Wednesday NBA

[Carmine Bellini]

Did not see another NBA post around so thought I would start one... Memphis -4 Memphis -4? This line seemed a bit odd considering that he grizzlies have yet to win a game. Tonight is that night and they cover as well. The Lakers are 0-7 ATS when they allowed less than 40% shooting in the last game and one straight up. The grizzlies know that a win tonight is imperative to turning the season around. Although they lost last night the grizzlies are optimistic about their performance. "It's got to be (encouraging) because we didn't look as good in the first three games," Williams said. "As long as we keep getting closer and closer, we'll be OK." Memphis has lost 12 straight games dating back to last season, including the playoffs. "If we would have played like this in the first three games we would have won one by now," center Lorenzen Wright said. "It makes it harder to lose this game because we played well until the end. But the effort was there." CB

[Carmine Bellini]

Re: Wednesday NBA Philly -9 The Nets still have to prove something to me this year. I know they beat Portland last night, but it was a case of Portland giving away that game. I also like to take teams in back to back at home when playing a team in back to back going on the road, as it is always nicer to go home again. Mercer was sidelined last night with a knee Injury and with the numbers Mourning put up he has to be tired for this back to back set. The sixers had a bad time with turnovers and that will make them focus more on keeping the ball and playing solid defense which should not be hard against the Nets.The sixers have proved this in the past as they are 5-2 straight up after committing more turnovers than assists winning by an average of nine points a game. Coach Jim O'Brien, on different occasions during his postgame interview, referred to the turnovers as "indescribable," "dissatisfying," and "ridiculous." "This is a major problem that we have to do something about," O'Brien said. "The guys who are playing are the guys that are going to play for us, and they have to do a better job of making decisions and not being involved in getting themselves into traffic." O'Brien didn't point the finger only at Iverson for the turnovers, noting "there were a lot of guys that didn't do a good job of taking care of the rock." Iverson, however, pointed the blame at himself. "If I turn the basketball over, we don't have a shot of winning the game, it's as simple as that," said Iverson, who finished with 29 points and 10 assists. "You can talk about other things happening, but if I don't turn the ball over as much as I did, we would have had a better chance." I like the fact that Iverson puts the blame on him; it shows a sign of maturity for a guy that now controls the entire offense at point and is standing out as a leader. Finally the Nets are 0-5 straight up and ATS when they score less than 90 points and win a game losing by an average of double digits. I look for the Sixers to focus on defense win the turnover battle and stomp the Nets tonight. CB