NBA Free Premium Play 04/23: Charlotte Bobcats @ Miami Heat

Charlotte  at Miami

NBA - 727 Charlotte Bobcats @ 728 Miami Heat ***FREE Premium Play*** The first contest ended up w/ 187 points and I think that for tonight’s game it will be tough for both teams to be more efficient on the offensive end, and therefore I’m taking the Under in here. The Bobcats’ offense really needs Al Jefferson to dominate down low, but unfortunately he is banged up, and I don’t think he is capable of such task for the entire game. If he struggles tonight, CHA is going to ride more Kemba Walker but MIA’s defense is so good vs. PNR’s that CHA’s offense will have some big problems for tonight. On the other end, CHA really did a good job in limiting MIA’s transition plays in G1. They held the Heat to just 6 fast break points and tonight’s game plan will be the same = slow down things! CHA did a good job defensively vs. MIA’s starting lineup! Just look for the first minutes of the first and third quarter!  The problem was when James Jones entered the game to spread the floor for the Heat…Jones was out of the rotation and the Heat surprised the Bobcats in G1. I expect CHA’s to be more prepared for tonight and so, I expect them to be a bit better defensively for tonight as well. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 727/728 Under 188 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bovada

NBA Free Premium Play 04/05: Charlotte Bobcats @ Cleveland Cavaliers

Charlotte  at Cleveland

NBA - 809 Charlotte Bobcats @ 810 Cleveland Cavaliers Play #1 I don’t need to talk much about CLE’s defensive performance last night @ATL. On my Daily Message: “The Cavaliers really didn't have a chance last night @ATL as they fell behind by 16 points already in the first quarter. I expected the Hawks to be decent offensively as I didn’t like CLE’s perimeter defense in their previous game @ORL, but ATL really crushed them by shooting 58.5% FG. CLE had the edge w/ rebounding, turnovers & free throws but when you are shooting 39.6% FG vs. allowing their opponent to hit 58.5% of their shots = blowout loss.” CLE didn’t put a lot of effort on the defensive end, but they are really far from being a good defensive team right now… when a team starts Irving + Waiters + Hawes, automatically this team won’t be decent @ defensive end. For tonight, I expect Al Jefferson to completely dominate down low vs. S. Hawes…eventually, the Cavs will double team Big Al but they don’t the proper defensive discipline to rotate well. We’ve won last night w/ UNDER CHA vs. ORL in a game that N. Vucevic was a late scratch and without having any kind of inside game, ORL offense was an “easy” matchup for the Bobcats’ good defense. CHA’s offense has been playing well lately. In L5 games they have a great Off. Rtg numbers = 116.9! They clearly “slowed down” last night @CHA in the second half after scoring 53 points in the first half and leading at the break by 17 points. On the other end, I expect CLE’s guards to be aggressive and attack Big Al’s lack of mobility off PNR’s while S. Hawes will also be a tough matchup for Big Al due to his good shooting range. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 809/810 Over 194.5 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 03/17: Atlanta Hawks @ Charlotte Bobcats

Atlanta  at Charlotte

NBA - 503 Atlanta Hawks @ 504 Charlotte Bobcats Play #1 There is no question that the Bobcats are playing really well as of late! I had them yesterday @MIL and despite the game was basically a close battle, the Bobcats were super clutch down the stretch. However, for this contest, I don’t like at all of their spot and more importantly, the Hawks are a tough matchup for the Bobcats. ATL has won their L3 games and so, they are feeling more confident right now. They still have some problems vs. DEN because the Nuggets’ speed on the frontcourt caused some problems and we cashed our play w/ DEN. I understand that Al Jefferson will have a tremendous edge down low vs. ATL frontcourt, but on the other end, the Hawks versatile frontline unit will also cause some problems to CHA’s defense. I remember that CHA’s defense is predicated to protect the rim but the Hawks have good shooters from 1-to-5 positions. I expect this contest to be a pure 50/50 game and therefore, we have some value w/ ATL in here getting 3 points. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 503 Atlanta Hawks (+3) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 02/11: Dallas Mavericks @ Charlotte Bobcats

Dallas  at Charlotte

NBA - 503 Dallas Mavericks @ 504 Charlotte Bobcats Play #1 DAL offense is playing in an unbelievable high level right now led by Dirk Nowitzki… They are ranked #4 for the season and in L8 games their Off. Rtg. = insane 123.6! DAL’s Pick n Roll game has been superb and I really think that they will create ton of problems vs. CHA defense. CHA’s is struggling to defend P&R’s for quite some time now… you just need to know that SAS’s Patty Mills just killed them in the last game w/ 10-13 FG, 4-5 3pts & 8-9 FT for 32 pts primarily via P&R’s plays to understand these late struggles. CHA defense is predicated to protect the rim while they are a subpar perimeter defensive team, and obviously, DAL’s offense is exactly a jump shooting team. DAL defense has been the main problem for Rick Carlisle but they showed some improvement in L2 games, this is related IMO w/ the fact that D. Harris is now healthy and his speed is important b/c it’s a plus for a DAL slow footed backcourt & especially S. Dalembert is finally some decent basketball in both ends of the floor. Al Jefferson has been playing great as of late, but DAL has now Dalembert & Wright on the frontcourt to defend him… not a long time ago, D. Blair was their starting center, enough said! K. Walker has returned to action but he looked rusty to me in both contests - 10-30 FG! I don’t think that CHA will be able to hang around w/ the best Mavericks’ of the season! Yes, they were competitive against the Spurs in the last game, but while SAS is shorthanded and banged up, DAL is now finally healthy and I’m taking them as my Single Dime Play! Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 503 Dallas Mavericks (-3.5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline

NBA Free Premium Play 02/04: Charlotte Bobcats @ Golden State Warriors

Charlotte  at Golden State

NBA - 507 Charlotte Bobcats @ 508 Golden State Warriors Play #2 CHA has been a competitive team this season when being underdogs, but they really tend to struggle vs. great offensive fast paced teams, and GSW w/ 3 days off to rest and prepare tonight’s game fits perfectly in those role of teams. CHA offense keeps struggling to hit outside shots – 31-91 3pts in the L5 games for a subpar 34% mark. Their only consistent offensive threat has been Al Jefferson that is playing some great basketball right now. He struggled big time in the last game @PHX, but it was a natural letdown after 2 great performances @DEN & @LAL. The problem is that for tonight, “Big Al” won’t face JJ Hickson or Pau Gasol down low but rather Andrew Bogut. Bogut is finally playing consistent minutes, and his post up defense is excellent, and so I don’t think Al Jefferson will have any considerable edge on his individual matchup, and therefore, I expect CHA offense to struggle a bit tonight. On the other side, CHA defense is build to protect the basket but they are poor perimeter defensive team – ranked #28 in defending 3pts by allowing 37.3%. GSW offense as you can guess is one of the best shooting teams in the league (ranked #3 in 3pts% w/ 38.1%) and w/ 3 days off, I expect them to completely torch CHA from the outside. GSW’s storyline for this contest has been Klay Thompson’ shooting struggles as of late: Thompson has seen his field goal percentage drop each month this season and finished with a 38.4 percent field goal percentage in January. "I just remind him that it's his third year, and he's played a lot of minutes and added obviously some responsibilities on both sides of the floor just to make sure he understands you're going to get heavy-legged a couple times throughout the season," Stephen Curry said. Well, this is a great spot for him to enjoy a decent offensive performance while w/ GSW having the edge in both offense & defense, I expect them to easily crush the Bobcats tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 508 Golden State Warriors (-10) @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline

NBA Free Premium Play 01/25: Chicago Bulls @ Charlotte Bobcats

Chicago  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 Chicago Bulls @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats Play #1 Both teams are coming from “terrible” defensive performances last night.. CHA defense really didn’t have a chance against Carmelo Anthony… maybe they should have doubled him earlier in the game, but when they did indeed doubled Melo, it didn’t matter… On the other side, CHI defense was fulminated by an inspired Blake Griffin and a brigade of 3pts shooters… The good news for them is that tonight, both will bounce back defensively as this matchup favors a low scoring game. CHA is without Kemba Walker and without him, Al Jefferson has step up his game by scoring 22, 24 and 25 points in L3 games w/ nice FG%’s -> 32-60 FG 53.3%! The problem is that Big Al will have a tough matchup tonight against Noah & Gibson and w/ him having some problems to be efficient, CHA’s offense will struggle to score. CHI offense has been streaky lately...they are having good offensive performances vs. teams that don’t protect the rim well but this is not the case w/ CHA defense that is allowing 58% FG at the rim! CHI’s pace has been incredibly slow as of late and so, I expect this contest to be a pure half court game w/ both teams having problems to create “easy” points down low. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501/502 Under 183 @ -110 / 1.91 on Betonline

NBA Free Premium Play 01/07: Washington Wizards @ Charlotte Bobcats

Washington  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 Washington Wizards @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats ***FREE Premium Play*** With all their key players healthy, the Wizards are IMO a better team than the Bobcats and I expect them to confirm this on the court tonight. Going to what it matters; the matchup between these two teams is extremely favorable to the Wizards… I’ve watched WAS’s last game against the Warriors as I went w/ OVER in that game, and the Wizards offense played really well until the half time. John Wall was aggressive and he created plenty of good looks for his teammates. Obviously, the Wizards couldn’t stop the Warriors as well, but when GSW is “in the zone”, they are really tough to stop offensively. In the second half, GSW started strong, got some separation just to watch the Wizards missing wide open shot after wide open shot. WAS L3 games went 5-24, 4-12, 6-20 behind the line, but note that they are keep getting “good looks”, they are simply missing those shots. Tonight they will face a Bobcats defense that is predicated to protect the basket but struggles heavily to defend the perimeter. We are dealing w/ #28 ranked 3pts defense in the league, allowing their opponents to shot 37.7%! In L10 games, CHA is allowing 40.4%, so sooner or later, the Wizards shooters will enjoy a decent game, and tonight they have a favorable matchup to explore. On the other side, I think the Wizards defense will be able to slow down Kemba Walker, and with Walker not having a good game, the Bobcats really can’t generate enough offense to be competitive. In the last game against the Kings, Walker dominated the game against a soft perimeter defense that couldn’t protect the basket. Well, WAS is ranked #2 in the league defending Pick n Rolls ball handler plays, and this is the play that CHA NEEDS to be efficient. @SAC, CHA had 1.00 PPP 12-23 FG in P&R BH plays and no wonder they were able to score 113 points. Finally, we are dealing with the Bobcats returning home after a long west coast road trip – physical/mental spot that usually is primed for a letdown. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501 Washington Wizards (PK) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 12/28: Charlotte Bobcats @ Atlanta Hawks

Charlotte  at Atlanta

NBA - 509 Charlotte Bobcats @ 510 Atlanta Hawks Play #3 The injury of Al Horford is a major blow for this Hawks team especially on the offensive end, and I think we will notice it tonight. ATL is coming from a double-OT win @CLE in which Teague, Korver and Millsap logged major minutes, so this isn’t exactly a good physical spot for them either. CHA defense has been great all season long and after a 3-game stretch in which they were subpar, they “bounced” back last night and held OKC to just 89 points. Horford’s presence tonight would be a nightmare for CHA because Big Al Jefferson isn’t mobile enough to defend Horford when he goes “outside”. Note that in the first h2h game between these two teams, he was the MVP of the game w/ a great stats line of 9-15 FG, 6-7 FT, a game high 24 points and even 5 assists. Without him, ATL will start Elton Brand and Brand is more valuable on the defensive end for the team. This is important because Brand will defend Al Jefferson on the post and it won’t be easy for Big Al to score down low. The Bobcats are coming from a tough loss vs. OKC last night w/ another bad offensive performance to show it. ATL defense will be focused in shutting down Kemba Walker and they have Jeff Teague as a capable defensive player for the job. My Fair line for this contest is 190 points, so therefore, we have the proper edge to play the UNDER in here as my Single Dime Play. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 509/510 Under 194 @ -110 / 1.91 on 5 Dimes

NBA Free Premium Play 12/23: Milwaukee Bucks @ Charlotte Bobcats

Milwaukee  at Charlotte

NBA - 703 Milwaukee Bucks @ 704 Charlotte Bobcats Play #2 This will be the third game between these two teams this season, with the first two being huge blowout wins by the Bobcats. Charlotte has been showing their solid defense as usual, but they are struggling on offense. They had two good offensive games against Detroit and Toronto due to good individual  performances. Kemba Walker has been playing well, but the team as a whole is struggling on offense with just 18, 19 and 16 assists on their last three games.  Besides the low assist rates, they are also struggling on rebounds lately. Their offense is based on a bunch of pick and rolls with a huge volume of 26.2% and 26.5% on their last two games! On the other hand, their spot ups and transitions couldn't be less effective and this is holding them down on offense. After a big slump, Milwaukee is now being more competitive with three competitive performance against the NY Knicks, Cleveland and Philadelphia.  Their perimeter defense continues to struggle and they allowed 10, 17, 11 and 10 treys to their opponents on their last four games, for a combined of 48-116 (41%) 3pts! The good news for the Bucks is that Charlotte is a poor team on 3pts shooting and so, they won't explore that tonight. On the first two games between these two teams, Charlotte easily won both games due to being effective on pick and rolls, while Al Jefferson crushed the Bucks front court formed at the time by Zaza Pachulia and Ersan Ilyasova with 8-15 FG and 11-18 FG performance. Milwaukee's offense is also improving with Brandon Knight at the PG position. O.J. Mayo is now coming off the bench, while the team as a whole is rebounding better as well. Milwaukee has nothing to do with the team that got crushed twice by Charlotte earlier in the season and so, I'll be taking them tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 703 Milwaukee Bucks (+7) @ -115 / 1.87 on Bovada

NBA Free Premium Play 12/20: Charlotte Bobcats @ Detroit Pistons

Charlotte  at Detroit

NBA - 809 Charlotte Bobcats @ 810 Detroit Pistons Play #4 This is a great matchup for a low scoring game, as both teams are indeed poor shooting ones who need to score near the basket to be effective on offense. The problem is that both interior defenses are excellent and they won't allow that in here. Charlotte is a top 3 team on rim defense and #1 on paint defense with 35.7 points per game allowed. On the other hand, the Bobcats are also #1 on fast break points allowed per game! Therefore, they are the perfect defense to stop Detroit's offense! The Pistons' defense struggles on spot ups, but Charlotte isn't the right team to take advantage of that with their poor outside shooting. On the other hand, the Pistons' post up defense is excellent and they will make Al Jefferson's job on offense very difficult. Kemba Walker will also struggle with his small size to score near the basket over Detroit's very big frontcourt formed by Andre Drummond, Greg Monroe and Josh Smith. Therefore, I expect both defenses to dominate the opposing offenses in here and so, I'll be taking the Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 809/810 Under 192 @ -115 / 1.87 on Bovada

NBA Free Premium Play 12/17: Sacramento Kings @ Charlotte Bobcats

Sacramento  at Charlotte

NBA - 503 Sacramento Kings @ 504 Charlotte Bobcats Play #3 ***DOUBLE DIME PLAY*** I must confess that I really don’t like to play the OVER involving the Bobcats, but we have tonight a really good spot for them to have a decent offensive game, and more importantly, we have the proper line value edge. This Bobcats team really can’t hit outside shots, if they just could be a “decent” shooting team, certainly they were a lock to be in the playoffs @Eastern Conference. They are decent when they attack the rim especially w/ Kemba Walker dribble drive’s moves, this is one of the biggest reasons of why the Bobcats are ranked #6 in Free Throws attempted per game w/ 26.1. I had a play w/ Bobcats in their last game against the Lakers but they were really tired after playing tight the Pacers on the road in the previous night and their lack of aggressiveness was well evident if we just notice that they went only 8 times to the charity stripe line. For tonight, their offense will have 3 key edges for them: 1) The Kings interior defense is one of the worst of the league! I have them ranked #30 protecting the rim by allowing almost 70% FG! 2) Kemba Walker’s matchup is Isaiah Thomas who is far from being a good defensive player and finally 3) The Kings are ranked #27 in defending post up plays so Al Jefferson could have a nice offensive game as well. On the other side, the Kings offense has been pretty good since Isaiah Thomas is their full time Point Guard. The fact that Rudy Gay is coming from efficient back to back games is a bit of a surprise (he had 8-12 FG & 10-20 FG L2 games) and the Kings offense are a tough matchup right now for any team. I expect the Kings to dictate the tempo of the game. The Bobcats against Western Conference are playing @faster pace so we can expect a relatively up tempo game w/ both teams having the upper hand vs. defenses; therefore I’m taking the Over in here as my Double Dime Play! Pick: 4 units (Double Dime Play) on 503/504 Over 196 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Game Preview 12/11: Orlando Magic @ Charlotte Bobcats

Game: 701 Orlando Magic @ 702 Charlotte Bobcats

For the first time this season, the Bobcats scored +100 points in b2b games! It helped the fact that they faced 2 up tempo teams in PHI & GSW so they could generate some extra possessions but still having Off.Rtg of 110.5 and 112.2 is a sign of some improvement on the offensive end. Bismack Biyombo and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are OUT due to injuries and we are talking about two of their best defensive players. Without MKG, Charlotte will now give some minutes to Tolliver and Ben Gordon and on an offensive standpoint, it will help them to spread better the floor because MKG really can’t shoot from the outside. CHA went 6-12 behind the line against the Warriors and not coincidently, 3 of the made treys were converted from Tolliver and Gordon. The Magic is a good matchup for this Bobcats offense. Kemba Walker will face Jameer Nelson who really won’t have a chance to stop his dribble penetration and when Walker has a good game, the Bobcats are extremely competitive.

Orlando is struggling offensively as of late. In 5 of their last 6 games they couldn’t even reach the 100-pts per possession mark. They just can’t score inside without Nikola Vucevic while their outside shooting is super inconsistent. L5 games they are shooting 33-117 behind the line – an awful 28% mark!

POTENTIAL PLAYS: CHARLOTTE -6 (without Vucevic) or OVER (with Vucevic)

NBA 11/23 Free Premium Play: Charlotte Bobcats @ Milwaukee Bucks

Charlotte  at Milwaukee

NBA - 713 Charlotte Bobcats @ 714 Milwaukee Bucks Play #6 Charlotte lost at home against Phoenix last night due to their inability of shooting from long range: 3-15 FG from 16-23 feet and 3-14 3pts! The Bobcats attacked the rim with 48 points in the paint and 33 FT attempts, but that wasn't enough. Phoenix shot well from the outside, but not via their guards! It was their forwards Channing Frye, P.J. Tucker and the Morris brothers that combined 10-13 3pts! For tonight's game at Milwaukee, Charlotte will have another good matchup, as Milwaukee's guards are poor on defensive dribble drive penetrations from the opposing guards and that's Charlotte's main strength on offense. Milwaukee's defense is just #27 on pick and roll ball handler defense with 0.82 PPP allowed. Milwaukee managed to be competitive at Philadelphia last night due to an excellent outside shooting game: 14-28 FG from 16-23 feet and 8 treys made! However, the Bucks didn't even try to attack the ball down low. Zaza Pachulia is struggling with 40% FG for the season and Ersan Ilyasova only wants to shoot from mid-range. This also made the Bucks struggle on rebounding. Charlotte's problem on defense has been on defending the perimeter. They collapse too much on trying to protect the rim and this is making them allow +40% FG from 16-23 feet and also a bunch of treys. Milwaukee's offense is a pure jump shooting team, so they will be a tough opponent for Charlotte's defense. Therefore, I don't expect this game to be such a low scoring game as the lines are showing, so I'm taking the Over in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 713/714 Over 183 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 11/22: Phoenix Suns @ Charlotte Bobcats

Phoenix  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 Phoenix Suns @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats I took the Over on Charlotte's last game against Brooklyn, on a game where we had a push due to a super low scoring fourth quarter (12-21). The Bobcats without Al Jefferson burned the clock down the stretch, but their half court execution is so predictable that they couldn't score for three minutes in a row until Kemba Walker scored a couple of free throws with three seconds to go. As I predicted, the Bobcats had a mega edge in pick and rolls against the Nets' dreadful defense on this area, while Kemba Walker had his best game of the season so far with 12-20 FG and 31 points. Charlotte as a team shot 10-16 FG on pick and roll ball handler plays and managed to score 52 points in the paint even without Al Jefferson! They didn't score more points due to their poor 18-30 FT and weak outside shooting numbers. Their defense continued excellent, but the Nets had a lot of demerit on their loss as 47.8% FG and 9-19 3pts should be good enough to win a game, but they lost because they were completely outrebounded by allowing 17 offensive rebounds to Charlotte, something weird given Brooklyn's size. The Nets also committed 19 turnovers and eventually lost the game. On the other side, Phoenix is coming from two losses in a row against Sacramento. During their current four-game losing streak, the Suns are committing an average of 15.75 turnovers per game, possibly because of Eric Bledsoe's absence. Phoenix's offense is similar to Charlotte's given the fact that both teams use their aggressive guards who attack primarily via pick and rolls, while the Suns are also a brutal transition team by being #1 in the league on this area with 23.3 fast break points per game. On tonight's matchup, it's important to check how both teams defend pick and rolls, as both offenses need badly to perform well on this area. Phoenix is #22 in the league on pick and roll defense, while allowing 0.79 PPP. On the other hand, Al Jefferson will be back tonight and this will weaken the Bobcats' defense due to his lack of foot speed and mobility. Charlotte is #8 in the league on pick and roll defense, but they are regressing on transition defense and they are already #24 in the league while allowing 1.19 PPP! Charlotte has been facing slow paced teams lately (Boston #15 in pace factor, Cleveland #20, Miami #17, Chicago #19 and Brooklyn #22), but Phoenix is #12 in the league on pace factor. Therefore, I believe this game will be a relatively fast paced game with both offenses playing well and so, I'll be taking the Over in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501/502 Over 190 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 11/16 : Miami Heat @ Charlotte Bobcats

Miami  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 Miami Heat @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats Play #1 Miami is coming from a home win against Dallas last night, where they were indeed able to create problems on Dallas's pick and rolls, with the Heat being aggressive on pressuring the ball handler as usual. This is why Miami ended the game with 19 steals, while Dallas committed 24 turnovers! However, the game was relatively close because Dallas had an excellent outside shooting game with 8-12 FG from 16-23 feet and 12-28 3pts! Miami's offense did whatever they wanted with Dallas's defense, who just couldn't stop both Lebron James and Dwyane Wade from penetrating and easily scoring near the basket. On the other hand, Charlotte is coming from back to back road wins! They won at Cleveland last night against a Cavaliers team that has been struggling a lot on offense this season and that couldn't handle Charlotte's underrated defense. Not only the Bobcats pressured Kyrie Irving well, who ended the game with just 5-16 FG, as they closed well on the outside, an area that is generally Charlotte's weakness on defense, by forcing the Cavs to shoot just 4-15 3pts! Offensively, without Al Jefferson, Charlotte's guards had a heavy load once again, with Kemba Walker showing once again that he is struggling offensively by shooting just 4-19 FG! Regarding tonight's game, I believe Charlotte's defense will do a much better job than Dallas did, especially regarding the interior defense. Dallas is allowing their opponents to shoot 64% FG near the basket, while Charlotte has been excellent by allowing just 57% FG! Charlotte has also better wing defenders than Dallas, something that makes me believe that Miami's offense won't have a walk in the park tonight like they had last night. On the other side, I also expect Charlotte to struggle offensively. Their offense is clearly perimeter oriented with their guards using a lot of pick and rolls and Miami's defense is an elite unit on this area. The only area where Miami's defense struggles is on long range shooting like Dallas showed last night, but Charlotte is a subpar team on this area. Therefore, I expect this game to be a relatively low scoring one and so, I'll be taking the Under in here. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501/502 Under 195 @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Free Premium Play 11/08: New York Knicks @ Charlotte Bobcats

New York  at Charlotte

NBA - 501 New York Knicks @ 502 Charlotte Bobcats Play #1 Charlotte won their game at NY against the Knicks last Tuesday, where they took advantage of Tyson Chandler's injury early in the game to pound the Knicks down low with quick penetrations that sent the Bobcats a lot to the free throw line, as both Andrea Bargnani and Amare Stoudemire are poor defenders and couldn't stop the Bobcats' guards to penetrate into the basket. On the other hand, Charlotte struggled on pick and roll ball handler plays with just 3-12 FG and 0.59 PPP, as I had expected. However, the Knicks' defensive positioning was so poor that the Bobcats crushed them on transitions to get the win at the end. On the following day, the Bobcats played at home against Toronto in a game where they should have easily won and not by just two points. The main reason for this short win was the terrible 17-30 FT from them! They also struggled on treys with 3-15 3pts and the Bobcats continue being too perimeter-oriented with Al Jefferson still sidelined. They construct well offensive plays (19-26 FG at the rim and 11-22 FG from 16-23 feet), but they are too predictable and have no confidence on their 3pts shooting. On defense, the Bobcats continue showing their improvements in comparison with last season by limiting very well the one-dimensional offense of the Raptors, led by the ball hogs DeMar DeRozan (5-16 FG) and Rudy Gay (8-21 FG). So, tonight we have a rematch from last Tuesday when Charlotte defeated the Knicks at NY. With Tyson Chandler still out, the Knicks are bound to struggle on defense, however they held the Bobcats to just 38 points on the second half when Kenyon Martin replaced Amare Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani at the Center position. The Bobcats' overall offensive numbers on last Tuesday's game weren't that good with 42.3% FG, 12-24 FG at the rim and 17 assists, however they had 34-42 FT. So, I believe the Knicks on a nice spot tonight will be more successful in avoiding the Bobcats' average offense to pound them like they did it on the second half of last Tuesday's game. On the other hand, the Knicks will go small tonight, with Andrea Bargnani at Center, Carmelo Anthony at the PF position and Iman Shumpert as their SF. With the return of small lineup, I expect the Knicks offense to be more effective, while they should do a better defensive job tonight as well. Therefore, I expect the Knicks to get revenge from their loss last Tuesday with a solid win tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 501 New York Knicks (-3) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

Charlotte Bobcats NBA Team Season Preview 2013-14

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS

Season Review 2012/13:

Advanced Stats
	Numbers	Rank
Pace	91.5	17
Offense	101.5	28
Defense	111.5	30
Rebound	48.5	25

4 Factors
Offense	Numbers	Rank	Defense	Numbers	Rank
eFG%	46.0	30	eFG%	52.4	30
TO%	13.2	7	TO%	13.2	22
Reb%	25.7	18	Reb%	28.9	29
FT%	23.3	3	FT%	19.7	10

Monthly Performance
	Record	OffRtg	DefRtg
November	7-8	101.1	107.9
December	1-15	104.5	117.5
January	3-11	102.1	112.9
February	2-10	99.6	114.4
March	4-12	103.4	117.4
April	4-5	103.8	109.8

It would be pratically impossible for the Bobcats to do worse than they had done in the previous season, when they won just 7 games out of the 66 regular season games that they played.

With a new Head Coach and with the #2 pick of the draft in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the expectations were that Charlotte would be a bit more competitive than in the previous season, but more than that would be just utopic given the team’s roster. Curiously, the Bobcats surprised the league early in the season by getting a 7-5 record on their first 12 games, but that followed an 18-games losing streak that sent the team back into the bottom of the league.

Charlotte ended the season as the #28 ranked offense, #30 ranked defense and #25 ranked rebounding team in the league. So, there aren’t a lot of reasons to praise the team. Head Coach Mike Dunlap struggled to adapt into the NBA, especially on defense. It would be always hard to be any good on offense given the team’s roster, especially its lack of a decent frontcourt player. So, the Bobcats’ offense were guard-oriented and they had the goal of taking advantage of the relentless attack from their guards that turned Charlotte into the #3 team in the league on FT/rate.

Defensively, Dunlap introduced the concept of team defense that he used on college and that simply didn’t work in the NBA. He would “deliberately” ask his team to not apply a proper defensive pressure at the corner positions (corner three points) just to get more available players in a potential defensive rebounding situation, where the team could get the ball and go into transition in an almost automatic way (note that the Bobcats were #7 in the league on fast break points per game with 15.7). The problem was that Charlotte’s defense was torched by their opponents from long range, as they were the second worst 3pts% defense in the league by allowing 38.8% 3pts, while no other team allowed so many treys to their opponents than Charlotte with 8.7 treys allowed per game.

Due to an impressive tank job by Orlando, Charlotte ended the season with the second worst record in the league and ready to have another high draft pick. The most positive factor of the team’s season was the breakthrough of Kemba Walker, who had a nice bounce back after a terrible rookie season in the previous year.

Offseason Report:

As expected, Mike Dunlap was fired and the Bobcats chose Steve Clifford as their new Head Coach. Clifford was until last season an assistant coach with the LA Lakers, after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant in Orlando. The organization also decided to add Patrick Ewing as an Associate Head Coach and Bob Beyer, Stephen Silas, Bob Weiss and Mark Price as assistant coaches. That’s a lot of experience in the coaching staff!

In the draft, the Bobcats selected Cody Zeller to improve their struggling frontcourt. The team also attacked the free agent market unexpectedly and added Al Jefferson in a three-year deal that is worth $41 million. In the backcourt, Gerald Henderson got a new contract, but with favorable conditions for the team, while the rest of the team is pretty much the same from last season.

NBA Free Premium Play 04/17: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Charlotte Bobcats

Cleveland  at Charlotte

NBA - 515 Cleveland Cavaliers @ 516 Charlotte Bobcats Projected Line: Charlotte by 6 points Cleveland has been tanking for a while now and they have already the third worst record in the league and so, they don't have any motivation to win tonight, as if they do, they will tie Phoenix with the 4th worst mark in the league. It is also clear right now that Kyrie Irving is completely disconnected from his coach and there are a lot of rumors flying around that Byron Scott will be fired and it is clearly that Irving wants that to happen, as he is shooting 34.8% FG and averaging 3.6 turnovers per game in April. On the other side, Charlotte has been the opposite. They have a coach fighting to avoid getting fired and this is why he used all his starters for more than 30 minutes on the team's last game against a B team for the Knicks. The Bobcats are tied with Orlando with the worst record in the league, but I believe that Charlotte isn't concerned about that or they wouldn't have won their last two games. In fact, I remember that the Bobcats had the worst record in the league last season and they didn't get the #1 pick in the draft. Therefore, I expect Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson to outplay an uninterested Cavaliers's backcourt, while Josh McRoberts has also been a nice surprise over the last few weeks at the PF position. I believe Charlotte will end the regular season with three nice wins in a row and so, I'll be taking the Bobcats tonight. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 516 Charlotte Bobcats (-2,5) @ -110 / 1.91 on Bookmaker

NBA Premium Play 04/15: New York Knicks @ Charlotte Bobcats

NBA - 505 New York Knicks @ 506 Charlotte Bobcats

Projected Line: Charlotte by 5 points

After yesterday's results, the Knicks have their #2 seed in the East locked and so, Carmelo Anthony won't play tonight in order to rest for the playoffs. In fact, considering how veteran their roster is, I wouldn't be surprised if more players also rest tonight. The NY team is coming from a big home win over the Pacers yesterday and with a meaningless back to back game today, I expect their effort to be very poor.

On the other side, Charlotte is coming from a nice home win over Milwaukee last Saturday night and they seem focused in reaching the 20 wins mark:

In an article on Thursday, coach Mike Dunlap said, “We really want to get to 20 wins. It would be important. We wanted to get around tripling our win rate from last year.”

Therefore, I expect the Bobcats to show good effort tonight, while taking advantage of the big backcourt speed edge they will have with Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson. I see Charlotte having a big effort edge tonight over a shorthanded Knicks's roster, therefore I'll be taking the Bobcats in here.

Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 506 Charlotte Bobcats (-1) @ -115 / 1.87 on Bovada

NBA Free Premium Play 04/12: Charlotte Bobcats @ Detroit Pistons

Charlotte  at Detroit

NBA - 713 Charlotte Bobcats @ 714 Detroit Pistons Projected Lines: 201 points Detroit won at Cleveland on their last game, while showing excellent interior offense from Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond, who combined 52 points on 20-29 FG shooting plus 19 rebounds! In the 25 minutes these two players were on court together, the Pistons outscored the Cavaliers by 68-50! In that game, neither team really defended and so, it was very easy for both teams to score on the inside. Detroit shot 27-36 (75%) FG at the rim, while Cleveland shot 70,6% FG from the same area. The game didn't have more points scored because both teams struggled from the outside, with the Pistons shooting 4-16 3pts and the Cavaliers 3-15 3pts. Also without Jose Calderon, Detroit is more dangerous on pick and roll ball handler plays with Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum, as they penetrate very well into the basket, unlike Calderon who doesn't have that approach, as he is a long-range shooter. The Pistons will now host the Bobcats and there is an immediate edge for Detroit tonight. The difference between having Greg Monroe & Andre Drummond and Josh McRoberts & Bismack Biyombo is huge! The Pistons's frontcourt isn't a great defensive duo, but the Bobcats's frontcourt has minimal offensive skills. On the other hand, Charlotte will be able to take advantage of the Pistons's poor defense from their guards and the poor rotation from the Pistons's frontcourt to pound them on pick and roll ball handler plays from Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson. Charlotte should also have a nice edge on transitions due to Detroit's poor transition defense, so I expect a very high scoring in here and therefore, I'll be taking the Over on this contest. Pick: 3 units (Single Dime Play) on 713/714 Over 197,5 @ -110 / 1.91 on 5Dimes