COVERS - PICK 'N' ROLL
(Tracking Started On 2/22/2011)
4-4-0 (NBA)
5-3-0 (NCAA HOOPS)
WEDNESDAY 3/2/2011
NBA
Charlotte Bobcats at Denver Nuggets (-7.5)
Denver has won three of its first four games following the Carmelo Anthony deal while leading its supporters to the pay window in all four of those contests – pretty impressive considering the extent of the Nuggets’ facelift.
"A lot of lineups can work," said newcomer Raymond Felton, who spent five years with Charlotte before joining the Knicks last offseason. "We've got a deep team. It will take (coach George Karl) a while, but I know coach is a great coach. ... He'll figure it out."
That seems to be the least of the team’s worries. Karl has put four different starting lineups on the floor since the trade and the club is stepping up as he tries to figure out where everyone fits into the big scheme of things. Five Nuggets scored in double figures in Monday’s 100-90 victory over Atlanta as a 6.5-point favorite.
Meanwhile, Charlotte is also dealing with a retooled lineup after trading away Gerald Wallace and Nazr Mohammed. Right now at least, it looks like the Nuggets are coming together quicker.
Pick: Denver
NCAA
Connecticut Huskies at West Virginia Mountaineers (-4.5)
There’s a major logjam in the Big East and this week’s action will go a long way in determining the seeds for the conference tournament. Four teams are currently tied for seventh place and each is hoping to avoid playing on the first day of the tourney at MSG.
West Virginia knows it will have to try to contain Kemba Walker as much as possible on Wednesday, which is a lot easier said than done. Walker sits second in the conference averaging 22.8 points per game and can expect to see a lot of West Virginia’s 1-3-1 zone defense.
“Just force him into tough shots,” WVU point guard Joe Mazzulla told reporters about how the Huskies plan to defend Walker. “He’s a great player and will create his own shot and whatever we did with [Ben] Hansbrough – we want to kind of wear him down and make every shot he takes a tough one and don’t give him anything easy.”
Nothing’s going to come easy in this one. Take the points here and expect it to go down to the wire.
Pick: UConn
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