Cnotes 2017 WNBA Picks-Trends-News !

[CNOTES]

Preview: Mystics (1-0) at Sparks (1-0)
Date: May 19, 2017 10:30 PM EDT

The reigning WNBA champion Los Angeles Sparks will get their first look at one of the league's premier players in a new uniform Friday night when the Washington Mystics visit Staples Center in Los Angeles.


Los Angeles (1-0) opened the season with a 78-68 victory over the Seattle Storm last weekend. Nneka Ogwumike, the 2016 WNBA MVP, scored 23 points in the win for the Sparks.


Newcomer Odyssey Sims, acquired in a trade with the Dallas Wings, came off the bench to record 20 points and six assists. Chelsea Gray had 14 points and eight assists.


Washington (1-0) posted an 89-74 victory over the San Antonio Stars in its season opener. Elena Delle Donne scored 24 points in her debut for the Mystics, who acquired the 2015 WNBA MVP in an offseason trade with the Chicago Sky. Tayler Hill scored 15 points and Emma Meesseman had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.


Delle Donne was limited to 23 minutes due to foul trouble but seemed to fit in nicely when she was on the floor, making 8 of 12 field-goal attempts.


Kristi Toliver, who left Los Angeles after the Sparks defeated the Minnesota Lynx to win last year's WNBA championship, was held to eight points on 2-of-6 shooting.


Delle Donne, who requested a trade after four seasons in Chicago, said she was happy with her new surroundings.


"This is exactly what I was hoping for and even more," Delle Donne told ESPN.com. "I knew coming here this team had chemistry. But when you get here and you feel it and experience it, it's even better than I imagined. It's so fun to play with so much talent and so many options."


The Sparks, who also won WNBA titles in 2001 and 2002, raised their newest championship banner before their game against Seattle. They postponed their ring ceremony until Friday due to the absences of Candace Parker, Jantel Lavender and Essence Carson, who were still playing for their respective teams in Hungary. All three were expected to return to Los Angeles in time for Friday's game.


"It's just part of our league," Sparks coach Brian Agler told the Los Angeles Times. "It's part of the dynamics of women's basketball at the pro level. It's not like that on the men's side. On the women's side, they're playing overseas. They come back and they get integrated at different times."



WNB HEAD TO HEAD


Jul 22, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 95 Cover: 11
WAS 75 Over: 170
Tools: Recaps


Jul 10, 2016 Score ATS Results
WAS 82 Over: 175
LOS « 93 Cover: 1.5
Tools: Recaps


May 20, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 97 Cover: 23
WAS 67 Over: 164
Tools: Recaps

 

[CNOTES]

FRIDAY, MAY 19


GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS


PHO at SA 08:00 PM


PHO -8.0


U 151.5


ATL at CHI 08:30 PM


ATL -1.5


U 154.5


WAS at LA 10:30 PM


LA -5.0


O 164.5

 

[CNOTES]

Friday, May 19


FINAL


Phoenix Mercury 78
San Antonio Stars 72


FINAL
Atlanta Dream 91
Chicago Sky 83


FINAL
Washington Mystics 89
Los Angeles Sparks 99

 

[CNOTES]

Saturday, May 20


7:00 PM ET


Connecticut Sun
Indiana Fever


8:00 PM ET
Minnesota Lynx
Dallas Wings




WNBA May's Record:


date w-l-t % units record


05/19/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%................ + 9.00
05/18/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. - 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:.......................6 - 4..................60.00%..................+8.00


best bets:
05/19/2017.................4 -2...................66.66%.................+9.00
05/18/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:........................6 - 4.................60.00%..................+8.00

 

[CNOTES]

Armadillo: Saturday's six-pack


— Rory McIlroy has back/rib injuries, has pulled out of the BMW tourney next week. His status for the US Open is up in the air.


— Cavaliers 130, Celtics 86— Cleveland led 72-31 at the half— 72-31!!!!


— Nationals, Twins are only teams with an extra base hit in every game this season.


— RIP Wayne Walker, a LB for the Lions who also their punter, then later a good announcer on TV. There was a time when punters played other positions; Walker was a very good LB.


— NASCAR driver Alric Almirola is out 8-12 weeks with a broken vertebrae after his scary accident at Bristol Motor Speedway.


— Jason deGrom pitched seven innings last nite, the first time in 18 games a Mets’ starting pitcher got an out after the sixth inning.


**********


Armadillo: Saturday's List of 13: Clearing out a cluttered mind……

13) Paolo Espino is 30 years old; he’s pitched in the minor leagues for 10 years— 291 games, 191 starts, 1,304 IP. Finally, this week he got the call to the major leagues and started for Milwaukee at Wrigley Field Friday.


Imagine the emotion he felt? How excited he must’ve been? His dad flew all the way from Panama to see the game. Luckily for him, the wind was whipping hard and it was blowing in, which makes Wrigley a supreme pitchers’ park.


12) Brandon Kintzner is the Twins’ closer; he’s 32 years old, from Palo Verde HS in Las Vegas and Dixie State in Utah. Back in 2009, he was offered a chance to try out for the role of Tim Hudson in Moneyball, but chose instead to play in an independent league all-star game.


Luckily for him, the Brewers spotted him at the All-Star Game, signed him to a minor league deal and he made it to Miller Park the next year. Now he is the Twins’ closer and a good one.


11) Jose Abreu hasn’t homered in 66 plate appearances at home this year; he’s hit seven in 95 PA’s on the road. That could be weather-related; Abreu’s bat has often heated up when the weather does. Hasn’t been too warm on the south side of Chicago this spring.


10) Quick story from my days coaching Little League:


I was an assistant coach; my future ex-wife’s nephew was on the team, which wasn’t a good team. I’m warming up our starting pitcher at practice one night; he throws strikes, but didn’t throw hard, but at least he throws strikes.


After three pitches, the kid says to me, “You know, I can pitch left-handed.” I’m thinking to myself, “Kid, you can barely pitch right-handed.” But our team wasn’t good, so I tell him to throw me a couple left-handed.


Well, what do you know; the kid threw much harder, and a heavy ball— he was good!!!! I’m like, what took you so long to tell us? Now I have to break the news to our head coach without him thinking I’m pranking him.


We didn’t have a good season, but the kid did real well pitching lefty (he also was a catcher and played righty as a catcher); he would’ve made the All-Star team except his dad got transferred out-of-state for work so the family moved as soon as school got out.


Just goes to show you; keep your ears open. You never know what you might hear.


9) Anaheim Ducks’ Corey Perry has three overtime goals in the NHL playoffs this spring, the first player to do that since Maurice Richard in 1951.


8) There have been 26 overtime games in the NHL playoffs this spring; the record is 28 (1993), they had 27 in 2013. Playoff hockey is way more fun to watch than the NBA playoffs.


7) When the Las Vegas Golden Knights have their expansion draft next month (yes, the NHL has a team in Las Vegas now), the Knights will select 30 players- they have to take at least one player from every team in the league.


6) Stayed up late Thursday night watching a replay of Super Bowl XIV, from January of 1980, Rams-Steelers. Long time ago, but I had never seen the replay of that game. Rams had won seven division titles in a row, but only made the Super Bowl in ’79 after they started the season 4-5 and survived a bunch of injuries.


Some observations from the broadcast:
— Football was way different in 1980; guys got hit out of bounds a few times- no flags.
— TV graphics were obviously way worse; no game clock on the screen until the last minute.
— CBS analyst Tom Brookshier wouldn’t have lasted two weeks in today’s politically correct world. He was funny as hell and told the truth, but people today don’t always want the truth.
— The whole world is so different now; there were over 100,000 people there, doubt any of them had phones in their pockets. How many people go to games now without a cellphone?
— Rams basically played that Super Bowl at home, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It was their last year at the Coliseum before they moved to Anaheim.
— Teams substituted so much less then than they do now, from play-to-play.


5) Miami Marlins hired former big league OF Todd Hollandworth as a TV analyst this year; he is very good, and for one reason— Marlins’ broadcasts are like listening to Hollandsworth and Rich Waltz sit around and talk about ball. They’re not announcing the game as much as they’re just talking about baseball and having a good time. Very relaxed; fun to listen to.


4) My personal opinion on the NBA Draft is this: If I ran an NBA franchise and could take Lonzo Ball, I wouldn’t let his father’s antics make me pick someone else.


That is assuming I thought Ball was the best player available and fitted what my team needed. UCLA had a terrific season this past year; the kid is a really good player. NBA players are well-versed in tuning out distractions.


3) Ryan Fitzpatrick signed as a free agent QB with the Buccaneers; if he throws a pass for Tampa Bay this season, he’ll be the sixth QB in NFL history to throw a pass for seven different teams, joining: Jeff Blake, Steve Bono, Chris Chandler, Gus Frerotte and Vinny Testaverde.


2) Je’rell Springer didn’t play HS basketball last winter due to eligibility issues after he changed schools in Las Vegas, but he got a scholarship from Southern Utah anyway, turning down BYU, an unusual choice. Springer is a great get for the Big Sky’s Thunderbirds.


1) Will Nerd Power catch on in Milwaukee? Eric Sogard (he wears glasses when he plays) came up to the Brewers this week and went 10-17 (.588) in his first six games with the Crew, with two 4-hit games. This is the same guy who hit .239 in 1,210 AB’s over six years in Oakland.


Sogard was once a 2nd round draft pick by the Padres out of Arizona State; terrific fielder. Wish he had hit like this for the A’s.


My condolences to Brewers’ TV analyst Bill Schroeder, whose mom passed away this week. I lost my dad two years ago last night; miss him every day.

 

[CNOTES]

WNBA
Dunkel


Saturday, May 20



Minnesota @ Dallas


Game 663-664
May 20, 2017 @ 8:00 pm


Dunkel Rating:
Minnesota
117.147
Dallas
104.522
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 12 1/2
155
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota
by 8 1/2
165
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(-8 1/2); Under


Connecticut @ Indiana


Game 661-662
May 20, 2017 @ 7:00 pm


Dunkel Rating:
Connecticut
106.144
Indiana
115.755
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Indiana
by 9 1/2
163
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Indiana
by 4 1/2
159
Dunkel Pick:
Indiana
(-4 1/2); Over








WNBA
Long Sheet


Saturday, May 20


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CONNECTICUT (0 - 1) at INDIANA (0 - 2) - 5/20/2017, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CONNECTICUT is 15-6 ATS (+8.4 Units) in road games in May, June, or July games over the last 3 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 23-12 ATS (+9.8 Units) after a division game over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 5-2 against the spread versus CONNECTICUT over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA is 5-2 straight up against CONNECTICUT over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MINNESOTA (2 - 0) at DALLAS (1 - 0) - 5/20/2017, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
MINNESOTA is 8-1 ATS (+6.9 Units) on Saturday games over the last 3 seasons.
DALLAS is 2-9 ATS (-7.9 Units) in home games after a division game over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
MINNESOTA is 4-3 against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 6-1 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






WNBA


Saturday, May 20


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


7:00 PM
CONNECTICUT vs. INDIANA
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Connecticut's last 18 games when playing Indiana
Connecticut is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Indiana is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Connecticut
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games

8:00 PM
MINNESOTA vs. DALLAS
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Minnesota's last 6 games on the road
Minnesota is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Dallas is 3-14 SU in its last 17 games
Dallas is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota

 

[CNOTES]

Preview: Sun (0-1) at Fever (0-2)
Date: May 20, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

A pair of winless teams will compete for their first victory of the season when the Indiana Fever host the Connecticut Sun on Saturday evening.


The contest marks the regular-season home opener for the Fever (0-2), who posted an 8-9 record at home last season. Indiana has dropped its first two games this season against the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury.


Connecticut (0-1) also is trying to bounce back after losing its home opener against the Atlanta Dream. The Sun will play their first road game of the season after going 6-11 away from home in 2015-16.


Connecticut second-year guard Courtney Williams will try to stay hot after making her first seven shots in Saturday's season opener against Atlanta. Williams finished with 18 points in 27 minutes.


"I want to be more consistent, that's one of the main things I'm trying to do this year is be more dependable," Williams told the Sun's official website. "A lot of teams, when they scout me, I'm known as a (mid-range) jump shooter. So I worked on my outside game, so they have to respect that, as well."


Indiana and Connecticut squared off against each other three times last season, with the Sun winning the season series 2-1. Connecticut outscored Indiana by a combined total of 31 points in three meetings.


This season already has included another lopsided loss for the Fever, who were routed 85-62 by Phoenix on Wednesday. The defeat prompted Indiana coach Pokey Chatman to challenge her team.


"This is big girl basketball," Chatman told the team's official website. "You can't let any team get comfortable in this league. ... We need to play with more pride from the opening tip."


Four players are averaging double figures in the Fever's first two games. Tiffany Mitchell leads the way with 14.0 points per game and is followed closely by Briann January (13.5), Shenise Johnson (13.0) and Candice Dupree (11.0). On the boards, Erlana Larkins leads the team with 7.5 rebounds per game.


Morgan Tuck will aim for her second consecutive 20-point performance after leading Connecticut with 21 points in the opener. Williams (18 points) and Jasmine Thomas (14) also netted double figures.


Sun forward-center Jonquel Jones could provide a difficult challenge for the Fever's frontcourt. The 6-foot-6 George Washington alum led the nation in rebounding as a senior in college, and she pulled down a career-high 20 rebounds against Atlanta to start her second WNBA season.




WNB HEAD TO HEAD


Sep 13, 2016 Score ATS Results
IND 87 Over: 176
CONN « 89 Cover: 1
Tools: Recaps


Jul 13, 2016 Score ATS Results
CONN « 86 Cover: 30
IND 64 Under: 150
Tools: Recaps


Jun 5, 2016 Score ATS Results
IND « 88 Cover: 5
CONN 77 Over: 165
Tools: Recaps

 

[CNOTES]

Preview: Lynx (2-0) at Wings (1-0)
Date: May 20, 2017 8:00 PM EDT

Kaela Davis hopes for a repeat of her impressive WNBA debut when the Dallas Wings host the Minnesota Lynx in their home opener Saturday night at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.


Davis, a first-year guard who helped lead South Carolina to a national championship in the NCAA Tournament in March, scored 20 points in her first professional game Sunday in the Wings' season-opening 68-58 win against the Phoenix Mercury.


Dallas (1-0) trailed by two points at halftime despite a 10-point first half for Davis. The Wings pulled away in the fourth quarter, using a 19-9 run in the game's final 8:50 to seal the win.


Skylar Diggins-Smith added seven points, three rebounds and three assists in the victory.


The Wings return to College Park Center for their second home opener in Dallas after the franchise relocated from Tulsa ahead of last season. Dallas notched six of its 11 total wins at home last season and plans to lean heavily on its home fans once again.


"One of the big impacts that the move from Tulsa to the Dallas area had is on our fan base. I think that right of the bat, the support (in Dallas) was amazing, and the team has been settling in better this year," Wings assistant coach Bridget Pettis told DallasVoice.com.


Minnesota (2-0) is also coming off a win in Thursday's 90-71 rout of the host New York Liberty. Maya Moore scored 12 of her team-high 16 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds as the Lynx outscored the Liberty 47-31 in the final half. It was Moore's 29th career double-double.


All five Lynx starters scored in double figures.


"When everyone gets involved and we have that balanced scoring, it's a great thing for us," Moore said. "We always feel better when we can play to our potential."


Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson had four rebounds against the Liberty and enters Saturday's game one shy of 3,000 for her career. She would become the fifth player in league history to achieve that milestone.


The Lynx also won their season opener Sunday, beating the Chicago Sky 70-61. Sylvia Fowles led the charge in that game with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Moore added 11 points.


Minnesota won all three games against Dallas last season by an average of 18.3 points. After losing the first two meetings by a combined 54 points, the Wings kept it close in the season-series finale, a 98-97 overtime loss at home.




WNB HEAD TO HEAD


Jul 17, 2016 Score ATS Results
MIN « 98 Over: 195
DAL 97 Cover: 8
Tools: Recaps


Jul 9, 2016 Score ATS Results
DAL 56 Under: 149
MIN « 93 Cover: 25.5
Tools: Recaps


Jun 4, 2016 Score ATS Results
DAL 63 Under: 143
MIN « 80 Cover: 4.5
Tools: Recaps

 

[CNOTES]

Standings

EASTERN CONFERENCE


Team Win Loss Percent GB Home Away Conf. Last 10 Streak


Atlanta Dream 2 0 1.000 0 - 2-0 2-0 2-0 W-2


Washington Mystics 1 1 0.500 1 1-0 0-1 - 1-1 L-1


New York Liberty 1 1 0.500 1 1-1 - - 1-1 L-1


Connecticut Sun 0 1 0.000 1 0-1 - 0-1 0-1 L-1


Chicago Sky 0 2 0.000 2 0-1 0-1 0-1 0-2 L-2


Indiana Fever 0 2 0.000 2 - 0-2 - 0-2 L-2

WESTERN CONFERENCE


Team Win Loss Percent GB Home Away Conf. Last 10 Streak


Minnesota Lynx 2 0 1.000 0 1-0 1-0 - 2-0 W-2


Los Angeles Sparks 2 0 1.000 0 2-0 - 1-0 2-0 W-2


Dallas Wings 1 0 1.000 0 - 1-0 1-0 1-0 W-1


Phoenix Mercury 2 1 0.667 0 1-1 1-0 1-1 2-1 W-2


Seattle Storm 1 1 0.500 1 1-0 0-1 0-1 1-1 W-1


San Antonio Stars 0 3 0.000 2 0-1 0-2 0-1 0-3 L-3

Updated Sat May 20 9:08 AM EDT

 

[CNOTES]

WNBA May's Record:


date w-l-t % units record


05/19/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%................ + 9.00
05/18/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. - 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:.......................6 - 4..................60.00%..................+8.00


best bets:
05/19/2017.................4 -2...................66.66%.................+9.00
05/18/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:........................6 - 4.................60.00%..................+8.00




SATURDAY, MAY 20


GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS


CONN at IND 07:00 PM


CONN +5.0


O 159.0


MIN at DAL 08:00 PM


MIN -9.0


O 163.5

 

[CNOTES]

Johnson leads Fever's rally in 81-79 win
May 20, 2017


INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Shenise Johnson scored eight of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a go-ahead jumper with 46 seconds remaining, and the Indiana Fever rallied to beat the Connecticut Sun 81-79 on Saturday night.


The Fever (1-2) ended a streak of four straight losses in home openers while also giving Pokey Chatman her first victory as Indiana's coach.


Connecticut (0-2) was without starters Jasmine Thomas (attending brother's wedding) and Alyssa Thomas (concussion protocol), but led 45-40 at halftime and was up 11 in the final minute of the third quarter.


Morgan Tuck's 3-pointer got the Sun within 76-75 with 16 seconds left but Connecticut was called for a dead-ball foul on Indiana's inbounds. The Fever converted the free throw and kept possession. Four free throws were then enough to ensure the win.


Candice Dupree scored 19 points to lead Indiana.


The Fever made 28 of 29 free throws while the Sun gave up 21 points off 18 turnovers.


****************************


Davis looks to build off debut as Wings host Lynx


Kaela Davis hopes for a repeat of her impressive WNBA debut when the Dallas Wings host the Minnesota Lynx in their home opener Saturday night at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.


Davis, a first-year guard who helped lead South Carolina to a national championship in the NCAA Tournament in March, scored 20 points in her first professional game Sunday in the Wings' season-opening 68-58 win against the Phoenix Mercury.


Dallas (1-0) trailed by two points at halftime despite a 10-point first half for Davis. The Wings pulled away in the fourth quarter, using a 19-9 run in the game's final 8:50 to seal the win.


Skylar Diggins-Smith added seven points, three rebounds and three assists in the victory.


The Wings return to College Park Center for their second home opener in Dallas after the franchise relocated from Tulsa ahead of last season. Dallas notched six of its 11 total wins at home last season and plans to lean heavily on its home fans once again.


"One of the big impacts that the move from Tulsa to the Dallas area had is on our fan base. I think that right of the bat, the support (in Dallas) was amazing, and the team has been settling in better this year," Wings assistant coach Bridget Pettis told DallasVoice.com.


Minnesota (2-0) is also coming off a win in Thursday's 90-71 rout of the host New York Liberty. Maya Moore scored 12 of her team-high 16 points in the second half and finished with 11 rebounds as the Lynx outscored the Liberty 47-31 in the final half. It was Moore's 29th career double-double.


All five Lynx starters scored in double figures.


"When everyone gets involved and we have that balanced scoring, it's a great thing for us," Moore said. "We always feel better when we can play to our potential."


Lynx forward Rebekkah Brunson had four rebounds against the Liberty and enters Saturday's game one shy of 3,000 for her career. She would become the fifth player in league history to achieve that milestone.


The Lynx also won their season opener Sunday, beating the Chicago Sky 70-61. Sylvia Fowles led the charge in that game with 26 points and 10 rebounds while Moore added 11 points.


Minnesota won all three games against Dallas last season by an average of 18.3 points. After losing the first two meetings by a combined 54 points, the Wings kept it close in the season-series finale, a 98-97 overtime loss at home.

 

[CNOTES]

Sunday’s six-pack


Some over/under win totals for college football this coming fall:


— Alabama 10.5, over -$150


— Ohio State 10, over -$125


— Penn State 9.5, under -$125


— Florida State 9.5, over -$130


— Clemson 9


— Oklahoma 9.5, over -$145


***************************************

Sunday’s List of 13: Random stuff on a spring Sunday……..


13) Lebron James isn’t one of the three finalists for NBA’s MVP; they should change the name of the award to Player of the Year, because no one is as valuable to their team as James is to the Cavaliers. He is so consistently great he gets taken for granted.


12) Atlanta Braves acquired 1B Matt Adams from St Louis for a minor leaguer; they need a bat with Freddie Freeman out for the next 2-3 months.


11) Baseball oddity; in Jason deGrom’s last two starts, he had the same home plate umpire, Phil Cuzzi, who switched crews this week, for some reason. Very rare for the same umpire to work two starts in a row by the same pitcher.


10) Cloud Computing ($28.80) won the Preakness, only the 4th time in the last 34 years the Preakness winner was a horse that didn’t run in the Kentucky Derby.


9) White Sox are apparently close to signing 19-year old outfielder Luis Robert, who is thought to be the best unsigned Cuban prospect right now. The young man defected from Cuba and is Haiti these days— he is going to be really, really rich pretty soon.


8) Best wishes to Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, who recently had an 8th operation on his right eye, after he detached a retina last year. Zimmer missed one game and coached another while wearing an eye patch.


7) Texas Rangers quietly won ten games in a row; while they’re still 6.5 games behind Houston in the AL West, if the playoffs started now, Texas would be one of the Wild Card teams.


6) When he went to the NBA Combine 10 years ago, Kevin Durant couldn’t lift 185 pounds, which isn’t good but hasn’t seemed to hamper his career much. Now Durant advises prospects to skip the combine. At some point in all of this scouting over-analysis, the primary question has to be: “Can he play?”, not “Is he is a candidate to win a gold medal in the clean-and-jerk?”


5) Astros’ pitching ace Dallas Keuchel is on the 10-day DL with a pinched nerve in his neck. The new 10-day DL allows teams to simply skip a pitcher’s turn if he has a minor injury, which this one supposedly is.


4) Pointspreads on Cavaliers (-14.5) and Warriors (-13.5) this weekend are the biggest in any NBA conference final game since 2005.


3) Before the Nationals-Braves game Saturday, after the national anthem on what was Military Appreciation Day, Bryce Harper posed for pictures with service members for several minutes. Pretty cool to see; the media is so quick to point out bad things about people. Nice to see the good things these guys do.


2) Oklahoma City Thunder’s Enes Kanter is from Turkey; he was traveling in Europe this weekend, but because of his political beliefs (I have no idea what they are), his passport was voided by the Turkish government. With no “valid” passport, Kanter was not allowed to enter Romania and was later put on a flight to London, on his way back to this country.


NBA has thought about putting some teams in Europe eventually; you wonder if stuff like this will put a kibosh on those ideas. It is a crazy world out there.


1) Think about this week in Washington, when Kurdish protestors were getting beat up by the Turkish president’s bodyguards out in the open on the street; Turkey must be a really fun place to live. We are lucky to live in this country; it isn’t perfect here, but it is a hell of a lot better than most places.

 

[CNOTES]

Preview: Sky (0-2) at Dream (2-0)
Date: May 21, 2017 3:00 PM EDT

The Atlanta Dream are striving to build an identity early in the season, one based on ball movement and balance.


That identity was on display Friday in the Dream's road victory over the Chicago Sky.


The teams meet again Sunday in Atlanta.


Tiffany Hayes led six Atlanta players in double figures with 23 points. Point guard Layshia Clarendon added 18 points and handed out seven of the Dream's 20 assists, and center Elizabeth Williams had 11 points and 11 rebounds.


"A lot our identity I think so far is being shaped from being a balanced team ... and having really balanced scoring across the board," Clarendon told the Dream's website last week. "Our goal is to average 20 assists per game, so I think that's something we can focus on."


Chicago point guard Cappie Pondexter led the Sky with 22 points against the Dream, and backcourt mate Tamera Young added 18 points for Chicago (0-2).


The offseason saw the Sky ship superstar Elena Delle Donne to Washington in exchange for All-Star forward Stefanie Dolson, guard Kahleah Copper and a 2017 draft pick.


Dolson teams with center Imani Boyette to give Chicago an imposing front line, but knows there will be an adjustment period in terms of finding her role with her new squad.


"I am my own player," Dolson told the Chicago Sun Times. "I've been just saying, 'Do what they need me to do.' They have a good core already. It's just about fitting in and doing what they need me to do."


The Dream also lost their superstar in the offseason, when Angel McCoughtry announced in January that she would sit out for at least part of the 2017 season.


McCoughtry did not rule out returning this season, but said in a letter released by the team that she will not play for an undetermined portion of the season.


McCoughtry's absence hasn't cost the Dream yet. Atlanta has opened the season with back-to-back road wins. The Dream followed up an 81-74 win at Connecticut with Friday's win at Chicago.


The Dream (2-0) shot a sizzling 55.2 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Sky, 37-31. Chicago shot only 39.0 percent from the field.


Atlanta won two of three meetings with the Sky last season.


The Dream was without forward Aneika Henry-Morello in Friday's game. The 6-foot-4 forward is dealing with a left foot injury. Her status for Sunday's game was unknown.




WNB HEAD TO HEAD


May 19, 2017 Score ATS Results
ATL « 91 Cover: 6.5
CHI 83 Over: 174
Tools: Recaps


Sep 25, 2016 Score ATS Results
ATL 98 Over: 206
CHI « 108 Cover: 8.5
Tools: Recaps


Aug 26, 2016 Score ATS Results
ATL 82 Over: 172
CHI « 90 Cover: 3
Tools: Recaps


Jun 17, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 97 Over: 198
ATL « 101 Cover: 8.5
Tools: Recaps


May 22, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 81 Under: 168
ATL « 87 Cover: 10.5
Tools: Recaps

 

[CNOTES]

WNBA May's Record:


date w-l-t % units record


05/20/2017................ 3-1-0................ 75.00%................. +9.50
05/19/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%................ + 9.00
05/18/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. - 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:.......................9 - 5..................64.28%..................+17.50


best bets:


05/20/2017.................3 - 0..................100.00%.................+3.00
05/19/2017.................4 - 2...................66.66%..................+9.00
05/18/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50
05/17/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:........................9 - 4.................69.23%..................+11.00

 

[CNOTES]

WNBA
Dunkel


Sunday, May 21



Washington @ Seattle


Game 667-668
May 21, 2017 @ 7:00 pm


Dunkel Rating:
Washington
114.464
Seattle
110.888
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 3 1/2
166
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Seattle
by 3
163 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
(+3); Over


Chicago @ Atlanta


Game 665-666
May 21, 2017 @ 3:00 pm


Dunkel Rating:
Chicago
107.096
Atlanta
115.572
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Atlanta
by 8 1/2
169
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Atlanta
by 5 1/2
163 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Atlanta
(-5 1/2); Over








WNBA
Long Sheet


Sunday, May 21


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


CHICAGO (0 - 2) at ATLANTA (2 - 0) - 5/21/2017, 3:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 6-3 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 5-4 straight up against ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
7 of 9 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WASHINGTON (1 - 1) at SEATTLE (1 - 1) - 5/21/2017, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
WASHINGTON is 295-352 ATS (-92.2 Units) in all games since 1997.
WASHINGTON is 19-36 ATS (-20.6 Units) in road games on Sunday games since 1997.
SEATTLE is 56-35 ATS (+17.5 Units) in home games after a non-conference game since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
SEATTLE is 3-2 against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
SEATTLE is 3-2 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------






WNBA


Sunday, May 21


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


3:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. ATLANTA
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Chicago's last 6 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
Chicago is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 6 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Atlanta's last 8 games when playing Chicago

7:00 PM
WASHINGTON vs. SEATTLE
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Washington's last 16 games when playing on the road against Seattle
Washington is 1-11 SU in its last 12 games when playing on the road against Seattle
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Seattle's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Seattle's last 16 games when playing at home against Washington

 

[CNOTES]

Preview: Mystics (1-1) at Storm (1-1)
Date: May 21, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

Elena Delle Donne is filling the Washington Mystics' need for an offensive force, averaging 25.5 points through the season's first two games.


Only one player in the WNBA is averaging more points than Delle Donne, the league's 2015 Most Valuable Player acquired by the Mystics during the offseason. That player is Seattle guard Jewell Loyd, who along with Breanna Stewart is fueling the Storm's rebuilding plan.


Loyd is producing 26 points per game.


The league's most prolific scorers meet Sunday in Seattle when the Storm (1-1) host the Mystics (1-1).


After a season-opening home win over San Antonio, Washington headed West for a Friday matchup against defending WNBA champion Los Angeles. Delle Donne led the Mystics in scoring both times, including 27 against the Sparks, but the outcome was different against Los Angeles.


Washington trailed by 12 points after the first quarter and never recovered, falling 99-89.


"They did most of their damage in the first quarter," Mystics coach Mike Thibault said of the Sparks, who led 34-22 after one quarter and 59-48 at halftime despite 15 points from Delle Donne.


"End of the first, their traps turned us over a couple of times. (We) took a couple of bad shots, sped us up a little bit," Thibault said. "We knew we were going to get that kind of pressure coming here."


There was some pressure on Delle Donne upon joining Washington via a trade with the Chicago Sky in the league's biggest transaction of the offseason.


The Mystics, coming off a 13-21 season, have posted a winning record only once since 2010. Now they are considered a title contender thanks to the additions of Delle Donne and Kristi Toliver to go with holdovers Emma Meesseman and Tayler Hill.


Delle Donne is averaging 25.5 points through two games. Though her trademark 3-point touch hasn't arrived yet (1 of 6), she is shooting 64 percent (16 of 25) from the field and has made 18 of 19 free throws.


Loyd is thriving from deep. The second-year player sank 3 of 4 3-point tries and scored 27 points in Seattle's 87-82 win over Indiana on May 14. She scored 25 points and made two 3-pointers the previous day during a 78-68 loss at Los Angeles.


Stewart scored 15 points against the Fever and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer for a 79-77 lead with 1:40 remaining.


"You saw a team that's developed toughness and is figuring out how to make plays on both ends of the floor," Seattle coach Jenny Boucek told the Storm's website. "I didn't think we played great. We didn't have a lot of gas in the tank because we used a lot of it (at Los Angeles), but they showed a lot of toughness to figure out a way to win when they weren't feeling their best, which is huge for us."


Crystal Langhorne, who began her career with Washington, scored 17 points for Seattle on 7-of-8 shooting against Indiana.


The Mystics went 1-2 against the Storm last season, but their win came in Seattle.


Meesseman, who leads the Mystics with an average of five assists per game, scored 19 points in Washington's 84-82 victory over Seattle last May 26. Loyd had 26 points in the other game in Seattle as the Storm dominated 80-51 on July 15.



WNB HEAD TO HEAD


Sep 9, 2016 Score ATS Results
SEA « 81 Cover: 8
WAS 76 Under: 157
Tools: Recaps


Jul 15, 2016 Score ATS Results
WAS 0 Under: 0
SEA « 0 Cover: 1
Tools: Recaps


May 26, 2016 Score ATS Results
WAS « 84 Cover: 7
SEA 82 Over: 166
Tools: Recaps

 

[CNOTES]

SUNDAY, MAY 21


GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS


CHI at ATL 03:00 PM


ATL -6.0


U 164.5


WAS at SEA 07:00 PM


WAS +2.0


U 166.5

 

[CNOTES]

WNBA Capsules
May 21, 2017


ATLANTA (AP) Stefanie Dolson tied her career high with 23 points on 10-of 13 shooting to help the Chicago Sky beat the Atlanta Dream 75-71 on Sunday.


Dolson also had eight rebounds and five blocks.


Cappie Pondexter added 20 points and 11 assists, and Jessica Breland had a season-high 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for Chicago (1-2). The Sky trailed by 13 points in the first half.


Clarendon and Tiffany Hayes scored 17 points apiece for Atlanta (2-1). Hayes was helped to the locker room after an apparent ankle injury suffered in the closing seconds.


STORM 81, MYSTICS 71


SEATTLE (AP) - Jewell Loyd scored 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting in Seattle's victory over Washington.


Loyd was 3 for 3 from 3-point range. Crystal Langhorne scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half, and Sue Bird added nine points and 10 assists for the Storm (2-1).


Elena Delle Donne led Washington (1-2) with 14 points, and Tayler Hill had 13.

 

[CNOTES]

Mercury's Diana Taurasi suspended
May 21, 2017


NEW YORK (AP) Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi has been suspended one game without pay for hitting San Antonio Stars forward Dearica Hamby in the back of the head with a forearm.


The WNBA said Sunday she will serve her suspension Tuesday, when the Mercury hosts the New York Liberty.


Taurasi was assessed a technical foul with 4:09 remaining in the second quarter of the Mercury's 78-72 victory Friday. The league reviewed the play, and rescinded the technical but upgraded the play to a flagrant foul 2.

 

[CNOTES]

WNBA May's Record:


date w-l-t % units record


05/21/2017................ 2-2-0................ 50.00%................. -1.00
05/20/2017................ 3-1-0................ 75.00%................. +9.50
05/19/2017................ 4-2-0................ 66.67%.............,... + 9.00
05/18/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. - 0.50
05/17/2017.................1-1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:.......................11 - 7..................61.11%..................+16.50


best bets:


05/21/2017.................2 - 2...................50.00%...................-1.00
05/20/2017.................3 - 0..................100.00%.................+3.00
05/19/2017.................4 - 2...................66.66%..................+9.00
05/18/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50
05/17/2017.................1 - 1-0.................50.00%..................- 0.50


Totals:........................11 - 6.................64.70%..................+10.00