Matty Baiungo

Fade The Razorbacks

Heading into Wednesday night's game at Auburn, Arkansas was playing better basketball even on a 3-game losing streak. They were competitive and covering spreads, unlike their earlier 4-game losing streak. They were up by 8 at the half, but collapsed and lost by 13. If they were going to turn their season around, Wednesday night was the night.

Now point guard Fortson is suspended. This looks like a team to fade down the stretch.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Arkansas point guard Courtney Fortson was suspended indefinitely by coach John Pelphrey on Thursday.

The freshman has started all but one game this season, averaging 14.6 points and 6.5 assists. The Razorbacks host Kentucky on Saturday.

Pelphrey wasn't specific about why Fortson was suspended. Fortson fouled out of a 75-62 loss to Auburn on Wednesday night. A technical foul was called on the Arkansas team at the same time.

"At Arkansas we deserve a disciplined program with the players and coaches we have had," Pelphrey said. "Certainly I am not perfect and the players are not perfect, but I will always give my best.

"This was not an isolated incident. He will not practice today. I make mistakes. Players make mistakes. We need to be reminded what is important."

Tough Hawaii Travel - Part 2

The travel caught-up with Hawaii and they got waxed 67-51 by Utah St.

Head coach Nash put the Bows through a 3-hour practice yesterday that was closed to the media.

"There was a lot of screaming and yelling; going back to our basics," Nash said. "We didn't want to embarrass any of the guys in front of the press or the public, so that was one reason why we did a closed practice. But we also wanted to impress upon everybody how important these next two games are."

Nash hints that Hawaii will play a little faster as well: "Obviously, we aren't shooting the ball very well, and teams are packing it in against us," Nash said. "We're tinkering with some things, making some adjustments that will hopefully generate points."

Hawaii will face a similar travel schedule when they play a game at Fresno State on Feb. 19, then have to return for a home game Feb. 21 for the ESPN BracketBusters game.

One For Saturday Night

Despite South Carolina winning their last game, both teams are struggling heading into tonight’s game.  Carolina beat Florida 70-69 on a miraculous play.  Florida missed a free throw which was rebounded by Carolina.  They went the length of the court and made a game-winning layup with at the buzzer.  Had they lost, it would have been their third consecutive loss.  They go from being an underdog in those games to a double digit favorite which is a tall task.  “You look at Ole Miss, they’re a dangerous basketball team,” Carolina head coach Darrin Horn said. “They’ve got two explosive guards, they’ve got bigs that can put it on the floor and make plays.”  Ole Miss is trouble. Like Florida, the Rebels have a lean and long lineup, their guards standing at 6-foot-5, 6-6 and 6-5. Like Florida, the Rebels have the tendency to cut backdoor and shred the Gamecocks’ defense with easy baskets which will allow them to hang around in this game.  Play Mississippi plus the points.

Tough Hawaii Travel

The WAC is sending the 'Bows on a whirlwind trip.

The team is scheduled to depart Honolulu today, and arrive in Reno, Nev., late tonight. The 'Bows are 0-11 against the Wolf Pack in games played in Reno.

After the Thursday night game against Nevada, the 'Bows must then leave Reno on Friday morning to return to Honolulu for Saturday's game against Utah State at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Assuming there are no flight delays, the 'Bows will likely have to go straight from the Honolulu airport to the practice gym on Friday to prepare for Utah State.

Nash, who was an assistant/associate coach at UH for 23 seasons before becoming the head coach in 2007, said it is the first time he could remember a Hawai'i team having to make such a demanding trip.

Swallow The Whistle, Ref

I released a single late phone selection on Wednesday night in college basketball; Arizona + 2 ½.  Here’s the write-up I sent to my clients.

“This series was once dominated by Arizona.  But things changed last year when Arizona St swept the two games.  Both games came down to the final few possessions as the Sun Devils won both by 5 points with one going into overtime.  We used Arizona St in their upset win at UCLA on Saturday; a game they were pointing towards.  They played flawless in that game, but tonight the tide is turned.  Arizona has had this game circled since losing on their home floor last year, and off back-2-back road losses we expect the Cats to have a peak performance here.  Arizona holds a nice advantage inside with Jordan Hill, and he should supply some easy points in the paint.  This is one important game for Arizona if they want to get at-large consideration for the NCAA tournament.  While Arizona St may be fat and happy off the upset win, Arizona is a dangerous and desperate home dog.  Play Arizona plus the points.”

I didn’t watch much of this game.  I turned it on and Arizona was leading 37-33 with about 4:30 left to play.  I had anticipated a close game throughout; a game that was likely going to be decided in the last few possessions.  I changed the channel figuring I’d catch the last minute or so.  When I tuned back in, Arizona St now held a 43-40 lead with a 1:30 to go. 

Before I get to the outcome, let me just relay Arizona St’s box score numbers for the game.  The Sun Devils shot 28.1% (16-57) from the floor and 17.9% (5-28) from three-point land.  You’d expect a road favorite with numbers like that to have little, to no chance at winning, let alone cover the spread.

But…when their opponent shoots 29.2% (14-48) and 12.5% (2-16) from behind the arc, maybe so.

Here’s how the game ended.  Arizona St led 47-45 with 17.7 seconds to play.  Arizona’s ball coming out of a timeout.  With 12.5 seconds left, one of the worst calls I’ve even seen decided the game.  Arizona ran a perfect pick-n-roll which would have resulted in an easy bucket, but the ref called an offensive foul.  For what, I still have no idea.  And that was shared by the commentators, the Arizona bench, and the crowd. 

Wait.  Another whistle.  This one for a technical on an Arizona assistant coach.  Arizona St now gets two free throws and the ball.  Game over.  Arizona St 53, Arizona 47.  Ticket ripped up.

Way to decide the game, ref.  Aren’t the players the ones to decide the outcome?  Swallow the whistle buddy.

An Arizona fan held a sign that read:  “I’m deaf. I’m blind. I must be a ref.”

Games should be decided on the court, not by a ref’s whistle, period!

Mountain West Hoops

Home courts have been pretty good so far in the Mountain West. Home teams are 13-4 SU and 10-7 ATS. However, if you take out dreadful Air Force, those numbers go to 13-1 SU and 10-4 ATS. Two of the spread losses were BYU - 14 (won by 12) and Utah - 16.5 (won by 16).

Team: SU, ATS
Air Force: 0-3, 0-3
BYU: 1-0, 0-1
Colorado St: 2-1, 2-1
New Mexico: 2-0, 2-0
San Diego St: 1-0, 1-0
TCU: 2-0, 2-0
UNLV: 2-0, 1-1
Utah: 2-0, 1-1
Wyoming: 1-0, 1-0

Obviously the numbers are small, so just something to keep an eye on.

Nails

Watched a piece on Lenny Dykstra a few months back on HBO's Real Sports regarding his stock market "prowess."  I just came across this article, and love this little factoid.

Lenny Dykstra manages Nails on Numbers, a subscribtion service sold by TheStreet.com.  Mr. Dykstra is 92-0 in his options picks this year.

Funny, I think I've seen some scamdicappers claim similar winning records like Lenny's before.

Passing Thursday Night Football - Here's Why

I passed all 3 football games tonight on my late telephone service.

The NFL game between Denver and Cleveland sparked little interest.

However, I did consider using both home teams tonight in college football.

Virginia Tech is in a great situation as they return home off back-to-back road losses at Boston College and Florida St. They also enter with a week of rest which they definitely needed. But the reason we’re staying off the Hokies tonight is their quarterback situation. Any one of three guys can get the start tonight, but there have been no indications of who it will be. Virginia Tech’s unstable QB situation is the only reason why we are not laying the points with them tonight.

I’m really not so sure Utah should be a home underdog tonight. Nothing they’ve done on the football field suggests that they should be getting points here. The Utes have only been a home dog twice over the last four years and they’ve covered both of those games winning 44-6 over UCLA last year, and losing 33-31 to BYU in 2006 as a 10 ½-point dog. But I respect TCU’s defense immensely; they’ve allowed 7 points or less in seven games this season. And right now I’m not willing to play into a defense that strong. And it’s the main reason why we’re not taking Utah plus the points tonight.

Vote For This NBA Total

San Antonio is 0-2 already, and the reason for it has been their defense. The Spurs are usually one of the best defensive teams in the NBA year in and year out, but obviously that hasn’t been the case so far. In their two losses, the Spurs have given up 103 and 100 points while allowing 47.8% from the field and 37.5% from behind the arc. And allowing 100 points or more is something San Antonio doesn’t do too often. In fact, they allowed 100 points or more only 14 times during the regular season last year. And in games following a poor defensive effort like that, the Spurs went 10-4 to the under in their next game. And their defense should snap back tonight as they’ll face a Dallas offense that is going through a lot of changes. Under new head coach Rick Carlisle, the Mavs want to play more of an up-tempo game. But they are struggling mightily shooting only 42.4% from the floor and hitting just 25.5% of their three’s. After their 19-point home loss to Cleveland on Monday night, Jason Terry said the team had, "a funky rhythm,” while Dirk Nowitzki said "We looked slow and sluggish.” With this being Dallas’ fourth game in six days, don’t expect their offense to breakout tonight. Go Under the Total.

NFL Play For Sunday

This is where doing a radio show twice a week down in Nashville, TN will pay off. Every Monday and Thursday, I faithfully go on air to talk about the Monday night game and preview the upcoming weekend. And following me on Monday night’s are two Titans’ players. And on the Monday before last week, all they were talking about was that they couldn’t wait to get to the following Monday and play the Colts. Then after they won that game 31-21, all they were talking about on the following show was how they proved to everybody that they were a legit football team. There were many doubters heading into that game, and the fact that the Titans put everything they had into that game to prove they are the real deal means they will not be able to match that intensity in this game. It’s only human nature that it will happen, so we’ll step in and grab the points with the Packers who are in a good situation. Green Bay enters off their bye week so they are fresher and they also have a ton of confidence after winning back-to-back games before their off week. Tennessee has been outstanding this year in all phases of the game, but they are just in a bad spot here. Play Packers plus the points.