13
NOV
2017

NCAAB Nov 13th

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NCAAB Yesterday: 0-0-0, (0.00%) +0.0 Units
NCAAB Season: 0-0-, (0.00%) +0.0 Units

Going to take it slow to start the season in College Hoops this year. Sat out the weekend but I’m ready to jump in there now with my first action of the new season.

Belmont (+3): The battle of Nashville tonight as Belmont takes on Vandy. Rick Byrd just keeps things humming right along at Belmont. They’ve made the tournament 4 times in the last 7 years and have won an average of 25 games per season during that run. This year they started off with a loss over the weekend at Washington but they actually outplayed the Huskies for much of that game before coming apart late. The strength of this team will be in the front court with the Senior leadership of Egekeze and Windler. Senior PG Austin Luke is also back and serves as the heartbeat of this team. He’ll be helped a bit with ball handling duties by Freshman guard Nick Hopkins who came out of the gate red hot by hitting 6-10 from 3 point land against Washington. Vandy should be good again this year but they do lose Kornet from last years team and it looks uncertain if Fisher-Davis will play tonight. Fisher-Davis missed their opener against Austin Peay with an ankle injury and I suspect even if he plays tonight he won’t be 100%. In the backcourt Luke is bit bigger and stronger than LaChance and I think he could make life difficult for him. I’ll be curious to see how Drew tries to handle Windler as I think he’s too quick and athletic for either Toye or Roberson. I see this one coming right down to the wire and in such a game getting 3 points at home is plenty good enough for me.

Pittsburgh (-2.5): I know Pittsburgh isn’t going to be any good this year but I think this line has gone a little bit too far. It’s been well documented young the Panthers are and how many new players they are trying to develop. Everyone who played big minutes last year is gone. I don’t mean most, or almost all, I’m talking every single big minute guy from last season is no longer there. The closest thing they have to any real experience is Ryan Luther who has been a backup for 3 years but will be thrust into heavy minutes now as a senior. That’s the bad, but let’s keep in mind the good. These are all still ACC athletes. These are kids that were recruited to and given scholarships to play in the ACC. Yes they lost over the weekend at Navy but now back at home tonight I think they get it on track. Montana is a respectable team and they might even be the best team in the Big-Sky. At the end of the day however this a still a Big-Sky team heading on the road to play at an ACC team and I just don’t think they are ready for that. There won’t be a ton of wins for the Panthers this year but I do think that one of them will be tonight.

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