Monday?s best NBA bets

[Lumi]

Monday?s best NBA bets

San Antonio Spurs at Utah Jazz (-1.5, 192.5)

It?s been a whacky season for the Spurs. The club has endured injuries to each of its three star players and newcomer Richard Jefferson still doesn?t look comfortable within the offense.

Even more unsettling for San Antonio backers, the squad has turned the ball over 37 times in its last two games, something unheard of under head coach Gregg Popovich.

?I was really pleased with the aggressiveness and hustle, but again it was the turnovers, for however many points, that was the killer,? Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News after losing to the Nuggets.

Sure, the Spurs are still hustling on defense, but if they don?t figure out their offensive awkwardness soon they might not have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Winning in Utah is too tall a task for this scattered San Antonio crew.

Pick: Jazz

Golden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder (-7, 222)

Warriors coach Don Nelson, who?s still getting over pneumonia, isn?t going on this road trip at the advice of his doctors. Someone else will be joining the team and that?s good news for G-State backers.

Center Andris Biedrins is accompanying his mates on the four-game road trip which could be a good indicator he?s close to returning to the lineup.

?We miss Andris Biedrins, our best rebounder,? guard Monta Ellis told the San Francisco Chronicle. ?You forgot he was on the team, didn?t you??

Biedrins hasn?t planned since Nov. 6 when he strained his abdominal and groin muscles. Without their starting center, the Warriors are forced to give large minutes to NBA journeymen Mikki Moore and Vladimir Radmanovic.

That won?t cut it against the up and coming Thunder. Expect Oklahoma guard Thabo Sefolosha to slow down Ellis and the Thunder to walk away with an easy cover.

Pick: Oklahoma City

 

[Lumi]

Iverson expect to start for Sixers Monday vs. Nuggets

Iverson expect to start for Sixers Monday vs. Nuggets

Iverson expect to start for Sixers Monday vs. Nuggets

Philadelphia 76ers coach Eddie Jordan said Sunday he expects recently signed Allen Iverson to start Monday vs. the Denver Nuggets, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

A 10-time All-Star and former MVP, Iverson signed with the team he spent his first 10-plus season with Wednesday and practiced for the first time Sunday, working with the first unit.

The 76ers have lost nine straight games and are 29th in attendance, although Monday's game only has standing-room tickets remaining.

Oddsmakers have yet to release a line for the game.

 

[Lumi]

Today's NBA Picks
Golden State at Oklahoma City
The Warriors look to build on their 8-3 ATS record in their last 11 games as an underdog. Golden State is the pick (+7) according to Dunkel, which has the Thunder favored by only 3 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Golden State (+7). Here are all of today's picks.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 7
Time Posted: 7:30 a.m. EST
Game 701-702: Denver at Philadelphia
Dunkel Ratings: Denver 120.241; Philadelphia 116.293
Dunkel Line & Total: Denver by 4; 212
Vegas Line & Total: No Line
Dunkel Pick: N/A
Game 703-704: Portland at New York
Dunkel Ratings: Portland 119.362; New York 112.960
Dunkel Line & Total: Portland by 6 1/2; 210
Vegas Line & Total: Portland by 4; 203
Dunkel Pick: Portland (-4); Over
Game 705-706: Golden State at Oklahoma City
Dunkel Ratings: Golden State 114.156; Oklahoma City 117.880
Dunkel Line & Total: Oklahoma City by 3 1/2; 229
Vegas Line & Total: Oklahoma City by 7; 222
Dunkel Pick: Golden State (+7); Over
Game 707-708: San Antonio at Utah
Dunkel Ratings: San Antonio 122.279; Utah 120.046
Dunkel Line & Total: San Antonio by 2; 188
Vegas Line & Total: Utah by 2; 192 1/2
Dunkel Pick: San Antonio (+2); Under

 

[dumbbet]

Who or what is Dunkel?

 

[Lumi]

Who or what is Dunkel?

I can't link it :nono: you have to look it up.


The Dunkel Index has been a family-owned enterprise for 76 years. Started by Dick Dunkel, Sr., in 1929, it was designed to settle a dispute over which college football team was the best at the time. Because teams back then rarely traveled across country to play each other, there was a constant debate between the East and West coast over who was Number 1. So Dick, Sr., came up with an ingenious solution: Take what data is available, create a few formulas and calculate mathematically the best teams in the land. It was an idea that soon took off.

Dick, Sr., took some scratches on index cards and turned it into a system that was syndicated nationwide. Because of its novel approach and unparalleled accuracy, the Dunkel Index quickly became the de facto authority on college football. Hundreds of newspapers around the country carried the Index and Dick, Sr., continued to produce these power ratings by hand until the early 1970s.

In 1972, he handed off the ratings to his oldest son, Dick, Jr., who along with his brother, Bob, took on the task of expanding the effort. Under their leadership, the Index moved into professional basketball and football. In addition, Dick, Jr., was able to computerize the models, which enabled Dunkel to cover every college program from Division I to the NAIA. Dunkel also did high school ratings in Florida and a variety of other locations.

But the market for the ratings started to change in the early 1980s. Newpapers, which had been the primary source of revenue, increasingly found that they did not have the news space available to carry the Index. A handful of larger ones, such as the New York Times, started their own computer rankings based on the same concepts as Dunkel.

As a new outlet, Dick, Jr., moved the ratings onto the Internet. Working through the Daytona Beach News-Journal, he created a website so that everyone who had used the Index in the early days could once gain access its numbers. The Index also became part of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1999 and continued to participate in the computer rankings through the 2001 season.

The death of Dick, Jr., in 2003 left the Index in limbo. The News-Journal terminated its agreement to serve as the web host and provide the computers for running the calculations. Facing the possibility of not producing the ratings for the first time in decades, Dick?s two sons, Bob and Richard, stepped in to carry on the tradition. Creating their own website, they?ve been able to keep the Index going and will be entering their third season as the leaders of the operation.

Today the Dunkel Index is enjoying renewed success. Powered by the new website and a growing cadre of loyal followers, the Index continues to produce ratings and picks that are among the best in the business. While others have created their own systems to compete with the Index, Dunkel remains the standard in the field. The formulas that Dick, Sr., came up with in 1929 remain an accurate measurement of the relative strength of teams and a powerful forecaster of future performance. Fine tuning through three generations of Dunkels has made the Index even more accurate.

The Dunkel Index has had a long and interesting past. And now under the guidance of Bob and Richard, the Index should have an equally strong future. The family appreciates all the people who have used the Dunkel Index over the years and is committed to carrying on the tradition established by Dick, Sr., 76 years ago.