Who cards LOWER FRONT 9 SCORE?: Ryan Moore or Vijay Singh (8:26 am)
It’s the first one of the day/month so take a stab at it and maybe you’ll get on the board.
During the first round Thursday, Ryan Moore (USA) carded a +2 on the day after finishing the front 9 at +1. Meanwhile Vijay Singh (FIJI) finished the day -2 despite finishing his front 9 at +2.
Checking out Ryan Moore’s pre-event press conference, it was easy to gather that he is comfortable with this course, having finished 2nd overall last year at the AT&T at Aronimink Golf Club. He’s been playing well lately and carries some momentum into the event, having finished 2nd last week at TPC River. I expect a resurgence tomorrow and would bet that he gets his number back into the red.
Meanwhile, the seasoned veteran Vijay Singh finished the day in astounding fashion turning his +2 after 9 into a -2 on the day. Coming into the AT&T he has been playing well, however I still think he’ll have some struggles again early in the day as he did Thursday. Back nine, I could see Singh turning it on again however.
My pick: Ryan Moore
Stash Up to $400K. Leggo.
Been a minute, but it’s summer time in La La Land which means its business time to get a cut at $400K.
Who will WIN?: Los Angeles Lakers @ San Antonio Spurs (8:35 pm)
The Lakers have looked noticeably slower so far in 2010 as evidenced by their lopsided defeat to the Miami Heat on Christmas day. Kobe has said that this season is less about exerting themselves early and that they plan on coasting into the playoffs, injury-free, but after two blowout losses in their last two games to Miami and Milwaukee, Kobe is trying to change the attitude of the team in LA. Reports say an intense practice followed in which the reserves beat the starters, Ron Artest got a cut under his eye and Kobe has that whole Black Mamba thing back. The Lakers are certainly one of the best in the NBA, but I don’t know if I can picture them turning it on and off like a light switch. The key to winning the game is going to be defense. The Spurs are running an up-tempo attack to the tune of 106 points per game, good for 4th in the NBA. The Lakers have been developing a habit of not playing defense as of late, especially when their shots aren’t following on the offensive end. Kobe needs to lock down Manu, Pau needs to play Duncan tight and Fisher can’t let Tony Parker tear him apart much like younger, quicker PGs have this season. Pau has looked especially lazy and fatigued on both ends of the floor for the past month. It’s time for concern in LA.
I expect this game to be a close one. When they play, the Lakers do have one of the best teams in the NBA and if they put it together on offense and defense they’ll give the Spurs a run for their money. The Spurs are fantastic closers though. If the game is close the Spurs will push them away in the final minutes. And if the Lakers get lazy, the game won’t be close. The Lakers have not defeated a good team in a while, and I don’t think they do tonight either.
My pick: San Antonio
Outcome: San Antonio won 97-82
Who will WIN?: #22 West Virginia vs. NC State (6:35 pm)
West Virginia and NC State square off in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando, FL Tuesday afternoon. I’ve always been fascinated by the West Virginia ground attack. A few years ago it was dual-threat QB Pat White leading the way for the Mountaineers and for these past four years we’ve been lucky to watch arguably the nation’s most explosive player in RB Noel Devine. His senior season has been a slight disappointment considering what he’s accomplished in his past two campaigns, but he is still the biggest scoring threat in this game. Devine has the speed and elusiveness to be able to score from anywhere on the field. NC State can never take a play off when going up against someone like that. The strongest part of the Mountaineer game however is on the other side of the ball. The defense is one of the top in the nation ranking 2nd in scoring defense, 2nd in rushing defense and 3rd in total defense. Only one team in the entire nation has not given up more than 21 points in a game this season, and yep, it’s West Virginia.
Obviously, NC State QB Russell Wilson will have a tough game going up against the stingy WVU defense. The Wolfpack have a very pass-heavy offense, averaging nearly 300 yards per game by air, tops in the ACC. With NC State’s inconsistency on the ground and the Mountaineers success against the run, it seems pretty likely that NC State’s chances lie solely in the pass game. West Virginia DE Bruce Irvin leads a very dominant defensive line with 12 sacks, good for 4th in the nation. The defense has sacked opposing quarterbacks 40 times this season, while NC State has allowed 36. There is a clear mismatch on the lines in favor of WVU.
With big play capabilities and a stingy defense, I think the Mountaineers will be too much for the Wolfpack’s one dimensional attack.
My pick: West Virginia
Outcome: NC State won 23-7
Who will WIN?: #11 Purdue @ Michigan (2:00 pm)
Purdue opens their Big Ten season on the road at Michigan, Tuesday morning. Purdue center JaJuan Johnson has been beastly thus far into the season, and is coming off of a 24 point, 13 rebound game just a week ago against IPFW. If the Wolverines expect to compete they have to limit Johnson’s down low game. Interestingly enough, Michigan does have a slight sense of what they will be facing having battled Oakland’s Keith Benson earlier this month and limiting the NBA prospect to 11 points. Johnson and Benson are very similar except Johnson has developed a very successful turn around jumper and is just as dangerous off the block as he is down low. Just like they did to Benson though, I would not be surprised to see the Wolverines throw two bodies on Johnson.
Unlike Oakland, Purdue does have other options besides their big man down low. Guard E’Twaun Moore is one of the Big Ten’s top players and teams up with Johnson to form one of the nation’s top guard/big man combos. The two have combined for just under 40 points a game this season. Michigan will put up a great fight led by sophomore guard Darius Morris who has the tools to be one of the Big Ten’s top guards this season. The problem is while Purdue runs out a very experienced starting 5, Michigan relies on 3 freshmen, a sophomore and junior. I think the Wolverines will have a great season, but Purdue is just too strong to lose this one. The Boilermakers will come into the game mentally sharp and ready to make a statement from the get-go.
My pick: Purdue
Outcome: Purdue won 80-57
Who will WIN?: Blackpool @ Sunderland (10:00 am)
Two teams sitting in the middle of the standings of the Premier League face off Tuesday morning early. Blackpool which hasn’t played a game since December 11th travels to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light where the Black Cats have lost just once in their last 19 home league games. While Blackpool has rested up during its’ series of postponements, the rest may not be as beneficial as many think. For one, Blackpool captain Charlie Adam has to serve a one game suspension for picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in a game earlier in December. In addition, #1 goalkeeper Matt Gilks and the team’s top scorer Marion Harewood are still out with injury. With these missing pieces, Luke Varney, who has netted 5 goals already while being on loan from Derby, will need to step up and have a big game for Blackpool to compete.
It will be interesting to see how Sunderland plays this game. Blackpool is known for its very aggressive all-out offense, while Sunderland has a very sturdy defense. It’s expected though the the Sunderland Black Cats will unleash an attack of their own on the visitors. It should make for a very entertaining game, but I expect the favorites at home to continue their dominance.
My pick: Sunderland
Outcome: Blackpool won 2-0
How many 3-pointers will be made in the 1st quarter?
Orlando and Boston have great 3-point shooting teams, but the shooters who let it fly typically come off the bench for the Magic and Celtics. In each of their last 3 games, the Celtics have knocked down three 3-pointers (one in each game) in the first quarter despite taking a total of 10 shots. The only two taking them for the Celtics are PG Nate Robinson and SG Ray Allen. Robinson has taken 6, while Allen has taken 4. The uncertainty there is that in each of the last 4 games, Doc Rivers has pulled one of the 2 players in the last 3 minutes of the quarter for backups Avery Bradley or Marquis Daniels who don’t shoot the 3. So with that I’ll peg Boston for ONE 3-pointer.
Meanwhile on Orlando, Jason Richardson loves to shoot the three-pointer. In his last 3 games playing for the blue, he’s taken 8 3-point shots in the 1st quarter! He may not make that many but he loves taking them. The other shooters come off the bench for the Magic: JJ Reddick, Gilbert Arenas and occasionally Hedo Turkoglu. I feel pretty safe saying that if Richardson is averaging nearly 3 3-point shot attempts in the first quarter he’ll knock down at least one, maybe even two. And I’ve got faith that the Magic will sub in one of their 3-point shooting backups and he’ll knock down another.
Chalk em up for 3.
My pick: 3 or more
Outcome: 4
NBA Christmas Day Streak
So ESPN’s Streak for the Cash has a bonus $10,000 up for grabs Christmas Day. I’m sure all you SftC players saw FIFTEEN possible scenarios tomorrow and all of them are specific matchups going quarter by quarter. Build the longest streak of the day and put $10,000 in your pocket. I’m gonna start previewing them, but I highly recommend getting in on this.
Who will WIN?: San Diego State vs. Navy (8:05 pm)
It’s the battle of the Poinsetta Bowl in sunny terrible-weathered San Diego! In my opinion, San Diego State is much better than their record dictates and are one of the most underrated teams in the country. All four of their losses were by 5 points or less (2 were by field goals). They led #3 TCU by two touchdowns, but couldn’t hang on, losing by 4 and they led #23 Utah by 10 going into the last quarter. The reason for all these big leads and high scoring games is SDSU’s passing attack, led by QB Ryan Lindley, which sits 11th ranked in the nation. WRs Vincent Brown and DeMarco Sampson were first team all-conference selections and are huge mismatches for almost all secondaries. SDSU had 14 touchdowns of 32 yards or more, meaning the Navy needs to play to the deep ball. The problem is, as incredible as their passing attack is, the Aztecs run a rather balanced attack with their freshman RB Ronnie Hillman averaging over 100 yards per game. SDSU averages 35 points per game, so you know it’s gonna be an entertaining game to watch.
Meanwhile, Navy boasts the 5th best ground attack in the nation, averaging 289 yards per game. The Midshipmen run a true triple option behind QB Ricky Dobbs and FB Alexander “the Great” Teich. SDSU was exposed to the triple option in their upset of Air Force but the Navy are masters of the option offense. SDSU, a blitz heavy team, can’t do their normal thing this time and expect to win. The coach has come out and said they need to focus on limiting Teich above all and if they can manage to do that Navy’s offense will be challenged. It’s definitely not a matter of will the Midshipmen score, it’s more so a question of how many times they will. If the Aztecs can limit the scoring opportunities, I see them having no problem at pulling out the win at home.
My pick: San Diego State (note: SftC has Navy favored)
Outcome: SDSU won 35-14
Who will WIN?: Washington State vs. #15 Baylor (6:45 pm)
Two of college’s top scorers, Baylor’s LaceDarius Dunn and Washington State’s Klay Thompson square off in the second round of the Diamond Head Classic. Baylor’s offense is led by the prolific scorer Dunn and two very athletic big men in freshmen Perry Jones and Quincy Acy. All three players have great shooting percentages, and have led the Bears to the 13th best percentage in the entire NCAA on the year. The one spot that Baylor does struggle however is in turning the ball over. They have one of the worst (283rd) turnover rates and WSU is one of the best at taking the ball away. WSU’s Marcus Capers has been one of the best defenders against top competition having shut down guys like Jacob Pullen and hopes to make Dunn the next on his list. Yet even with all the turnovers, Baylor has found a way to remain one of the most efficient offenses in the country.
On defense, Baylor is one of the best across the board. They are second in the entire NCAA in defensive efficiency and they’ve limited opponents to the 6th worst shooting percentage. They’re ridiculously efficient on the defensive glass, meaning if you don’t make your first shot, you won’t make your second. There is really not a hole in this defense. Klay Thompson is a great scorer, but he won’t get as many open looks like he’s used to playing this tough Bear defense.
For the Cougars to contend they’ll need to force a ton of turnovers. Even if that happens though, Baylor has proven (and their ranking shows) that they can overcome them to still remain one of the nation’s best offenses.
My pick: Baylor
Outcome: Washington State won 77-71
