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**Udog** · 05-22-2015, 08:19 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

Six things you may or may not know about the movie My Cousin Vinny.......

-- The movie screenwriter wanted Robert Deniro to play Vinny, but was talked out of it by people who thought Deniro wasn't funny enough- whoops.

-- Joe Pesci actually learned the card trick he does early in the movie, so it would look better than if they edited the trick into the movie.

-- Fred Gwynne played the judge; he is best known for playing Herman Munster in the 60's TV comedy The Munsters.

-- There is a lawyer somewhere who failed the bar exam 13 times before he passed.

-- Prison guards in the movie weren't actors, they were actual prison guards.

-- The phrase "the two yutes" which is in one of the best courtroom scenes actually came up in a conversation between Pesci and the movie's director- they decided to utilize it in the movie.

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Armadillo: Friday's List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here.......

13) If you live in the Albany area and you like high school basketball, there is an excellent tournament this weekend; the Gym Rat Challenge, held at various locations in the Albany area-- it used to be held mostly at Siena College, but the NCAA put the kibosh on D-I schools hosting events like this, which is just another example of their over-bloated rule book.

This is a really well-run event; lot of good players. Here is a link to the event's website-- like I said, its very well-run.

12) There was sentiment to move 2-point conversions in the NFL to the 1-yard line, but they'll stay at the 2-yard line this year. if more teams are going to try for two with PAT's now 32-yard tries, they'll need a running style QB and the Eagles might look smart for having Tim Tebow around.

11) At one point this year, the A's were 8-8; now they're 14-29, so this has been a disasterous month for them, marked by a hideous bullpen and putrid infield defense, especially on the left side, so they made a move this week, bringing back Ron Washington as an infield instructor.

Washington is a great infield coach (Eric Chavez gave him one of his Gold Gloves) so his presence can't hurt. If only he could hit lefties......

10) Oakland is 1-9 vs lefty starters; they traded Cespedes/Donaldson, yet their payroll is the same as it was last year. Not good.

9) People in Texas are nuts about high school football. Former NFL QB Jon Kitna recently got hired to coach a team in Texas, earning $95K a year- some of his assistants are making as much as $70K, even though the entry-level salary for teachers in that district is $44K. Not everyone is happy about this.

8) Tim Lincecum has more strikeouts than Carl Hubbell? Wow. Hubbell had 1,677 strikeouts in 3,590.1 IP. Lincecum has 1,680 in 1,615 IP.

7) Too many college basketball players transfer; things aren't great right off the bat, so they bolt for greener pastures. Frank Kaminsky started two games in his first two years at Wisconsin, but he stayed the course and was a great player his last two years in college. More kids should follow his example.

6) Damn, the centerfield fence at Comerica Field in Detroit is 420 feet from home plate, even farther than in Miami (418) although CF fence in Miami is higher. It takes quite a poke to hit the ball out in CF in those two parks, which is stupid for the Marlins, considering they have Giancarlo Stanton.

5) Mike Babcock took less money fron the Maple Leafs than Buffalo offered him, which doesn't happen a lot. I mean, his family will still be able to put food on the table, but usually the highest bidder wins these things.

4) If you ever wondered what Archie Manning was like as a player, he was a right-handed version of Steve Young, even wore #8. Archie was nothing like his sons are, immobile pocket passers- he could run and throw and he played for terrible Saint teams so he got pummeled more often than not.

3) If you care about such things, Minnesota Twins have scored in first inning in eight of their last ten road games, so they're doing good video review on opposing pitchers. You can wager on that you know, whether a team will score in the first inning or not. Our baseball page has all that info every day.

2) Cubs ended their 3-man catching logjam by dealing Wellington Castillo to Seattle, bad news for Mike Zunino's fantasy owners.

1) The end of last night's Houston-Golden State game is why coaches like to strangle end-game situations with timeouts- they don't trust players to make the right play. I was stunned James Harden didn't get to the baskt on the last play-- Golden State dodged a huge bullet by not blowing that game.

**Udog** · 05-22-2015, 08:23 AM

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, May 22

JR Smith scored 28 points off bench to spark Game 1 win, Hawks were just 4-23 from arc. Carroll is day-to-day after getting good news about his knee, but tonight's game is still a ?? for him. Hawks have now won seven of last nine games with Cleveland, winning five of last six played here- six of last eight series tilts went over the total. Atlanta is 5-2 in home playoff games. Cleveland is 9-2 in playoffs with seven of last ten games staying under total. Cavs won last four games by 2-5-21-8 points after falling behind 2-1 in Chicago series.

2015 playoffs
Cleveland vs Atlanta
Clev 97-89, +2.5, U199.5

Houston vs Golden State
GSt 110-106, -10.5 U219.5
GSt 99-98, -9.5, U219.5

NBA

Friday, May 22

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Trend Report
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8:30 PM
CLEVELAND vs. ATLANTA
Cleveland is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Cleveland's last 7 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 7 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Atlanta's last 8 games when playing Cleveland

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**Udog** · 05-22-2015, 08:26 AM

NBA

Friday, May 22

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Game of the Day: Cavaliers at Hawks
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Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks (-2, 197)

Cavs lead series 1-0

Atlanta forward DeMarre Carroll is questionable for Friday when the Hawks try to rebound from a series-opening loss to the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Carroll injured his left knee late in the opener when he landed awkwardly and an MRI exam performed Thursday determined he suffered a bruised bone.

There were fears Carroll suffered a major injury but the examination ruled out structural, ligament and cartilage damage so he is expected to return to play in the series. If Carroll can’t play on Friday, guard Kent Bazemore is expected to move into the starting lineup and that would represent a huge dropoff from Carroll, who is considered Atlanta’s top defender. Cleveland won the opener 97-89 and shooting guard J.R. Smith was tremendous and set a franchise postseason record with eight 3-pointers while scoring 28 points. “Once I start shooting,” Smith told reporters, “everybody keeps telling me to keep shooting.”

TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, TNT

LINE HISTORY: The Hawks opened as 1-point dogs but are 2-point road faves. The total opened 198.5 and is down to 197.

INJURY REPORT: Cavs - G Kyrie Irving (Probable, knee), F LeBron James (Probable, ankle). Hawks - F DeMarre Carroll (Questionable, knee).

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS: While Smith’s marksmanship was superb, coach David Blatt was just as pleased with his defense and rebounding. “I’d love to know when the last time a guy made eight 3s and got eight rebounds,” Blatt said in his postgame press conference. “I don’t remember but I’m sure it’s happened. That’s pretty unusual.” Forward LeBron James was unstoppable for the most part with 31 points, eight rebounds and six assists and posted his 52nd playoff performance of at least 30 points, five rebounds and five assists, breaking the record set by Michael Jordan.

ABOUT THE HAWKS: Losing the series opener at home and giving up homecourt advantage was a blow to Atlanta and the players are fully aware that heading to Cleveland in a 0-2 hole would be a highly undesirable position. “Just got to come out fighting and come out ready to play with a lot of intensity,” point guard Jeff Teague told reporters. “It’s going to be a war the next couple of games. We know that. So it’s a must-win for us next game with our backs against the wall.” Teague had a solid opener with 27 points while power forward Paul Millsap (13 points on 3-of-11 shooting) and backup point guard Dennis Schroder (six points on 2-of-10) had poor outings.

TRENDS:

*Cavaliers are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 games following a ATS win.
*Hawks are 15-7 ATS in their last 22 games following a S.U. loss.
*Under is 6-1 in Cavaliers last 7 road games.
*Under is 5-1 in Hawks last 6 vs. NBA Central.

CONSENSUS: 53.27 percent of users are backing the Cavs with 62.7 percent on the under.

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**Udog** · 05-22-2015, 09:37 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Friday, May 22

Cleveland Cavaliers @ Atlanta Hawks

Game 507-508
May 22, 2015 @ 8:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Cleveland Cavalie
128.669
Atlanta Hawks
125.723
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Cleveland Cavalie
by 3
201
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Atlanta Hawks
by 1 1/2
196 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Cleveland Cavalie
(+1 1/2); Over

NBA
Long Sheet

Friday, May 22

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CLEVELAND (62 - 31) at ATLANTA (68 - 27) - 5/22/2015, 8:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CLEVELAND is 5-13 ATS (-9.3 Units) as an underdog this season.
ATLANTA is 54-38 ATS (+12.2 Units) in all games this season.
ATLANTA is 40-29 ATS (+8.1 Units) as a favorite this season.
ATLANTA is 16-6 ATS (+9.4 Units) on Friday nights this season.
ATLANTA is 11-3 ATS (+7.7 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite this season.
ATLANTA is 28-14 ATS (+12.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
ATLANTA is 29-20 ATS (+7.0 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game this season.
CLEVELAND is 35-20 ATS (+13.0 Units) against Southeast division opponents over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 6-6 against the spread versus CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
ATLANTA is 8-4 straight up against CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
8 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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**Udog** · 05-22-2015, 01:13 PM

NBA
Short Sheet

Friday, May 22

Eastern Conference - Finals - Best of 7 - Game 2 Cleveland leads 1-0

Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks, 8:30 ET
Cleveland: 5-13 ATS as an underdog
Atlanta: 11-3 ATS (+7.7 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite

**Udog** · 05-22-2015, 01:22 PM

NBA

Friday, May 22

Cavs struggle ATS with Spooner as referee

The Cleveland Cavaliers have gone 0-4 against the spread (1-3 straight up) with referee Bill Spooner as part of the officiating crew this season.

The Cavs defeated the Boston Celtics 122-121 with Spooner as an official for their only SU victory, but failed to cover the spread as 6-point road faves back on Nov. 14.

Along with Joe Crawford and Mike Callahan, Spooner will be on the floor calling Game 2 between the Cavs and Atlanta Hawks Friday.

Announcement

Friday's NBA and NCAAB Trends and Indexes - 5/22

Friday's NBA and NCAAB Trends and Indexes - 5/22

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