NC State...

[Box and one]

Like NC St -6.The line was 5.5 but I guess I missed it.
You have to love this team.Sendeck is probably one of the best coaches in the country.I knew him when he was at Prov.with Pitino.In fact he was really known as a recruiter not an asst.coach.But when he got St Rays, Hodges to go to NC St you just knew he was going to make the Pack a force. Hodges leads the team in scoring,steals and assits.Lyr they went to the NCAA's.This yr they are loaded.What he does as a coach you can buy in the video store on a cassette.It's Pitino's Pressing defense and traps."contest all shots,get deflections,etc,etc,etc,Tire your oppenents with relentess defense.
They play man/man,press and cause TO's.Hodges is only appreciated if you can watch him a whole game.He can play all 4 positions except center.Melvin is another scorer with Sherril.They are really a gd orientated team.Crawford is the 6'3 defensive stopper.He is in the other pts gds face from the get-go.Powell is there other scorer and top rebounder.
South Car comes in banged up a little.They lost 6'10 Kitching but Howell is a stud moving over from his Fd spot.They are talented and have some depth.Morrison can drive to the hoop,Petra at 6'10 will help.Edison the other day vs the Hoyas had trouble with the Hoya press.SC had 21 to's in losing 67-59.It was a close game but the pressure really hurt the Gamecocks.
Playing at home I see the Pack pressing and causes TO's.SC has enough to hold them at bay but in the last 6 minuts of the game I see a seperation.
Wolfpack win this by 10.

Back in awhile for Rutgers-Auburn

 

[oldman]

Good Luck today Box, Just wanted to tell you I never won at CBB until about 3 or 4 years ago when I started reading your post over at wagerline.Thanks again.

Oldman

 

[Box and one]

Auburn -4 over Rutgers
aahh.I hate going against them here but Rutgers on the road has been unreal.I know they beat Temple on the road this yr but the Owls are baaaad.The past 4 or5 yrs Rutgers is 2-8,2-8,3-7,5-7 and 2-9.ATS a little better but not to much.
Lyr Auburn lost at the RAC by 1 pt.They were leading by 1 with 2 seconds left.RU threw a long pass in and a collision occured.They called the foul on Auburn and Coleman hot both FT's for the win.That was at the RAC where RU dominates.
RU gds are outstanding.Coleman is big time.Shields and Sherrod are athletic,can fly,play D,shoot and penetrate.Best 3 combo in BE.Lamizana is outstanding.Scoring,blocking shots,showboating,dunking,etc.Walters needs him to stay home in the paint even though he loves taking 3's.He is a 6'10 stringbean with the mentality of a pt gd.And he can play the pt.But in the paint is where they are hurting.Axani and Wright have no offense at all.None.They have zero moves to the basket.Both are 6'9 and avg 4 pts and 4 bds.In fact the leading rebounder on the team is Shields a gd.
Now they have gotten away with that so far.They played UNC right down to the wire.In fact one of RU's problems is 2nd half scoring.They avg 151 pts a game in the 1st half and 110 in the 2nd.On top of that they give up only 94 pts in the 1st half on defense and 122 in 2nd half.But in both temple and UNC games they went on 14-0 and 18-4 droughts.
RU plays great defense.Walters is an outstanding coach.They contest all shots,pressure the ball,etc.Good defense can keep you in games.
Auburn to me presents a problem for RU with there matchups.They are athletic,bigger and very quick at the wings.The also have an "aircraft carrier" in the middle in 6'10 Davis.He is a shot blocker and can alter a lot of shots.In Daniels and Killingworth they are 6'6 and 6'7 shooters and slashers.Bird can stick them from the 3.Auburn is prone to turn the ball over but this team is explosive.
Almost everyone that played lyr in NJ is back.Walters is a much better coach then Ellis.But inside game of RU could hurt them.Game is not on national TV.If so Lama-lama-ding dong could go off.
This game could go either way.I almost passed on it.I'll lean a little and take Auburn -4.This game is a big test for Rutgers.There defense has been great.Can they stop a good SEC team on the road.Ellis scares me as a coach because Walters will out coach him.I'm just hoping Daniels and Killingworth score enough were coaching tactics at the end are meaningless.And Auburn controls the bds.

I'll also take Texas[pik'im] that played terrible over ND.ND did a nice job on Maryland.Texas cannot shoot from the outside[3-13 from the 3].But I think Texas has one or 2 more greyhounds then Thomas and co.
Played a 3 team parlay also
Texas +4
Auburn pk
Nc St -2
Strong play is NC St
Small leans on the other 2
Went 2-3 yest.Not good.
Thank god for Navy
Army did return Billy to Navy.After that game Navy should of told them to keep it. GL
thanks oldman..but I better start winning....GL

 

[UT-Longhorn]

I agree B &1, i got em at -4 good luck!

 

[USC Gamecock]

Just some more info for you guys, GL tonight.

Odom wants more emotion from USC
By STEVE WISEMAN
Staff Writer

Eastern North Carolina native Dave Odom can?t help but have some extra passion about returning to his roots tonight.
Tossing that human element aside, he?ll be alarmed if his South Carolina basketball team doesn?t play with a healthy dose of emotion against N.C. State at Raleigh?s RBC Center.

After returning from Washington, where the Gamecocks lost 67-59 to Georgetown on Thursday, Odom was livid over his players? lackluster performance.

On Friday, rather than put his team through the normal, relatively light day-after-a-game practice, Odom kept the Gamecocks on the court for more than two hours. The second-year USC coach was as animated and angry as he?d been all season.

?I love my team and I love the guys,? Odom said, ?but we?ve got to be better.?

Odom didn?t like the ?casual? approach his team took into the Georgetown game. The result was 20 turnovers and a 34 percent shooting night that doomed the Gamecocks to their first loss.

He singled out two of the team?s most experienced players, 6-foot-7 senior Chuck Eidson and 6-9 junior Rolando Howell, as exhibits A and B.

Eidson scored two points, committed eight turnovers and fouled out. Howell scored 12 points but made just three of eight field goals and had as many fouls, four, as rebounds.

?The level of competition rose, (Eidson) went down,? Odom said. ?The level of competition rose for Rolando. He didn?t rise to it.

?We?ve got to rise to it. We?ve got to rise to the level of who we want to be.

?We went into the game knowing that they would be physical and be tougher than we are. But we shouldn?t give into that. We shouldn?t. We don?t have to give into that.?

Odom said he went through a similar stretch with last season?s team, and the process reminds him of a recent public-service announcement he did for the Palmetto Pride anti-litter campaign.

Tough practices such as Friday?s were commonplace last season until the team began carrying pride on to the court for every game, according to Odom.

?I?ll bet we went through 25 of these days last year before we finally got to Palmetto Pride,? Odom said. ?Why would be accept less when better is available??

That pride didn?t show until the SEC Tournament and the National Invitation Tournament. On the way to a 22-15 season, the Gamecocks won six of their last eight games in the postseason.

He hopes this year?s team makes the switch sooner, like tonight against the Wolfpack.

?Once it begins to take shape and mold itself, then it takes another period of time for it to evolve and take the form you want it to take,? Odom said. ?Right now, we?re in the build-some-toughness stage.?

Odom said his team didn?t take what it needed from wins over East Tennessee State, S.C. State and Appalachian State to open the season. Even in beating winless Temple, which has three freshman starters, onMonday, Odom said the Gamecocks fell into bad habits that more talented teams such as Georgetown and N.C. State can exploit.

?In games where you play against a team that you should beat, you?re really not playing against them,? Odom said. ?You?re playing against yourself. You?re establishing habits for the future. That brings a sense of casualness to games like that that shouldn?t be there.

?Kids who haven?t been through it, who haven?t won a championship, who don?t have an outer layer of toughness sometimes put on a suit of fake confidence and cool. They go into it thinking ?I?m cool but inside I?m really stirred up.? People can read that. Opponents can read that ... You?ve got to stand up and be counted. We didn?t.?

The Gamecocks get a chance to change that perception against the unbeaten Wolfpack in an important early season test.

?We?ve got to quit feeling like we?re inferior,? Odom said. ?We?ve got to quit feeling like we don?t belong. We?ve got to have a presence. We shouldn?t have to re-do that every year.?

 

[gridman]

BoxMan: Thank you for your NC State. Liked the game from the start but your write up convinced me to put a little extra on them. A sincere thank you. Keep up the good work.
GM

 

[Valuist]

Its funny how NC State covered pretty easy after sleep walking thru the first 30 minutes. I wonder how good they could be if they showed up for all 40 minutes.

 

[Unicorn]

:toast: NC State!!

 

[Chopsticks]

Thanks box for NC St. Piggybacked you on that one. Great job!!!!