April 2nd Daily Picks.....

Hey there guys,
Sorry all of these have been going up so late but Blogger is having some major issues and I haven't even been able to access my blog today. Sigh. Anyway yesterday was a pretty good day for me as far as my picks went. In the NIT Championship I went 1-0 as Dayton coasted to halftime lead of 45-32 before having to hold off the Tar Heels all throughout the 2nd half, eventually winning 79-68. In the NBA I went 2-0 (1-1 ats) as Dwight Howard dominated the paint, with 17 points 20 rebounds and 5 blocks, as the Magic won 97-82 on the road at Dallas, and the Nuggets pulled away in the 2nd half over the Trail Blazers, behind the play of Nene Hilario (22 points) and Chauncey Billups (21 points). In the NHL I went 5-3 as Florida upset Boston on the road behind Scott Clemmensen's 36 save shutout, the Islanders pulled of the upset of the Flyers, avoiding a season sweep, as Blake Comeau scored 2 goals and Jon Sim had 3 points (1 goal 2 assists) as the Flyers continue to struggle, the Senators wrapped up a playoff birth as they pulled off the win over Carolina in shootout, Erik Karlsson scored 2 for the Sens, and finally Dustin Brown had a hat trick and an assist as the Kings routed the Canucks 8-3. Moving the Kings 2 points closer to clinching a playoff spot. Today there are some good games as SEC Baseball has some solid match ups as Georgia heads to #5 LSU as the Bulldogs get to face the return of Pre Season All American SP Anthony Ranaudo, the Volunteers of Tennessee take on the #11 ranked Rebels of Ole Miss, Mississippi State @ #12 South Carolina, Auburn @ #25 Alabama, Kentucky @ #10 Arkansas, and #20 Vanderbilt @ #8 Florida. The NBA has some good games as well as as Miami heads to Indiana to take on DeMarcus Granger and the Pacers in what should be a great game, Milwaukee heads to Charlotte in a match up of probably playoff teams, LeBron James and the Cavaliers play host to Josh Smith and the Hawks, the Magic try to win twice in as many days in Texas as they take on the Spurs, and the Jazz head to LA to face Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. The Lakers have struggling as of late so it will be interesting to see how they play at home against the Jazz who have been playing really well as of late, and in the NHL the Blackhawks head to New Jersey to take on Martin Brodeur and Co., San Jose tries to get back on track as they play at Minnesota, Calgary, 2 points behind the Avalanche for the 8th spot in the Western Conference, head to Colorado as the winner will hold that 8th spot, and Vancouver tries to slow down this losing streak in Anaheim against the red hot Ducks. Should be fun. Hope you guys enjoy.



My Picks.....

SEC Baseball

Auburn 17-8 (4-2) @ #25 Alabama 17-7 (2-4)
6:00 PM
TV: CSS
Starting Pitchers
Aub: Cory Luckie, 1-1 8.84 era
Bama: Adam Morgan, 3-0 3.55 era

My Pick: Alabama 9-7

Kentucky 17-9 (1-5) @ #10 Arkansas 20-5 (4-2)
6:30 PM
Starting Pitchers
Kent: Logan Darnell, 3-2 3.79 era
Ark: Mike Boslinger, 3-0 3.18 era

My Pick: Arkansas 8-5

#20 Vanderbilt 23-4 (4-2) @ #8 Florida 18-6 (4-2)
6:30 PM
Starting Pitchers
Vandy: Sonny Gray, 4-2 2.25 era
Flo: Alex Panteliodis, 5-1 2.03 era

This looks like a FANTASTIC series, especially today's game as Vanderbilt's reigning SEC Pitcher of the Week Sonny Gray takes the mound vs. potential All American Alex Panteliodis. I really like the offense of Vanderbilt in this one as they average a full run per game more then the Gators but Panteliodis is an outstanding pitcher, and the Gators play extremely well at home. I like the Gators in this one as I expect it to be a close battle that isn't decided until the 8th or 9th inning.

My Pick: Florida 7-6

Tennessee 13-13 (0-6) @ #11 Ole Miss 20-6 (4-2)
6:30 PM
Starting Pitchers
Tenn: Bryan Morgado, 2-2 2.42 era
Miss: Drew Pomeranz, 4-0 1.23 era

My Pick: Ole Miss 9-5

Mississippi State 14-11 (2-4) @ #12 South Carolina 20-5 (5-1)
7:00 PM
Starting Pitchers
MSU: Kendall Graveman, 1-1 6.20 era
SC: Blake Cooper, 4-0 3.32 era

My Pick: South Carolina 8-6

Georgia 9-15 (1-5) @ #5 LSU 21-3 (5-1)
7:30 PM
TV: ESPNU
Starting Pitchers
UGA: Justin Grimm, 2-2 4.71 era
LSU: Anthony Ranaudo, 0-0 0.00 era

My Pick: LSU 10-5
NBA

HEAT by 4 @ pacers (-2) <----- UPSET

BULLS (-4.5) by 4 @ wizards

bucks @ BOBCATS (-3.5) by 4

rockets @ CELTICS (-11) by 7

hawks @ CAVALIERS (-5.5) by 8

SUNS (-9) by 14 @ pistons

hornets @ GRIZZLIES (-4) by 5

MAGIC by 2 @ spurs (-3) <----- UPSET
In the last meeting between these two it wasn't pretty. Orlando got an early lead and never looked back winning 110-84 on Tim Duncan's worst offensive night of his career. As good as Duncan as this is one of the reason's that I am picking the Magic. The Magic continuously frustrated Duncan forcing him to take bad shot after bad shot and it showed in the end. But to me the biggest reason why the Magic won in the first go around was because of the fact that Orland shot 33 free throws to San Antonio's 14. Now since this game is going to be played in San Antonio you can bet that San Antonio won't be called for 25 fouls as they were in Orlando but both Vince Carter and Dwight Howard are masters at making their way to the free throw line and if the Spurs allow that to happen again they won't have a chance. Throw in the fact that Orlando has been one of, if not the, league's best road team over the past 2 seasons and I don't see the Spurs taking this one.

knicks @ WARRIORS (-3.5) by 2

jazz @ LAKERS (-4.5) by 2
As much as I wanted to pick the Jazz here, as they are on a 3 game winning streak and the Lakers are on a 2 game losing streak. I just don't see it. The Lakers have been fantastic against the Jazz this entire season and I don't see that stopping today. Where the Lakers have been winning is in the post, outscoring the Jazz in the paint by an average of nearly 9 points a game while out-rebounding Utah in every single contest. Carlos Boozer is a very good Power Forward but after him there is not much to stop Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom from dominating. Mehmet Okur? Really? No. Okur has averaged 10 points and just over 5 rebounds in 3 starts against the Lakers this season. He's not really the answer. Not having Andrew Bynum will hurt the Lakers a little bit I don't see it being a major problem as Pau Gasol has been the Dominant man in the Post for the Lakers. I just don't think the Jazz match up well with the Lakers twin towers in the post.

NHL

blackhawks @ DEVILS
This is a game featuring two very good teams that are in the midst of rough stretches as New Jersey has only won 4 of their last 10 games (11 points) while Chicago has only won 3 of their last 10 (8 points). They have played once before, in Chicago, where the blackhawks would win 5-1 but I think these teams are just about completely different now then they were during that game. Since then the Devils have added Ilya Kovalchuk and though he hasn't been a MAJOR impact I do think he will have a big impact in this game. The Devils have been one of the best home teams in the NHL this season and I expect them to defend their home ice well with a victory.

canadiens @ FLYERS

RANGERS @ lightning

SHARKS @ wild

oilers @ STARS

flames @ AVALANCHE

canucks @ DUCKS

Alright guys I am currently working on finishing up the Baseball Previews which will go up tomorrow. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas just leave a comment below, text me at (256) 653-2393, or email us at wherethelandsharksare@gmail.com

Thank you for Reading

Batteman