Announcement

**Udog** · 05-03-2017, 08:37 AM

Armadillo:Wednesday's six-pack

Records in conference games, NCAA tourney games the last four years:
Wisconsin 52-20 Big 14 games, 13-4 NCAA’s
Maryland 38-16, 3-3 (only in Big 14 three years)
Michigan State 47-25, 8-4
Iowa 43-29, 2-3
Purdue 43-29, 2-3
Michigan 43-29, 6-3
Ohio State 39-33, 1-2
Indiana 38-34, 2-2
Northwestern 30-42, 1-1
Illinois 29-43, 0-0
Nebraska 28-44, 0-1
Minnesota 27-45, 0-1
Penn State 23-49, 0-0
Rutgers 11-61, 0-0

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Armadillo: Wednesday's List of 13: Mid-week musings……..

13) Revisionist historians were out at the NFL Draft last weekend; Bill Walsh didn’t “find” Joe Montana in the 1979 draft, he didn’t even want the 49ers to take him. Seriously.

49ers had a scout named Tony Razzano who (along with former Denver coach John Ralston) wanted the Niners to draft Montana. Walsh wanted Steve Dils, whom he had coached at Stanford. The scouts won out and since then people have jostled for position to take credit for it.

49ers took Montana in the third round; Dils wound up getting selected by Minnesota in the 4th round, lasted 10 years in the NFL, starting only 27 games (10-17).

12) A football fan in San Francisco paid $30,000 to sit in the 49ers’ draft room last weekend.

11) A 3-star basketball recruit from Georgia was all set to sign with Eastern Kentucky, until Duke jumped in and offered the kid a scholarship, which the kid took.

Huh? Duke doesn’t pursue 3-star recruits, so what gives?

Well, current Blue Devil Frank Jackson hasn’t withdrawn from the NBA Draft yet, and Trevon Duval hasn’t decided where his six months of college will happen— if neither of those two guards plays at Duke next year, then Jordan Goldwire will find himself as Duke’s point guard.

If Jackson/Duval both attend Duke next year, then Goldwire will work hard in practice and never see the light of day in game situations that matter.

10) So far this baseball season, Cubs’ starting pitchers have a 9.69 ERA in the first inning, which is very bad.

9) Boston’s Chris Sale threw behind Manny Machado in the first inning last nite; both benches were warned. Machado later homered in the 7th inning off of Sale.

Orioles turned a triple play in the bottom of the 8th inning of a 5-2 Boston win.

8) Miami’s Edinson Volquez allowed three runs in 4.1 IP last nite; he walked 8, struck out 9 in a Little League-like appearance. Of the 23 batters he faced, 17 walked/struck out. He is only the second pitcher in last 100 years to walk 7+ hitters, strike out 9+ and not finish the 5th inning- he left with a blister problem.

7) Phillies’ pitcher Vince Velasquez has good potential; he struck out 16 Padres in an April game LY, but in order to help the Phillies, he has to get deeper into games.

Philly handed Velasquez a 7-0 lead in 2nd inning Monday, but he still lasted only five innings, throwing 98 pitches. That means the bullpen needed to get 12 outs in a game where they had a huge lead and should’ve been able to relax some.

Over the course of a long six-month season, bullpens need some down time.

6) When he was 11-12 years old. Tampa Bay Rays’ P Alex Cobb was a spring training batboy for the Dodgers in Vero Beach. Sounds like a fun job for a kid.

5) Looks like Valparaiso will be replacing Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Conference; there was some thought that the league would add three teams (Omaha, Murray State were mentioned) to get to 12 teams.

4) Indians’ ace Corey Kluber left last night’s game with back discomfort, bad news for Cleveland.

3) ESPN fired Ed Werder even though his contract runs thru April 2019; how does this make any sense? The guy is really good at his job, you have to pay him for two more years anyway, and you still fire him? It makes you wonder what really is in play here.

2) Nick Saban got a contract extension this week. From ESPN.com:

“Saban will receive a $4 million signing bonus and make $6.725 million in salary this year. He gets another $400,000 bonus for completing the season, bringing his total compensation for the year to $11.125 million. He has completion bonuses in each year of the contract, culminating in a $3.6 million payout after the 2021 season before going back down to $400,000 per year in subsequent seasons.”

Saban is the 2nd-highest paid college coach in the country, behind Jim Harbaugh.

1— The wife of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel gave birth to a little boy couple weeks ago; young man was born with some heart problems, but is doing better now. Kimmel started his show Monday nite with a monologue describing what happened and thanking all the people who helped. He had a list and read it, with lot of nurses/doctors’ names on it.

Kimmel is a wealthy guy, but what if it was my kid or yours? Could I afford that kind of health care? Could you? The baby has already had one heart operation; he’ll need two more before the problem is totally behind him.

One of Kimmel’s points in his monologue was this: No parent should have to decide whether he/she has enough money to save their child’s life. Good health care is for all Americans, not just the wealthy ones. Makes a lot of sense.

**Udog** · 05-03-2017, 08:44 AM

NBA
Long Sheet

Wednesday, May 3

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TORONTO (55 - 34) at CLEVELAND (56 - 31) - 5/3/2017, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 48-40 ATS (+4.0 Units) in all games this season.
TORONTO is 13-5 ATS (+7.5 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
CLEVELAND is 22-34 ATS (-15.4 Units) after 3 or more consecutive wins over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
CLEVELAND is 10-8 against the spread versus TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
CLEVELAND is 12-6 straight up against TORONTO over the last 3 seasons
10 of 18 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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HOUSTON (60 - 28) at SAN ANTONIO (65 - 24) - 5/3/2017, 9:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
SAN ANTONIO is 1000-874 ATS (+38.6 Units) in all games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 804-685 ATS (+50.5 Units) as a favorite since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 509-427 ATS (+39.3 Units) in home games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 80-52 ATS (+22.8 Units) in home games in all playoff games since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 207-145 ATS (+47.5 Units) off a upset loss as a favorite since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 74-49 ATS (+20.1 Units) in home games after a loss by 10 points or more since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 180-133 ATS (+33.7 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record - 2nd half of the season since 1996.
SAN ANTONIO is 20-10 ATS (+9.0 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 106+ points/game this season.
HOUSTON is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) as an underdog this season.
HOUSTON is 27-16 ATS (+9.4 Units) in road games this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN ANTONIO is 7-6 against the spread versus HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
SAN ANTONIO is 9-4 straight up against HOUSTON over the last 3 seasons
6 of 12 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Wednesday, May 3

All five Cleveland starters were at least +15 in Game 1 win- they led by 22 after third quarter. Cavaliers won six of last seven games with Toronto (over is 6-5 in last eleven series games). Raptors won/covered once in last six visits to Ohio. Toronto won/covered five of last seven road games overall. Under is 5-3 in Raptors’ last eight games. Cavaliers are 5-0 in playoffs (2-2-1 vs spread); they’re 3-2 in last five home games overall. Seven of their last nine games went over total. Cavaliers are 4-3 in this round with Lebron. This is only 3rd time Toronto has been in this round; they won two years ago, lost in 2001.

Houston was 22-50 on arc in easy Game 1 win: their eFG% was 58.6%, which is crazy good. Every Rocket starter was at least +18. San Antonio won eight of last 11 games with Houston (6-5 vs spread); Rockets lost four of last six visits to the Alamo (3-3 vs spread). Under is 4-1-1 in last six series games. Houston won three of its last five road games overall. Spurs won/covered three of last four home games. Over is 8-1 in their last nine games. Over last 20 years, this is only 3rd time Rockets have been in this round (1-1); they won two years ago, lost in 2009. Spurs won five of last seven series in this round. Popovich has won six series after losing Game 1, second only to Phil Jackson (8) in NBA history.

Second round playoff series:
Boston-Washington
Bos 123-111, -4.5, O216
Bos 129-119 O, -5, O218.5

Cleveland-Toronto
Clev 116-105, -7, O211

San Antonio-Houston
Hst 126-99, +6, O215.5

Golden State-Utah
GState 106-94, -13, U206.5

Favorites 3-2 (23-24-1)
Over 4-1 (26-22)

NBA

Wednesday, May 3

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
TORONTO vs. CLEVELAND
Toronto is 1-7 SU in its last 8 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
Toronto is 2-5 ATS in its last 7 games when playing on the road against Cleveland
Cleveland is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Cleveland's last 9 games at home

9:30 PM
HOUSTON vs. SAN ANTONIO
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Houston's last 6 games when playing San Antonio
Houston is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games on the road
San Antonio is 18-5 SU in its last 23 games at home
San Antonio is 12-4 SU in its last 16 games when playing at home against Houston

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**Udog** · 05-03-2017, 08:46 AM

Wednesday’s NBA Playoffs Betting Preview and Odds

Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers (-7.5, 213.5)

Cavs lead series 1-0

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (55-34 SU, 48-40-1 ATS, 47-42 O/U): "We've just got to play defense and not let them go up and down and do what they do, play defense for 48 minutes," Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry told reporters after Game 1. "We got to find ways to limit their spurts." Toronto coach Dwane Casey bristled when it was suggested his team was dominated in Game 1 but the final margin of the contest didn't reflect Cleveland's supremacy. The Raptors trailed by 22 points after three quarters and cutting the deficit in half in a quarter in which the outcome was long decided left the impression on shooting guard DeMar DeRozan that the Game 2 effort needs to be substantially better. "We already got that foot in the hole and that's where we kick in and understand we fight well under adversity," DeRozan told reporters. "We have done it all year. That has been our mantra, so that's something we have to exploit next game."

ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (56-31 SU, 39-45-3 ATS, 51-35-1 O/U): The Cleveland Cavaliers have yet to stumble in the postseason and aim for their sixth consecutive victory when they host the Toronto Raptors in Wednesday's Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. The defending champion Cavaliers jumped on the third-seeded Raptors from the outset of the series opener and rolled to a 116-105 victory. James contributed 35 points and 10 rebounds in the opener and needs just 25 points to pass Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762 points) for second place on the all-time postseason scoring list. Point guard Kyrie Irving also stood out in the opener with 24 points and a career playoff-best 10 assists while setting the tone for the victory. "We wanted to come out, make a conscious effort to move the basketball as well as get out in transition, keep the pace up, make them play our game and go from there," Irving told reporters. "Coach (Tyronn Lue) was right. It could have gone either way, but I'm glad it went in the direction of us getting out in transition and getting some easy shots as well as moving the basketball."

LINE HISTORY: The Cavaliers opened as 7.5-point home favorites for Game 2. The total hit the betting board at 214 and was dropped slightly to 213.5 on Tuesday afternoon.

INJURY REPORT:

Raptors - No injuries to report.

Cavaliers - SG J. Smith (Probable, thumb), PG K. Felder (Out Indefinitely, leg).

TRENDS:

* Raptors are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games following a straight up loss.
* Cavaliers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games.
* Over is 4-0 in Raptors last 4 Conference Semifinals games.
* Over is 8-1 in Cavaliers last 9 home games.
* Road team is 5-1 ATS in the last 6 meetings.

Houston Rockets at San Antonio Spurs (-5.5, 215)

Rockets lead series 1-0

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (60-28 SU, 46-42 ATS, 44-43-1 O/U): The Houston Rockets delivered a stunning beat down in the opener of their series with San Antonio and aim to take a 2-0 series lead when they visit the Spurs on Wednesday. The opening salvo from the Rockets included 22 3-point baskets and bolstered the club's already-high hopes of claiming the series from San Antonio. Star guard James Harden contributed 20 points, 14 assists and four steals in the opener and downplayed the large margin of victory. "We are going to have to be in sync and focused like this in every game," Harden told reporters. "San Antonio is a veteran team, and they are capable of getting hot at any moment. I have to limit them. We were just taking what their defense gave us. "It was important for us to get off to a really good start, especially on the road, and our energy level was up and we were very active." Forward Trevor Ariza added 23 points and knocked down five 3-pointers in an eye-opening performance after he averaged just 6.2 points in the five-game first-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

ABOUT THE SPURS (65-24 SU, 45-42-2 ATS, 49-38-2 O/U): The Spurs shot just 36.9 percent in Game 1 and had no answers on the defensive end during the highly disappointing effort. "We really have to step up, and it's hard to pinpoint something because we got outplayed in just about everything," San Antonio veteran guard Manu Ginobili told reporters. "We were not ready or attentive, and they were inspired - they played great." Star small forward Kawhi Leonard was just 5-of-14 shooting while registering 21 points and 11 rebounds in the opener and power forward LaMarcus Aldridge was inept with just four points on 2-of-7 shooting. "I just have to take my time," Aldridge said after Game 1. "I have to ask for the ball more for sure. And when I get it, take my time. I was trying to rush because there were so many mismatches on me." Point guard Tony Parker was unable to follow up his strong effort (27 points on 11-of-14 shooting) in the closeout win over the Memphis Grizzlies and had just 11 points on 3-of-9 shooting.

LINE HISTORY: The Spurs opened as 5.5-point home favorites for Game 2. The total hit the board at 216.5 and has dropped to 215.

INJURY REPORT:

Rockets - PF C. Onuaku (Elig. Friday, suspension).

Spurs - No injuries to report.

TRENDS:

* Rockets are 6-1 ATS in their last 7 vs. NBA Southwest.
* Spurs are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Conference Semifinals games.
* Over is 7-1 in Rockets last 8 Conference Semifinals games.
* Over is 5-0 in Spurs last 5 overall.
* Road team is 6-0 ATS in the last 6 meetings.

**Udog** · 05-03-2017, 09:59 AM

NBA
Dunkel

Wednesday, May 3

Houston @ San Antonio

Game 733-734
May 3, 2017 @ 9:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Houston
118.175
San Antonio
125.727
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
San Antonio
by 7 1/2
224
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
San Antonio
by 5 1/2
215
Dunkel Pick:
San Antonio
(-5 1/2); Over

Toronto @ Cleveland

Game 731-732
May 3, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Toronto
120.034
Cleveland
124.556
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Cleveland
by 4 1/2
208
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Cleveland
by 7 1/2
214
Dunkel Pick:
Toronto
(+7 1/2); Under

Announcement

Wednesday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/3

Wednesday's NBA Trends and Indexes - 5/3

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