STEVEHOLT
There are FIVE letters in the name BLAIN.
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- Aug 27, 2011
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...vs the spread.
from The Athletic:
Syracuse vs. Duke (-11½), Friday, 9:37 p.m., CBS. This is a dream matchup for a zone-o-phile like me. We should stop being surprised when Jim Boeheim’s team overachieves in March. It’s not just because the zone is so good (it is); it’s also because it’s so unfamiliar. That will be less of an advantage here for three reasons. First, Duke is also a fulltime zone team now, which presumably means the players and coaches should be more comfortable trying to score against it. Second, by the time this game tips off, Mike Krzyzewski will have had six days, not two, to prepare his players for the Syracuse zone. Third and most important, Duke has already played against that Syracuse once this season, and it resulted in a 60-44 win. So why pick an underdog here? Because it will be played at a slow tempo, it’s the NCAA Tournament and that is a pretty big point spread. I doubt Syracuse can win, but I think it can hang. The pick: Syracuse
from The Athletic:
Syracuse vs. Duke (-11½), Friday, 9:37 p.m., CBS. This is a dream matchup for a zone-o-phile like me. We should stop being surprised when Jim Boeheim’s team overachieves in March. It’s not just because the zone is so good (it is); it’s also because it’s so unfamiliar. That will be less of an advantage here for three reasons. First, Duke is also a fulltime zone team now, which presumably means the players and coaches should be more comfortable trying to score against it. Second, by the time this game tips off, Mike Krzyzewski will have had six days, not two, to prepare his players for the Syracuse zone. Third and most important, Duke has already played against that Syracuse once this season, and it resulted in a 60-44 win. So why pick an underdog here? Because it will be played at a slow tempo, it’s the NCAA Tournament and that is a pretty big point spread. I doubt Syracuse can win, but I think it can hang. The pick: Syracuse