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**BettorsChat** · 05-29-2010, 12:32 PM

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**StarDust Bum** · 05-29-2010, 01:43 PM

Top Memorial Day Weekend MLB Power Trends

Before getting into any serious handicapping this weekend, be sure to check out all of this weekend’s Top ******* Power Trends below. These are sampled from the FoxSheets, the Ultimate Sports TipSheet.

ST LOUIS at CHICAGO CUBS

CHICAGO CUBS are 4-13 (-15.9 Units) against the money line vs. NL teams scoring 4.3 or less runs/game on the season this season. The average score was CHICAGO CUBS 3.1, OPPONENT 4.5 - (Rating = 4*)

HOUSTON at CINCINNATI

CINCINNATI is 11-2 (+9.2 Units) against the money line vs. NL teams scoring 3.8 or less runs/game on the season this season. The average score was CINCINNATI 4.8, OPPONENT 2.1 - (Rating = 1*)

PHILADELPHIA at FLORIDA

FLORIDA is 22-11 OVER (+10.6 Units) in home games vs. teams outscoring opp by 0.5 or more runs/game on the season over the last 2 seasons. The average score was FLORIDA 4.3, OPPONENT 5.4 - (Rating = 1*)

PITTSBURGH at ATLANTA

PITTSBURGH is 14-47 (-33.5 Units) against the money line vs. an NL team with a team batting average of .255 or worse over the last 2 seasons. The average score was PITTSBURGH 3.1, OPPONENT 5.7 - (Rating = 4*)

NY METS at MILWAUKEE

MILWAUKEE is 2-11 (-10.2 Units) against the money line vs. NL teams allowing 4.3 or less runs/game on the season this season. The average score was MILWAUKEE 2.7, OPPONENT 7.0 - (Rating = 2*)

LA DODGERS at COLORADO

LA DODGERS are 13-4 (+9.0 Units) against the money line against division opponents this season. The average score was LA DODGERS 5.1, OPPONENT 4.4 - (Rating = 0*)

WASHINGTON at SAN DIEGO

WASHINGTON is 18-5 UNDER (+12.1 Units) in road games when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 54% to 62%) over the last 2 seasons. The average score was WASHINGTON 3.1, OPPONENT 4.4 - (Rating = 1*)

ARIZONA at SAN FRANCISCO

ARIZONA is 17-6 OVER (+10.6 Units) in road games this season. The average score was ARIZONA 4.7, OPPONENT 6.1 - (Rating = 2*)

BALTIMORE at TORONTO

BALTIMORE is 12-39 (-23.0 Units) against the money line vs. AL teams scoring 5.2 or more runs/game on the season over the last 2 seasons. The average score was BALTIMORE 4.1, OPPONENT 6.1 - (Rating = 1*)

CLEVELAND at NY YANKEES

NY YANKEES are 57-35 UNDER (+16.8 Units) vs. an AL team with a team batting average of .260 or worse over the last 3 seasons. The average score was NY YANKEES 4.8, OPPONENT 4.0 - (Rating = 0*)

OAKLAND at DETROIT

DETROIT is 52-30 UNDER (+17.5 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons. The average score was DETROIT 4.5, OPPONENT 4.1 - (Rating = 1*)

CHI WHITE SOX at TAMPA BAY

TAMPA BAY is 23-7 (+13.2 Units) against the money line vs. an AL team with a team batting average of .265 or worse this season. The average score was TAMPA BAY 5.7, OPPONENT 2.8 - (Rating = 2*)

KANSAS CITY at BOSTON

BOSTON is 59-20 (+26.0 Units) against the money line in home games when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons. The average score was BOSTON 6.0, OPPONENT 4.2 - (Rating = 1*)

TEXAS at MINNESOTA

MINNESOTA is 52-28 (+19.3 Units) against the money line in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 3 seasons. The average score was MINNESOTA 5.3, OPPONENT 4.3 - (Rating = 1*)

SEATTLE at LA ANGELS

LA ANGELS are 15-6 (+9.5 Units) against the money line vs. an AL team with an on base percentage .330 or worse this season. The average score was LA ANGELS 4.7, OPPONENT 4.0 - (Rating = 1*)

**StarDust Bum** · 05-29-2010, 01:45 PM

Suns seek to avoid sunset to season

You have to give Ron-Ron credit, of the 10 players on the floor watching Kobe Bryant’s shot attempt to win another game, he was the only that realized it was going to land short of its destination, ran towards the ball, grabbed it and put in the basket to set off wild celebration by the ultra-cool movie and TV stars who realized this wasn’t scripted.

Ron Artest saved the day despite faulty vision, “I thought Kobe got fouled on the shot, so I figured it was going to be short,” Artest said. “And it was a little short.”

The series moves to its first elimination matchup and Phoenix made be down, but they certainly are not out.

As the new Philadelphia 76ers coach and analyst Doug Collins correctly pointed out, it felt like the Lakers were ahead by 15 points when they led by just eight midway thru the fourth quarter.

Coach Phil Jackson made a series of key adjustments before Game 5, running unbalanced overload against the Phoenix zone and running cutters weakside once the ball was passed into the lane area. The Suns tried a 1-3-1 changeup, but players and coaches at this level crave up a cheap gimmick like that in no time.

Lamar Odom returned to being aggressive and he and Derek Fisher drove thru the Phoenix zone like “CHIPS” with traffic stopped. All this led to a procession of layups and easy buckets.

Coach Alvin Gentry’s zone isn’t designed to disable the Los Angeles, rather to hopefully force up bad shot attempts along with normal misses. The Lakers will head to the sun drenched desert 13-4 ATS after two straight games committing 11 or less turnovers this season.

The final minutes of Game 5 spoke loudly about both teams. Phoenix was unwilling to quit, especially Steve Nash. The Lakers had taken away aspects of the Canadien’s ability to use the screen and roll effectively, by jumping big men at him and setting up “wall” with Derek Fisher going underneath. Upon his return in the final minutes, Nash took matters into his own hands by taking and making shots, which caused vacillation by the Lakers bigs and gave him just enough room to operate.

Overall Los Angeles may be taller, but lack the lateral quickness to rotate back if Nash goes into the Lakers forest of tall timber. L.A. also showed a common flaw of this team, similar to the one that cost them to lose to Boston in the finals two years ago, a killer instinct. Artest’s ridiculous three-point attempt and other less the precise offensive sets enabled the more determined team late in the contest to almost steal one.

The Suns are 11-3 ATS at home off a road loss and need a few elements to occur to force a Memorial Day matchup.

Amare Stoudemire needs another bust-out effort like Game 3. A total of 40+ points isn’t required, however that same type of aggressiveness and rebounding desire is. Phoenix is going to shoot three-pointers regardless, thus the number made isn’t as important as the percentage, which has to be above 30 percent.

Channing Frye and Jared Dudley have found a comfortable rhythm in the West Finals; however Leandro Barbosa and Goran Dragic cannot be outscored by Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic like they were in the last contest (7-5).

The Suns are 1.5-point pick at Bookmaker.com and are 9-1 ATS at U.S. Airways Arena after a loss by six points or less. The last game saw the first total go below the number in the series and the home team fail to cover. The oddsmakers have adjusted the total downward to 216, nevertheless Los Angeles is 7-0 OVER in the purple uniforms after allowing 100 points or more in exactly two straight tilts and Phoenix is 15-5 OVER at Planet Orange versus good shooting teams making 46 or more of their shots since the midpoint of the season the previous two years.

Game Six has been moved up to 8:30 Eastern on TNT as the Lakers try to close out the series. They are away 17-6 ATS away from home having lost two of their last three games.

**StarDust Bum** · 05-29-2010, 01:46 PM

Game 6, Lakers at Suns

Ron Artest finished Game 5 of the Western Conference finals with four points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field. Nevertheless, Artest was the hero for the Lakers, who beat the Suns 103-101 to take a 3-2 lead in this best-of-seven series.

Phoenix’s Jason Richardson tied the game on a 3-pointer off the backboard with 3.5 seconds remaining. But even with the bank open late at night for the Suns, they couldn’t steal this one at Staples Center.

On the ensuing play, Kobe Bryant caught the inbounds pass and immediately let it fly from 3-point range. Fortunately for Los Angeles (68-29 straight up, 41-52-3 against the spread), Bryant didn’t just miss. Instead, he missed badly. In fact, the perennial All-Star threw up an air ball that wasn’t even close to hitting anything.

But it was all good for the purple and gold. Artest grabbed the air ball and beat the buzzer with a put-back bucket that sent the crowd into hysterics.

Phoenix (64-33 SU, 58-37-1 ATS) did hook up its backers, however, covering the number as a 7 ½-point underdog. The ‘over’ hit in the first four games of the series, but the ‘under’ cashed rather easily in Game 5.

Bryant scored a game-high 30 points and nearly recorded a triple-double. He pulled down 11 rebounds and dished out nine assists. Derek Fisher came up big with 22 points, as he drained 7-of-12 shots from the field and all six of his free-throw attempts. Pau Gasol added 21 points, nine boards and five assists.

Steve Nash had a tremendous game for the Suns, finishing with 29 points and 11 assists. He was the catalyst in the final stanza, making play after play off the dribble to keep his team within striking distance.

Channing Frye played extremely well for a second straight game, producing 14 points and 10 rebounds. Amare Stoudemire chipped in with 19 points, while Jared Dudley had 10 points and four boards off the bench.

For Game 6, most books have installed the Suns as one-point home favorites with a total of 215 ½.

Alvin Gentry’s team has been outstanding at home all year long, compiling a 38-10 SU record and a 31-16-1 ATS mark. Meanwhile, the Lakers are 26-22 SU and 20-27-1 ATS on the road.

Phoenix won Games 3 and 4 at home by the following scores: 118-109 and 115-106. Stoudemire was the key in Game 3, pouring in a game-high 42 points. In Game 4, it was all about the Suns’ bench that erupted for 54 points.

The ‘under’ is 49-45-2 overall for the Lakers, 24-23-1 in their road games. However, the ‘over’ is on a 10-2-1 run in L.A.’s last 13 games.

The ‘under’ is 48-45-3 overall for the Suns, but the ‘over’ is 25-22-1 in their home games.

TNT will provide television coverage at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

**StarDust Bum** · 05-29-2010, 01:47 PM

Stanley Cup Final

No. 2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. No. 7 Philadelphia Flyers

Series Price: Chicago -250, Philadelphia +225

Series Format: Chicago, 2-2-1-1-1

HEAD TO HEAD COMPARISONS
TEAM SU PUCK LINE HOME AWAY OVER/UNDER
53-39-7 36-57 31-15-3 22-24-4 46-46-1
64-26-8 46-52 36-12-4 32-16-1 48-45-5

Recent Head to Head Meetings
Date Results Total
03/13/10 Chicago 2 @ Philadelphia 3 (+100) UNDER 5.5
12/26/08 Philadelphia 1 @ Chicago 5 (-150) PUSH 6
10/30/06 Chicago 0 @ Philadelphia 3 (-200) UNDER 6
01/11/06 Philadelphia 5 (-225) @ Chicago 2 OVER 6.5

Skinny: There were a lot of people (myself included) that wanted to see an Original Six matchup in this year’s Stanley Cup Final. What we have ended up with is a battle between two great hockey markets with rich history. And we know that one of these clubs will end an extended championship drought.

What Chicago brings to the table is a team that has seemingly followed the Penguins’ gameplan to making this level of the postseason with talented young draft picks. The Blackhawks drafted Jonathan Toews in 2006 and Patrick Kane in 2007. That duo helped the ‘Hawks make the playoffs in 2008 for the first time in five seasons.

Toews’s play on the ice has shown why he is the captain of the Blackhawks, pulling in nine goals and 19 assists in 16 playoff games to be an easy Conn Smythe Trophy contender. And Kane isn’t far behind with his stats during the tournament (7 G, 13 A). Plus, you can’t forget about winger Dustin Byfuglien, who plays like an NFL linebacker on skates. He’s the hottest shooter on the club with eight goals in his last eight appearances.

Before you think these kids don’t know how to play at this level, remember that they played tough against the Red Wings in last year’s Western Conference Final. If that experience doesn’t help, how about having a guy on the depth chart that will be making his third Stanley Cup Final appearance?

Marian Hossa went to the NHL’s championship series in 2008 with the Penguins and last season with the Red Wings – losing both times. And Hossa went A.W.O.L. last year against Pittsburgh (0 G, 3 A) at this stage, so you know there is some added reason for him to play better this time around. Hossa has found the back of the net just twice in this playoff run, but that’s to be expected with most of the offense running through Toews and Kane.

Chicago has also benefited from solid special teams play en route to the Final. The Blackhawks are connecting on 22.6 percent of their power plays in the postseason, while stopping 86.6 percent of the opposition’s advantage.

A lot of the heavy lifting in the Blackhawks’ special teams has been done by Antti Niemi between the pipes. Chicago’s netminder has the best goals against average of anyone that played the full compliment of games after three rounds (2.33) to go along with an outstanding save percentage (.923).

As far as Philadelphia is concerned, they were expected to be in this spot before the season began. What the Flyers hadn’t counted on was how difficult the road was going to be. Injuries and inconsistent play at the start of the year cost John Stevens his job behind the bench. Peter Laviolette didn’t have much luck when he took over the club in early December. Yet they found a way to push themselves into the playoffs on a shootout win against the Rangers on the final day of the regular season.

What the Flyers bring to the table is an offense that scored 2.80 goals per game during the regular season. And they have 54 lamp lighters during the playoffs, one more than what Chicago has logged. Of course, Philly did get the benefit of playing one more game than the ‘Hawks.

Danny Briere has posted nine goals in the playoffs so far with Claude Giroux (8 G) and Simon Gagne (7 G) not far behind on Philly’s stat sheet. And those fellows have helped contribute to the Flyers nailing 20.7 percent of their power play chances.

As great as the Flyers’ attack has been, the team makes their name on defense. Chris Pronger and Matt Carle anchor a blue line that allowed 36 goals in the postseason, which is the fewest of any team that made it into the conference finals. Pronger also gives Philly some valuable experience as the only player on its roster with a Stanley Cup ring.

Michael Leighton will start the series in goal for the Flyers, which has been a genuine stroke of luck for the team. He logged three clean sheets in the Eastern Conference Final against the Canadiens. What fans should be concerned with is if Leighton will last between the pipes. Philadelphia had trouble keeping goalies this year, evidenced by the fact that they’re on goaltender No. 9 of the season.

Gambling Notes: These two teams tend to play fairly identical when it comes to their games in this postseason. Chicago has gone 5-3 at the United Center, while the Flyers are 5-4 on the road in the playoffs. Your best wager in those games is to take Philadelphia on the puck line (-/+ 1 ½-goals) since they’ve covered the spread in seven of its nine road tests.

The real test for gamblers will be who to take when the scene shifts to the Wachovia Center. Philly is 7-1in eight playoff battles at home this season. But the Blackhawks are monsters on the road in this tourney by going 7-1 straight up and on the puck line.

In a rare turn of events, the NHL actually got the scheduling right to start out this series with a day off between Games 1 through 5. Chicago is 33-17 this year with a day of rest and are 10-2 in the postseason. Philly is 33-29 when getting a day break between fixtures.

Outlook: Both teams match up quite well against one another. They have equally explosive offenses and blue line units that will make it tough to get anything together in the offensive zone. We can say the same thing of special teams play on each side of the ice for either club.

Where the real advantage comes is when we talk about the men in the crease. Niemi has faced some of the toughest attacks so far in the playoffs, having survived the Sharks and Canucks. Leighton has worked too much in the postseason. And he faced the Canadiens and Bruins to get Philadelphia to this stage…not exactly the greatest offensive attacks in the NHL.

Chicago’s top line of Toews, Kane and Byfuglien is going to play hell with the Pronger and Carle. And you know that this trio will find more than a few chances to make Leighton look foolish.

The Blackhawks win their first Stanley Cup since JFK was in the White House in five games and a 3/1 return at Bodog.

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