Wednesday (YTD: 27-13); Cuse v G'Town & LSU v SC

[RyanLeaf]

Syracuse v Georgetown

Syracuse not a good defensive team but good offensively, Georgetown not a good offensive team but a good defensive team. If Syracuse can play the 2-3 with discipline and solid effort, they will cause problems for Georgetown, the problem is that Syracuse never does that and is the laziest and most undeiclipined team in Div.1. I am siding with Georgetown -6.5, I think they get the win at home and this line doesn't make a lot of sense. Why is Georgetown laying such a big number, shouldn't this be around 2 or 3? Seems like books are begging for Cuse money and I am sure they will get it.

GL 2 ALL

LSU v South Carolina

I am sure everyone will look at the road win by South Carolina against Baylor and justify laying 3.5 on the road, not me. LSU undefeated at home (I realize they haven't played anyone half decent at home), and plays sound defense and have playmakers in Thornton and Mitchell. By looking at both teams schedules you would think South Carolina should be favored and LSU laying 3.5 seems too much, need I say more.

LSU -3.5

GL 2 ALL

Yesterday:
That NC State game last night was a joke, that team really stinks and I look forward to fading them for the rest of the season. No point guard play, can't rebound, lackluster defense and can't hold on to the ball. They are a train wreck. Despite all of these things they almost pulled off the game but allowed FSU to go on a 18-2 run or something like that to close out the game, UGLY UGLY UGLY! They will give us our money back and some.

 

[RyanLeaf]

I almost forgot my favorite game of the day, Wake Forest v BC. I love BC in this spot, getting 3.5 at HOME against a team that has been hearing they are world beaters all week for beating an overrated UNC team that BC beat AT UNC. Oh my, I love BC here, everyone and their mother will be on Wake too.

BC +3.5

GL 2 ALL

 

[homedawg]

gotta disagree with the statement that syracuse is a bad defensive team because that is furthest from the truth. if you look at the numbers they are actually a very good defensive team. as for lazy and undisciplined, i'm not sure what you mean by that either? the only ones that really do stupid shit is harris, and devendorf, but they would do that stuff no matter who they were playing for. it is them not the coach so to say they are undisciplined i have to disagreee. i also think you have georgetown off/def flipped around as well?

i do think you could be on the right side though,

gl

 

[BigNauty]

Your record up to Monday was 26-11. And you won with Tulsa and lost with NC st. yesterday. Shouldn't it be 27-12 instead? Or did I miss a game somewhere? Thanks!

 

[RyanLeaf]

I went 1-2 yesterday, I took NC State game and NC State 2H which both lost, Tulsa covered v Memphis and that was my winner.

HomeDawg, you are right, Harris and Devendorff play like idiots on defense and look lost a lot of the time. That becomes problematic with G'Town's Princeton offense which will expose those deficiencies. Syracuse wants to run and score points, not play defense and that will hurt them tonight IMO. if Monroe plays to abilities and not like a softie, he has shown signs since the Pitt game, Syracuse is in big trouble.

 

[homedawg]

I went 1-2 yesterday, I took NC State game and NC State 2H which both lost, Tulsa covered v Memphis and that was my winner.

HomeDawg, you are right, Harris and Devendorff play like idiots on defense and look lost a lot of the time. That becomes problematic with G'Town's Princeton offense which will expose those deficiencies. Syracuse wants to run and score points, not play defense and that will hurt them tonight IMO. if Monroe plays to abilities and not like a softie, he has shown signs since the Pitt game, Syracuse is in big trouble.

i actually think they win tonight, but regardless it should be an enterataining game.

gl tonight

 

[RyanLeaf]

Syracuse has the best PG in the country in Flynn, he is the only matchup problem for G'Town, G'Town better at every other position in my opinion. My guess is Devendorf and Williams will be shooting at lot of threes in this game and you know what the outcome is when that happens.

 

[Drunkn247]

Syracuse has the best PG in the country in Flynn, he is the only matchup problem for G'Town, G'Town better at every other position in my opinion. My guess is Devendorf and Williams will be shooting at lot of threes in this game and you know what the outcome is when that happens.

Who the hell is Williams?

 

[RyanLeaf]

Paul Williams aka "the next" Carmelo Anthony, lol. He is on Syracuse.

 

[homedawg]

Syracuse has the best PG in the country in Flynn, he is the only matchup problem for G'Town, G'Town better at every other position in my opinion. My guess is Devendorf and Williams will be shooting at lot of threes in this game and you know what the outcome is when that happens.

who is williams? and i really disagree now. if anything gtown is down this season and syracuse is much better as a team. not sure how sapp is better than harris, freeman better than devendorf, or even monroe better than arinze? syracuse also has a better bench with oganet/jacskson, rautins, joseph.

 

[RyanLeaf]

I'm sorry I meant to say Paul Harris

 

[homedawg]

Paul Williams aka "the next" Carmelo Anthony, lol. He is on Syracuse.

what "? have you even watched syracuse this season>

 

[RyanLeaf]

HomeDawg, sounds like you are on Syracuse or if you are not, you should take them. +6.5 seems like a gift based on your analysis. I have watched plenty of Syracuse this season, they are not very good and will get exposed as they play the better teams in the Big East, I would be surprised if they win 5 of their next 10. Just my opinion.

 

[homedawg]

HomeDawg, sounds like you are on Syracuse or if you are not, you should take them. +6.5 seems like a gift based on your analysis. I have watched plenty of Syracuse this season, they are not very good and will get exposed as they play the better teams in the Big East, I would be surprised if they win 5 of their next 10. Just my opinion.

i do not bet on syracuse games. i am from syracuse, and obviously a fan, so i follow this team religiously. i also follow the big east just as close, if not closer than anybody.
i do not disagree with your selection. i do think georgetown can cover the 6.5. i just disagreed with some of your reasoning/comments, and i also am not as high on georgetown as others. i think syracuse has top 5 talent, and are one of the best teams in the country. this is not from the heart, but an educated observation from somebody who watches as much cbb as anyone. i just don't see how somebody can see they are not very good? i don't see many weaknesses? yes they turn the ball over a little too much, and make some careless mistakes, but they have improved on that as the season has gone on, and are talented enough to overcome those mistakes/turnovers. they are a very well balanced team, who can get it done from the outside (rautins, devendorf, flynn), and the insde (arinze, ever improving rick jackson). they have slashers (flynn, devendorf, harris), and defensive stoppers (flynn, harris). their 2-3 zone is very effective against teams such as georgetown who don't shoot the ball all that well, and have shown the ability to rebound with the best of them (memphis) holding a +7 rebound advantage. this is a talented, experienced, team that is hungry to avenge missing the tournament the past 2 seasons. flynn is one of the best players in the country, and andy rautins is the hottest shooter in the country. they can play any style of ball, and have shown they can win on the road (@memphis, neutral court kansas, florida). so where i agree that georgetown -6 is not a bad play to say they are not very good is just plain wrong.

anyways sorry for the mini hi-jack. GL tonight

 

[GoForIt]

LET'S GO GAMECOCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Double-D is lights out for South Carolina (Devan Downey)

I

 

[SportsSharpie]

Love the Georgetown pick

 

[irishjuwan]

I have been watching and wagering on the Big East for twenty years, so take what you what from my observations......


Syracuse has played well against Gtown over the last few years for this one reason........ The zone forces the Hoyas out of their game offensively.. Gtown CANNOT run their sets because the Zone makes them more stagnet... I love JT3, but the offense vs this Cuse zone has been poor the last few years... the Cuse have had success packing it in inside the three point line... In my opinion, Gtown is the best in the country when it comes to SPACING and BALL REVERSAL... maybe not as much this year, but JT3's offensive philosphy is a second to none.. I know many people disagree with this, but once again, it my opinion... And this is the reason The Cuse will give them trouble... Ball movemnent has been poor vs the Zone and player movement has been limited... There are TWO critical places on the floor to attack the Orange zone... (1) RIGHT A THE Free Throw line in the MIDDLE of the floor--- pass the ball there and force the back man to play up... (2) the Grey Area: this is the dead corner of the floor inside the three point line.. ANY ZONE every created will suffer vs this becasue it makes the ENTIRE defense COLLAPSE... A diagonal pass from this area will result in an OPEN SHOT 9times out of ten.... Dont really understand why the Hoyas dont play this way vs this Zone.... This is why they have struggled ... JT has had time to prepare for this game and am sure they have spent massive amounts of time on their Zone offense... He will come out and run a MANtoMan offense first time down the floor, GUARRANTEED!!!!! the Princeton belief is to show player movement no matter what D the other team is in... Anyway, love watching Gtown, simply because they play the RIGHT WAY... But laying this many points is not a very sound investment in my opinion.... Playing against the zone is the area where the Hoyas have to get better, and until I see that, I would be careful vs an ALL ZONE TEAM.... Good luck with your plays, fellas

 

[RyanLeaf]

I love the comments from both Irish and HomeDawg and I agree with you 100% that Georgetown has big time problems against the 2-3, so does UConn because neither team has a shooter that can break the zone down. Syracuse plays a very soft zone in my opinion, I say this because they are very lazy when it comes to weak side help and they tend to get out of position quite a bit when teams run cutters through the zone (guards slashing, baseline cutters, etc.). My guess is that G'Town puts Monroe at the free throw line in the 2-3 set and runs their guards off Monroe. I think Monroe is a good passer and will be able to find an open cutter, if he doesn't it will be a long day for the Hoyas. If the Cuse guards leave Monroe alone (which they should do) and allow Monroe to try and beat them with his jumper Cuse wins this game. Cuse needs to keep the zone compact and dare G'Town to shoot threes and jumpers, this is what Pitt did with tremendous success and G'Town looked lost on offense.

My fear with Syracuse, which is the same every year, is when things aren't going right with them, they revert to playground ball taking dumb shots, not rebounding, not boxing out, arguing with Boheim, pouting, faking injuries, etc. If this Syracuse team is disciplined then I will become a believer.

 

[GasMan]

Good luck Leaf..like em all plus Ole Miss tonight.

 

[choke]

Nice job so far. BC looks pretty weak so far out the gate, but even if they dont cover I'll take 2/3 any day.

Thanks again for the picks!