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AC TITTICOCK'S WEEKLY FREE NBA BASKETBALL PICKS AND WINNERS
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AC's Wagercom Career NBA Picks Season Record
Wins: 317 Losses: 281
NBA Picks Winning Percentage: 53%
Record updated Saturdays and Mondays
Contact AC at ac@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 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 2006 DRAFT RECAP & ANALYSIS:
The 2006 NBA draft is now over and it brought us as much joy as ever. We had trades, we had “wingspan,” and most of all we had Isiah. While this draft was thinner than Kobe Bryant’s Colorado hotel alibi, and even though there isn’t likely to be an all-star in the 60 players drafted, the league has a ton of good young players and Greg Oden is on the way. I believe the NBA is on the verge of a renaissance so even though I don’t expect big things from this draft class, hopefully they can at least contribute by hitting big shots, making the right passes, and banging the hottest groupies. As always, below is my pick by pick analysis.
1. Andrea Bargnani-Toronto Raptors: I can only imagine the Raptors made this decision based on other great Italian players such as Vinny Del Negro, Vincenzo Esposito, and um, did I already say Vinnie Del Negro? I have to admit I have never seen Bargnani play, but Jay Bilas described Andrea as player who “does not rebound, does not post up, and does not play defense,” so congratulations Toronto, with the #1 pick you just selected a taller Steve Kerr or to be more precise the Italian Matt Bullard. I expect this to actually wind up badly for all involved, kind of like Fletch 2. Interestingly enough, 2 of the past 3 championship teams (Detroit and Miami) did not have one foreign born player contribute, unless you count Antoine Walker who is from his own planet. A good gamble by the Raptors I guess, just hope there is a large Italian population in Toronto to sell some seats.
2. LaMarcus Aldridge-Portland Trailblazers: In Portland’s first bizarre trade of the night, they swapped Tyrus Thomas and a former draft day favorite Viktor “I need to take a” Khryapa for the rights to this pick and then selected LaCrapage Aldridge. I can’t wait to see Portland’s reaction when they realize they drafted the younger version of Mark Blount. I am already anticipating the ESPN special “where are they now” on LaMarcus in 5 years. I am going with operating a gas station but I would accept failed music producer as well.
3. Adam Morrison-Charlotte Bobcats: Quick question, what happens when you mix Wally Szczerbiak with a bad moustache and diabetes? You get Adam Morrison. We now know three things about Michael Jordan, he can hoop it up, he loves to gamble, and he is terrible at evaluating talent. I would love to take the under on any line involving Morrison unless it involves his number of turnovers per game.
4. Tyrus Thomas-Chicago Bulls: This is the first pick I like because at least Thomas has certifiable upside. He can leap out of the building and does not appear to be intimidated by anyone. While his offensive game is as developed as the Olsen twins when they were 9, he is going to be at least as good as Tyson Chandler and I mean that as a compliment. Plus any guy that has a Frederick Douglas quote tattooed on his arm is ok with me.
5. Shelden Williams-Atlanta Hawks: Does anyone know if Billy Knight’s contract has incentives based on winning games? Because if so, he may want to rethink his draft strategy. To be honest, I kind of like this pick and think Williams can do a decent job on the boards and fill a Udonis Haslem type-role. The only thing is, Knight could have traded down and still picked up Williams and received some extra value in the deal. Either way, the Hawks aren’t going anywhere until they get a point guard.
6. Brandon Roy-Portland Trailblazers: The Blazers and Wolves somehow effectively swapped picks here with Portland moving up from the 7th pick after receiving it from Boston in the Sebastien Telfair trade. Everybody seems to love Brandon Roy and the fact that McHale traded him for Randy Foye means that he will probably wind up being pretty good. I guess I have to give Portland some props here, but then again, I wouldn’t know Brandon Roy if he were being arrested for DUI.
7. Randy Foye-Minnesota Timberwolves: This was supposed to be my Celtic’s pick but they traded it for Telfair in a deal that I am as undecided about as I am eating at a KFC (I mean I love the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices, but have you been in a KFC lately? They are as clean as a South American crackhouse). Anyway, Foye is a worse shooting Rashad McCants who incidentally, McHale snapped up last year. Foye barely shot 40% from the floor in college which isn’t a good sign. I don’t quite get all of the Dwyane Wade comparisons but did hear that Randy was going to change the spelling of his first name to Rnady just to keep the comparison’s going.
8. Rudy Gay-Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis traded Shane Battier for the rights to Rudy Tooty Fruity. When Gay slipped to 8 and the cameras showed him panicking from his draft table, it showed you all you need to know about him. If he didn’t try in college, what is going to happen when you give him a guaranteed $20MM? Mike Fratello is already rolling over in his grave.
9. Patrick O’Bryant-Golden Shower State Warriors: Things I know about Patrick O’Bryant: He’s raw, he went to Bradley, and Chris Mullin drafted him. Things that usually don’t bode well for NBA players: They’re raw, they went to Bradley, and they were drafted by Chris Mullin. But as long as we’re on Bradley, can I give a shout out to my boy Hersey Hawkins?
10. Mouhamed Saer-Sene- Seattle Not so Supersonics: Answers the question, what do you get when you mix 2004 Seattle first round pick Robert Swift with 2005 Seattle first round pick Johan Petro. If it weren’t for the burnt orange suit Saer-Sene was wearing, this pick would have no redeeming value. Imagine DeSagana Diop 4 years ago but with less polish. This pick just makes no sense at #10, I mean the guy averaged 3 points a game in Belgium. Yes, I said Belgium.
11. JJ Redick-Orlando Magic: This is only the second pick I have liked so far. Adding Redick to an up and coming Magic team with D-White Howard (according to Greg Anthony and Steven A Smith, Dwight is pronounced D-White, really, go back and listen to the tapes) and Jameer Nelson is a great move. When Howard gets double teamed Redick should be wide open for the kick out. Look, I hate Duke as much as everyone else, but you don’t average 30 points a game in the ACC and suck at basketball. Redick is better than John Paxson and Paxson was pretty good so I expect JJ to be a solid 15 points a game scorer. He’ll never be an all-star, but he’ll bury a lot of open shots.
12. Hilton Armstrong-New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets: This pick has bust written all over it. Hilton was the Jerome James of the NCAA. He sucked for 3 years but then all of a sudden in his Senior/contract year he decided he knew how to play. Somehow Isiah has to be part of this.
13. Thabo Sefolosha-Chicago Bulls: The Bulls picked up Thabo in a swap with the Sixers and in that one move the minority population of Switzerland dropped to zero. I don’t know much about Thabo, but Paxson has put together a nice little team in Chicago so maybe he knows what he is doing.
14. Ronnie Brewer-Utah Jazz: Players who have succeeded in the NBA with an unconventional looking jump shot: Shawn Marion, Shawn Marion, and Shawn Marion. In other words, don’t buy that house yet in Utah Ronnie.
15. Cedric Simmons-New Orleans/Oklahoma City: At least we know NO’s GM is consistent. First he goes for bust-to-be Hilton Armstrong and then he takes Cedric Simmons whose claim to fame is one good game against Duke. I don’t know much about Cedric, and I am sure I never will.
16. Rodney Carney-Philadelphia 76ers: The Sixers nab the younger version of Andre Igoudala, which would be a great pick had they not already had Andre Igoudala. I actually like Carney, he’ll never be an all-star, but he will be a solid 4th or 5th option.
17. Shawne Williams-Indiana Pacers: I am a bit perplexed by this. Larry Legend is usually a good judge of talent but I don’t see it in Williams. Perhaps he just wanted to find the answer to the question of why there is an extra “E” in Shawn.
18. Olexsiy Pecherov-Washington Wizards: He is tall, he is Ukrainian, and this continues the tradition of at least one crappy Eastern European player taken in the first round of the draft. I look forward to his work with CSKA Moscow.
19. Quincy “Smoking A” Douby-Sacramento Kings: Quincy went to Rutgers. I can count all of the NBA players who went to Rutgers on zero hands and zero fingers. At least the NBA doesn’t have a ton of 6 foot 3 shooting guards to compete with Quincy.
20. Some guy named Renaldo Balkman-New York Isiahs: Ok, all the Rolando Blackman jokes have been made so I can skip those. Let’s look at what Isiah really drafted. Balkman averaged 9.6 ppg and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 54% from the line in the SEC. He was third on the powerhouse South Carolina Gamecocks in scoring and almost cracked the top 30 in the conference for scoring. Seeing as how the NBA is only between 2 and 1,000 times as good as the SEC, we can expect Balkman’s numbers to fall exponentially. Look, I don’t know what Isiah was doing. Balkman has been called everything from the poor man’s Darius Miles to the worst first round draft pick ever. All I can think is Isiah thought Larry Brown was still the coach and was trying to sabotage him even more. I can not wait to buy my Balkman Knicks jersey. If it is not the top selling jersey in the US next year, I will be sorely disappointed.
21. Rajon Rondo-Boston Celtics: Ok, I have saved my Celtics diatribe until now but I can’t hold it in any more. Just what is Danny Ainge doing? I can kind of accept trading #7 for Telfair, but once that is done, why would you trade a pick in next year’s draft, which is arguably going to be one of the deepest ever, for a crack at another point guard, especially one who shot 50% from the line and couldn’t even win at Kentucky? Not being able to win at Kentucky is like not being able to get a hummer in whorehouse with $200 bills taped to your Johnson. Seriously, this pick is so bad it makes me physically ill. Rajon Wrongdo is like a worse shooting better passing Marcus Banks or a shorter Kedrick Brown. Danny claims he had Wrongdo rated 7th in the draft so apparently he was using the same draft card as Isiah. Ugh, just ugh.
22. Marcus Williams-New Jersey Nets: I love this pick. Why couldn’t the Celtics have traded up to get Williams instead of Wrongdo? While Marcus wins the annual Macej Lampe last man in the green room award, he is a solid player. Sure he stole a laptop or three, but we’ve all had our youthful indiscretions. This guy can flat out play. In the tournament he was the only guy on UConn who played with heart and almost singlehandedly got them to advance. Getting to learn from Kidd is going to be great for Williams. I call this the best pick of the draft.
23. Josh Boone-New Jersey Nets: The 4th UConn player taken in the first round which isn’t bad for a team that failed to beat GW. I actually like Boone. I’m not sure why he lacks aggressiveness but not a bad flyer for the Nets. I mean this is the 23rd pick in the worst draft in history so you might as well draft a big man with some skills, right?
24. Kyle Lowry-Memphis Grizzlies: If anyone can explain to me the difference between Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry, I would love to know. Jerry West loves taking college guards who don’t pan out. Just ask Troy Bell next time you order fries from him at the drive through.
25. Shannon Brown-Cleveland Cavaqueers: Brown is this year’s Mike Mammula or what I call, a workout freak. A solid player at MSU, Brown blew teams away in his individual workouts. Maybe he’ll make the team or maybe he won’t but I am a bit disturbed by the influx of players with chick’s names into the league. First there was Andrea Bargnani and now Shannon “Tweed” Brown. Is the WNBA going to start drafting girls named Bob and Dick?
26. Jordan Farmar-LA Lakers: Farmar promises to be the best Jewish player since Danny Schayes which is kind of like being the world’s tallest midget. AC has tons of love for his Semitic people and has already ordered several Farmar jerseys. This is a nice gamble for the Lakers, and if it doesn’t work out, I am sure Jordan will make a great lawyer, or agent, or rabbi.
27. Sergio Rodriguez-Portland Trailblazers: The third Blazer trade of the night brings them Spanish Chocolate for cash from the Phoenix Suns. I have actually been to Spain and I can tell you two things: 1. There are no basketball courts and 2. they don’t speak English there. Either way, look for Rodriguez to have a great career in Barcelona.
28. Maurice Ager-Dallas Mavericks: It’s usually not a good idea to draft the third best player off of an underachieving college team, and by “usually” not a good idea, I mean “never.”
29. Mardy Collins-New York Knicks: Renaldo Balkman, hehehehehe.
30. Joel Freeland-Portland Trilblazers: He’s English, he’s only played basketball for 3 years, and he has never seen an NBA game. Really? Portland took this guy over Kevin Pittsnoggle? What am I missing? If Joel Freeland ever scores 10 points in an NBA game I will not go to a dentist for a year in order to honor the Brits.
Round 2: As always this is the speed round, 2 sentences or less.
31. James White-Indiana Pacers: White can jump out of the building which makes him either the best basketball playing high jumper or the worst high jumping basketball player. I don’t think either of those is particularly good.
32. Steve Novak-Houston Rockets: Finally someone for McGrady and Yao to kick it out to on the wing. May be as good of a shooter as Redick.
33. Solomon Jones-Atlanta Hawks: I have to admit I have never heard of Solomon Jones and happier to admit I probably never will again.
34. Paul Davis-LA Clippers: The poor man’s Chris Kaman gets to try to back-up the actual Chris Kaman. Paul Davis is so stiff he makes Eric Montross look fluid, hope he got his degree in the 7 years he was at MSU.
35. P.J. Tucker-Toronto Craptors: P.J.’s actually not too bad, but a 6 foot 5 power forward has as much chance of succeeding in the NBA as a Robin Williams movie does of being funny.
36. Craig Smith-Minnesota Timberwolves: I watch a lot of BC basketball and I like Craig Smith as a college player. Problem is, he is like Corliss Williamson without a mid range jump shot which is kind of like being an anorexic competitive eater, so don’t buy that Smith Wolves jersey just yet.
37. Bobby Jones-Philadelphia 76ers: Billy King is trying to fool 76er fans into thinking this is the good old Sixers teams. I heard he is also trying to sign guys named Daryl Dawkins, Andrew Toney, and Mike Gminksi to go along with Bobby Jones.
38. Kosta Perovic-Golden Shower State Warriors: Interestingly enough, “Kosta Perovic” is Serbian for “Greg Kite.”
39. David Noel-Milwaukee Bucks: I didn’t realize Milwaukee still had a team, weird.
40. Denham Brown-Seattle SuperSonics: The 5th UConn player to be drafted and I just went back to check and the Huskies still did not win the NCAA championship. Remember, Seattle’s GM Rick Sund is the guy who hired Bob Weiss last year so it’s not clear he has grasped the concept of winning basketball.
41. James Augustine-Orlando Magic: A nice little pick up by the Magic. Augustine probably won’t do much but at least he will do it well.
42. Daniel Gibson-Cleveland Cavaqueers: Gibson reminds me of another underachieving hyped up Cleveland guard, DeJuan Wagner. Hopefully for Daniel he can avoid the same STDs that afflicted DeJuan.
43. Marcus Vinicius Vieira de Souza-New Orleans/OK City Hornets: I can’t believe I just typed all of that.
44. Lior Eliyahu-Houston Rockets: The second Jewish player taken in the draft. Apparently, the Rockets were looking for some help in their finance department with this one.
45. Alexander Johnson-Memphis Grizzlies: Johnson was traded twice on draft night which is also likely the same number of classes he attended at FSU.
46. Dee Brown-Utah Jazz: I love this pick, really. Brown is a taller, better penetrating Earl Boykins and I honestly mean that as a compliment.
47. Paul Millsap-Utah Jazz: I am intrigued by Millsap who led the NCAA in rebounding 3 straight years. Worth a shot, I mean who else were the Jazz going to draft at #47, Vladimir Veremeenko?
48. Vladimir Veremeenko-Washington Wizards: Pecherov and now Veremeenko easily makes the Wizards the favorite in the Russian basketball Super League, though Khimki Moscow Oblast are looking pretty tough this year.
49. Leon Powe-Boston Celtics: Leon likes knee cartilage like Rosie O’Donnell likes to diet.
50. Ryan Hollins-Charlotte Bobcats: Really?
51. Cheik Samb-Detroit Pistons: ESPN called this guy the poor man’s Mahmoud Saer-Sene and remember Saer-Sene averaged a whopping 3 points per game in Belgium last year. Mike Gansey, Kevin Pittsnoggle, and Alan Ray all just emigrated to Senegal and changed their names to Whatthefucka Reyougmsthi Nking (the first N is slient).
52. Guillermo Diaz-LA Clippers: If I went to Miami, I would insist on only hanging out with the 7th floor crew.
53. Yotam Halperin-Seattle Supersonics: The Supersonics finish off the run on Jewish basketball players in the draft which is a phrase I thought I would be less likely to utter than “Jessica Simpson you can stop sucking my dick” and “No Kate Bosworth, you can not lick my asshole.”
54. Hassan Adams-New Jersey Nets: I liked him better when he was named Salim Stoudamire.
55. Ejike Ugboaja-Cleveland Cavaqueers: I am 75% sure they just made this name up and 100% sure we will never find out.
56. Edin Bavcic-Philadelphia 76ers: This is the annual point in the draft where Dick Vitale’s head explodes at all of the foreign players being drafted over college seniors. My favorite part of the night.
57. Loukas Mavrokefalidis-Minnesota Timberwolves: An ESPN commentator referred to him as a poor man’s Paul Davis, please supply your own punchline.
58. JR Pinnock-LA Lakers: GW 1, UConn 5.
59. Damir Markota-Milwaukee Bucks: The good thing for Damir is I hear Milwaukee is very much like Croatia in the winters, the bad thing is he is unlikely to ever find out.
60. Will Blalock-Detroit Pistons: This year’s Mr. Irrelevant is actually a nice little pick-up for the Pistons. Kudos and Hizzah.
So there you have it, sixty picks, six Trailblazers trades, and a whole lot of foreign big men who will likely never make it. Plus we witnessed the beginning of the Balkman era (or is it error?) in New York. It’s Renaldo’s world and we’re all just living in it.
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