Now that the NFL season is over, it’s time to look ahead to September and the start of the college football season. Every year I try to project how teams will perform and usually come up winners as I have identified a few holes or niches in the schedule.
beta Dirty Birds
I made a name for myself a few years ago when I picked the UCLA Bruins to win the Pac 10 Tournament. I did so on the back of a UCLA team that would’ve most likely lost to much weaker school had it not made it to the final four. My recap on this process can be found here. Understandably enough, the usual critics came after me and I had to defend my record of picking the Bruins to win the Pac 10 Tournament. Here’s the real secret to my success and your benefit. When September rolls around, I always follow the LA Lakers and make it a point to bet against them whenever possible.
Why?Simply Because they are no longer the dominant team in the Pauley-forest. My investigation revealed that the Lakers had trouble beating the team that it once was in the early 1990s. The current version of the team is not the dominant force it used to be and if you don’t believe me, check the standings. After researching and identifying the four reasons behind the current slump, I then tool the Lakers as pick ’em teams to lose the first game of the playoffs.
If you are a Lakers fan, you probably know that since their last championship, they have not made the playoffs. Further, there’s a good possibility that the team will not repeat as champions this year. But, for me, I still love this team and consider them legitimate title contenders.
As of this writing ( clarification: they won a playoff series in whatever conference they’re playing in this year), the Lakers are the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoffs. That’s a pretty safe place to be, but not a very lucrative one. Since the conference finals are played in June, the Lakers are 4-10 in the post-season the past four seasons.
The San Antonio Spurs are the dominant team in the Southwest Division and for good reason. They dominate all three divisions (know what?) and have the best record. They also have a fairly weak schedule, even by their lofty standards. The Spurs will probably match up against the Phoenix Suns in the first round, but San Antonio should eliminate Phoenix pretty early. The Suns are a surprise team this year, though I did not expect them to be far ahead of the Lakers.
Memphis Grizzlies
paired version of our Western Conference Preview.
Last Season: placement in the Eastern Conference finals. Buster Douglas celebrated a night in the playoffs that may be best-known as the date of former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Dunleavy’s testimonial, “The clutch three” in the closing credits sequence for the film The Wolverine. The Mavericks, the current champions, eliminated the Grizzlies in the first round 121-118, after a hard-fought 7½-point win. Dallas Sherman, the Grizzlies’ coach, had said earlier in the season that he intended giving his players upper-body strength rather than tempo. He had the latter part of the season to prove it, winning 13 of 16 games in the month of March. However, the results were not quite enough to eliminate the Grizzlies from the playoffs.
I had the Mavericks and the Clippers as my Final Four teams, to the eventual champion Miami of Ohio, who had the better regular-season record but not a better bowl performance. Instead, the eventual champion Golden State Warriors got eliminated by the Clippers during the Western Conference finals.
I finished the season with a record of 39-25, good for a net income of +3,970.00. For the year, I gained 900.00 more than I had the previous season, a difference of $1,075.00.Differences aside, the 40-ish winsweared in my favor the past 2 years, the accolades for my play were all well-deserved. I’m finally ready to reveal the best and most entertaining basketball betting system I have, before next fall’s college basketball and pro basketball seasons.
