NBA and NCAA Basketball Picks November 17 2009

Here are some of my hoops picks from around the NCAA and NBA tonight. ESPN is currently doing a showing of 24 hours straight college basketball, check it out!

NCAA Hoops

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Temple Owls (+9) @ Georgetown Hoyas (4:00pm ET): Everyone loves the Hoyas this year, and they are a bit older, but they basically return the same starting 5 that disappointed in the entire second half of the season last year, aside from DeJuan Summers (drafted in the 1st Round by Detroit). Big man Greg Monroe is a stud, does lots of things well, but outside of him and Chris Wright I’m not sold on the Hoyas. Temple plays a lot of close games, they’re a tough defensive team, and they have a lot of players back this time around. They lost stud guard Dionte Christmas, but without him they move the ball better, and should get a more well rounded box score. I like them to cover here.

Gonzaga Bulldogs @ Michigan State Spartans (-11) (8:00pm ET): I actually think Gonzaga is getting a little bit too much for their name here. They are solid, and might find themselves an NCAA tournament bid, but this team lost a ton with graduation a year ago. Matt Bouldin is a great college basketball player, he certainly can do it all, and the Bulldogs have some good young kids that will step in and play well as the season progresses. But this Spartans team is dominate, they basically lost a guy from last years’ super deep team that finished runner up for the NCAA Championship. They are great. They should easily win by double digits here.

NBA Hoops

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Oklahoma Thunder @ Miami Heat (-5): When the Thunder start playing better defense, they might get over the hump, but the Heat’s Haslem and O’Neal should dominate in the post tonight, and while Durant is a stud, I’ll take Wade in this one.

L.A. Clippers (+2) @ New Orleans Hornets: If you can point out where the Hornets will be better than the Clippers tonight, I’ll happily change my pick. Point guard? Nope, that Chris Paul fellow is out. Shooting guard? Not if Eric Gordon plays. Up front? As ugly as his gooey face is, I’m pretty sure Chris Kaman is a more capable scorer than 62 million dollar man, Emeka Okafor. Peja Stojakovic used to be good, but right now I’d even take Al Thorton. Al should use Peja when the Clips have the ball. Okay, I’ll give you David West, might score 25 tonight, but Marcus Camby is twice as good defensively. 25 shouldn’t be enough for the Hornets.

Chicago Bulls (+1) @ Sacramento Kings: I know Sac Town has won their last 4, but that just means their due. The Bulls are pretty solid up front, especially rebounding the basketball, and that’s what Sacremento needs as an advantage to win basketball games. Look at who they’ve beaten in their four games, Utah, Golden State, Oklahoma, and Houston – none of those teams have good defensive posts/rebounders. Well, I hate to say it, but Noah can D up opposing posts and will almost always out-rebound them. Taj Gibson has been playing well, and Brad Miller off the bench should have something for his old team. I like Chicago to get the win to open their road trip.

NBA Tuesday Night Free Picks: Nuggets @ Pacers

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Denver Nuggets (-4.5) @ Indiana Pacers Free Pick: The Nuggets may be on the road, but they are on fire. Carmelo Anthony is leading the league in scoring through the first week, and this Nuggets team is clicking. Since Chauncey Billups was traded to the Nuggets, Denver has become a much better road team. I know the Pacers have some solid pieces, but I don’t think they can hang with Denver’s back-court, and all around attack. I think Danny Granger has a big night for the home team, but in the end I like the Nuggets to pull away and cover this spread.

Phoenix Suns @ Miami Heat (-3): Two very close games against Minnesota and the Clippers doesn’t have me fully buying into Phoenix and their 3-0 start. I know they can put up points with the best of them, drilling jumpers from all over the court, but Miami can do it inside and out, and Dwayne Wade should have a field day against the Suns. And by field day I mean a field goal percentage looking a lot like 20 for 30 from the floor. Michael Beasily should have a nice game for the Heat, and it looks like Jermaine O’Neal should be healthy enough to give it a go. Nobody on the Suns front line can guard O’Neal even if they actually wanted to play defense (and they don’t), as he looks like the old JO so far this season.

Utah Jazz @ Dallas Mavericks (-5.5): I like the Mavericks to have a big season. They have a lot of pieces that all seem to be working well together, and this thing hasn’t even really gotten started yet. The Jazz don’t play well on the road, I don’t know if it’s lack of focus or what, but history has them struggling on the road over the last few years. Dallas does well at home, they match-up well with Utah, and the Jazz struggled last night. This back to back should be tough on them as the Mavs have the personnel to run and take advantage of a tired Jazz squad.