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

[StarDust Bum]

Sparks spoil Fever's Catchings night
June 24, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Tamika Catchings was known as a hard worker during her playing career. But as hard as she worked in 16 seasons for the Indiana Fever, she had a tough time keeping up with her dad on Saturday night.

Former NBA player Harvey Catchings helped his daughter raise a banner with her No. 24 jersey to the rafters at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the highlight for Indiana in an 84-73 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

''It's just a blur. My dad was pulling so fast I was just trying to keep up,'' Catchings said after the halftime ceremony. ''In that moment, literally, every tug was like every year - 2001, getting drafted all the way to 2017. It was like a flash. Seeing my teammates over there, even the ones I didn't play with, I feel like I played with them as much as I'm around. Really, replaying the years, that's a flash.''

After being drafted third overall out of Tennessee, where she was a four-time All-American, in 2001, Catchings sat out with an injury before being named the Rookie of the Year in 2002. By the time she retired after last season, Catchings was the all-time leading rebounder in the WNBA and was No. 2 (now third) in career scoring. She is also on top of the steals and free throw lists.

Catchings was the 2011 MVP and was the 2012 Finals MVP when the Fever won their only title. She was a five-time Defensive Player of the Year and 10-time All-Star as well as winning four Olympic Gold Medals. Now she is Director of Player Programs and Franchise Development for Pacers Sports & Entertainment.

She credited the fans for her long stay with the Fever.

''When you become so involved in your community, it makes it hard to leave,'' she said. ''It's like a relationship ... I love what the fans bring.''

Nneka Ogwumike scored 21 points and Los Angeles had a 19-0 run in the third quarter.

Los Angeles used a 21-5 run to close the first half to take a 46-40 lead then put a damper on the halftime ceremony by scoring the first 19 points of the third quarter to open a 25-point lead.

Ogwumike had seven points and Canadace Parker, who had 18 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, added six points in the run that propelled the defending champions to their fifth straight win.

Chelsea Gray added 17 points for Los Angeles (9-3). Parker also had seven assists, three steals and two blocks and the Sparks shot 53 percent and went 8 of 17 from 3-point range.

Candice Dupree had 13 points, 10 in the first quarter when Indiana (6-7) took a 23-20 lead. Briann January and Shenise Johnson had 13 points but the Fever couldn't get closer than 11 after L.A.'s run despite closing the third quarter with 12 straight points and a 9-0 run in the fourth quarter.

[StarDust Bum]

Sunday’s six-pack

Over/under win totals for college football this season

— Georgia Tech, 6

— Illinois 3.5, under -$120

— Indiana 6.5, over -$120

— Iowa 7, over -$120

— Iowa State 5.5, under -$130

— Kansas 2.5, under -$130

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Sunday’s List of 13: Wrapping up a sports Saturday………

13) A’s 10, White Sox 2— Oakland had three players hit their first MLB home run in this game, the first team to do that since 1914- the Kansas City Packers.

White Sox manager Rich Renteria got tossed for the second day in a row; he’s not thrilled with the Jim Wolf/GregGibson umpiring crew.

12) Franklin Barreto is a highly-touted shortstop prospect for the A’s; he played 2B in his big league debut— he didn’t get to Chicago until Saturday morning, but homered in his first MLB game, which started at 1:30 in the Windy City. Quite a day for the young man.

11) Its been a decade since the San Francisco Giants had only one player in the All-Star Game; looks like thats going to be the case this season.

10) Jordan Spieth leads the Hartford Open after three rounds; last seven times he held the 54-hole lead, he won the tournament six times— he T2 at the 2016 Masters.

9) Canyon Barry (Rick’s son) is playing with the Knicks’ team in the Orlando summer league, but New York doesn’t have a team in Las Vegas this summer— will the Knicks sign him or will he play for someone else in Las Vegas?

Canyon Barry studied nuclear engineering in college, so NBA offenses should be a snap.

8) If I’m keeping a scorebook at a ball game nowadays, I score where the ball went, and take notes on who actually fielded the ball. If a ball is hit to shortstop but is fielded by the 3B, that is misleading, so I would put 6-3 down (noting it was hit to where the SS normally is) then note it was the 3B who actually fielded the ball.

7) Baseball transactions:
— Arizona sent OF Jeremy Hazelbaker to AAA.
— Tampa Bay activated C Wilson Ramos, DFA’d Derek Norris
— Bronx DFA’d 1B Chris Carter, brought up 1B Tyler Austin.
— Texas put P Martin Perez (thumb) on the DL.
— Astros sent P Joe Musgrove down to AAA, activated Lance McCullers.
— Giants DFA’d 3B Aaron Hill, brought up rookie 3B Ryder Jones.

6) Dodger reliever Pedro Baez drew a 4-pitch walk with the bases loaded Thursday night, first pitcher to do that since the Cubs’ Courtney Duncan on May 5, 2001.

5) Dodgers’ SS Corey Seager got a Grade 1 hamstring strain Friday, isn’t supposed to go on the DL— like the rest of us, he is day-to-day.

4) I’m skeptical of the pitch speeds radar guns give out in stadiums; those guns can be calibrated to be “hot” or “cold” and can give inaccurate readings.

For instance, when I got my speeding ticket, the gun was “hot” and therefore inaccurate. ��

3) Orioles 8, Rays 3— First time since June 2 that Baltimore held a team under five runs.

2) Mets 5, Giants 2— San Francisco is 27-50; last year, they lost their 50th game on August 12.

Jason deGrom is the first Mets’ pitcher since Johan Santana in 2010 to finish eight innings in three consecutive starts.

1) Mark Leiter Jr got his first big league win against the Diamondbacks Friday. Arizona is managed by Torey Lovullo.

Lovullo was once traded for Mark Leiter Sr on March 19, 1991, six days after Mark Jr was born.

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR SUNDAY JUNE 25, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
4:30 PM Connecticut Sun Dallas Wings College Park Center
6:00 PM Washington Mystics Chicago Sky Allstate Arena
7:00 PM San Antonio Stars Minnesota Lynx Target Center

SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY JUNE 27, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
12:00 PM Seattle Storm Washington Mystics Verizon Center
7:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena

SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 28, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
12:30 PM Indiana Fever Chicago Sky Allstate Arena

SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY JUNE 29, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
7:00 PM New York Liberty Washington Mystics Verizon Center
8:00 PM Seattle Storm Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
7:30 PM Los Angeles Sparks Atlanta Dream McCamish Pavilion
8:00 PM Chicago Sky San Antonio Stars AT&T Center
10:00 PM Minnesota Lynx Phoenix Mercury Talking Stick Resort Arena

SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY JULY 1, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
4:00 PM Connecticut Sun Indiana Fever Bankers Life Fieldhouse
8:00 PM Seattle Storm Dallas Wings College Park Center

Updated Sun Jun 25 1:04 AM EDT

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LEAGUE STANDINGS

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

#1 Minnesota Lynx10 1 0.909 - 4-0 4-1 6-0 9-1 W 1

#2 Los Angeles Sparks9 3 0.750 1.5 5-1 6-0 3-3 7-3 W 5

#3 New York Liberty7 5 0.583 3.5 1-2 5-3 2-2 6-4 L 1

#4 Phoenix Mercury7 5 0.583 3.5 3-3 3-3 4-2 6-4 W 1

#5 Washington Mystics7 5 0.583 3.5 5-0 5-2 2-3 6-4 L 2

#6 Connecticut Sun6 5 0.545 4 4-3 2-2 4-3 6-4 W 5

#7 Seattle Storm6 6 0.500 4.5 2-3 5-3 1-3 5-5 L 1

#8 Dallas Wings7 8 0.467 5 5-4 3-4 4-4 4-6 W 3

#9 Indiana Fever6 7 0.462 5 3-1 5-2 1-5 5-5 L 1

#10 Atlanta Dream5 6 0.455 5 2-6 2-2 3-4 4-6 L 2

#11 Chicago Sky3 9 0.250 7.5 2-5 0-5 3-4 3-7 W 1

#12 San Antonio Stars0 13 0.000 11 0-8 0-6 0-7 0-10 L 13

[StarDust Bum]

Sun, Wings square off in matchup of surging teams

Skylar Diggins-Smith and the Dallas Wings are playing their best basketball of the season. But Jonquel Jones and the Connecticut Sun have been even hotter.

Two of the league's resurgent teams square off Sunday as the Sun put a five-game winning streak on the line against the Wings at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas.

Connecticut (6-5) stumbled out of the gate with five losses in its first seven games, but has not been defeated since and even shocked the Lynx on Minnesota's home court on June 17.

It marks the Sun's longest winning streak since the team won seven in a row from June 7 to June 26, 2015.

Their latest victory did not come easily as Connecticut frittered away a 21-point lead but recovered in the final minute to beat the New York Liberty 94-89 on Friday night.

Courtney Williams' pull-up jumper with 54.3 seconds left broke an 86-all tie as the Sun closed out the game on an 8-3 run. Jasmine Thomas scored a career-high 23 points and Jones had 21 points and seven rebounds.

"We're definitely maturing. We're getting to where we want to be," Thomas said. "Earlier on in the season, we can't say that this game would have turned out like this."

Dallas has won three in a row and is coming off back-to-back victories against the winless San Antonio Stars, including an 81-69 win on Friday.

The Wings (7-8) trailed 62-58 with 7:28 to play but went ahead for good near the five-minute mark.

Diggins-Smith led the way with a season-high 30 points on a franchise-record seven 3-pointers.

"She was just shooting behind the screen and we weren't going out and meeting her, contesting or making her uncomfortable with the shot at all," San Antonio's Isabelle Harrison told the San Antonio Express-News of Diggins-Smith.

Diggins-Smith bumped her scoring average to 17.7 points, which ranks eighth in the WNBA. Dallas ranks fourth in the league in scoring (84.3 points per game) and Connecticut is third (86.3).

The Sun and Wings are meeting for the first time this season. The teams meet twice more on Aug. 12 and Aug. 23, with both games in Connecticut.

[StarDust Bum]

Slow-rising Sky vie for elusive home win vs. Mystics

The Chicago Sky are still looking for their first home win but at least they have something to build on Sunday as they meet the Washington Mystics for the third time this season.

Chicago (3-9) claimed an 82-78 victory at Atlanta on Friday and has two wins in its last four games.

Allie Quigley scored 22 points in the win, Stefanie Dolson had 19 and Cappie Pondexter added 17 as she passed Katie Smith for fourth place on the WNBA's career scoring list with 6,466 points.

Pondexter also moved into sixth place in league history with 1,399 made free throws.

Sky coach Amber Stock says her team is showing increased consistency.

"The seeds are planted, the tree is growing," Stock said. "It is just a matter of until the fruits are visibly manifested."

A win on Sunday would halt an 0-5 skid at Allstate Arena and also give Chicago its first winning streak of the season.

Quigley is among four Sky players averaging in double figures. She has a team-high 16.4 points per game average, Dolson is next at 12.9 while Pondexter and Tamera Young follow at 12.8 points apiece.

The Mystics (7-5) have already beaten the Sky twice with a home-and-home sweep in late May.

Washington features former Chicago star Elena Delle Donne, who was traded from the Sky in the offseason. The former WNBA Most Valuable Player is averaging a team-high 20.1 points per game.

The Mystics are in a bit of a funk with three losses in their last four games, including a pair of defeats to league-leading Minnesota (9-1).

"We can contend now, but we don't have the experience of that many good veteran players that Minnesota and L.A. have right now," coach Mike Thibault told reporters recently. "Teams like us and New York and Seattle are trying to take the next step. Until Minnesota and L.A. show a few cracks, we'll have to work our butt off to get to that level."

Thibault and his son, assistant coach Eric Thibault, missed Friday's 96-76 loss to Minnesota to attend the funeral of Frank Thibault, the 92-year-old father to Mike and grandfather to Eric.

It was not immediately known if they would be back with the team in time for Sunday's game.

[StarDust Bum]

Winless Stars face tall task at league-best Lynx

Sunday's game between the visiting San Antonio Stars and Minnesota Lynx pits the WNBA's worst team against the best.

On Friday, the Lynx (10-1) bounced back from their only loss of the season the week before and defeated the Washington Mystics. Maya Moore scored 22 points and MVP candidate Sylvia Fowles added 21 in the victory.

"I told the team that we came out with exactly the focus that I was hoping for in our defensive effort," Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told the team's website after the game. "We just lost a game here at home after scoring 93, so I was hoping we would respond the way we did and that we'd be incredibly hard to play against."

San Antonio (0-13), which is off to the worst start in franchise history, lost for the 15th consecutive time on Friday, falling to Dallas after trailing by three points heading into the fourth quarter.

"Start of the fourth quarter I thought we played OK," Stars coach Vickie Johnson told mysanantonio.com. "Then we just fell apart defensively."

Skylar Diggins-Smith led the way with seven 3-pointers and a game-high 30 points for the Wings.

"She was just shooting behind the screen and we weren't going out and meeting her, contesting or making her uncomfortable with the shot at all," San Antonio center Isabelle Harrison lamented. "We tried to adjust, but it was a little too late."

The Stars will have their hands full as it seems that Minnesota's Moore is finally hitting her stride. She went for 22 points, 11 boards and seven assists in Friday's win.

"Tonight was fun, because we knew we'd come in with a defensive challenge," Moore told the team's website. "Whenever we can lock in defensively, usually our offense is right up there and we can play off of our defense like we did tonight."

In the teams' first meeting of the season back on May 28, Moore and Fowles did most of the damage in an 80-66 Minnesota win. Moore scored 13 while Fowles chipped in 14 and hauled down 12 rebounds. She also blocked three shots.

In that game, the Stars pushed the pace and led after the first period. Kayla McBride topped San Antonio in scoring with 18 points.

[StarDust Bum]

Date W/L/T % Units

06/24/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%............... -11.00
06/23/2017.................5-5-0................ 50.00%.................-2.50
06/21/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%............... -11.00
06/18/2017................ 3-5-0................ 37.50%................-12.50
06/17/2017................ 2-0-0............... 100.00%............. +10.00
06/16/2017................ 2-1-1................ 66.67%............... +4.50
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:....................35 - 43 - 1.............44.87%.................- 56.00

best bets:

06/24/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%.................. -11.00
06/23/2017.................5-5-0................ 50.00%.....................-2.50
06/21/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%................... -11.00
06/18/2017.................3-4-0..................42.85%....................-1.40
06/17/2017................ 2-0-0............... 100.00%................. +10.00
06/16/2017................ 2-1-1................ 66.67%................... +4.50
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:....................35 - 42 - 1.................45.45%................- 44.90

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, June 25


San Antonio @ Minnesota

Game 619-620
June 25, 2017 @ 7:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
San Antonio
105.592
Minnesota
119.519
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 14
153
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota
by 16
158
Dunkel Pick:
San Antonio
(+16); Under

Washington @ Chicago

Game 617-618
June 25, 2017 @ 6:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Washington
114.247
Chicago
103.447
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Washington
by 11
162
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Washington
by 5 1/2
167
Dunkel Pick:
Washington
(-5 1/2); Under

Connecticut @ Dallas

Game 615-616
June 25, 2017 @ 4:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Connecticut
118.024
Dallas
110.533
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Connecticut
by 7 1/2
177
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Connecticut
by 3
173
Dunkel Pick:
Connecticut
(-3); Over




WNBA
Long Sheet

Sunday, June 25

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CONNECTICUT (6 - 5) at DALLAS (7 - 8) - 6/25/2017, 4:30 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

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

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WASHINGTON (7 - 5) at CHICAGO (3 - 9) - 6/25/2017, 6:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 7-4 against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 7-4 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
7 of 11 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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SAN ANTONIO (0 - 13) at MINNESOTA (10 - 1) - 6/25/2017, 7:00 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
MINNESOTA is 5-3 against the spread versus SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 8-0 straight up against SAN ANTONIO over the last 3 seasons
5 of 8 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Sunday, June 25

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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4:30 PM
CONNECTICUT vs. DALLAS
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Connecticut's last 5 games
Connecticut is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Dallas is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games at home
Dallas is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games when playing Connecticut

6:00 PM
WASHINGTON vs. CHICAGO
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Washington's last 6 games when playing Chicago
Washington is 2-13 SU in its last 15 games when playing on the road against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 6 games when playing Washington
Chicago is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games when playing Washington

7:00 PM
SAN ANTONIO vs. MINNESOTA
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of San Antonio's last 5 games
San Antonio is 2-6 ATS in its last 8 games
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Minnesota's last 8 games when playing at home against San Antonio
Minnesota is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against San Antonio

[StarDust Bum]

SUNDAY, JUNE 25

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

CONN at DAL 04:30 PM

CONN -5.0

O 174.0

WAS at CHI 06:00 PM

CHI +5.5

O 168.0

SA at MIN 07:00 PM

SA +17.5

U 156.0

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA Capsules
June 25, 2017

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore each scored 13 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 22 apiece to help the Minnesota Lynx beat the San Antonio Stars 87-78 Sunday night.

San Antonio (0-14), off to its worst start in franchise history, has lost 16 in a row dating to last season. The WNBA record for consecutive losses is 20, set by Tulsa in 2011.

Fowles, who grabbed 10 rebounds, went to the bench after picking up her fourth foul with nearly six minutes left third quarter and San Antonio scored 21 of the next 27 points to take a 64-55 lead early in the fourth. Moore hit a 3-pointer to ignite a 12-0 run, capped by Renee Montgomery's 3, that gave the Lynx a 67-64 lead with six minutes to play and San Antonio never again led.

Kayla McBride's layup pulled the Stars within three with 2:50 to play but Moore sandwiched two 3s around her block of McBride's attempted 3-pointer to make it 82-73 and Minnesota (11-1) hit 5 of 6 free throws from there to seal it.

WINGS 96, SUN 82

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Karima Christmas-Kelly scored 24 points and the Wings beat the Sun for their fourth win in a row.

Theresa Plaisance added 16 points while Skylar Diggins-Smith had 15 points and nine assists for Dallas (8-8).

Christmas-Kelly hit two free throws and then a 3-pointer to make it 15-10 and the Wings led the rest of the way. They took a 10-point led into the break and, after Alyssa Thomas grabbed a rebound and took it coast-to-coast to pull the Sun within two, Dallas used a 10-0 run over the next 2:06 to make it 70-58 with 54 seconds left in the third quarter.

Connecticut (6-6) trimmed its deficit to 70-65 on a 3-pointer by Shekinna Stricklen with 9:11 to play, but got no closer and went more than 3+ minutes without a made field goal as the Wings led by double figures after Plaisance hit a 3 to make it 80-70 with 6:26 remaining.

Thomas had 19 points and Jonquel Jones added 14 and 12 rebounds for the Sun, who had their five-game win streak snapped.

MYSTICS 97, SKY 63

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) - Tayler Hill scored 10 of her 17 points in the decisive second quarter and the Mystics cruised to a win over the Sky.

Kristi Tolliver scored all of her 16 points in the first half, Tianna Hawkins added 15 points and Natasha Cloud scored a season-high 12 points for Washington (8-5).

Ivory Latta hit jumper as time expired in the first quarter, sparking an 18-0 run that gave the Mystics a 46-27 lead with six minutes left in the first half. Washington outscored the Sky 31-7 in the second quarter - Chicago's lowest-scoring quarter of the season - and took a 61-34 lead into the break. The Mystics set season bests for points scored in a quarter, fewest points allowed in a quarter and most points scored in a half.

Allie Quigley hit a season-high four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points for Chicago (3-10).

Mystics coach Mike Thibault returned to bench after missing Friday's 93-76 loss to Minnesota to attend his father's funeral.

[StarDust Bum]

SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY JUNE 27, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
12:00 PM Seattle Storm Washington Mystics Verizon Center
7:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena

SCHEDULE FOR WEDNESDAY JUNE 28, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
12:30 PM Indiana Fever Chicago Sky Allstate Arena

SCHEDULE FOR THURSDAY JUNE 29, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
7:00 PM New York Liberty Washington Mystics Verizon Center
8:00 PM Seattle Storm Connecticut Sun Mohegan Sun Arena

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
7:30 PM Los Angeles Sparks Atlanta Dream McCamish Pavilion
8:00 PM Chicago Sky San Antonio Stars AT&T Center
10:00 PM Minnesota Lynx Phoenix Mercury Talking Stick Resort Arena

SCHEDULE FOR SATURDAY JULY 1, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
4:00 PM Connecticut Sun Indiana Fever Bankers Life Fieldhouse
8:00 PM Seattle Storm Dallas Wings College Park Center

Updated Sun Jun 25 11:04 PM EDT

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LEAGUE STANDINGS

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

#1 Minnesota Lynx11 1 0.917 - 5-0 5-1 6-0 9-1 W 2

#2 Los Angeles Sparks9 3 0.750 2 5-1 6-0 3-3 7-3 W 5

#3 Washington Mystics8 5 0.615 3.5 6-0 5-2 3-3 7-3 W 1

#4 New York Liberty7 5 0.583 4 1-2 5-3 2-2 6-4 L 1

#5 Phoenix Mercury7 5 0.583 4 3-3 3-3 4-2 6-4 W 1

#6 Dallas Wings8 8 0.500 5 5-4 4-4 4-4 5-5 W 4

#7 Connecticut Sun6 6 0.500 5 4-3 2-2 4-4 6-4 L 1

#8 Seattle Storm6 6 0.500 5 2-3 5-3 1-3 5-5 L 1

#9 Indiana Fever6 7 0.462 5.5 3-1 5-2 1-5 5-5 L 1

#10 Atlanta Dream5 6 0.455 5.5 2-6 2-2 3-4 4-6 L 2

#11 Chicago Sky3 10 0.231 8.5 2-6 0-6 3-4 2-8 L 1

#12 San Antonio Stars0 14 0.000 12 0-9 0-6 0-8 0-10 L 14

[StarDust Bum]

Date W/L/T % Units

06/25/2017................ 2-4-0............... 33.33%............... -12.00
06/24/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%............... -11.00
06/23/2017.................5-5-0................ 50.00%.................-2.50
06/21/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%............... -11.00
06/18/2017................ 3-5-0................ 37.50%................-12.50
06/17/2017................ 2-0-0............... 100.00%............. +10.00
06/16/2017................ 2-1-1................ 66.67%............... +4.50
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:....................37 - 47 - 1.............44.04%.................- 68.00

best bets:

06/25/2017................ 2-4-0............... 33.33%.................. -12.00
06/24/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%.................. -11.00
06/23/2017.................5-5-0................ 50.00%.....................-2.50
06/21/2017................ 0-2-0................. 0.00%................... -11.00
06/18/2017.................3-4-0..................42.85%....................-1.40
06/17/2017................ 2-0-0............... 100.00%................. +10.00
06/16/2017................ 2-1-1................ 66.67%................... +4.50
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:....................37 - 46 - 1.................44.57%................- 56.90

[StarDust Bum]

Monday’s six-pack

Neutral field college football games on Labor Day weekend:

— Alabama (-5.5) vs Florida State in Atlanta

— LSU (-22.5) vs BYU in Houston

— Michigan (-3) vs Florida in Dallas

— Tennessee (-3.5) vs Georgia Tech in Atlanta (Falcons’ new dome)

— NC State (-5) vs South Carolina in Charlotte

— Colorado (-8.5) vs Colorado State in Denver

— Louisville (-27) vs Purdue in Indianapolis

— Virginia Tech (-4) vs West Virginia in Landover, MD

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

Monday’s List of 13: Wrapping up a warm weekend…….

13) When I was a kid 1,000 years ago, actually 1970, baseball gave the fans the All-Star vote back; it had been taken away after Cincinnati fans stuffed the ballot boxes in 1957.

It was so much fun to take the ballot and then figure out who the best players were at each position. You argued with your friends who was better than who, and that made it fun.

Nowadays, these goofy teams just openly promote fans to vote for guys on their team, even if their team sucks. No one ever mentions about voting for the best players. Every team has to be represented in the game anyway, why not just vote for the best guys?

12) New York Mets promoted Tim Tebow and his .222 batting average up a level in Class A, I’m guessing to make room at the entry level for the new players they just drafted.

I’m giving Mets’ hierarchy the benefit of the doubt here; they’re having a bad season, I’m just hoping, for their sake, they don’t plan on making Tebow a major leaguer later this season, to inflate attendance when the team is totally out of contention.

If you want to placate the fans, how about making Amed Rosario a major leaguer? He is hitting .320 at AAA and is a solid prospect at shortstop. Fans would love to see a big part of their future play in person. Just a thought.

11) I was going to give this Big3 basketball thing a shot Monday night, watch some half-court basketball with former NBA players, then I find out the games were played Sunday afternoon. Whats the bleeping point of showing games on tape delay?

By the time the games come on TV, everyone who cares about it is going to know who won.

10) Oklahoma is a 48-point favorite over Texas-El Paso in the football season opener Sept 2. Sooners have a rookie coach, they visit Ohio State the following week- they’ll have to be looking past the Miners, right? Plus they’ll keep some of their offensive weapons under wraps.

9) Northern Illinois opened up as a 2-point favorite over Boston College (a MAC team favored over an ACC squad?), but now the Eagles are a 2.5-point favorite.

8) Eight NBA teams have deals to have advertising patches on their uniforms next year.

7) June 25, 2010, Edwin Jackson threw a no-hitter, winning 1-0. He threw 149 pitches in the game. Jackson is 93-114, 4.65 in 275 major league starts- this was his 15th year in the majors.

6) One of the many reasons why baseball is cool is that the ballparks are so different. Sunday in Miami, Giancarlo Stanton hit a vicious line drive for a homer to left field. the ball barely cleared the fence, it was hit so low.

If he hits that same ball in Boston or Houston, it is likely a single, since the fences there are so much higher, and he hit it so hard, the LF would’ve retrieved the ball quickly and it would’ve been hard for Stanton to get a double.

5) Miami’s Dee Gordon has gone 310 AB since his last home run, the longest active drought in the major leagues.

4) Ichiro Suzuki became the oldest major leaguer ever to start a game in centerfield when he started for the Marlins Sunday.

3) Cubs’ SS Addison Russell left Sunday’s game with a bad shoulder, leaving Chicago with an outfield of John Jay, Kris Bryant (starting 3B), Willson Contreras (starting C). Cubs are 38-37 and just treading water; lucky for them, they’re in a bad division and still have a good shot at winning it.

2) If the baseball playoffs started today (they don’t), they would look like this:
AL: New York-Minnesota-Houston. Wild Cards: Boston-Cleveland
NL: Washington-Milwaukee-Los Angeles. Wild Cards: Arizona-Colorado

1) A guy named Bo Dietl is running for mayor of New York; he is a former NYC police detective who made $1.8M in 2015 as a security consultant— he’s done some TV work on FOX News and was in the movies Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Dietl has worked for both Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon as a detective in either divorce or sexual harassment cases, so that tells you where his philosophies would generally reside.

Only reason I ever heard of the guy was because he did a TV ad for Arby’s a couple of years ago; looked him up at the time, was surprised to find out he was playing himself in the commercial.

[StarDust Bum]

Betting Recap - 6/19-6/25
June 26, 2017

League Betting Notes (Monday, June 19 through Sunday, June 25)

-- Favorites went 6-5 straight up (SU)
-- Underdogs went 7-4 against the spread (ATS)
-- Road teams posted a 7-4 SU record
-- Road teams posted a 9-2 ATS record
-- The 'over' went 6-5

Team Betting Notes

-- Atlanta (5-6) had just one game during the week, and they lost to Chicago (3-10). While the Sky haven't won many games this season, they have been a thorn in the side of the Dream, going 2-1 SU/ATS in three meetings to date, winning and covering both games in Georgia.

-- The Sky started out 2-5 ATS over their first seven games, but they're an impressive 5-1 ATS over their past six outings.

-- Connecticut (6-6) had their five-game winning streak halted in Dallas (8-8) on Sunday, 96-82. The Sun entered as a five-point favorite, but they left with their first loss since May 31 in Washington. The non-cover also ended a 7-0 ATS streak to Connecticut.

-- After Sunday's win, the Wings have flown to four consecutive victories. The 'over' result on Sunday snapped a 3-0 'under' streak for Dallas.

-- Indiana (6-7) split their two games last season, winning in Chicago and losing at home against L.A. The Fever were trying for their first three-game winning streak of the season before the Sparks stopped them at home, 84-73. The 'under' is 3-1 over their past four outings.

-- Los Angeles (9-3) avenged an earlier loss in Indianapolis on May 24 with their 11-point win on Saturday. The Sparks have won a season-high five straight games, although they're just 3-2 ATS during the span, and 4-6 ATS over their past 11 outings.

-- Minnesota (11-1) had a surprisingly difficult time with San Antonio (0-14) in Sunday's game, winning just 87-78 as 18 1/2-point favorites.

-- The Stars are winless through 14 games, but they have a respectable 8-6 ATS mark against the number. The 'under' has connected in four of the past five for San Antonio.

-- New York (7-5) fell in its only game of the week against the rival Sun, losing 94-89 at home on Friday. It was the fourth consecutive 'over' result for the Liberty, and the over is 8-1 across the past nine for New York.

-- Phoenix (7-5) won their only game of the week, a three-point road win in Seattle (6-6). The Mercury have been erratic by their standards, with their longest win streak of the season at two games (twice). It was a rare cover, too, as they entered 0-3 ATS.

-- Washington (8-5) stopped a two-game loss and non-cover streak with an emphatic 97-63 road win in Chicago. The Mystics are 3-0 SU/ATS against Chicago, and 5-5 SU/3-7 ATS against the rest of the WNBA.

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo:Tuesday's six-pack

— Indians 15, Rangers 9— Cleveland trailed this game 9-2 in the 4th inning.

— Red Sox 4, Twins 1— Minnesota falls back out of first place in AL Central.

— Arizona 6, Phillies 1— Diamondbacks are a surprising 49-28 this year.

— Angels 4, Dodgers 0— Halos take the first game of the Freeway Series.

— Giants 9, Rockies 2— Sliding Colorado has now lost six games in a row.

— Florida 4, LSU 3— Gators take Game 1 of the best-of-3 College World Series.


**********

Armadillo:Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but……..

13) Cody Bellinger (whose dad is from beautiful downtown Oneonta, NY- right down the road from Cooperstown) has a 34.4% HR/FB rate, meaning that 34.4% of his fly balls go over the fence, incredibly high.

Ray Flowers, who writes guruElite.com and is a fantasy sports expert, wrote that a 34.4% rate is unsustainable. He posted the last seven guys to lead MLB in HR/FB rate:

2016 Ryan Braun 28.8%
2015 Nelson Cruz 30.3%
2014 Jose Abreu 26.9%
2013 Chris Davis 29.6%
2012 Adam Dunn 29.3%
2011 Giancarlo Stanton 24.8%
2010 Joey Votto 25.0%

Will be curious to follow this thru the summer and on to next season.

12) Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal was at the plate Sunday with the bases loaded and LA trailing 4-3; Grandal struck out, but before he did, all three baserunners scored on a pair of wild pitches by Colorado reliever Adam Ottavino. Never saw that happen before.

11) Baltimore Orioles are 37-38, after starting the season 22-10, but they’ve still won their last eight games where the winning run scored from the 7th inning on. Starting pitching is what has been failing the Orioles.

10) St Louis Cardinals called Randal Grichuk up from AAA over the weekend and immediately put him in the lineup, batting cleanup. Not sure I’ve ever heard of that before. Most teams try to break guys in slowly when they come back from the minors. Grichuk then homered in his first two games back with the Redbirds.

9) Umpire Chad Whitson has umpired 12 games behind the plate this year- the home team won all 12 games, if you care about things like that.

8) UConn basketball player Vance Jackson transfers to New Mexico and will have three years left to play after he sits a year, a good get for new Lobos’ coach Paul Weir.

7) Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak and former Chiefs’ RB Christian Okoye used to own independent league baseball teams in the Golden State League, which was in business from 2004-10. Five GBL teams merged with the North American League in 2010.

6) Whats up with the CFL schedule makers? Calgary/Ottawa play twice this season, in Weeks 1-2. What genius thought that was a good idea? Do they draw the schedule out of a hat?

5) Royce Lewis was the #1 pick in the baseball draft, by Minnesota; he homered in his first at-bat in pro baseball, going 2-4 in the GCL Twins’ 5-2 win over the GCL Orioles. Lewis is an 18-year old shortstop from San Juan Capistrano, CA. Great athlete; they’re unsure if he’ll stay at SS.

4) Colorado Rockies have an infield prospect named Brendan Rodgers who just got called up to AA Hartford- he is supposed to be very good. Rodgers has already been on a roster in our 16-team fantasy league for several months— thats how deep our league is- kid who got called up to AA this weekend is already in a fantasy league.

3) Baseball transactions:
— Colorado Rockies put OF Carlos Gonzalez/P Tyler Anderson on the 10-day DL
— Rays acquired SS Adeiny Hechavarria from Miami for RHP Ethan Clark
— New York put Aaron Hicks (oblique) on the DL, activated Jacoby Ellsbury from the DL
— Milwaukee acquired C Stephen Vogt on waivers from Oakland.
— Dodgers put OF Franklin Gutierrez on the DL, activated 2B Mike Freeman

2) Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon won NBA Rookie of the Year and he wasn’t even a first round draft pick. Brogdon played in 75 games (imagine that?!?!) and scored 10.2 pts/game. He was the 36th pick in the draft last year— excellent choice by the Bucks.

1) Ben Simmons was captured on video this weekend throwing a basketball off a wall, then catching it with one hand and dunking it, just the kind of stress his healed foot doesn’t need.

Simmons missed all of last year (his rookie season) with a broken foot, so doing dunking tricks isn’t exactly the smartest thing he should be doing— he lands the wrong way and his foot breaks again. At some point, he needs to take better care of himself.

I know I sound like the “Get off my lawn!!!” guy, but I’m thinking that behind closed doors, the 76ers’ management couldn’t have been very happy either, when they saw the video.