CNOTES 2023-2024 NBA TRENDS, NEWS, BEST BETS AND OPINIONS THRU THE PLAYOFFS !

[Udog]

NBA

Monday, January 29

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Trend Report
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New York @ Charlotte
New York
New York is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of New York's last 8 games
Charlotte
Charlotte is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games when playing at home against New York
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Charlotte's last 7 games

LA Clippers @ Cleveland
LA Clippers
LA Clippers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
LA Clippers is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Cleveland
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Cleveland is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games

New Orleans @ Boston
New Orleans
The total has gone OVER in 4 of New Orleans's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of New Orleans's last 5 games when playing Boston
Boston
Boston is 20-2 SU in its last 22 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boston's last 7 games

Utah @ Brooklyn
Utah
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Utah's last 5 games when playing Brooklyn
Utah is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Brooklyn
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Brooklyn's last 5 games when playing Utah
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Brooklyn's last 5 games at home

Phoenix @ Miami
Phoenix
Phoenix is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Miami
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Phoenix's last 7 games
Miami
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Miami's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Miami's last 9 games

Sacramento @ Memphis
Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Sacramento's last 5 games when playing Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Sacramento's last 7 games when playing on the road against Memphis
Memphis
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Memphis's last 5 games when playing Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Memphis's last 7 games when playing at home against Sacramento

Washington @ San Antonio
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games
San Antonio
San Antonio is 22-1 SU in its last 23 games when playing at home against Washington
San Antonio is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games

Minnesota @ Oklahoma City
Minnesota
Minnesota is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Oklahoma City
Minnesota is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Oklahoma City is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games at home

LA Lakers @ Houston
LA Lakers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Lakers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 14 of LA Lakers's last 15 games on the road
Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston's last 5 games when playing LA Lakers
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Houston's last 10 games when playing at home against LA Lakers

Orlando @ Dallas
Orlando
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Orlando's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Orlando's last 11 games
Dallas
Dallas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Orlando
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Dallas's last 5 games

Milwaukee @ Denver
Milwaukee
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Milwaukee's last 5 games on the road
Milwaukee is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Denver
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Denver's last 5 games
Denver is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home

Philadelphia @ Portland
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Portland
Philadelphia is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Portland
Portland
Portland is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Portland is 8-2 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Philadelphia


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[Udog]

NBA
Long Sheet

Monday, January 29

 

[CNOTES]

MONDAY, JANUARY 29​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
LAC at CLE	07:00 PM	CLE +1.5 O 225.0	+500 +500
NY at CHA	07:00 PM	NY -9.0 O 221.0	+500 +500
UTA at BK	07:30 PM	UTA -1.0 U 236.0	+500 +500
PHO at MIA	07:30 PM	PHO +3.0 U 229.5	+500 +500
NO at BOS	07:30 PM	BOS -9.0 O 236.0	+500 +500
MIN at OKC	08:00 PM	OKC -2.5 U 223.0	+500 +500
SAC at MEM	08:00 PM	SAC -9.5 U 223.0	+500 +500
WAS at SA	08:00 PM	SA -4.0 U 241.0	+500 +500
LAL at HOU	08:00 PM	HOU +1.0 U 232.5	+500 +500
ORL at DAL	08:30 PM	DAL -4.0 U 227.5	+500 +500
MIL at DEN	09:00 PM	MIL +4.0 U 238.0	+500 +500
PHI at POR	10:00 PM	POR +10.5 O 223.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Tuesday’s 6-pack:
— Cavaliers 118, Clippers 108- Cleveland won 10 of its last 11 games.
— Celtics 118, Pelicans 112- New Orleans led by 10 at halftime.
— Suns 118, Heat 105- Miami lost its last seven games.
— Rockets 135, Lakers 119- Alperen Sengun had 31 points, 12 boards, 7 assists.
— Timberwolves 107, Thunder 101- Minnesota is 33-14, #1-seed in the West.
— Nuggets 113, Bucks 107- Milwaukee loses 1st game with Doc Rivers as coach.

Quote of the Day
“The one stat that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet is heart and poise and togetherness and just fight.”

Ole Miss basketball coach Chris Beard
Tuesday’s quiz
When was the last time a Big Ten team won the college basketball national title?

Monday’s quiz
Patrick Mahomes played his college football at Texas Tech.

Sunday’s quiz
In the baseball movie For Love of the Game, JK Simmons plays the manager of the Detroit Tigers.

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

Tuesday’s Den: College basketball stat leaders…….​

College basketball trends (team’s record):
Teams that play the fastest tempos:
1- Western Kentucky (14-6)
3- VMI (4-17)
7- Samford (18-3)
8- New Mexico (18-3)

Teams that play the slowest tempos:
362- North Texas (12-7)
361- Virginia (15-5)
359- Towson (13-8)
358- Charlotte (13-7)

Teams that force highest % of turnovers:
1- Texas-El Paso (11-10)
2- Iowa State (16-4)
3- Houston (18-2)
4- Florida International (7-14)

Teams that turn ball over the most:
24.5%- Siena (3-17)
23%- Sacramento State (6-15)
22.9%- Texas-Arlington (9-11)
22.8%- Stephen F Austin (12-8)

Best teams on offensive boards:
43.8%- Texas A&M (12-8)
40.7%- Florida (14-6)
40.6%- Towson (13-8)
40.1%- St John’s (13-7)

Worst teams on defensive boards:
63.3%- Cleveland State (13-9)
64.1%- North Carolina A&T (6-15)
64.3%- Florida International (7-14)
64.5%- Rio Grande Valley (6-14)

Teams with highest FG %age on 2-point shots:
64%- Cornell (15-3)
60.8%- Indiana State (18-3)
60%- BYU (15-5)
59.8%- Creighton (16-5)

Teams with highest FG %age on 3-point shots:
41.1%- Indiana State (18-3)
41%- Baylor (14-5)
40.2%- Kentucky (15-4)
40.2%- Samford (18-3)

Defenses with best FG %age on 2-point shots:
40.3%- Houston (18-2)
42%- Loyola Chi (13-7)
42.6%- Cal-Irvine (15-6)
42.6%- UConn (18-2)

Defenses with best FG %age on 3-point shots:
27.4%- SMU (13-7)
27.6%- Louisiana (13-8)
27.7%- Mississippi State (14-6)
27.8%- Seattle (12-8)

Teams who get highest %age of points on 3’s:
43%- BYU (15-5)
41.4%- Georgia Southern (5-16)
41%- Liberty (13-8)
41%- St Joe’s (13-7)

Teams who get highest %age of points on 2’s:
63.7%- IUPUI (6-17)
63.4%- Cal-Bakersfield (8-12)
60%- Tarleton State (13-7)
59.9%- Wright State (12-10)

Teams who get highest %age of points on foul shots:
26.2%- Texas-El Paso (11-10)
25.5%- Grand Canyon (19-2)
25.5%- Rio Grande Valley (6-14)
24.7%- Arkansas (10-10)

Teams whose subs play the most:
46.7%- Stephen F Austin (12-8)
44.2%- Samford (18-3)
44.1%- Auburn (16-4)
44%- Vanderbilt (5-14)

Teams whose subs play the least:
14.5%- Princeton (15-2)
17.8%- Tulane (12-8)
17.9%- Ball State (11-9)
18.5%- Michigan (7-13)

Most experienced teams:
St Bonaventure (12-7)
Washington (12-9)
TCU (15-5)
Nevada (16-5)

Least experienced teams:
Idaho (7-13)
Siena (3-17)
North Carolina A&T (6-15)
Notre Dame (7-13)

Teams with most continuity:
Florida Atlantic (17-4)
Columbia (10-7)
Marquette (15-5)
Cal-Davis (12-8)

 

[Udog]

BOSTON is 18-3 ATS (14.7 Units) versus terrible defensive teams - shooting pct defense of >=48% - 2nd half of the season over the ...

ATLANTA is 38-69 ATS (-37.9 Units) after a win in the last 3 seasons.

Tom Thibodeau is 24-7 ATS (16.3 Units) after successfully covering the spread in 4 or more consecutive games (Coach of NEW YORK)

TORONTO is 2-12 ATS (-11.2 Units) in road games when playing 4 or less games in 10 days in the last 3 seasons.

GOLDEN STATE is 11-1 Over (9.9 Units) after having lost 5 or 6 of their last 7 games in the current season..




NBA
Dunkel

Monday, January 29

NBA

Tuesday, January 30

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Trend Report
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Indiana @ Boston
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Indiana's last 11 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Indiana's last 11 games
Boston
Boston is 21-2 SU in its last 23 games at home
Boston is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against Indiana

LA Lakers @ Atlanta
LA Lakers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Lakers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Lakers's last 5 games on the road
Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Atlanta's last 5 games when playing LA Lakers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games at home

Utah @ New York
Utah
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah's last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Utah's last 6 games on the road
New York
New York is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
New York is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games

Toronto @ Chicago
Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Toronto's last 5 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Toronto's last 7 games
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Toronto
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago's last 5 games when playing at home against Toronto

Philadelphia @ Golden State
Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 6 games when playing Golden State
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games when playing on the road against Golden State
Golden State
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Golden State's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Golden State's last 8 games


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[Udog]

NBA
Long Sheet

Tuesday, January 30

 

[CNOTES]

TUESDAY, JANUARY 30​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
LAL at ATL	07:30 PM	ATL -5.0 O 248.0	+500 +500
UTA at NY	07:30 PM	NY -4.5 U 229.0	+500 +500
IND at BOS	07:30 PM	BOS -7.5 U 245.0	+500 +500
TOR at CHI	08:00 PM	CHI -6.0 O 227.5	+500 +500
PHI at GS	10:00 PM	GS -3.5 O 236.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Wednesday’s 6-pack:
NFL teams with most room under the 2024 salary cap:
$73.6M— Washington
$71.8M— Tennessee
$69.9M— Houston
$66.1M— New England
$62.7M— Indianapolis
$59.4M— Cincinnati

Quote of the Day
“The world hangs by a thin thread.”
Carl Jung

Wednesday’s quiz
Which current NBA head coach was once an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs when Jerry Tarkanian was their head coach?

Tuesday’s quiz
2000 was the last time a Big Ten team won the college basketball national title, when Michigan State beat Florida 89-76 in the national championship game.

Monday’s quiz
Patrick Mahomes played his college football at Texas Tech.

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

Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings…….​

— Surprise of the Day: Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is staying with Detroit, which is really surprising- thought for sure he would fill one of the eight job openings for head coaches (there are only two left now). Apparently he wanted a boatload of $$$, which scared teams off.

— Can’t let January 30 pass without remembering January 30, 2000, one of my favorite days as a sports fan. Can’t believe its been 24 years since the Rams beat Tennessee 23-16, winning Super Bowl XXXIV, their first Super Bowl title.
Quite a game; Rams tackled a Tennessee receiver on the 1-yard line on the last play of the game to preserve the win, after they had blown a 16-0 third quarter lead. When NFL Network shows the highlights of that game every year, I still get queasy during the 4th quarter.

— The Angelos family is selling the Baltimore Orioles to a couple of really rich guys for $1.725B; Steve Cohen bought the Mets for $2.42B four years ago.

— Underdogs are 8-4 ATS in the last 12 Super Bowls, covering the last three.

— Georgia Tech 74, North Carolina 73
Loss ends North Carolina’s 10-game win streak.
Tar Heels were only 9-17 on the foul line.
Tech has beaten UNC/Duke; they’re 1-7 against the rest of the ACC.

— Marquette 85, Villanova 80
Marquette blew a 20-point lead, trailed by 4 with 13:11 left.
Kolek had 32 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
Villanova lost its fifth game in a row.

— TCU 85, Texas Tech 78
TCU is #3 experience team that played non-conference schedule #345.
Horned Frogs are 16-5; all those wins in Nov/Dec built their confidence.
Texas Tech was 14-28 on arc; TCU was 11-20.

— St Bonaventure 67, VCU 62
VCU led this game 39-19 late in first half.
Bonnies out-rebounded VCU, 43-28.
Bonnies were 20-23 on foul line, Rams 9-11.

— Colorado State 79, San Diego State 71
Colorado State outscored Aztecs 19-10 over final 7:29.
Rams shot 67.7% inside the arc.
San Diego State lost 3 of last 5 games, after a 14-2 start.

— South Carolina 63, Tennessee 59
Gamecocks have won four in row, 11 of last 13 games.
Last four games, South Carolina gave up only 62.3 ppg.
Dalton Knecht scored 31 of Tennessee’s 59 points.

— Central Michigan 84, Northern Illinois 77, 2OT
Chippewas are 7-2 in MAC, Northern Illinois 0-8.
NIU led by 13 with 12:05 left in the game.
CMU was 26-37 on foul line, Huskies 16-25.

— Baseball Note of the Day: Seattle Mariners acquired 2B Jorge Polanco from the Twins, for four players, one of whom is P Anthony DeSclafani- another is OF Gabriel Gonzalez, who was Seattle’s #3 prospect.

— Word of the Day: Relentless- Being determined to do something, refusing to give up, to the point of sometimes being harsh or inflexible.

— If you have ESPN+, I recommend a 30-for-30 they did a while back, The Guru of Go, about former Lakers/LMU coach Paul Westhead.
If you saw HBO’s Winning Time last year, that show did a hatchet job of sorts on both Westhead and Jerry West; this show is a little bit more of an accurate appraisal of Westhead and what he did in a very interesting coaching career, a career that included him winning a WNBA title, 27 years after his NBA title with the Lakers.

— Was watching The Firm the other night, the 1993 movie adapted from one of John Grisham’s books; really good movie with an excellent cast- Gene Hackman, Tom Cruise, Wilford Brimley.
Two actors with smaller parts in the movie were Terry Kinney/David Strathairn; 30 years later, those two actors also worked in Showtime’s series Billions, which ran for seven years.
One of the things I got interested in during the pandemic was watching a ton of movies, and seeing how certain actors worked together a lot (John Cusack/Jeremy Piven come to mind).

— NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks have lost their last 18 road games; their last road win was back on November 9th, at Tampa Bay.

— Nick Dunlap, the 20-year-old golfer who won the American Express golf tournament as an amateur couple weeks ago, has turned pro. He was the first amateur to win a PGA Tour event since Phil Mickelson in 1991.
Bad week for the golf coach at Alabama; Dunlap was on his team.

— James Harden has never played on a losing team in the NBA; he played on a 41-41 team once, the 2016 Rockets, but every other team he’s played on finished above .500.

Harden’s teams have a combined playoff record of 80-73; his 2012 Thunder team lost in the NBA Finals to Miami.
— Mobile sports betting is coming to North Carolina on March 11, just in time for people to bet on the ACC Tournament. North Carolina will be the 30th state to have mobile sports betting.

— Let’s compare the coaching resumes of two former NFL coaches:
Coach A: 125-106 in regular season, 0-6 in playoffs.
Coach B: 131-122-3 in regular season, 0-7 in playoffs.
Both coaches turned around losing programs, but couldn’t get over the hump in the playoffs. Any idea who they are? (Hint: they’re both retired)
I’ll let you know tomorrow.

 

[Udog]

DETROIT is 13-2 Over (10.8 Units) in road games versus poor foul drawing teams - attempting <=24 free throws/game in the current s...

WASHINGTON is 22-43 ATS (-25.3 Units) off 2 or more consecutive road wins since 1996.

CHICAGO is 9-23 ATS (-16.3 Units) in road games after 2 or more consecutive unders in the last 3 seasons.

MIAMI is 12-25 ATS (-15.5 Units) in home games in non-conference games in the last 3 seasons.

HOUSTON is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) in home games off a home win in the current season.

SAN ANTONIO is 7-0 Over (7 Units) as a home underdog of 6 points or less in the current season.

MINNESOTA is 9-1 ATS (7.9 Units) revenging a straight up loss vs opponent as a favorite in the current season.

DENVER is 53-74 ATS (-28.4 Units) after having won 4 or 5 of their last 6 games in the last 3 seasons.

BROOKLYN is 31-51 ATS (-25.1 Units) in home games when the total >=220 in the last 3 seasons.

PORTLAND is 22-41 ATS (-23.1 Units) when playing 6 or more games in 10 days in the last 3 seasons.

 

[Udog]

NBA

Wednesday, January 31

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Trend Report
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LA Clippers @ Washington
LA Clippers
LA Clippers is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Washington
LA Clippers is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games when playing Washington
Washington
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Washington's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing at home against LA Clippers

Chicago @ Charlotte
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Charlotte
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Charlotte
Charlotte
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Charlotte's last 7 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Charlotte's last 13 games when playing at home against Chicago

Detroit @ Cleveland
Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Cleveland
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Detroit's last 9 games on the road
Cleveland
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Detroit
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Detroit

Sacramento @ Miami
Sacramento
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Sacramento's last 5 games when playing Miami
Sacramento is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Miami
Miami is 19-2 SU in its last 21 games when playing at home against Sacramento
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Miami's last 6 games at home

Orlando @ San Antonio
Orlando
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Orlando's last 5 games when playing San Antonio
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Orlando's last 5 games when playing on the road against San Antonio
San Antonio
San Antonio is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing Orlando
San Antonio is 12-2 SU in its last 14 games when playing at home against Orlando

Denver @ Oklahoma City
Denver
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Denver's last 5 games
Denver is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Oklahoma City's last 6 games

Dallas @ Minnesota
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Dallas's last 8 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Dallas's last 17 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 6 games
Minnesota is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing at home against Dallas

New Orleans @ Houston
New Orleans
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of New Orleans's last 5 games when playing Houston
New Orleans is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Houston's last 5 games when playing New Orleans
Houston is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games

Phoenix @ Brooklyn
Phoenix
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Phoenix's last 8 games
Phoenix is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Brooklyn
Brooklyn
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Brooklyn's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Brooklyn's last 11 games when playing at home against Phoenix

Milwaukee @ Portland
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games when playing Portland
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Milwaukee's last 9 games when playing on the road against Portland
Portland
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Portland's last 9 games when playing at home against Milwaukee
Portland is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home


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[Udog]

NBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, January 31

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, January 31

 

[CNOTES]

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
LAC at WAS	07:00 PM	LAC -11.5 U 236.5	+500 +500
DET at CLE	07:00 PM	DET +12.5 U 231.0	+500 +500
CHI at CHA	07:00 PM	CHI -5.0 O 214.5	+500 +500
SAC at MIA	07:30 PM	MIA -2.0 U 230.5	+500 +500
ORL at SA	08:00 PM	SA +5.5 O 226.0	+500 +500
DEN at OKC	08:00 PM	DEN +6.0 U 227.0	+500 +500
NO at HOU	08:00 PM	NO -2.0 O 232.0	+500 +500
DAL at MIN	08:00 PM	MIN -12.5 U 221.0	+500 +500
PHO at BK	08:30 PM	PHO -3.0 U 233.0	+500 +500
MIL at POR	10:00 PM	POR +11.0 U 237.0	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Thursday’s 6-pack:
College hoop teams making the highest %age of foul shots:
82.1%— Villanova
80.1%— Virginia Tech
79.9%— Wake Forest
79.1%— Montana
79%— Indiana State
78.8%— Columbia

Quote of the Day
“Life is too short to be anything but happy………
Falling down is part of life, getting back up is living.”
unknown

Thursday’s quiz
Who was New England’s quarterback before Tom Brady?

Wednesday’s quiz
Knicks’ coach Tom Thibodeau was once an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs when Jerry Tarkanian was their head coach.

Tuesday’s quiz
2000 was the last time a Big Ten team won the college basketball national title, when Michigan State beat Florida 89-76 in the national championship game.

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

Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….​

— Green Bay Packers hired Boston College coach Jeff Hafley as defensive coordinator, one more signal that coaching college football ain’t as much fun anymore. Hafley was 22-26 in four years at BC, getting to three bowl games- they beat SMU 23-14 in this season’s Fenway Bowl.
College recruiting is now a 24/7/365 deal, with NIL deals encouraging players to bolt like free agents in the pros. NFL coaches actually have more down time than college coaches do in the offseason.

— Seattle Seahawks named Baltimore Ravens’ DC Mike Macdonald as their new coach; he is now the youngest head coach in the NFL. Ravens led the NFL in points allowed, sacks and takeaways this year, in Macdonald’s second year on the job.
Since 2013, Ravens are now 0-24 when they trail by 10+ points at halftime; they’re the only NFL team that, over the last 11 years, hasn’t won a game like that.

— Further evidence that players win games, moreso than coaches, although a combination of both is obviously ideal; the 2013 Washington Redskins had these coaches on staff:
Offensive coordinator- Kyle Shanahan (HC of 49ers now)
QB coach- Matt Lafleur (HC of Packers)
TE coach- Sean McVay (HC of Rams)
WR coach- Mike McDaniel (HC of Dolphins)
DB coach- Raheem Morris (HC of Falcons)
Pretty good coaching staff under Mike Shanahan, right?
Washington went 3-13 that season, and Shanahan got fired.

— Pittsburgh Steelers named former Falcons’ coach Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator; Smith went 7-10 three years in a row coaching in Atlanta.

— Totally useless statistic; in the last 19 Super Bowls, the team that wore white jerseys were 16-3. This means absolutely nothing, but it is true. By the way, the 49ers are wearing white jerseys next week.

— San Antonio Brahmas of the UFL signed QB Tommy Flacco from Towson State, the younger brother of Browns’ QB Joe Flacco.

— Happy 69th birthday to former Rams’ safety Nolan Cromwell; he played 11 years as a DB for the Rams, after having been a wishbone QB in college at Kansas. Cromwell also held for kicks; he once scored a TD on a fake field goal in overtime, to win a game.

— Baseball Notes of the Day:
Blue Jays signed Justin Turner for one year, $13M.
Angels signed OF Aaron Hicks for $740K; Bronx Bombers still owe Hicks $19,260,000 over the next two years. Kind of like David Justice in Moneyball: “They’re paying you to play against them.”

— NBA salary cap is $136M this year; it will be $141M next season.

— In his Hall of Fame career, the great Wilt Chamberlain had 27 games where he scored 30+ points, grabbed 20+ rebounds, had 10+ assists; no one else in NBA history has more than eight 30-20-10 games (Oscar Robertson). Denver’s Nikola Jokic has seven.

— Movie of the Day: Runaway Jury (2003)- A juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.
John Cusack is the influential juror; Dustin Hoffman is one of the lawyers, Gene Hackman is a guy who advises the plaintiff’s lawyers. Bruce McGill, Jennifer Beals are also in this movie, which was written by the same two guys who wrote Billions and Rounders.
By the way, happy 94th birthday to the great actor Gene Hackman.

— Purdue 105, Northwestern 96 OT
Northwestern coach Collins got ejected with 0:01.7 left in OT.
Why? Purdue was 29-46 on foul line; Northwestern was 6-8.
Wildcats were 14-27 on the arc; Purdue was 10-21.

— Alabama 85, Georgia 76
Georgia led this game 17-2 out of the gate.
Alabama shot 64.9% inside the arc.
Crimson Tide was +10 in turnovers (19-9)

— Florida 94, Kentucky 91 OT
Florida hit a 3-pointer with 0:03 left to force overtime.
Kentucky split its last six games, after a 12-2 start.
Kentucky’s eFG% defense is #94; Final 4 teams are usually top 25 in eFG% defense.

— Xavier 88, St John’s 77
Olivari had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals.
St John’s has lost four of its last five games.
Both teams are now 5-5 in the Big East.

— Rice 74, Memphis 71
4th straight loss for Memphis, after a 15-2 start.
Rice had lost seven of its previous eight games.
Owls were 10-21 on the arc, Memphis 3-18.

— UAB 82, North Texas 79 OT
Blazers never led in regulation.
North Texas led by 17 late in first half.
Third loss in four games for the Mean Green.

— Samford 81, Wofford 79
Samford is 19-3, 8-1 in SoCon; their last four wins were by 4-7-3-2 points.

— Boise State 86, New Mexico 78
Rough night for the Pitino family, with Lobos/St John’s both losing.
Loss snaps New Mexico’s five-game winning streak.
Max Rice scored 35 points; he had 30 in his last game vs New Mexico.

— Let’s compare the coaching resumes of two former NFL coaches:
Coach A: 125-106 in regular season, 0-6 in playoffs.
Coach B: 131-122-3 in regular season, 0-7 in playoffs.
Both coaches turned around losing programs, but couldn’t get over the hump in the playoffs. Any idea who they are? (Hint: they’re both retired)
Coach A is Jim Mora Sr, who led the Saints to their first four playoff spots ever, but he went 0-4 in those games.
Mora had previously gone 41-12-1 coaching the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL (1983-85) winning the championship in two of that league’s three seasons.
Coach B is Marvin Lewis; the Bengals were 19-61 in the five years before he got there; they went 6-25-1 in the first two years after he left, but then they drafted Joe Burrow and things have been good in Cincinnati since then.
But Lewis went 131-122-3 in the regular season, no small feat.

— You can bet on the Super Bowl at the SouthPoint Casino in Las Vegas, with -105 instead of the usual -110 (or worse) vigorish. Makes it a little better for gamblers; plus, the SouthPoint has a hot dog cart right near the sportsbook, and it is very good.

 

[Udog]

INDIANA is 74-53 ATS (15.7 Units) versus good shooting teams - making >=46% of their shots in the last 3 seasons.

LA LAKERS are 23-10 ATS (12 Units) after a blowout loss by 15 points or more in the last 3 seasons.

MEMPHIS are 19-5 ATS (13.5 Units) against Central division opponents in the last 3 seasons.

UTAH is 8-0 ATS (8 Units) in home games after having lost 4 or 5 of their last 6 games in the current season.




NBA
Dunkel

Thursday, February 1

NBA

Thursday, February 1

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Trend Report
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LA Lakers @ Boston
LA Lakers
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Lakers's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of LA Lakers's last 5 games on the road
Boston
Boston is 22-2 SU in its last 24 games at home
Boston is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games

Indiana @ New York
Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Indiana's last 12 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Indiana's last 5 games when playing New York
New York
New York is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
New York is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games

Cleveland @ Memphis
Cleveland
Cleveland is 11-1 SU in its last 12 games
Cleveland is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Memphis
Memphis
Memphis is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Memphis's last 10 games at home

Philadelphia @ Utah
Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games when playing Utah
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Philadelphia's last 9 games when playing on the road against Utah
Utah
Utah is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games at home
Utah is 15-3 SU in its last 18 games when playing at home against Philadelphia


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NBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, February 1

 

[CNOTES]

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1​

Game	Time(ET)	Pick	Units
IND at NY	07:30 PM	NY -3.0 U 236.0	+500 +500
LAL at BOS	07:30 PM	LAL +14.5 O 240.5	+500 +500
CLE at MEM	08:00 PM	MEM +8.0 U 215.5	+500 +500
PHI at UTA	10:00 PM	UTA -5.0 U 238.5	+500 +500

 

[CNOTES]

Friday’s 6-pack:
NHL scoring leaders:
85— Nikita Kucherov, TB
84— Nathan MacKinnon, Colo
72— David Pastrnak, Bos
67— Connor McDavid, Edm/JT Miller, Van
66— Artemi Panarin, NYR/Mikkp Rantanen, Colo
64— Elias Pettersson, Van

Quote of the Day
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more of it I have.”
Thomas Jefferson

Friday’s quiz
Which four NBA teams used to play in the ABA?

Thursday’s quiz
Drew Bledsoe was New England’s quarterback before Tom Brady.

Wednesday’s quiz
Knicks’ coach Tom Thibodeau was once an assistant coach for the San Antonio Spurs when Jerry Tarkanian was their head coach.

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

Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here…….​

— Random knowledge; Brock Purdy will be the 67th different QB to start a Super Bowl.

— Washington Commanders filled the NFL’s last head coaching opening and hired Dallas Cowboys’ DC Dan Quinn; Quinn went 46-44 in 5+ years coaching the Falcons, going 3-2 in playoff games. His 2016 Atlanta team lost Super Bowl LI 34-28, after leading 28-3 in the third quarter. He’s been the defensive coordinator in Dallas the last three seasons.
Five of the eight coaches who’ve been hired come from the defensive side of the ball.

— New England Patriots hired former Browns’ OC Alex Van Pelt as their new OC.
Las Vegas Raiders are hiring former Cardinals’ coach Kliff Kingsbury as their new OC.
Rams are promoting LB coach Chris Shula to defensive coordinator; he is the grandson of the Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, and also played football at Miami OH with Sean McVay.

— AFC teams won six of the last nine Super Bowls.

— 14 of the first 57 Super Bowls were 0-0 after the first quarter.

— NHL teams with best records in overtime/shootouts:
7-2- St Louis
6-2- Anaheim, Washington
5-1- Edmonton

— NHL teams with worst records in overtime/shootouts:
2-10- Los Angeles
6-12- NY Islanders
5-10- Columbus
4-9- Seattle

— Active leaders in career home runs:
402- Giancarlo Stanton
368- Mike Trout
356- Joey Votto
342- Evan Longoria
340- Paul Goldschmidt

— Word of the Day: Cohesive- describing a group of people that is united and working together effectively.

— Milwaukee Brewers are trading P Corbin Burnes to the Orioles for Baltimore’s #5/#6 prospects, one a pitcher, one a shortstop. Last year, Burnes was 10-8 with a 3.39 ERA; he won the 2021 Cy Young Award and is a free agent after the 2024 season.

— Cal Ripken Jr/Grant Hill are part of the new ownership group of the Baltimore Orioles.

— Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I couldn’t sleep and got an idea for something to do for this blog, so I got up, flipped on the TV and got to work at 6am. Put Morning Joe on; I hadn’t watched it in years, and for whatever reason, they start rattling on about the 70’s Atlanta Braves and they flash a picture on the screen of a baseball card of Biff Pocoroba. Go figure.
If you don’t know, my first name is Biff and back in 1975, it was very cool for 15-year old me to watch a major leaguer named Biff- I followed his career pretty closely and have an autographed picture on the shelf here in my living room, plus the same baseball card they showed on TV.
By the way, Biff Pocoroba was a switch-hitting catcher who was an All-Star in 1978; he was a good knuckleball catcher for Phil Niekro back in the day.

— NCAA Tournament Stat: Last four NCAA Tournaments, teams from the WAC are 5-0 against the spread, including New Mexico State’s upset of UConn two years ago.
Last year, UConn won the national title; they were a #4-seed, the highest seed that made the Final 4. None of the top 12 seeds made the Final 4, which is unusual.

— Nebraska 80, Wisconsin 72 OT
Badgers led 43-27 at halftime.
CJ Wilcher scored 22 points in 27:00; he didn’t start.
Before tonight, AP Top 10 teams had won 1,458 consecutive games when leading by 16+ points at halftime; the last loss was January 5, 2002 (Kentucky @ Mississippi State).

— Grand Canyon 95, Seattle 88 OT
Antelopes won despite blowing a 14-point 2nd half lead.
Grand Canyon has won 17 of its last 18 games.

— NC-Wilmington 80, Charleston 74
Charleston led by 6 with 12:24 left.
Trazarien White scored 27 points, had 9 rebounds.
These teams are now tied for 3rd in the CAA, both are 6-3.

— Youngstown State 88, Wright State 77
All five Penguin starters scored in double figures.
Youngstown shot 55.6% inside arc, had 13 offensive boards.
Penguins have never been in D-I NCAA Tournament; they’re 17-6 this year.

— Cleveland State 77, Detroit 65
Detroit starts four seniors and they’re 0-23. Yikes.
Titans are 3-9 ATS in Horizon games.
From 1973-77, Detroit was 79-29; their coach was Dick Vitale.

— Sam Houston 79, Western Kentucky 77
Hilltoppers led by 8 with 7:58 left in game.
Sam Houston is 6-1 in C-USA; this is their 11th winning season in a row.

— Lakers 114, Celtics 105
Boston was favored by 15.5 points; this is first time in at least 30 years that the Celtics lost when favored by 15+ points.

— Knicks 109, Pacers 105
Knicks have won nine games in a row, and 15 of 17.
All-Star Jalen Brunson scored 40 points for New York.

 

[Udog]

MIAMI is 15-3 ATS (11.7 Units) in road games after having lost 3 of their last 4 games in the last 3 seasons.

DETROIT is 17-6 Over (10.4 Units) versus good 3 point shooting teams - making >=36% of their attempts in the current season.

ATLANTA is 22-52 ATS (-35.2 Units) after having won 2 of their last 3 games in the last 3 seasons.

INDIANA is 67-40 Over (23 Units) in home games in the last 3 seasons.

GOLDEN STATE is 52-34 Over (14.6 Units) in road games versus good passing teams, averaging >=23 assists/game in the last 3 seasons...

HOUSTON is 459-364 Under (58.6 Units) versus good shooting teams - making >=46% of their shots since 1996.

SAN ANTONIO is 12-2 Over (9.8 Units) in home games when playing against a marginal winning team (Win Pct. 51% to 60%) over the las...

OKLAHOMA CITY is 12-2 Over (9.8 Units) in home games after failing to cover the spread in 2 or more consecutive games over the las...

MINNESOTA is 9-1 Under (7.9 Units) in home games after a blowout win by 15 points or more over the last 2 seasons.

PORTLAND is 23-41 ATS (-22.1 Units) when playing 6 or more games in 10 days in the last 3 seasons.

 

[Udog]

NBA
Long Sheet

Friday, February 2

 

[Udog]

NBA
Dunkel

Friday, February 2