D_Carey's Blog
Posted Sunday, January 30, 2011 10:46 PM
The oddsmakers sure thing Duke is still the team to beat.
SBG Global has the Blue Devils valued at +280 to cut down the nets this season. That’s not a terrible value for a team that many thought could go undefeated this year and looks poised to make easy pickings out of the rest of the Atlantic Coast Conference. But after the team took a huge beatdown to St. John’s in New York City on Sunday, who’s to say this is the best team in the land?
Well, most other team’s aren't nearly as highly valued as the Blue Devils. Undefeated Ohio State is listed at +450 and appears to be the class of a very physical Big Ten. Kansas comes next at +900, and has a very good chance to finish the conference play and the Big 12 tournament with no more than three losses.
A few dark horses at good value include streaky Villanova at +1800, a strong Pittsburgh team at +1200 and one of my favorites – Washington at +2800. The Huskies are dominating the Pac 10, are a great rebounding team and can play physical, but also know how to get up and down the court and have one of the top offenses in the nation.
Do you think Duke is still the team to beat? Where do you have your money?...
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Posted Wednesday, January 26, 2011 12:29 PM
A first date. A black tie social. A poker tournament. Sex.
All of these events require a certain amount of class, panache and grace. They are packed full of unwritten rules and all have the potential to be just as disastrous as successful. And next Sunday, a Super Bowl party represents one of the biggest stages of the year.
Will you be guy who balances the ladies and play-by-play and leaves with a few new digits in his bank account and phone? Or will you be the douche bag who clears out the snack trays and talks nonstop about how great his girlfriend is for letting him watch the big game?
To help our readers keep their cool, check below to elbow up on etiquette and avoid our biggest Super Bowl faux pas.
Always bring a peace offering
If you are two cheap to buy a bag of chips and dip or spring for a six pack, then you simply aren’t fit to attend a Super Bowl party. It doesn’t have to be homemade humus, a party platter of subs or anything extravagant, it’s the thought -- and all the better if it’s one of your favorite snacks.
This point isn’t debatable, it’s just what a decent guest does. Step your game up.
Keep your mouth shut
This is going to be hard for many people to read, so you are going to want to be sure you are sitting down. No one cares who you bet on – and if you bet enough to make you legitimately concerned about the outcome and its effects on your mortgage, then you shouldn’t be watching this game in a...
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Posted Wednesday, January 19, 2011 10:47 PM
First, let’s get two things out of the way: Duke is arguably the top team in the country and I realize that the Atlantic Coast Conference has won five national titles since 2000 – Maryland in 2002, Duke in 2001 and 2010 and North Carolina in 2005 and 2009.
What I am saying, is that this league is terrible from top to bottom this year and recently has been more top heavy than Dolly Parton.
Know what this league is? The really hot girl who surrounds herself with ugly friends to make herself look hotter. Duke is looking beautiful. Wake Forest? Definitely the fat friend.
Ken Pomeroy has the ACC ranked fourth – way behind the Big Ten, Big East and Big XII – and the bottom teams in the league couldn’t be much worse. North Carolina State (105 RPI), Virginia (130), Georgia Tech (143) and Wake Forest (257) are abysmal. But let’s not let Maryland (90) or Clemson (91) off the hook either. Heck, have you seen the JV-caliber schedule being played by Virginia Tech (75) and Florida State (67)?
How will this league help each other reach the NCAA Tournament when I see almost no quality wins to be had in the league? You better beat Duke to make the big dance. HT: Florida State.
Miami (33)’s best win? West Virginia.
Boston College (34)’s? It’s victory over Texas A&M will be tempered by losses to Harvard, Rhode Island and Yale. Hell, BC might not be the best team in the Ivy League.
North Carolina (21)’s? It’s two-point win at home over Kentucky is ...
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Posted Monday, January 17, 2011 01:08 PM
Six games.
That’s how far back the Los Angeles Clippers are from the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. And who’s to say the young Clips can’t leap frog the Trail Blazers, Grizzlies, Suns, Rockets and Warriors? Do any of those teams scare you?
Since starting 1-13, the team is 13-12, including a 99-92 win over the Lakers on Sunday that saw the Clips score 21 of the game’s final 27 points to pull away from their big brothers. Overall, the Clippers have beaten the top three teams in the West – including San Antonio and Oklahoma City -- and can also have wins over two of the top three teams in the East -- Miami and Chicago.
Los Angeles is 9-4 over its past 13 games, going an equally strong 8-4-1 ATS during that span.
As good as rookie of the year shoe-in Blake Griffin has been, one of the biggest reasons for the team’s success is the emergence of young stars Eric Gordon and DeAndre Jordan. Gordon (23.9 ppg, 4.6 apg) had 30 points and six assists in the win over the Lakers and Jordan (6.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg) had eight points and 15 boards in the victory.
Oh, and Jordan, Griffin, Gordon and emerging lottery pick Al-Farouq Aminu and rookie Eric Bledsoe are all under 23.
Can the Clippers keep up their hot play? Will they make the playoffs?...
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Posted Thursday, January 06, 2011 07:01 AM
Think the Chiefs and Seahawks are dead money this weekend? Think again.
Bettors are pounding the favored Ravens and defending World Champion Saints like they are stealing money. However, history tells us to be very, VERY wary of the home underdog.
Since 1980, the NFL has seen 26 times when a team was a home underdog in the postseason. In those games, the underdog is 17-9 SU and a stunning 18-7-1 against the spread. Maybe homefield does still matter. The past several seasons that stat has come back to earth a little – since 2004, home dogs are just 3-5 SU but 4-4 ATS.
The Chiefs and the Seahawks aren’t world beaters. They both are likely the worst team in their conferences to make the playoffs. But the odds tell us that one of those teams WILL advance to the divisional round.
What do you think? Do the Chiefs or Seahawks have a shot?
Posted Sunday, January 02, 2011 11:10 PM
Some say LeBron or D-Wade are the ones who are tearing through the league in South Beach and should earn this honor. Others say Amar’e Stoudemire and his reviving of the Knicks will garner him the distinction. And then there are those who say that Kevin Durant will bring the trophy to Oklahoma City by the end of the year.
Bull crap.
No player matters more to any team then Rajon Rondo to the Boston Celtics. When his 11.2 points, 13.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game are taken out of the lineup, the team has so little offensive pop it can barley muster a legitimate fight for four quarters.
Look at the point totals for the games he was out with a sprained ankle – 102, 99, 84, 78, 95, 92 and 81. That’s an average of just 90.1 points per game, which compared to the rest of the league, would rank the Celtics DEAD LAST, behind even the Milwaukee Bucks and their 90.6 points per game average.
With Rondo? The team cruised to a 93-79 win over Toronto on the road without Kevin Garnett in the point guard’s first game back. Rondo had 4 points, 8 assists and just one steal in 34 minutes, but was an absurd plus-24 on the night.
With Rondo, the Celtics can unset the Lakers. Without him? Call for a late May tee time.
Who is your pick for MVP? Do you think Rondo should win the award? ...
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