February 22nd, 2009 Picks

Agghh! What a terrible day; while my picks went 9-9-0, mainly thanks to NASCAR, curling, and NHL, my entry obtained a record of 1-5-0 for the day. And so now, on to the picks.

1) Genoa @ Napoli – Genoa win or draw
2) Hamburg SV @ Bayer Leverkusen – Bayer Leverkusen win
3) Newfoundland/Labradour vs. British Columbia – Newfoundland/Labradour
4) New York Knicks @ Toronto Raptors – New York
5) Villanova @ Syracuse – Syracuse
6) Pete Weber/Chris Barnes vs. Mike Fagan/Jeff Carter – Weber/Barnes
7) Northern Trust Open Winner’s 4th round score – 67 or under
8) Boston Celtics @ Phoenix Suns – Boston
9) Yukon/Northwest vs. New Brunswick – Yukon/Northwest
10) Michigan @ Iowa – Michigan
11) Seton Hall @ St. John’s – Seton Hall
12) Dwayne Wade pts+ast vs. Dwight Howard pts+reb – Howard pts+reb
13) Jimmie Johnson vs. Kyle Busch – Johnson
14) Wake Forest @ Duke – 151 points or more
15) Allen Iverson vs. Mo Williams – Williams scores more points
16) Chase Buddinger vs. James Harden – Harden scores more points

1) Genoa has been ‘hot’ on the road winning or drawing their last 5 of their last 6, their most recent away match losing 3 – 0 to AS Roma. Napoli has lost or drawn their last 3 at home. Napoli is also without their first string goali (Iezzo) or their second strong goalie (Gianello). The return of Sculli should also buoy Genoa here.
2) Bayer Leverkusen are completely healthy while Hamburg is missing defender Bastian Reinhardt and striker Mladen Petric. Still, this could easily go Hamburgs way as Bayer have lost or drawn their last three matches at home. My gut says go with the lower % here, however.
5) Simple, Syracuse is at home and their conference is better represented in March Madness if Syracuse wins this game and locks up an at-large bid.
7) Mickelson leads by four strokes. If Mickelson shoots 4 under or better it’s guaranteed to be 67 or less.
9) Yukon/Northwest wins due to their unique form of beauty (see the large one on the left). I would say I’m confident in Newfoundland/Labradour, but it’s difficult to say if they are truly uglier than British Columbia.
10) Another team on the bubble who need to basically win out their final games to make it to the tournament. Should be a tough game but Michigan may be able to pressure and trap Iowa at will without fear of fouling near the end.
11) Wake and Duke are not Big10 teams who play 2-3 zone all game. The last game was well under at 138, but hey, I’ve got a system here.
16) Buddinger has a lower pps (points per shot) than Harden, significantly. If Harden can get some shots off and get to the line at home he should win.

That’s all for today, best of luck to all of ye. But bestest luck of all to me. =D