Odds On Most Any Matchup: 5dimesSkyBetBetFairBetUS

And So It Goes....

Overall: 7-1-0 (0.875)
Basis Function: Daubechies4

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Saturday, February 28, 2009

February 28th, 2009 Picks

Oi, well 4 out of 12 is even worse than 6 of 13, but a feel a good day coming on. Niagara’s defense was too much for SIena as they missed their shots, Van Pelt had a five stroke swing in the negative while Haas had an eight stroke swing in the positive, and Ramo and Luongo had good games in net. And Chris Andersen with seven blocks coupled with a 10 for 31 shooting performance by Kobe led to the Lakers falling flat as well. That was a slap in the face, for sure. Undaunted I say on to the picks!

1) Rory McIlroy vs. Geoff Ogilvy – McIlroy
2) Ernie Els vs. Stewart Cink – Cink
3) Liverpool @ Middlesbrough – Liverpool win
4) Villanovas winning margin vs. Butler winning margin – Butler winning margin
5) J.J. Henry vs. Briny Baird – Baird
6) Clemson @ Florida State – Florida State
7) McIlroy/Ogilvy winner vs. Els/Cink winner – Els/Cink winner
8) Kevin Harvick vs. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Harvick
9) Arizona State @ Washington State – Arizona State
10) Texas @ Oklahoma State – Oklahoma State
11) Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers – Orlando
12) Carolina Hurricanes @ Atlanta Thrashers – Carolina
13) USC @ Stanford – Stanford
14) Houston Rockets @ Chicago Bulls – Houston
15) St. Louis Blues @ Phoenix Coyotes – Phoenix
16) South Carolina @ Vanderbilt – South Carolina
17) Minnesota Wild @ Edmonton Oilers – Edmonton
18) Utah State @ Nevada – Utah State
19) Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz -Juan Diaz

Analysis
2) Els has won seven holes with par while Cink has won only three which suggests Els’ opponents have been hitting more bogeys than Cink’s. Els won’t win those holes against Cink. It’s dangerous to pick Cink, however, because he has hit 6 bogeys compared to only four for Els. It’s really tough to pick against Els, but once I’ve made up my mind, it’s made up.
Confidence: W1 streak or less

3) Liverpool is without Torres and Gerrard may be sitting on the bench for most of the game. Still, they scored on Real Madrid at a point in the game where Torres had left with injury and Gerrard had yet to sub into the match. I think Liverpool is the safer bet even though they have not won outright at Middlesbrough since 2002.
Confidence: W3 streak or less

5) Statistically Baird is the better golfer, with a lower putting average, more accurate drives, and more greens in regulation. At the Mayakoba Golf Classic Henry has been hitting the ball amazingly, with 100% fairways hit off drives in the first round and 86% in the second round. He’s also been putting better than he has on average in his career. For all that he’s still only one stroke up on Baird with the two hitting the same score in the second round. I think Henry drops off in this round and Baird maintains, to win by two strokes here.
Confidence: W3 streak or less

7) Hitting two rounds in one day isn’t going to tire these professionals out. If anybody suffers a lapse in concentration at some point in 36 holes I feel it will be one of the younger golfers.
Confidence: W4 streak or less

9) Arizona State is going to want to rebound well from that tough overtime loss to Washington the other night. Washington State has been playing well recently with victories over UCLA on the road and Arizona at home. The AP thinks the Sun Devils will need a good game from Jeff Pendergraph to win and they have been getting them lately. Arizona State is a slight favorite and I think they get the win they desperately want.
Confidence: W4 streak or less

12) Carolina is playing for a playoff spot, while Atlanta is just trying to stay out of last place in their confernece. The Hurricanes have beaten Atlanta in their most recent three games, one of those coming in Atlanta, after losing their first two to the Thrashers. Carolina has been experiencing some terrific goalie play. Atlanta’s home record is worse than Carolina’s road record.
Confidence: W5 streak or less

14) Chicago may be looking to rebound from their loss to Washington in front of Barack Obama. They’re playing a back to back, and Houston is rested. Chicago is 16 – 11 at home while Houston is only 13 – 15 on the road. This is Houston’s first road game since losing McGrady to injury and trading Rafer Alston. The Rockets are really hitting their stride and it will take a terrific game from the Bulls up and down the line for them to get this victory.
Confidence: W3 streak or less

16) South Carolina is coming off an impressive victory over Kentucky, while Vanderbilt has been playing well at home, going 3 – 2 with three recent victories over Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky and two losses before that to Tennessee and Florida. Vanderbilt gets most of their scoring from their guards while South Carolina has a bit more interior scoring. The Gamecocks also shoot the ball better from the field. They have more than one big man to tango with A.J. Ogilvy so even if they get into foul trouble they should be fine.
Confidence: W5 streak or less

18) For a team that had the longest winning streak in the nation before their loss at Boise State the Aggies are in meltdown mode. They have been losing on the road and not looking very impressive in their wins. Utah State needs to keep on winning to assure themselves a spot with a good seed in the tournament. I think Nevada will test them, however, and Utah State will win by a few points, if they win at all.
Confidence: W1 streak or less