Wednesday 3/16/16 service plays chatter/comps/requests & other stuff...

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Jim Feist

Jim Feist's Comp NBA Pick, Wednesday, March 16, 2016 7:05 PM EST

(601) ORLANDO MAGIC VS (602) CHARLOTTE HORNETS

Take: (601) ORLANDO MAGIC

Reason: Your Bonus Play for Wednesday, March 16, 2016 is in the NBA scheduled contest between the Orlando Magic and Charlotte. The Orlando Magic are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. the Eastern Conference. Charlotte wraps up a long homestand here, off a 107-96 home loss to Dallas as -5.5 chalk. The Hornets are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 vs. the NBA Southeast. The Road team is 22-8 ATS in the last 30 meetings, the underdog is 5-1 ATS and the Magic are 11-4 ATS in the last 15 meetings in Charlotte. Play Orlando.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Dave Cokin

Bonus Play Wednesday

619 SOUTHERN vs. 620 HOLY CROSS 6:40 PM

Take: HOLY CROSS +2.5

The NCAA Tournament’s First Four continues tonight with another doubleheader at Dayton, this one involving Southern and Holy Cross.

Southern had a nice season, capped off by a mild surprise win in the SWAC Tournament. That minor upset paled in comparison to what Holy Cross pulled off in the Patriot League, however. The Crusaders came out of nowhere to stun four straight opponents after winning only five regular season conference games.

Holy Cross is once again cast as the underdog as they take on the Jaguars, but if play both ends of the court the way they did in the conference tournament, the Crusaders will probably be playing in the first full round on Friday.

I believe Southern could have some scheme and pace issues with Holy Cross. It’s not that the Jaguars are the fastest team around, but they do prefer things up tempo, and they’re definitely not going to get anything resembling that from Holy Cross. The Crusaders will go 1-3-1 on defense and Bill Carmody’s team will run its Princeton offense. This can be a very confusing offense for teams that are not familiar with it, and Southern has not had much time to practice defending this style for obvious reasons.

If you look at the breakdown of how Southern has scored most of its points throughout the season, it’s clear that this is a team that wants to get the ball in the paint. That could be a problem for the Jaguars tonight. Holy Cross can get torched from outside, but that zone makes it tough for teams to get bunnies, and the Crusaders utilized that defensive game plan to a tee in their conference tournament.

Of course, the flip side here is that if Southern is sharp with its passing or gets hot from outside, there might not be much the somewhat limited Crusaders can do about it. Southern is the bigger and more athletic entry tonight. That’s why they’re the favorite and in simply comparing the overall numbers, it’s easy to see why the Jaguars are the chalk by a bucket or so.

There’s an old expression in boxing, that styles make fights. I really feel as though that’s the case in this basketball game as well. It happens that I prefer the unfamiliar to this opponent style that Holy Cross will have on display tonight. If the Crusaders can maintain the level they played at in the Patriot tournament, I think they’ll walk off the court with an NCAA Tournament win. I’m siding with the Crusaders plus the number.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Scott Spreitzer

Nebraska-Omaha vs Duquesne

Bonus Play Nebraska-Omaha

I'm recommending a play on Omaha plus the points on Wednesday night. The Mavericks have seen a big rise in their basketball program in a relatively quick time after moving from division-II to the Summit League in recent years. And if you get a chance to watch this contest, you'll see it's not for the Hank Iba's of the world. If you're over 50, you'll understand what I mean...this is not for fans who prefer low scoring games. Having said that, just because Omaha averages 84.4 ppg, (4th highest average in CBB), doesn't mean they don't play defense. In fact, the Mavs predicate their offensive output on their pressing defense. Omaha averages 9.3 steals per game and forces the opposition into committing over 15 turnovers per contest. And while they're a high scoring team, it's not because they play "bombs away" basketball from the deep perimeter, hoping to get hot. The Mavericks take just 28% of their shots from behind the arc. They're a 47% FG shooting team that also gets to the charity stripe, averaging 26 FTA per game, seven more than Duquesne has averaged on the season. The Dukes will try to run, which plays right into Omaha's hands, and they have allowed a whopping 17 assists per game, while forcing just 11 turnovers per game. Duquesne finished 6-12 in A-10 play and I'm recommending a play against them when the Summit League team rolls into town. I'm backing Omaha plus the points in CBI action. Thanks & GL! Scott Spreitzer.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Mike Lundin

Thunder vs Celtics

5* NBA Free Pick Oklahoma City Thunder

This looks like a good spot to back the Oklahoma City Thunder as a small road favorite at Boston Celtics Wednesday night.

The Thunder are coming off a strong performance home at OKC when they defeated the Trail Blazers 128-94 Monday. They're 4-1 ATS in their last five games overall and 5-1 ATS in the last six meetings in Boston.

The Celtics meanwhile have dropped three of their last four and are 1-4 ATS in their last five games. They fell 103-98 against the Pacers last night as they struggled at both ends of the court without valuable forward Jae Crowder who will miss tonight's game as well.

The Thunder are among the highest scoring teams in the NBA averaging 109.8 points per game and I can see Kevin Durant having a field day here with Crowder out.

 

[Can'tPickaWinner2]

Marc Lawrence

Hawks vs Pistons

Play - Detroit Pistons

Edges - Pistons: 19-11 SU and 19-10-1 ATS home this season; and 12-5 ATS home in this series off a DD loss. Hawks: 6-23 ATS in games off BB wins after facing the Pacers, including 3-15 ATS versus a foe off a loss. With the Pistons off an embarrassing 43 point loss, and 7-3 ATS in games when playing off a loss of 34 or more points, we recommend a 1* play on Detroit. Thank you and good luck as always.