Dave Malinsky
Dave Wrote to his Clients about his recent MOMENTUM
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Tuesday: Dribbling for Dollars Continues
The momentum has returned on the Hardwoods over the last couple of days and the Tuesday board is going to bring us the pieces to keep that roll going - we have a couple of prime late-season situations in the Colleges that will make our ticket, and also at least one NBA situation, with the potential of more to come over the course of the day.
Sunday dave was a stellar 2-1
Monday dave was a stellar 2-1 again
4-2 the last couple of days builds a ton of MOMENTUM off These numbers
NBA YEAR TO DATE MINUS 90.8 Units
CBB YEAR TO DATE MINUS 55.0 Units
Can ya feel that momentum !!!
4* #526 WAKE FOREST over BOSTON COLLEGE
You will be hard-pressed to find anyone playing better defense than
Wake Forest right now. A combination of size, athleticism, tenacity
and excellent fundamentals have them playing at a stifling level,
allowing just 38.8 percent shooting through their first pass in
A.C.C. play, and a microscopic 33.3 in the four games on this court,
all victories. Only a surging Maryland team was able to even reach 60
on this floor against the Demon Deacons. And that spells bad news
tonight for a Boston College team that is going to have all kinds of
difficulties getting into an offensive flow. When the road team can
not score early to establish a rhythm they naturally fall behind. And
when they do not have the tools to close the gap, the margin only
grows.
Wake Forest dominated B.C. LY, winning 83-63 on the road and 93-76 on
this court, but if you think there is going to be any complacency
because of that it is simply not an issue. Hee is Dino Gaudio?s take
after Sunday practice, a practice he decided to hold despite having
won in O.T. at Virginia the previous day (the discipline and focus to
do that speaks volumes as to where this team is right now), - <i>"Ish
Smith raises his hand and starts talking about Boston College and how
bad they beat us up there two years ago. They crushed us. And he
talked about how tough their guys are and how physical they play. And
all of a sudden, L.D. (Williams) starts talking. And when we've got
those players expressing themselves about the next opponent, I think
it means even more than when we as coaches say it."</i> And when
Smith speaks, the others listen. There are few things better than
having a savvy SR point guard that has been through the A.C.C.
battles, and Smith has been stepping up big time, with only 26
turnovers in 348 minutes of conference play.
There is a difference to the matchup this time, however ? the Eagles
are not necessarily all that physical this season. Al Skinner has
been trying to make the chemistry work, but outside of sweeping Miami
they are 1-6 in all other conference games, and they are not
physically dominating anyone, allowing 46.5 percent shooting in
A.C.C. play, losing the battle of the boards, and only forcing 98
turnovers, an awful count through nine games. Now he has to adjust to
the absence of Joe Trapani, the team leaders in scoring and
rebounding, who did not make the trip because of an illness. It makes
for an awkward rotation in this matchup, with few easy chances around
the basket only exacerbating that 26.2 conference tally from 3-point
range.
4* #548 OKLAHOMA over TEXAS TECH
To call Texas Tech ?soft? would be an understatement ? in going 0-4
SU and 1-3 ATS on the Big 12 road every loss has come in double
figures, and the Red Raiders have allowed 85, 95, 89 and 81 points in
those failures. You do not get bigger and stronger at this time of
the season, and you do not get any fresher, which leaves them wide
open to be exploited again tonight.
While Texas Tech has to gut out the remainder of the schedule with
the limited pieces that are in place, Oklahoma has not played its
best basketball yet. Developing a young rotation has led to the usual
growing pains for Jeff Capel, especially with injuries side-tracking
things, but there is big-time talent in the rotation, which is how
they have still managed to go 4-0 at home in Big 12 play. But now the
injuries start to work in their favor, instead of against them, with
Tony Crocker back to 100 percent and Willie Warren ready to rejoin
the starting lineup tonight, and also the insertion of Ryan Wright
paying solid dividends in Saturday?s 80-71 win over Texas. Wright
added more of a physical presence defensively than they were getting
from FR Tiny Gallon, and his intensity helped set the tone for an
explosive opening stanza that saw an 18-point lead get built by
halftime. Wright provided a key missing piece to a puzzle that has
outstanding perimeter players, but needed that bit of glue in the
middle to hold it together, and there is an excitement about how it
all now fits. First, from Cade Davis - <i>"He was incredible, just
coming in and getting us huge points, boosting the offensive game,
and on defense there coming in early and getting on (Texas' Dexter)
Pittman and those guys. We needed somebody like that to step up and
really be a physical because this was a man's game. And he really
stepped up and did a great job for us."</i> And Capel - <i>"No one
deserves it more than him because we don't have a kid in our program
that works harder than Ryan Wright."</i>
That hard work pays off again here in a game that brings a major
focus from the home team. The Sooners led by 11 in the second half at
Lubbock in their earlier loss to Texas Tech, a game in which they
lost their poise late without having Warren on the floor to steady
things, and the pendulums of the long range shooting stretched to an
extreme (Oklahoma was 5-22 from 3-point range; Tech 7-13). That puts
a chip on their shoulder for this one, and it brings the kind of
energy level that the Red Raiders lack the athleticism to cope with.
And while there is still a chance that Capel may suspend Steven
Pledger and Andrew Fitzgerald after they were picked up for
shoplifting on Saturday night, the Oklahoma rotation is fine without
them (they have scored a combined 51 points through eight Big 12
games). They did take part in the full practice on Monday, which
would seem to indicate that Capel will have them available tonight,
but our play goes regardless.
4* #519 OKLAHOMA CITY over PORTLAND
This is not just another regular season road game for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder come in confident off of winning at New Orleans and
Golden State to open this three-game road trip, and are about as
fresh as a team can ever be when playing on the west coast, with this
only the second game in five nights. That means two full practice
days to put together a game plan against an opponent that creates
some bitter memories, and since the Thunder do not play again until
next Tuesday, it also means letting it all hang out. That is too much
for the limited Trail Blazers to overcome, and in a pointspread range
in which we only need to ask the better team to win the game to bring
home the money we are in.
Oklahoma City already has 13 road wins this season, and in going 8-4
SU in the last dozen road games note that the Thunder trailed by a
combined four points at the end of regulation in the defeats. It is
sign of how good the chemistry and work ethic are, and while Kevin
Durrant gets a deserved amount of attention, it is Russell Westbrook
was just named Western Conference Player of the Week, a three-game
stretch in which he averaged 19.7 points, 9.7 assists, 8.0 rebounds
and 3.3 steals. That is awfully good basketball, and it is his
ability to defend Andre Miller and take the Trail Blazers out of
their preferred offensive rhythm that helps to dictate this flow. And
then we rely on Durrant, who brings a special focus after that awful
3-20 outing in the earlier 83-74 home loss to Portland, arguably the
worst night of his career, and a game in which the Thunder shot an
icy 34.3 percent. It is that defeat that creates the major focus
here, turning this into a stand-alone playoff game, especially with
the extra prep time making it easier to break down the patchwork
Trail Blazer rotation.
While Oklahoma City brings a high energy level tonight, the All Star
break can not come soon enough for Nate McMillan and his team. They
have showed real signs of being worn down in allowing 51.5 percent
shooting over the last three games, with only that dramatic late
rally to escape vs. San Antonio (they trailed by 10 in the fourth
quarter) preventing an 0-3 collar. They also do not have the schedule
luxury that the Thunder possess, having to play again at Phoenix
tomorrow before taking the All Star break off, and that forces Nate
McMillan to have to manage his rotation in a way that Jeff Brooks
does not, which will show over the course of 48 minutes.
sorry, thought i posted this in the morning
