The Bum's 2017 WNBA Picks-Trends-News !

[StarDust Bum]

Sun top Liberty for 1st time since '14
June 14, 2017

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) Courtney Williams scored 22 points, Jonquel Jones had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Connecticut beat the New York Liberty 96-76 on Wednesday night for the Sun's first win in the series since 2014.

Jones has four double-doubles in her last five games, averaging 17 points and 14.8 rebounds during the span.

Connecticut raced out to a 24-12 lead and never trailed. Williams scored 15 points in the first half as the Sun built a 45-32 lead and Rachel Banham's back-to-back 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter made it 80-56.

Alyssa Thomas scored 18 points, and Jasmine Thomas added 14 points and a season-high eight assists for Connecticut (4-5).

Tina Charles picked up her second foul with 4:46 left in the first quarter, had seven points at halftime, and finished with 17 for New York (6-4). Shavonte Zellous scored 16 points, including eight of the Liberty's first 13.

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY JUNE 15, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
7:00 PM Atlanta Dream Indiana Fever Bankers Life Fieldhouse
10:30 PM San Antonio Stars Los Angeles Sparks Staples Center

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY JUNE 16, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
8:00 PM New York Liberty Dallas Wings College Park Center
10:00 PM Chicago Sky Phoenix Mercury Talking Stick Resort Arena

SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY JUNE 17, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
8:00 PM Connecticut Sun Minnesota Lynx Target Center

SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY JUNE 18, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
3:00 PM Dallas Wings Washington Mystics Verizon Center
5:00 PM Phoenix Mercury Los Angeles Sparks Staples Center
6:00 PM Indiana Fever Chicago Sky Allstate Arena
7:00 PM San Antonio Stars Seattle Storm KeyArena

SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 21, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
1:00 PM San Antonio Stars Dallas Wings College Park Center


Updated Thu Jun 15 2:04 AM EDT



*********************************

LEAGUE STANDINGS

Rank Team W L PCT GB CONF HOME ROAD L-10 STREAK

#1 Minnesota Lynx9 0 1.000 - 4-0 3-0 6-0 9-0 W 9

#2 Washington Mystics7 3 0.700 2.5 5-0 5-1 2-2 7-3 W 1

#3 Los Angeles Sparks6 3 0.667 3 3-1 4-0 2-3 6-3 W 2

#4 New York Liberty6 4 0.600 3.5 1-1 5-2 1-2 6-4 L 1

#5 Atlanta Dream5 4 0.556 4 2-4 2-1 3-3 5-4 W 1

#6 Phoenix Mercury5 4 0.556 4 2-2 2-3 3-1 5-4 L 1

#7 Seattle Storm5 5 0.500 4.5 1-2 4-2 1-3 5-5 L 3

#8 Connecticut Sun4 5 0.444 5 3-3 2-2 2-3 4-5 W 3

#9 Indiana Fever4 6 0.400 5.5 1-1 4-1 0-5 4-6 L 1

#10 Dallas Wings4 7 0.364 6 3-4 2-3 2-4 3-7 L 2

#11 Chicago Sky2 7 0.222 7 1-4 0-4 2-3 2-7 W 1

#12 San Antonio Stars0 9 0.000 9 0-4 0-5 0-4 0-9 L 9

[StarDust Bum]

Thursday’s six-pack

Phil Steele’s six toughest schedules in college football this season

6) Oregon State— Beavers have a 6-foot-7 QB coming in from a JC; will he start?

5) Mississippi State— Have only two returning starters on offensive line.

4) Syracuse— You’ll notice there are no Big 14 teams on this list.

3) UCLA— Bruins were 127th in rushing yardage last season (out of 128).

2) California— Bears haven’t allowed less than 5.5 yards per play since 2011.

1) LSU— Tigers lost both their inside linebackers to graduation.

***********************

Thursday’s List of 13: Happy Armadillo Day, everyone!!!!

13) Happy Armadillo Day everyone!!! 16 years ago today, I started this site and hoped that someone, anyone would read it and not hate it. Actually, even if they hated it I hoped they would still read it.

9/11 happened three months later and I hardly wrote for a week- there wasn’t anything to say.

Now it is 2017 and here we are. I have opinions, you have opinions; it is extremely important that while we disagree, maybe even vehemently disagree, we have to respect each other’s opinions and go on with our lives. It is what living in a free country is all about.

12) Golden State winning the NBA title means Bills’ RB LeSean McCoy cashed his $200,000 bet on the Warriors, recording a profit of $62,500. He made the bet at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, right next to where they sell the biggest pizza slices on earth (really, really good pizza).

11) Speaking of the Warriors, Stephen Curry is an unrestricted free agent- how would you like to be HIS agent right now? He is in line for a 5-year, $205M deal— $41M a year!!!!

So if that happens, and his agent gets 3% of the deal, that is $1.23M a year for the agent, just for representing Curry. He should hire his parents as his agent.

10) Red Sox are in Philly for a couple of days, which has to be strange for Boston 1B coach Ruben Amaro Jr; he was the Phillies’ GM for seven years before they fired him and he went back on the field as a Red Sox coach.

9) Anthony Rizzo has batted leadoff the last two nights; he hit first-inning homers in both games. I like batting my best hitters high in the order. Miami has done well since they moved Giancarlo Stanton to the #2 spot.

8) Latin-born players make up 26.4% of major league rosters.

7) Michigan Wolverines had spring football practice in Italy; I’m not sure why, but they did and the trip cost around $800,000— the tab was picked up by an anonymous donor, so the school didn’t pay a nickel for it.

6) San Diego Padres’ pitcher Clayton Richard, a former backup QB at Michigan, threw 127 pitches Tuesday night, but came up an out short of the complete game in San Diego’s 6-2 win over the Reds. 127 pitches are the most anyone has thrown in the majors this season.

5) The Stanley Cup was at the Pirates’ game Tuesday and not just in the press box; the Cup made its way all around the stadium, with groups of fans getting their pictures taken with it.

I have a picture of myself with the Stanley Cup in my living room, from when the Devils won the Cup (they had a farm team in Albany at the time, so the Cup came here for a night). Very cool.

4) UConn-Villanova are starting a home/home basketball series in January, renewing their rivalry from the Big East days. Since it is on a Saturday, must mean it is a made-for-TV deal.

3) Oregon’s coaches are getting lot of kudos on social media from basketball people praising how well Oregon players are doing during NBA workouts.

Stuff like this is great for the Ducks’ recruiting; Dana Altman is a great coach and he will get his guys ready for pro basketball. Hearing that from NBA types has to impress high school kids.

2) Back when I was a kid, in the 70’s, the non-waiver trading deadline was June 15 (it is July 31 now). June 15, 1976 was not one of my favorite days……..

I became an A’s fan when I was five years old— 1965- they were awful, but they got better and became one of the best teams ever, winning world titles in 1972, 73, 74.

They won the AL West in ’75 but lost in the playoffs; free agency was becoming a thing, and the A’s didn’t draw anyone at all at home, way worse than now, so they couldn’t afford to keep their stars. Owner Charles O Finley decided to sell some guys off.

On June 15, 1976, the A’s traded Joe Rudi, Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue, dismantling the team. The trades were later disallowed by the commissioner- the players stayed in limbo for a week, but those A’s teams were never the same again.

1) Anyway, I was 16 at the time and I loved playing basketball; my parents bought me this great pair of Puma low-cut sneakers— the Walt Frazier model. I would play in those sneakers, then change out of them and walk home in different sneakers, thats how much I liked them.

So I’m walking down the street and my dad is sitting in a chair under the tree on the front lawn- he is smiling as he looks at me- something is up.

He tells me the trades have been made, that my team was being dismantled. I’m hot, tired and now not happy; I take my prized sneakers and throw them over the house, one at a time— very lucky they didn’t land on the roof.

Not my finest moment…….lol

Anyway, today should be better than that day was.

Happy Armadillo Day!!!!

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Dunkel

Thursday, June 15


San Antonio @ Los Angeles

Game 659-660
June 15, 2017 @ 10:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
San Antonio
100.409
Los Angeles
118.089
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Los Angeles
by 17 1/2
169
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Los Angeles
by 15
164
Dunkel Pick:
Los Angeles
(-15); Over

Atlanta @ Indiana

Game 657-658
June 15, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Atlanta
107,997
Indiana
107.538
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Atlanta
Even
154
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Indiana
by 3
159
Dunkel Pick:
Atlanta
(+3); Under




WNBA

Thursday, June 15

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
ATLANTA vs. INDIANA
Atlanta is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Indiana
Atlanta is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Indiana
Indiana is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Atlanta
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Indiana's last 6 games when playing Atlanta

10:30 PM
SAN ANTONIO vs. LOS ANGELES
San Antonio is 1-5 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of San Antonio's last 8 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Los Angeles's last 8 games when playing at home against San Antonio
Los Angeles is 9-1 SU in its last 10 games when playing at home against San Antonio


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WNBA
Long Sheet

Thursday, June 15

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ATLANTA (5 - 4) at INDIANA (4 - 6) - 6/15/2017, 7:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 5-2 against the spread versus ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA is 5-2 straight up against ATLANTA over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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SAN ANTONIO (0 - 9) at LOS ANGELES (6 - 3) - 6/15/2017, 10:30 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
SAN ANTONIO is 7-2 against the spread versus LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 8-1 straight up against SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
6 of 9 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Dream (5-4) at Fever (4-6)
Date: June 15, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

The Atlanta Dream snapped a three-game losing streak with an overtime thriller on Tuesday and now look to end a lengthy road trip on a positive note, when they take on the Indiana Fever on Thursday.

After losing the first three games of a five-game road trip, the Dream (5-4) got a huge performance off the bench from center Damiris Dantas in a 91-85 overtime win over the Seattle Storm.

Dantas, a native of Brazil, who did not play in the WNBA last season, has found a spot in the Atlanta rotation. She scored a career-high 22 points in Tuesday's win over Seattle.

The Fever are coming off a blowout loss at Washington on Sunday. They have lost two of three overall and are hampered by an Achilles injury to guard Briann January. But they've been great at home this season, going 4-0 at Banker's Life Fieldhouse.

"Our crowd gets us energetic," Fever guard Erica Wheeler said. "That's our sixth man. When we're going, we feel that energy from our crowd."

Wheeler has stepped in for the injured January and played well. She is averaging 19.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists in her last three games.

Wheeler credited coach Pokey Chatman with motivating her during her impressive stretch.

"Pokey has been telling me, 'don't get too high, don't get too low' so that's what I've been trying to do, stay consistent," Wheeler told the Fever's team site.

January has been sidelined the past two games and is listed as day-to-day.

Forward Candice Dupree leads the Fever in scoring, averaging 14.9 points.

Forward Tiffany Hayes paces Atlanta's balanced offensive attack, averaging 17.7 points. Bria Holmes and Dantas also are averaging double figures in points.

Atlanta point guard Layshia Clarendon is enjoying a breakout season. She leads the WNBA in steals (3.3 per game) and is third in assists at six per game.

Indiana has won three of four against the Dream.


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

Jul 15, 2016 Score ATS Results
ATL 0 Cover: 4.5
IND « 0 Under: 0
Tools: Recaps

May 29, 2016 Score ATS Results
IND 76 Under: 161
ATL « 85 Cover: 4
Tools: Recaps

May 20, 2016 Score ATS Results
ATL 85 Over: 179
IND « 94 Cover: 2
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Stars (0-9) at Sparks (6-3)
Date: June 15, 2017 10:30 PM EDT

The surging Los Angeles Sparks will try to stay hot when they play host to the winless San Antonio Stars on Thursday night at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles (6-3) has won four of its last five games. The Sparks are second in the WNBA's Western Conference, three games behind the undefeated Minnesota Lynx.

San Antonio (0-9) is the only team in the league that has yet to win a game.

The Sparks opened a three-game homestand with a 97-87 victory over the Dallas Wings on Tuesday. Chelsea Gray scored a team-high 24 points for Los Angeles, which shot 57.4 percent from the field.

Reigning WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike scored 21 points in the win over Dallas. Candace Parker posted 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Los Angeles led by 17 points in the first quarter and went up by 18 in the second. The Wings stormed back to get within five later in the opening half, but the Sparks regained control and led by 20 going into the fourth quarter.

"The first quarter was a nice insurance policy, but they still came back," Ogwumike told the Long Beach Press-Telegram. "No matter what your lead is, you can't let your guard down like that."

Los Angeles coach Brian Agler was pleased with his team's performance against the Wings, who defeated the Sparks last week in Dallas.

"I thought we played really good defense in the first quarter," Agler said. "They're a hard team to defend."

The Stars are coming off an 85-81 overtime loss to the Chicago Sky, their narrowest defeat of the season. They lost their first eight games by an average of 10 points per game.

"The most important thing for us is trying to close," Stars coach Vickie Johnson told the San Antonio Express-News. "When the game is tied, that's when your mental focus has to go to another level."

Moriah Jefferson and Dearica Hamby combined for 35 points off the bench for San Antonio. Jefferson had 18 points, five steals and four assists. Hamby had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Kayla McBride had 15 points and six rebounds for the Stars. San Antonio's other four starters combined for just 12 points on 5-of-26 shooting.

"I think we fought a lot harder than what we've done in the past, but then we got into overtime and we slipped up," Jefferson told the Express-News. "We had too many turnovers, and when you have that many turnovers in the second half you cannot win."


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

Sep 16, 2016 Score ATS Results
SA 65 Cover: 5.5
LOS « 71 Under: 136
Tools: Recaps

Sep 1, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 70 Under: 131
SA 61 Cover: 5.5
Tools: Recaps

Jun 4, 2016 Score ATS Results
LOS « 74 Cover: 3
SA 61 Under: 135
Tools: Recaps

Jun 2, 2016 Score ATS Results
SA 61 Cover: 10.5
LOS « 68 Under: 129
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

THURSDAY, JUNE 15

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

ATL at IND 07:00 PM

ATL +4.0

U 163.5

SA at LA 10:30 PM

SA +14.0

O 160.0

[StarDust Bum]

Wheeler's 20 points leads Fever by Dream 85-74
June 15, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Erica Wheeler had 20 points and seven assists, Tiffany Mitchell scored all 14 of her points in the second half and the Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream 85-74 on Thursday night.

Atlanta pulled to 76-72 with 2:09 left but Wheeler answered with her second 3-pointer for a seven-point lead. The Dream's Layshia Clarendon missed a layup and Indiana scored on its next two possessions - on jumpers by Natalie Achonwa and Candice Dupree - to seal it.

Marissa Coleman added 10 points and Dupree scored eight of her 10 points in the fourth quarter for Indiana (5-6).

Wheeler made a long jumper with 0.6 seconds left in the first half to give Indiana a 33-31 lead and she closed the third quarter with another buzzer-beater for a 60-53 advantage.

Bria Holmes and Tiffany Hayes each scored 17 points for Atlanta (5-5). Elizabeth Williams and Damiris Dantas added 10 apiece.

****************************

Sparks holds on to beat winless Stars 80-75
June 15, 2017

LOS ANGELES (AP) Candace Parker scored 20 points, Chelsea Gray added 19 and the Los Angeles Sparks held off the winless San Antonio Stars, 80-75 on Thursday night.

Los Angeles led by 22 points in the first half but San Antonio rallied in the third quarter. Moriah Jefferson scored on three straight San Antonio possession during a 20-2 run and the Stars cut their deficit to 50-48. Jantel Lavender scored six consecutive points for Los Angeles and Gray beat the buzzer for a 58-50 lead.

Nneka Ogwumike's three-point play with 2:55 left gave Los Angeles a 70-63 lead, Parker's layup made it 72-67 and the Sparks led by at least four points the rest of the way.

Ogwumike finished with 16 points for Los Angeles (7-3), which was just 2 of 12 from 3-point range but made 24 of 28 free throws.

Jefferson was 4 for 5 on 3-pointers and scored 24 points, and Isabelle Harrison had a career-high 22 points for San Antonio (0-10).

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY JUNE 16, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
8:00 PM New York Liberty Dallas Wings College Park Center
10:00 PM Chicago Sky Phoenix Mercury Talking Stick Resort Arena

SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY JUNE 17, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
8:00 PM Connecticut Sun Minnesota Lynx Target Center

SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY JUNE 18, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
3:00 PM Dallas Wings Washington Mystics Verizon Center
5:00 PM Phoenix Mercury Los Angeles Sparks Staples Center
6:00 PM Indiana Fever Chicago Sky Allstate Arena
7:00 PM San Antonio Stars Seattle Storm KeyArena

SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 21, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
1:00 PM San Antonio Stars Dallas Wings College Park Center

Updated Fri Jun 16 1:04 AM EDT

***********************

LEAGUE STANDINGS

Rank Team W L PCT GB CONF HOME ROAD L-10 STREAK

#1 Minnesota Lynx9 0 1.000 - 4-0 3-0 6-0 9-0 W 9

#2 Los Angeles Sparks7 3 0.700 2.5 4-1 5-0 2-3 7-3 W 3

#3 Washington Mystics7 3 0.700 2.5 5-0 5-1 2-2 7-3 W 1

#4 New York Liberty6 4 0.600 3.5 1-1 5-2 1-2 6-4 L 1

#5 Phoenix Mercury5 4 0.556 4 2-2 2-3 3-1 5-4 L 1

#6 Atlanta Dream5 5 0.500 4.5 2-5 2-1 3-4 5-5 L 1

#7 Seattle Storm5 5 0.500 4.5 1-2 4-2 1-3 5-5 L 3

#8 Indiana Fever5 6 0.455 5 2-1 5-1 0-5 5-5 W 1

#9 Connecticut Sun4 5 0.444 5 3-3 2-2 2-3 4-5 W 3

#10 Dallas Wings4 7 0.364 6 3-4 2-3 2-4 3-7 L 2

#11 Chicago Sky2 7 0.222 7 1-4 0-4 2-3 2-7 W 1

#12 San Antonio Stars0 10 0.000 9.5 0-5 0-5 0-5 0-10 L 10

[StarDust Bum]

Date W/L/T % Units

06/15/2017................ 2-2-0 ................50.00%................ -1.00
06/14/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................ -0.50
06/13/2017................ 2-2-0................ 50.00%.................-1.00
06/11/2017................ 2-4-0................ 33.33%.............. -12.00
06/10/2017................ 3-3-0................ 50.00%................ -1.50
06/09/2017................ 2-4-0................ 33.33%............... -12.00
06/07/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00% .................-0.50
06/06/2017................ 5-1-0................ 83.33%.............. +19.50
06/04/2017................ 1-3-0................ 25.00%............... -11.50
06/03/2017................ 3-3-0................ 50.00%................. -1.50
06/02/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%................ -11.00
06/01/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%................. -0.50

Totals:.....................23 - 28................45.09%.................- 33.50

best bets:

06/15/2017................ 2-2-0 ................50.00%.................... -1.00
06/14/2017................ 1-1-0................ 50.00%.................... -0.50
06/13/2017................ 2-2-0................ 50.00%.....................-1.00
06/11/2017................ 2 - 4 - 0................ 33.33%.... .......... -12.00
06/10/2017................ 3 - 3 - 0................ 50.00%................ -1.50
06/09/2017................ 2 - 4 - 0................ 33.33%............... -12.00
06/07/2017................ 1 - 1 - 0................ 50.00% .................-0.50
06/06/2017................ 5 - 1 - 0................ 83.33%.............. +19.50
06/04/2017................ 1 - 3 - 0................ 25.00%............... -11.50
06/03/2017................ 3 - 3 - 0................ 50.00%................. -1.50
06/02/2017.................0 - 2......................00.00%................-11.00
06/01/2017................ 1 - 1 - 0................ 50.00%................ -0.50

Totals:.....................23 - 28................45.09%.................- 33.50

[StarDust Bum]

Friday’s six-pack

— Ohio State lost its bowl game 31-0 LY, after scoring 40.8 pts/game in its previous four bowls.

— Penn State is 10-6 as a home favorite under Franklin; they’re 1-4 in last five bowls.

— Michigan is 4-8 vs spread in its last 12 games as a road underdog.

— Indiana has had a negative turnover ratio six of the last seven years.

— Michigan State was -5 n turnovers LY; they were +46 from 2013-15.

— Rutgers is 5-12 vs spread as an underdog the last two years.

**********************

Friday’s List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here…….

13) Jerry West left his role as a consultant with the NBA champ Warriors to take a job as a consultant with the Clippers— this job apparently has more clout than his job in Oakland.

Mr West is 79 years old, one of the greatest hoop players ever, also one of the league’s best executives- he is the NBA’s logo. Big get for the Clippers.

12) Also sounds like the Clippers are going to build a new arena near the Rams’ new football stadium, where the old Hollywood Park racetrack was located.

11) Colorado Rockies’ manager Bud Black was 121-116 as a big league pitcher- he started 296 games. He once threw 151 pitches in a complete game win at Detroit.

If a pitcher today threw 151 pitches in a game, the manager would get fired that night.

10) On June 15, 1974, Nolan Ryan threw 235 pitches, struck out 19, during an 13-inning game against the Red Sox. Ryan may not have been mortal, though; he went 12-6 when he was 44 years old. It is grossly unfair to compare anyone else to him.

9) Astros’ rookie Derek Fisher is the first player with two hits in an inning in his first major league game since Adam LaRoche on April 7, 2004.

8) Chicago White Sox drafted pitcher Riley Crean in the 35th round Wednesday; he is the son of former Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean.

White Sox also drafted a kid named Sam Abbott who will now decide between pro baseball and going to Long Beach State……..on a water polo scholarship.

7) Surprising tidbit: This week’s US Open is first time since 1992 (Pebble Beach) the Open is being played on a par-72 golf course.

6) Green Bay Packers’ safety HaHa Clinton-Dix is working as an unpaid summer intern for a judge in Wisconsin, as part of his studies to get his degree at Alabama.

5) Talk about being thorough; Celtics’ coach Brad Stevens called the assistant director of academic support at Markelle Fultz’ high school, to learn more about the Celtics’ potential #1 pick in the draft. Of course, Fultz was still in high school just last year, so it makes sense.

4) Golden State Warriors project to spend close to $240 million in 2017-18: $151.7 million in salary and $88.7 million in luxury tax for being over the salary cap.

It still boggles my mind that Stephen Curry will be making $41M a year.

3) Nationals 8, Mets 3— Daniel Murphy went 3-for-5; he is now 41-104 (.394) against his former team, with 28 RBI in 26 games.

2) This season is now another train wreck for my A’s; they fired pitching coach Curt Young- he pitched for Oakland for 10 years, and has been pitching coach for 13 years. there is no way on God’s green earth that the team’s struggles are his fault. He is a very good coach.

Someone in the front office, maybe more than one somebody, needs to be fired. Players win games; the people who acquire Oakland’s talent have done a terrible job recently.

One more thing that aggravates me about this, maybe more than anything: they know its a BS thing to do, so they fired Young the day the Warriors had their championship parade, so its gets buried in Friday’s local news. A gutless maneuver.

1) Mountain West/Missouri Valley will have a 10-game basketball series in pre-conference play; here are the pairings:

Nov 28: Loyola @ Boise State, Utah St @ Valparaiso, Colorado State @ Missouri State
Nov 29: UNLV @ Northern Iowa, Air Force @ Indiana State, Illinois State @ Nevada, Evansville @ New Mexico
Dec 2: San Jose St @ Southern Illinois, Drake @ Wyoming,
Dec 3: Bradley @ San Diego State

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA

Friday, June 16

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8:00 PM
NEW YORK vs. DALLAS
The total has gone OVER in 6 of New York's last 7 games
The total has gone OVER in 16 of New York's last 23 games on the road
Dallas is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
Dallas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against New York

10:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. PHOENIX
Chicago is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Chicago is 2-4 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Phoenix
Phoenix is 4-8 ATS in its last 12 games
Phoenix is 8-3 SU in its last 11 games when playing Chicago


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WNBA
Long Sheet

Friday, June 16

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NEW YORK (6 - 4) at DALLAS (4 - 7) - 6/16/2017, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
NEW YORK is 17-7 ATS (+9.3 Units) in June games over the last 3 seasons.
NEW YORK is 79-55 ATS (+18.5 Units) in road games against Western conference opponents since 1997.
NEW YORK is 79-55 ATS (+18.5 Units) in road games in non-conference games since 1997.
NEW YORK is 101-66 ATS (+28.4 Units) after a loss by 10 points or more since 1997.
DALLAS is 5-17 ATS (-13.7 Units) against Eastern conference opponents over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 5-17 ATS (-13.7 Units) in non-conference games over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 15-25 ATS (-12.5 Units) after allowing 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 11-22 ATS (-13.2 Units) after scoring 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
DALLAS is 3-2 against the spread versus NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
DALLAS is 3-3 straight up against NEW YORK over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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CHICAGO (2 - 7) at PHOENIX (5 - 4) - 6/16/2017, 10:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 13-4 ATS (+8.6 Units) in road games versus poor defensive teams - allowing 77+ points/game over the last 3 seasons.
PHOENIX is 8-18 ATS (-11.8 Units) in home games in May, June, or July games over the last 3 seasons.

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

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WNBA
Dunkel

Friday, June 16


Chicago @ Phoenix

Game 663-664
June 16, 2017 @ 10:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Chicago
99.738
Phoenix
118.356
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Phoenix
by 18 1/2
158
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Phoenix
by 8 1/2
164 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Phoenix
(-8 1/2); Under

New York @ Dallas

Game 661-662
June 16, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
New York
110.941
Dallas
109.008
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
New York
by 2
175
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Dallas
by 1 1/2
168 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
New York
(+1 1/2); Over

[StarDust Bum]

FRIDAY, JUNE 16

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

NY at DAL 08:00 PM

NY -1.5

O 171.0

CHI at PHO 10:00 PM

PHO -8.0

U 163.5

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Liberty (6-4) at Wings (4-7)
Date: June 16, 2017 8:00 PM EDT

Tina Charles and the New York Liberty aim for their fifth win in six games as they wrap up a two-game road trip against the Dallas Wings on Friday night at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Charles scored a career-high 36 points on 13-of-23 shooting in the first meeting between the Liberty and Wings this season on June 2, a 93-89 win for New York (6-4). Skylar Diggins-Smith had 19 points to pace Dallas (4-7).

New York had its four-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in a 96-76 loss to the Sun in Connecticut. Charles, the reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week, had a team-high 17 points while moving into 24th place on the WNBA's all-time scoring list.

The Liberty fell behind 24-12 early and never led, trailing by 24 points early in the fourth quarter.

"We have to be mentally focused, more focused from the start of the game," said New York's Shavonte Zellous, who added 16 points. "(We need to ) guard the penetration, rebound it. We didn't do a great job of that (Wednesday)."

Dallas has dropped five of its last six games after a 97-87 loss to the defending champion Sparks on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Diggins-Smith scored 28 and Glory Johnson added 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Wings were done in by a slow start, being outscored 23-8 in the first quarter. Dallas made just 4 of 17 shots from the floor in the quarter.

Dallas, which shocked Los Angeles with a 96-90 win at home last Friday, made a late charge to pull within single digits in the fourth quarter but couldn't close the gap.

"We scored 35 points in the fourth against (Los Angeles) the last time we played them and then also (Tuesday), but they got well-balanced scoring," Wings coach Fred Williams said.

Williams added, "That's hard to stop. It's almost like going against the Golden State Warriors."

The Liberty and Wings conclude their three-game season series in the regular-season finale on Sept. 3 in Dallas.


WNB HEAD TO HEAD

Jun 2, 2017 Score ATS Results
DAL 89 Over: 182
NEW « 93 Cover: 0.5
Tools: Recaps

Sep 11, 2016 Score ATS Results
NEW 81 Under: 165
DAL « 84 Cover: 5.5
Tools: Recaps

Jun 14, 2016 Score ATS Results
DAL 88 Cover: 5
NEW « 91 Over: 179
Tools: Recaps

May 15, 2016 Score ATS Results
DAL 71 Under: 150
NEW « 79 Cover: 1.5
Tools: Recaps

[StarDust Bum]

Preview: Sky (2-7) at Mercury (5-4)
Date: June 16, 2017 10:00 PM EDT

Phoenix guard Diana Taurasi is within reach of the WNBA career scoring record when the Mercury host the Chicago Sky on Friday night.

Taurasi, who set the league's all-time 3-point record earlier this season, needs 29 points to break the record of 7,488 set by Tina Thompson from 1997-2013.

"When it comes, I'm going to let it come organically," Taurasi said in an interview with azfamily.com. "I want it to feel good. I want it to feel normal and real."

She might not have to force the issue to break the record Friday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Taurasi is coming off a 27-point performance in a home loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Saturday night, and she scored a season-best 37 in a road victory against the Sky (2-7) earlier this season.

The Mercury (5-4) beat Chicago 99-91 on June 1.

Taurasi tied a career high with eight 3-pointers in that game, surpassing Katie Smith as the WNBA's all-time leader in made 3-pointers.

Taurasi hit 6 of 9 shots from behind the arc in the loss to the Sparks, when she hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds to bring Phoenix within one point in what turned out to be an 89-87 loss.

"She's amazing," Mercury coach Sandy Brondello said on WNBA.com. "She's a special player and that's why I say she's the greatest player of all time because what she can do in those big moments. She makes plays."

If Taurasi doesn't break the record Friday night, she likely will top it Sunday at Los Angeles.

She is averaging 18.6 points, while Phoenix center Brittney Griner leads the WNBA with 23.8 points to go with averages of 8.4 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. Griner had 28 points and 13 rebounds in the first meeting against the Sky.

Chicago is coming off an 85-81 victory at the San Antonio Stars on Saturday, snapping a five-game losing streak as it shot a season-high 55.4 percent from the field.

Guard Allie Quigley leads four Chicago players in double-figure scoring, averaging 14.8 points per game. She missed the first three games while finishing up in a professional league in Turkey.

"Sometimes the money (from playing overseas) is too good to pass up," she told the Chicago Sun-Times. "But at the same time, I just love playing. I think when you do it year-round, one season just rolls into the next and all of a sudden you're like, 'I'm having a great time' and the season just kind of flies by."

Forward Tamera Young is averaging 14.1 points for the Sky, followed by center Stefanie Dolson (13.2) and guard Cappie Pondexter (12.7).

Phoenix is 2-3 at home this season.

WNB HEAD TO HEAD

Jun 1, 2017 Score ATS Results
PHO « 99 Cover: 3
CHI 91 Over: 190
Tools: Recaps

Jul 19, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI « 79 Cover: 6.5
PHO 77 Under: 156
Tools: Recaps

Jul 10, 2016 Score ATS Results
PHO 95 Cover: 1.5
CHI « 100 Over: 195
Tools: Recaps

Jun 12, 2016 Score ATS Results
CHI 80 Under: 166
PHO « 86 Cover: 3
Tools: Recaps