Announcement

**Udog** · 06-10-2016, 08:15 AM

Armadillo: Friday's six-pack

-- Phillies drafted a HS outfielder from California with the first pick in the baseball amateur draft Thursday.

-- Five of the first nine picks were high school players. Two of the first seven picks were high school pitchers who had committed to play for Vanderbilt next year, so rough day for the Commodores.

-- Three of the first 47 picks were Florida Gator pitchers, two of whom were taken by the A's. Now I need Florida to get KO'd from the college baseball tournament, so their coach can't abuse their arms the way college coaches do this time of year.

-- Ohio State is one of several bigtime football schools that will start to sell beer at their games this fall. Kind of hard to believe it has taken this long.

-- Virginia Tech was 10-8 in ACC basketball last winter, despite being favoried in only two of the 18 games-- Buzz Williams is doing a hell of a job there.

-- Sharks 4, Penguins 2-- Game 6 of Stanley Cup finals is Sunday in San Jose.

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

13) Pirates got rained out Monday, played a doubleheader Tuesday, lost in 10 innings Wednesday, then got on a plane and flew to Denver for one make-up game against the Rockies, then flew back to Steel City last night for this weekend's series with the Cardinals. After this weekend, Pirates will have played 27 consecutive days.

12) Indians 5, Mariners 3-- Quietly, Cleveland is three games up in AL Central.

11) Which brings me to this: Why on God's green earth did the Red Sox fire Terry Francona? Francona went 744-552 in eight years managing Boston, winning a couple of World Series trophies, when the Red Sox hadn't won one in 80+ years. Instead of firing the guy, they should put a statue of him in front of Fenway Park.

Well, Francona is 290-253 in Cleveland and he has the Tribe in first place, and that is a harder job than managing the wealthy Red Sox. Francona is a future Hall of Famer.

10) And yes, I realize the Red Sox won a World Series with John Farrell in 2013, but breaking a losing culture is the hardest thing a coach has to do and Francona is the guy who did it in Boston. Still think they screwed up firing him.

9) Baltimore Orioles are 19-4 in games where the winning run scores after the sixth inning- Buck Showalter is also a really, really good manager. .

8) Kershaw-Cueto in San Francisco tonight. Don't see lot of totals at 5.5.

7) If you have Jose Altuve on your fantasy team and position eligibility is one game at that position, you can now use Altuve at shortstop- he played a few innings there in Thursday's loss in Arlington. First time Altuve has played short in the majors.

6) Yordano Ventura got a nine-game suspension, Manny Machado four games after a brawl in Baltimore Tuesday. Both appealed, which means they may not serve their penalties before the 4th of July-- justice moves slowly in baseball circles.

5) Madison Bumgarner is the best pitcher the Giants have, but he wants to be in the Home Run Derby in San Diego next month. He has 13 career homers and a .180 career batting average. If you were Bruce Bochy, would you let him try HR Derby?

Despite his .180 batting average, Bumgarner is 0-22 batting in the playoffs.

4) I watch a ton of latenight TV when I am up updating this space; luckily I do not watch a lot of commercials, because if I did, I'd feel like a bad person.

Commercials for preventing animal cruelty, preventing starvation in Africa, more for keeping rare species of animals from becoming extinct, or helping wounded warriors-- the magic number seems to be $18 a month for each one. Enough already.

I'm sure most of these are worthy causes, but it gets tiring constantly being hit up for money-- the government should be taking care of our veterans, by the way.

3) Miami Marlins are 31-29, despite being outscored by 27 runs from 7th inning on, even after they pounded Minnesota's bullpen in a 10-3 win Thursday. Marlins are +17 in runs scored in the first six innings of their games.

2) Pirates' 1B John Jaso is hitting .375 (15-40) in first inning of games, which is good for Pittsburgh, since he bats leadoff.

1) Obscure baseball rule I never heard until last night:

In games with a retractable dome, the roof is only allowed to move once during the game. Say the game starts with the roof open, if it closed during the game, it cannot be re-opened during the game. That is why roofs are rarely opened during the game, because once the roof opens, if it were to rain, by rule the roof couldn't be closed.

**Udog** · 06-10-2016, 08:16 AM

NBA

Friday, June 10

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NBA Finals Game 4 betting preview and odds: Warriors at Cavaliers
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Cleveland was in desperation made going into Game 3 and realizes that it needs to maintain that sense of urgency on Friday.

Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers (-1.5, 206.5)

The Cleveland Cavaliers came home and completely changed the tone of the series in a dominating Game 3 performance and have a chance to even things up at two wins apiece when they host the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday. The Cavaliers have a decision to make in regards to power forward Kevin Love, who sat out the previous game with a concussion and watched his team’s defense improve.

The absence of Love allowed Cleveland to go to a smaller lineup with LeBron James starting at power forward and Richard Jefferson sliding into the first unit, which solved some of the matchup problems the team was having with Warriors power forward Draymond Green in the first two games. “We definitely need him back," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue told reporters of Love, though he would not commit to returning the former star to the starting lineup. "We miss his rebounding. We miss his post presence. We miss his 3-point shooting. So we definitely want him back, but he has to take the steps necessary to get himself back.” Golden State won the first two games by a combined 48 points despite reigning two-time MVP Steph Curry not playing up to his usual standards, and another sub-par effort in the Game 3 loss brought his struggles under the microscope. “I stick to my preparation and my mental strategy of staying within myself to get myself out of a hole, and not panicking and not over-complicating things and not trying to psych myself out,” Curry told reporters. “There’s a reason I have confidence out there, and it’s about how I prepare for games.”

TV: 9 p.m. ET, ABC

LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened as two-point favorites at home for Game 4 following their very impressive victory Wednesday. By Thursday morning the line settled down a 1/2 point to -1.5. The total opened at 206.5 and also dropped a 1/2 point by Thursday morning to 206. Keep your eyes on the line history here.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS (87-15, 58-42-2 ATS, 53-48-1 O/U): Coach Steve Kerr called his team “soft” after Game 3, and the players seemed to agree with their coach when they spoke to the media the following day. “Because we were,” Curry responded when asked about the “soft” label. “They were more physical, they were more purposeful about what they were doing and it took us probably a quarter and a half to respond, and by that time it’s too late. You’re down 33-14 on the road in the finals, you’re not going to win many games with that kind of deficit.” Golden State shot 54.3 percent from the field and won the rebounding battle 52-47 in a 110-77 Game 2 win but slumped to 42.1 percent from the field while getting crushed 60-41 on the glass in Game 3.

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (70-29, 47-49-3 ATS, 49-50 O/U): Cleveland was in desperation mode going into Game 3 and realizes that it needs to maintain that sense of urgency on Friday. “It's the same,” James told reporters. “It's the same mindset. We can't afford to go down 3-1 and go into their building and give them confidence going back. So it's a do-or-die game for us still.” The Cavaliers got a big boost in Game 3 from point guard Kyrie Irving, who outscored (30-29), collected more assists (eight to four) and committed far fewer turnovers (eight to two) than the Warriors’ “Splash Brothers” combination of Curry and Klay Thompson.

TRENDS:

* Warriors are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 NBA Championship games.
* Cavaliers are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 home games.
* Under is 6-1 in Warriors last 7 vs. Eastern Conference.
* Over is 6-0 in Cavaliers last 6 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of greater than .600.
* Warriors are 6-2 ATS in the last 8 meetings.

CONSENSUS: Early Consensus data is showing 59 percent of the public is siding with the Cavaliers as home favorites in Game 4. As for the total, Over is grabbing 68 percent of the action.

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**Udog** · 06-10-2016, 08:19 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Friday, June 10

Golden State @ Cleveland

Game 507-508
June 10, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Golden State
134.568
Cleveland
130.449
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Golden State
by 4
190
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Cleveland
by 2
206 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Golden State
(+2); Under

NBA
Long Sheet

Friday, June 10

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GOLDEN STATE (87 - 15) at CLEVELAND (70 - 29) - 6/10/2016, 9:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
GOLDEN STATE is 57-42 ATS (+10.8 Units) in all games this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 22-8 ATS (+13.2 Units) after a non-conference game this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 44-26 ATS (+15.4 Units) in all playoff games since 1996.
GOLDEN STATE is 11-3 ATS (+7.7 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 64-44 ATS (+15.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
GOLDEN STATE is 45-32 ATS (+9.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
GOLDEN STATE is 46-30 ATS (+13.0 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game this season.
GOLDEN STATE is 52-39 ATS (+9.1 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 99+ points/game - 2nd half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
GOLDEN STATE is 8-7 against the spread versus CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
GOLDEN STATE is 10-5 straight up against CLEVELAND over the last 3 seasons
9 of 14 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA
Short Sheet

Friday, June 10

Golden State at Cleveland, 9:00 ET
Golden State: 4-12 ATS when playing 4 or less games in 10 days
Cleveland: 13-5 ATS at home after a game where they made 12 or more 3 pt shots

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Friday, June 10

Cleveland-Golden State (GSt 2-1)
Warriors won seven of last eight games with Cleveland, beating Cavaliers in six games in LY's Finals; Warriors are 3-5 on road in playoffs, with at least one road loss in each series- they're 3-1 in last four games in Cleveland, winning by 34-8-21 points. Cavaliers are 13-4 in playoffs, 8-0 at home. Cavs made 12-25 on arc in Game 3, had 17 offensive boards and shot 53% from floor. Four of last five Golden State games, three of last four Cavalier games stayed under the total. Curry/Thompson were combined 4-16 on arc in Game 3.

Playoff tally: Favorites vs spread: 26-18, Over: 13-31
Second round: Favorites: 13-8, over: 12-9
Conference final: Favorites: 7-6, over: 5-7-1
Final: Favorites: 3-0, Over: 1-2

NBA

Friday, June 10

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Trend Report
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9:00 PM
GOLDEN STATE vs. CLEVELAND
Golden State is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Golden State is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
Cleveland is 13-4 SU in its last 17 games
Cleveland is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

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**Udog** · 06-10-2016, 08:21 AM

WNBA
Long Sheet

Friday, June 10

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SEATTLE (3 - 5) at CONNECTICUT (1 - 7) - 6/10/2016, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SEATTLE is 15-29 ATS (-16.9 Units) in road games when playing with 3 or more days rest since 1997.
CONNECTICUT is 16-5 ATS (+10.5 Units) in June games over the last 3 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) against Western conference opponents over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 9-2 ATS (+6.8 Units) in home games after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) in non-conference games over the last 2 seasons.
CONNECTICUT is 119-87 ATS (+23.3 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent since 1997.
SEATTLE is 100-72 ATS (+20.8 Units) versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
CONNECTICUT is 3-2 against the spread versus SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
CONNECTICUT is 4-1 straight up against SEATTLE over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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CHICAGO (4 - 4) at INDIANA (4 - 4) - 6/10/2016, 7:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 0-6 ATS (-6.6 Units) in road games after a win by 10 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 17-34 ATS (-20.4 Units) after scoring 75 points or more over the last 3 seasons.
INDIANA is 16-6 ATS (+9.4 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 3 seasons.
INDIANA is 36-19 ATS (+15.1 Units) after a division game over the last 3 seasons.
CHICAGO is 13-4 ATS (+8.6 Units) as a road favorite of 3 points or less since 1997.

Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 7-7 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 9-6 straight up against INDIANA over the last 3 seasons
8 of 15 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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MINNESOTA (8 - 0) at ATLANTA (6 - 2) - 6/10/2016, 7:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ATLANTA is 17-6 ATS (+10.4 Units) as an underdog over the last 2 seasons.
ATLANTA is 18-8 ATS (+9.2 Units) against Western conference opponents over the last 3 seasons.
ATLANTA is 18-8 ATS (+9.2 Units) in non-conference games over the last 3 seasons.
ATLANTA is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) after allowing 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
ATLANTA is 19-8 ATS (+10.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
ATLANTA is 3-1 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 3-1 straight up against ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
4 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Friday, June 10

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. INDIANA
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 7 games when playing Indiana
Chicago is 6-14 ATS in its last 20 games when playing on the road against Indiana
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Indiana's last 11 games when playing at home against Chicago
Indiana is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home

7:00 PM
SEATTLE vs. CONNECTICUT
Seattle is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Seattle is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Connecticut
Connecticut is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games when playing Seattle
Connecticut is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games

7:30 PM
MINNESOTA vs. ATLANTA
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Minnesota's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Minnesota's last 5 games when playing on the road against Atlanta
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Atlanta's last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Atlanta's last 13 games

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Announcement

Friday's NBA and WNBA Trends and Indexes - 6/10

Friday's NBA and WNBA Trends and Indexes - 6/10

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