Joe Shmoe - any chance you can let me in on your angle for the New Orleans Under? I saw that one at a slower pace and was leaning towards the Overr.
My reasons for liking the Under is as follows:
The public thinks of the Mavs as a run and gun squad due to their personnel and performance in recent years. This perception is only elevated by the addition of Marion who is an offensive player. The piece that I think most people are missing is that the addition of Marion, Ross, Gooden, and Humphries makes them a better defensive team. Their rotation and team rebounding has been superb this year. They are a top 5 team thus far in rebounding, opp?s PPG, and opp?s FG%. Granted that their 3 wins have been against a sorry Clippers team, a short-handed Laker?s team, and a struggling Jazz team, they have still been able to hold their opponents to under 88 per game.
On the other hand, I have written about the Hornets being a team that hasn?t really won my respect. Outside of CP3, the team isn?t very talented. They count too heavily on CP3 and West to carry the load. Peja is coming off the bench which means the starting unit doesn?t have as much fire power and Mo Pete has not contributed much this year. CP3 showed a lot of frustration after their last loss. He spoke about the team finding it?s identity. Are they going to be a defensive team or a run and gun team. I?m thinking that they will try to be a tough, physical team. That style suits them better than trying to outgun their opponents.
Yesterday, I posted that I liked the Under in the Utah/Dallas game b/c ppl were overlooking the Mav?s defense and Utah was going to be bitch slapped by Sloan. Well I think we have a similar case here. I think the Mavs continue to play surprising defense under Carlisle and the Hornets after the thrashing that CP3 probably gave his team.
With all that said, I know the public is probably jumping on the Mavs tonight. I think tonight is a decent spot to buy low (Hornets) and sell hight (Mavs). Just my 2 cents.
oints<p
