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Notre Dame Fighting Irish (23-10 10-8 Big East) vs. No. 6 West Virginia Mountaineers (25-6 13-5 Big East)
West Virginia is the last of the top 4 seeds in the Big East tourney and there is a legit shot that if they can win the conference tournament that they may snag a coveted #1 seed in the Big Dance.
This season Notre Dame is 16-10-1 ATS and WVU is 13-17 ATS.
In the only meeting between these 2 teams this season Notre Dame beat WVU at home 70-68.
The Fighting Irish are on a roll, as they have not only won the first 2 games in the Big East tournament, but they also won their last 4 regular season games.
West Virginia has a great frontcourt with 3 forwards that are averaging in double figures led Da’Sean Butler (17.2 ppg).
For the Irish to have any shot at winning this game they will have to play defense like they did when they beat Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals where they held the Panthers to only 38.6% shooting. Notre Dame cannot allow WVU to dominate the boards, as if they do they will lose this game.
Notre Dame F Luke Harangody has really killed WVU averaging 26.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg in his last 5 games versus the Mountaineers. He has been coming off the pine getting over a knee injury and however much he plays tonight he will have to be solid on the glass.
WVU only shot 35% from the field last night in the win over Cincinnati and they have to shoot better tonight to advance to the finals.
No. 22 Georgetown Hoyas (22-9 10-8 Big East) vs. Marquette Golden Eagles (22-10 11-7 Big East)
Both of these teams will make it into the Big Dance, but each can really improve their seed in the NCAA tournament if they can win this game and especially if they can win the conference tournament.
Georgetown looks to advance to the Big East conference tournament for the 3rd time in the last 4 years.
The Hoyas shot 57.9% for the floor in the upset win over Syracuse in the quarterfinals and if they are on fire again tonight they will be in good shape.
Marquette has won 3 straight games against Georgetown including beating them at home this season 62-59.
Hoyas 6’11” C Greg Monroe (16 ppg 9.5 rpg) has had a great season, but even though Marquette does not have a lot of size Monroe has struggled against them only averaging 11.7 ppg in the 3 losses to the Golden Eagles.
F Lazar Hayward (18.2 ppg 7.8 rpg) leads Marquette and he has scored over 20 points in the first 2 games in the conference tournament. The Hoyas will have to play solid D on him and not allow him to have a huge scoring game.
Both teams have solid guards and the team that can drain the 3 has a great chance to win.
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March 12th, 2010 10:32:07 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Basketball, College Basketball, Sports by Jason Green | No Comments
There are a couple of games tonight in the 2nd round Big East conference tournament where there are some bubble teams that need to win to possibly get a shot at an invite to the Big Dance.
Seton Hall Pirates (19-11 9-9 Big East) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (21-10 10-8 Big East)
Currently there is no line for this game at time of writing.
Notre Dame looks like they will make it in the NCAA tournament, as they have 21 wins and have a 10-8 conference record. However, this game may be vital for Seton Hall, who has 19 wins and is only .500 in the Big East.
In their only match up this season Seton Hall beat Notre Dame 90-87 at home on February 11th.
Seton Hall beat Providence 109-106 in the 1st round on the Big East tournament while Notre Dame had a bye, in their last game on Saturday Notre Dame beat Marquette 63-60 in OT.
Irish star Luke Harangody (23.3 ppg 9.7 rpg) missed 5 games at the end of the season, but came back and played 11 minutes in Notre Dame’s last game. That may not be a good thing, as the Irish won 3 games in a row without him in the lineup.
The Irish have a better frontcourt, especially with Harangody in the lineup, and Seton Hall does not have much of an inside presence. Pirates’ G leading scorer Jeremy Hazell (21.2 ppg) has to have a good scoring game and F Herb Pope (11.2 ppg 11.1 rpg) has to play solid defense and man the boards for Seton Hall.
When the line does come out for this game beware laying some green on Seton Hall, as they are only 6-15 ATS in their last 21 games.
Cincinnati Bearcats 17-14 7-11 Big East vs. Louisville Cardinals (20-11 11-7 Big East)
Currently there is no line for this game at time of writing.
This game is much like the Seton Hall vs. Notre Dame game, as Louisville may be a lock to make it to the Big Dance, but Cincinnati has to win this game and may have to, at least, make the finals to get to the NCAA tournament.
Cincinnati beat Rutgers in the 1st round of the Big East tournament 69-68 last night while Louisville had a 1st round bye and in their last game beat, then, #1 Syracuse.
Cincinnati looked good a month back, but played their way onto the wrong side of the bubble, as they lost 7 of their last 9 games.
In their only match up this season Louisville beat Cincinnati at home 68-60 at the end of January.
The Bearcats are led by their backcourt of guards Lance Stephenson (12 ppg) and Deonta Vaughn (11.2 ppg). These guys will have to shoot the rock well for Cincy to have any chance to win. They also have to play solid defense, as they are not a high-scoring team averaging 66.6 ppg this season.
Louisville is averaging almost 8 more points per game than Cincinnati and they have a well-balanced squad with a guard and a forward averaging in double figures led by Samardo Samuels (15.4 ppg 7.1 rpg).
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March 10th, 2010 8:22:21 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Basketball, College Basketball, Sports, Sports Betting by Jason Green | No Comments
On Wednesday night 2 of the biggest and most storied soccer teams on the globe are at home in the 2nd leg of their Champions League ties. Manchester United hosts AC Milan and unless they have a huge collapse at home it looks as if they will make it to the Champions league quarterfinals. However, Real Madrid lost to Lyon 1-0 in the 1st leg in France and even though they are favorites in the home match they have to win to make it to their 1st quarterfinals in 6 years.
Lyon at Real Madrid
One of the leading online sportsbooks has Real Madrid as the major favorite posted with a moneyline of -350 with Lyon the underdog at +800 and a draw at +400.
Real Madrid spent a ton of cash in the off-season, especially to bolster their offense, but they were held scoreless in the 1st leg against Lyon in a 1-0 loss. There will be a lot of pressure on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo, as they have to provide some offense for the Spanish side. Karim Benzema was a big off-season addition for Real, but he will miss this match due to an injury.
Lyon has a solid defense led by G Hugo Lloris, who will have to play stellar for Lyon to win this match. Real Madrid will come out firing in this match, as they have to press forward on offense in order to score.
Lyon has played great since the New Year only losing twice in their last 13 matches. Real Madrid has won 4 of their last 5 matches and their only loss was to Lyon in the 1st leg of this tie.
Lyon’s defense has to come up big since their offense is not a great one. Sure, they did score 4 goals last month, but it was against French League 1 Sochaux, who are not a strong squad. Including that game Lyon has only scored 8 goals in their last 5 matches.
AC Milan at Manchester United
One of the leading online sportsbooks has Manchester United as the favorite in this match posted at -150 with AC Milan the underdog at +390 with a draw at +265.
Since away goals in the Champions League are worth 1.5 goals Man U is up 4.5-2 in aggregate to AC Milan. The Italian side really has their work cut out for them in this match, as they really have to press forward on offense and score at least 2 away goals.
Manchester United has a great offense led by DF Rio Ferdinand and G Edwin van der Sar. They will both be helped in this game by the Man U midfielders, as they will drop back to help on defense. Manchester United will stack the backfield to thwart the AC Milan offensive onslaught. Pato and Ronaldinho really have to provide an offensive spark for AC Milan to have any chance to win this huge match.
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March 9th, 2010 9:59:19 AM GMT+5 | Posted in International, Soccer, Sports, Sports Betting by Jason Green | No Comments
It’s March so that means March Madness is here and this is the last week of the regular season and next week there are the conference tournaments. The Big East is arguably the toughest conference in the nation this season with 5 teams ranked in the top 25 and 3 ranked in the top 10. There are still a few bubble teams that are not ranked that have some work to do in their last games and in the conference tournament.
Louisville 19-11 (10-7 )Big East
The Cardinals rank 5th in the nation in strength of schedule and because of that they may already be off the bubble. However, if they can at least win one more game it will look better being a 20 win team. They have already beat #1 Syracuse this season and they swept fellow bubble team UCONN. If the Cardinals can beat Syracuse in their season finale they will be in the Big Dance.
Marquette 20-9 (11-6 Big East)
The Golden Eagles only rank 67th in the nation in strength of schedule and that will hurt them. They have won 8 of their last 9 games just to get on the bubble, but they still have some work to do. They will end the season with a winning record in the Big East and have had some solid wins (Georgetown, UCONN on the road, and Xavier), but their losses to the weak teams of DePaul NC State will hurt their chances. However, their recent win over Louisville may get them an invite.
UCONN 17-13 (7-10 Big East)
The Huskies may have to go far in the Big East tournament to have any shot to get into the Big Dance. They will end the season with a losing conference record and they have lost their last 2 games. They do have 3 great wins at home against Villanova, Texas, and West Virginia, but they also lost to the weaker teams of Providence and Michigan. The one main thing that the Huskies have going for them is that their strength of schedule ranks 2nd in the nation.
Cincinnati 17-13 (7-10 Big East)
The Bearcats really have to do well in the conference tournament to have any chance to make the NCAA tournament. The Bearcats have played their way onto the wrong side of the bubble, as they have lost 6 of their last 8 games. Their strength of schedule ranks a legit 17th in the nation, they beat Vanderbilt and Maryland earlier in the season, and they did swept UCONN and beat Notre Dame at home in conference play. They may have to win their last game against Georgetown and win a couple games in the conference tourney to have any shot.
Notre Dame 20-10 (9-8 Big East)
Notre Dame has won their last 3 games, after dropping 3 straight, and that is without Luke Harangody in the lineup. They have a strength of schedule of 60 and in 2 of their last 3 games, both wins, they beat teams ranked in the top 20 of Pittsburgh and West Virginia. It looks as if the Irish are off the bubble, but if they lose their last game and in the 1st round in the Big East tournament their extremely weak non-conference schedule (ranked 216) will not look good to the selection committee.
Seton Hall 16-11 (7-9 Big East)
The Pirates have lost 2 of their last 3 games, but they have a legit chance to get to .500 in conference play, as even though their last 2 games are away they are to the Big East bottom-feeders of Providence and Rutgers. Seton Hall’s strength of schedule ranks 16th in the nation and they have some solid wins and one big thing they have going for them is that 9 of their 11 losses have came against RPI top-50 teams. If they win their last 2 games and in the 1st round of the Bog Easy tournament they should get in.
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March 4th, 2010 8:28:19 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Basketball, College Basketball, Sports by Jason Green | No Comments
There has been a lot of press on how the Cavs will do without Shaq in the lineup, as he will be out 6-8 weeks after recently undergoing thumb surgery. If the timeline is right the Diesel’s return he should come back around the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavs got Shaq so they would not be pushed around down low like they were last season by Dwight Howard in their loss to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.
On how things stand now the only time the Magic and Cavs would meet would be in the conference finals again since the Cavs are running away with the East and the Magic are in 2nd. It does not look likely that the Magic would slip too low in the playoff seedings unless the Hawks or Celtics catch fire for the remainder of the season. So, the question begs, is Shaq’s injury that big of a deal? Sure, Superman makes the Cavs better, as the team has learned to integrate him into the offense and he has learned to be the 2nd fiddle to LeBron James. When the Cavs make the playoffs they will not face a legit big man until they meet the Magic, as the Celtics or Hawks do not have a dominant big man.
Shaq has averaged around 12 ppg and 7 rpg this season, but he has played better as the season has progressed. He injured his thumb when Glen Davis blocked his shot in a recent win over the Celtics.
Cleveland plays a half court game so Shaq will not have deal with playing on a running team when he comes back, as he simply has to clog the middle and pass out to King James. The jury is still out if it was a good move to sign Shaq, as we really will not know that until he faces Howard, as that looks likely to happen.
The Cavs should be OK without Shaq in the lineup for a couple of reasons. First, the team they have knows how to win without him, as they made the conference finals last season without him in the lineup. Second, the Cavs recently made a great deal to pick up forward Antawn Jamison, who is averaging over 20 ppg this season and almost 9 rpg. Sure, LeBron will have to shoulder more of the load, but he is used to doing so.
Even if Shaq misses the first round of the playoffs he will be ready once the Cavs play a legit team. It is hard to imagine that the Cavs will have any trouble in the first round playing a team like Miami or Toronto, as they didn’t last season so why should this season be any different?
An injury to a starting player, especially one like Shaq, is going to hurt, but with the rest the Diesel will get and the timing that they will get him back may be more of a blessing than a curse.
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March 3rd, 2010 11:38:01 AM GMT+5 | Posted in Basketball, Sports by Jason Green | No Comments
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