tuesday picks

[jer6969]

well i like three games today, here they are:
uci +6.5 big
fresno st. +8.5 big
st. peters +23.5 small
good luck to us all

 

[Terryray]

You think Ely will play for Fresno tonight? Oakland paper sez he still on suspension, may be lifted before game. Team does badly when he's not in.

 

[jer6969]

i thought they said he was cleared last week, something to look into though

 

[superbook]

From this morning's Oakland Tribune:

Trailed by controversy, Fresno State visits Cal

Suspension may keep Bulldogs' Ely out of the lineup

By Jeff Faraudo
STAFF WRITER

BERKELEY -- Tark's Traveling Hoops Squad and Salvation Show comes to town tonight, which can only mean one thing: The NCAA isn't far behind.

What's less clear is whether coach Jerry Tarkanian's top player, center Melvin Ely, will be eligible to suit up tonight when Fresno State faces Cal in a non-conference men's basketball game at Haas Pavilion.

Ely, who averages 19.9 points and 9.3 rebounds, was suspended by the school for the second time this season late last week while the university investigates whether the 6-foot-10 senior violated the NCAA's extra-benefits rule.

The situation is a mess. Tark says he's "totally shocked" and that he sees no evidence that Ely is guilty of anything. Ely's mother, Melvina, told the Fresno Bee she wants her son to quit school and sue both Fresno State and the NCAA. And Melvin, by all accounts, is increasingly frustrated.

Cal coach Ben Braun is respectfully skeptical.

"We've practiced with the thought in mind that he's going to play," Braun said. "We haven't heard anything to the contrary. He's suspended by the school, not the NCAA."

This game would be intriguing even without all the subplots, which seem to routinely follow Tark's teams at Fresno and Nevada-Las Vegas, where he ran one of the most successful and controversial programs in the country.

Cal (5-1) has won 15 straight non-conference home games and would like to avenge its first-round NCAA Tournament loss of a year ago to the Bulldogs. Fresno (7-3) has beaten Michigan State and Southern Cal this season, but has lost its past two games, including a 93-78 defeat at San Diego State on Saturday, without Ely.

"If we won't have Melvin, we're hurtin'," Tarkanian said. "He makes the difference in our ballclub, no question about it. We're not anywhere near the same club without him."

Braun won't argue that. His Bears had no answer for Ely last season when he had 21 points and 13 rebounds in their NCAA clash.

"As good as he was last year, he's shown some improvement," Braun said.

At question regarding his availability is whether a sports agent paid for a hotel room for him at the Las Vegas Budget Suites of America. Ely says he never stayed there, but shared expenses with a friend at another hotel.

Braun still believes there is every chance Fresno State could conclude its current probe and reinstate Ely before tonight's game. Tark says he has no idea what's next.

With or without Ely, the Bulldogs are a somewhat different team this season. They play tremendous defense, although they are using a matchup zone more than fullcourt pressure because their depth is shaky. Junior wing Chris Jefferies has blossomed as a secondary star, but Fresno is not a consistently good rebounding team and does not shoot well from 3-point range.

When he's available, Ely makes up for a lot.

Melvina Ely, the star player's mom, isn't convinced her son should remain in the program. In her Saturday interview with the Fresno Bee, she said she regrets Melvin didn't enter the NBA Draft after last season, and even that he signed with Fresno out of high school in the first place.

"The school is not being fair," she said. "He does not need to be there if he is being mistreated. He chose to come back to school, and now he's being punished."

Asked by the newspaper if he would consider leaving school, as his mom suggested, Ely said, "If it drags on, yeah."

Tarkanian said Melvina Ely called him Saturday from her home in Chicago.

"She was really upset," he said. "I tried to explain to her, 'Hell, I want him to play more than you do.' This isn't something we really have any control over."

 

[superbook]

I see the line is now Fresno State +9.5.

IMO, Ely will play tonite. If the NCAA rules him as ineligible then Fresno will have to forfeit all of the games he's played in.

But if he doesn't play they're going to lose anyway.

It sounds like the California coach thinks that he'll play.

 

[Terryray]

Don't you love this "may" stuff? Somebody knows and is putting that big bet down!

Fresno doesn't play again until Savannah St Dec 20. So you think they'd find a way to get Ely in tonight. But team still distracted by it all. CA wants revenge from last year and at home. If no change in news, I'm gonna go small with CA.

 

[Kdogg21]

I like Seton Hall. Who the hell they playing?? St Peter's of the Sister Mary's Sacred Heart. Never heard of them, but they will get smoked by sixty. DePaul aint to bad either. With Sawyer in or out they should take it to the house.

 

[bigplaymakerjoe]

ST PETERS IS NOT THAT BAD OF A TEAM. BE CAREFUL IN THIS ONE. THEY WILL NOT LOSE BY 60 POINTS. ]

 

[jer6969]

i still like fresno st. some places you can get +9, and I hope you guys keep banging seton hall, might move the line in my favor!!!

 

[Hoops14]

Fresno St. is a completely different team without Melvin......Melvin's mom (Melvina) will be paying a visit to Fresno next week to ask her son to leave the University. She feels he needs to come home and get away from the controversy. Melvin said if he is not cleared soon he will leave. Melvina has been a big distraction this week and has threatened to sue the University.

The Fresno St. team feels this is a distraction to them and does not understand why the school does not clear him.

Melvin has been the ONLY bright spot for this Tark program since Tark came 7 years ago. He is the ONLY star player who has not driven around in a new Lexus, or Land Cruiser. He is honest and does not take Alumni handouts, like so many other players have and are currently.

Melvin IS NOT playing tonight, there is NO bench for Fresno St and Jefferies can't do it all! Mismatches ALL over the court tonight.

This is a rout folks!

 

[alienx]

Terryray is right. Somebody knows he is playing or not: School officials, athletic director etc. They also know how valuable this info is as well. They should be the ones to be investigated upon. I wouldn't touch this unless I can locate my lucky coin.

 

[Hoops14]

HE IS NOT PLAYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CAN YOU READ!

 

[jer6969]

well the only play that wins tonight is the one I played small, oh well, 1-2 for the day and 6-6 for the year.