5:
Brandon Jennings getting to run loose against the no defense Knicks is going to be fun to watch. I fully expect him to take 20 shots, turn it over 7 times, and score over 20 points. Yeah, both of these teams are abysmally bad, but they are still NBA players and NBA players can score when unguarded.
Memphis at LA Clippers -4:
The Grizzlies are so bad, even Chris Wallace wants to fire himself. Signing Allen Iverson was one of the stupidest moves of the Chris Wallace error, and Wallace is likely the worst general manager in the history of general managing. After missing the entire preseason and the first few games, AI immediately complained about not wanting to come off the bench as a sixth man. Oh my, is this team going to be a train wreck. I honestly worry that this could be the first team in a major sport where one teammate actually murders another (no joke). The Clips suck, but we’ll give 4 as a home team to the Grizz any night.
Sacramento at Utah Under 206.5:
The Kings are also a very bad team (I am sensing a theme here with the NBA this year) and even worse without their leading scorer Kevin Martin. Sacramento is averaging 101 points per game but Martin is averaging 30 of those points. I’m no genius, but I’m pretty sure Desmond Mason and Beno Udrih are not going to get those 30 points filling in for Martin who is out for 6-8 weeks with a broken wrist. There is a chance that Utah puts up 130 tonight, but that is the only way this game hits the over as the Kings will struggle to score 75.
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