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Wow. Bad read on Cal too… apparently the other team can get up for a rivalry game as well.

Couldn’t have been more wrong about UCLA. Wow. Came out flat. Note to self, never trust this team in a trap/flat spot.

Got down on UCLA -3 and Cal -5 today.

UCLA first. They appear to be focused and Shabazz finally seems to be the player I was hoping he would be when he arrived in Westwood. It’s clear at times that he wants to win more badly than anyone else on the court. Throw in the fact that WSU is a team with nothing to play for that is just playing out the regular season before the Pac-12 tournament, and UCLA should be able to win. Only concern is UCLA coming off their big win against Arizona, could be a let down spot, in addition to the extended travel up to Pullman, and the lack of comfort in staying in Idaho before busing into E. Washington. Howland appears to be aware of the risk of letdown and is reiterating to his team the importance of being ready. I think they will be.

Cal may be the hottest team in the Pac-12 right now, and they are at home for senior day against their cross town rival. No shortage of motivation here. Add to that they have the best back court in the Pac-12 and have been playing stand out defense as of late, and there is value on Cal. The spread indicates that Cal would be favored by 1 on a neutral court, or 3 point underdogs at Stanford. Based on my viewings of these teams, Cal should be favored in all situations against Stanford. This points to value on Cal.

Had some Celtics -1.5 in my pocket today. Even with the Celtics recent struggles against the 76ers, I just had no faith that the 76ers were any good.

I’d been on the wrong side of the 76ers v. Warriors, incorrectly backing the W’s, but that was probably more of an oversight on my part of the Warriors being on the tail end of a long road trip, than the 76ers actually being a good team.

Jrue Holiday is playing outstanding basketball, but I correctly figured that Avery Bradley would shut him down. Bradley is a beast of a defender, and he can slow down any PG in the league. Jrue makes the 76ers go, and Bradley slowed Jrue down just enough to get the result.

109-101. Cash.

This is going to by dumping ground for my thoughts on anything. I’ve always wanted to keep a blog, and this will be my attempt at it.

Get ready for random, non-sequential, thoughts on sports, pop culture, gambling, my thoughts on other people’s thoughts etc.

I don’t know how long I will be able to keep it up, but I’m going to make a concerted attempt.