Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 2/19
Written February 19, 2009 by Jack Jones
I laid an egg last night with my premium picks, going 0-3 and our BEST BET was never really close. Didn’t see the Hack-A-Shaq coming on Dwight Howard to slow the pace and increase the scoring, plus Chris Paul was just lights out. On a positive note, we did cash both free picks in college hoops. Time to bounce back tonight with our premiums.
Tonight I’m passing on the two NBA games and focusing on a pair of games that are showing value in college basketball. We have our 20* No Doubt Rout going in Pac-10 action and a 15* in a lesser known Sun Belt contest. Remember we are still 16-3 with our last 19 basketball BEST BETS and 22-11 on our last 33 overall in hoops, so expect a bounce back after last night’s disaster. Grab my package now at the Jack Jones home page or take a look at some of the NCAA basketball picks & NBA picks being released by our other top handicappers.
Free Premium Picks: Comment on my free picks article for today over at Betfirms.com. Tell me why you agree or disagree with today’s free picks and get today’s 15* College Basketball Gem for free! I send the free premium pick out in one batch today around 6 EST, so if you post after they’ve been sent you’ll get tomorrow’s play. ALSO – If you want to get a free premium subscription, meaning you get ALL of the plays for FREE and get them as soon as they are released, become a top poster in the relaunched forum! Check the vbexperience link in the menu to see where you stand, top 5 forum members will get premium subscriptions so start posting, commenting, and viewing posts today!
Free Picks for Thursday
Remember that these are the weakest plays I’ve picked out, and will not be playing them personally. The best bets on the board will always be available only to premium subscribers. Where do I find these lines? Check out our NBA odds and college basketball lines pages to see which sportsbook has the best number!
Chicago Blackhawks -115 over Florida Panthers at Sportsbook.com
Some of you hate hockey, but this was my favorite play that didn’t qualify as a premium: I know that Patrick Sharp is out for Chicago, and he’s the top goal scorer on this team, but it’s hard not to notice how well this team is putting the puck in the net without him on the ice. The Blackhawks have now won two straight, coming back from a two-goal deficit on Tuesday to beat the Lightning, 5-3. Florida has been playing well recently as well, but I’ll take the small favorite here when to me they are clearly the better team.
I also liked Duke last night, but the line has shot up a few too many points for me to recommend a play.
Free Pick Records:
CBB: 40-24
NBA: 13-15
NHL: 3-0 (+565)
CFB: 3-1
NFL: 4-1
I also post my free picks on Twitter so if you follow me there it may be easier to get the picks if you are away from your computer.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 2/15
- Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 2/5
- Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 1/20
- Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 2/24
- Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 2/18
90 Responses to “Jack’s Free Sports Picks: 2/19”
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I agree with your pick on the blackhawks they have covered some games by the 1.5 goals spread…but I will be taking them straight up tonight because florida has been playing well.
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Karl Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Yes the Blackhawks are looking good, for sure. I would take them straight up as well. Florida’s offence scares me.
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dNICE Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Dont like charlotte.You logic sounds good but Orlando needs to win more.Go with Hornets +9.Good luck everyone!
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Jason Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
I do not like Carlotte since, that game may go either way. I really like the Thunder +7.5 with Stoudemire OUT! Good luck everyone.
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Don’t know hockey so no thoughts on the pick but I’m looking forward to winning tonight.
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I think both teams are pretty close to even and with Sharp out and them on the road… thats a tough call, not to sure about this one.
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Thanks guys! If you don’t have any opinion on the hockey game, which I understand just lay out some comments on tonight’s basketball games for everyone to check out. Of course if you do so in the forum we will all chip in some advice on what we think of your picks!
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It’s no wonder why hockey player fight each other. They get tired of skating around all night and rarely scoring. Their legs get too tired and they need a rest, so the fight each other so they get to take a break in the penalty box and take a break from the action. I guess losing some teeth is just part of the game. I wonder if NHL player have good dental coverage?? Hmmm. Anyways, I’m going to bet on my first hockey game ever tonight because of Jack. Thanks buddy!! and Go Blackhawks!!!
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dont know anything about hockey…so i’ll wish ya’ll luck.
last night was an interesting night..
tonight should be better.
troy -3 sun belt games are always interesting, the line is short for a +500 team at the top of the league.
duke -13 this is suprisingly my least favorite pick, but i like them to DESTROY
charleston -5.5 teams that play each other tough, but the better team will shine through in major style…the line is off
cal -6 i imagine this line is off 70% league record versus 0%…there teams are exact opposites
stamford -4 both have losing league records, but stamford is the better team and it will be proven
wash +8.5 road dogs with a great chance to win outright
san diego +13 too many point to give when your team is hurt
let me know what you think.
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John Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I was thinking along about the same on these games. Good Luck tonight because I may do some of the same.
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Jack Jones Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
There isn’t a game on that list that I can say I don’t like. Both of my premiums are in that list!
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mattie Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
thanks guys.
lets meet minds tomorrow too.
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mattie Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 12:35 am
well 3-3.
too bad too leading 2 of those 3 losses.
tomorrow is another day.
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good luck jack!
how do you like the under 180 on detroit – spurs ?
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not to sure the panthers have come along lately
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I like Stanford tonight in ncaab and Boston NBA no thoughts on hockey.
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I love hockey and I love this pick. Keep up the good work Jack!
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I know Fla has been hot lately, however you only seem to take NHL games when you know you can pick a winner so I am going with you tonight.
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Well just looking at your HNL record this season how can you be wrong. But as a side note the Blackhawks have a really great young team and well Florida is going through a time rightnow. I would pick the blackhawks as well. Thanx for the confirmation.
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blackhawks on the road 60-40 chance of winning. i’ll stick to baskettball good luck to all
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not sure about the blackhawks tonight
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Jack, I don’t keep up with the NHL but good luck to all. I will comment on a couple of games tonight. I can’t see Washington getting even close to the 80 they are used to. Also the crowd will be loud and the Bruins will be out for revenge. Eight seem reasonable to me. Also 10 seems like a lot for Wisc. to give on the road in a low scoring game. Yea I know the Indy players don’t always show up but you can’t say that about the fans! Guess I don’t know about the forum.
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Jack you are on a roll . Blackhawks all the way
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dont keep up with hockey much but if you think it is a winner then I am all for it. JJ time to bounce back from last night and put em down again tonight. Good Luck and stay HOT.
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I don’t bet hockey but I will take your word for it
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Hockey is one thing I dont really know much about. Might put some small action on your pick, but save my big money bet for something else. If you keep up your hockey picks though I dont know how people can resist!
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I agree with the No-call on Duke. They’ll probably cover but I just don’t trust them anymore. They killed me when they lost to BC.
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I have to agree with chicago pick even w/o their big scorer my pick tonight look for xavier to roll the 49ers.
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I agree with your play on the Blackhawks. Both teams are coming into this hot. Florida has won 7 of 10 and Chicago has won 6 of 8. I feel the difference in this game is that there are better teams in the Western Conference. Chicago is 6-2-2 against the East this year and Florida is 6-7-1 against the West this year. Take the Hawks.
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Don’t know much about hockey. But i like to know what you like for the college games tonight.
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I haven’t the first clue about betting on hockey. so I’m following JACK the man!
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Hawks are the best, thats all you need to now. Been to about 5 games this year and they are the best team in Chicago right now.
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I dont know too much about hockey but if you say chicago then chicago it is…
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I have a feeling the game will go over and florida will win.
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I don’t mind the hockey picks so I’ll be having a go on this one tonight. Thanks Jack.
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Hi Jack,
Have to agree I think Chicago will be to good for Florida by 2 goals.
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I agree with you Chicago will beat the Panthers because Flo shut out NJ last game and tonight their goaltending will collapse.
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Dont really know much about hockey, but i know you will bounce back from last. I’m on board!!
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I’m not a big hockey guy so I’ll pass on commenting on the free pick for today. One team I really like in the college ranks tonight is Indiana. I know Wisconsin has been hot lately and Indiana has been horrible all year, but I see the Hoosiers keeping this one within the number tonight. Indiana is a much more confident team at home and Tom Crean has somehow kept them playing hard each and every night out. Wisconsin is not a team that blows anyone out, especially on the road, and I like the energy from the crowd to keep Indiana close throughout. I think it’s POSSIBLE the Hoosiers win this one outright.
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enjoy watching hockey a lot, and am cofident in this pick by Jack.
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Taking Troy -3 and Min/Mic Under 127…BOL to all tonight!!!
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I think you could be on the right side tonight with the Hawks. Its hard for me figure Hockey sometimes, Your free Picks Hockey is currently 3-0 would love to see it go 4-0.
Good Luck
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I know absolutely nothing about hockey, but good luck!
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Don’t usually bet on hockey but you are on fire with the free picks.
Detroit +1 looks good. Rasheed always plays good against the spurs and gives Duncan a hard time playing good defense. Without Ginobili the spurs are going to have to play a great game to beat the pistons on the road.
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Dabble on hockey on occasion, but it seems to be a very ’streaky’ sport…
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After the colorado pick im with you
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I’m with you on Hockey. Let’s win some units tonight
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NHL is tough to beat but I have two small NCAAB plays that are both predicated on small power advantages plus the number being one of the ‘NCAAB numbers’.
This is a meaningful combination but with conference records as similar as these teams these plays are not strong.
Middle Tennessee State (-4.5) to beat Southern Alabama (Stan James offer this spread)
USC (-6.5) to beat Washington State
The first play might be marginally stronger at the stand-out price.
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Adrian Armstrong Reply:
February 19th, 2009 at 4:50 pm
As for the midnight GMT live game here in the UK, I see that Duke travel to St. John’s.
Jack commented that he was tempted by Duke but the number was moving too much and now I doubt one can beat 13.5 if one is considering Duke.
Reading from my dataset, I see that this season a 9th-best team rates to be 13 points superior (power-rating style, NOT necessarily in a real game situation) to a 71st-best team on the rankings I use most (Kenpom Pythag).
Duke are 5th (a little too high to nail down to a trend curve in terms of assessment) and St John’s 113th (about 3 to 3.5 points worse than 71st level).
This means that St.John’s are about 16 to 16.5 points worse than our 9th place outfit and therefore even allowing for home advantage it is very unlikely that St.John’s can be a worthwhile POWER bet over a 5th place team.
However, Duke suck, contextually, in my opinion, so I am reluctant to back them. There is much mediocrity this season.
More objectively, be much more inclined to back a BIG favourite you fancy at home rather than away because the away team may well be more reluctant to run up the score pointlessly. This is not necessarily the case for a MODERATE away favourite when the home team may aggressively foul late on, potentially crossing a ‘NCAAB number’.
For this game I may watch, as I did with Louisville last night, hoping that St.John’s do well early and that I can pick up an in-play or half-time number that is structurally more attractive. The bookies are wise to this ploy, for sure, but there might be something in it. Perhaps they might be less wise when it is a big home dog(rather than a big away dog) keeping it close.
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dont mess with hockey or baseball. just basketball and football. youve been on fire with your free picks all except the one you emailed me at 6pm last night. that kinda sucked lost some big money on it. send me a winner tonight will ya.
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Paul we don’t need your kind here. Either shut up or be more respectful. Both free picks won yesterday you jerk! Jack don’t listen to this chump!
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I’ll play this hockey gm for a small amount
But in pro bball I like my Spurs to go into Detriot n win. They r +1 but I feel after giving up a tough lost on tue at NY POP will have these guys ready to play a much better team.
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panthers getting beat at home agianst the blackhawks?not happening
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I think it’s a tough pick for blackhawks. They’re on road and not easy can beat the home team. It’s a 50/50 chance I think. Good luck Jack!
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hey all, i’m going big tonight in the pac-10, i think there’s some real value in stanford -3.5 and USC -6.5. I was told the over on the minnesota wild at 5 is a good play, too. We’ll see – good luck!!
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great call last night cant go aganist u tonight
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Jack, you’re on a serious hot streak. Blackhawks for sure.
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YES! Blackhawks are my sleeper team this year and are playing well, even on the road!
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CAN NOT AGREE CHICAGO BEEN ON THE ROAD FLORIDA 3 GAME AT HOME WITH LOW ODDS FAVOR HOME TEAM LIKE FLORIDA
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Will take the blackhawks straight up; i think this will be closer than perceived
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have started to watch hockey since getting hd. much better now! will try a small play on chi and see how it goes. thanks for the freebie last night jack!
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I had you great hockey pick Blackhawks rock!! Even with Sharp out i knew they would win
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Hard to pick charlotte over the magic… Orlando is probably the third best team in the east and maybe the fourth best in the nba. I understand your ogic here, Larry Brown has got the bobcats playing solid basketball and perhaps the lack of a true point guard for the magic bodes well for a bobcat victory. However, the bottom line is that there are just too many intangibles in this game for a solid play.
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time for a little payback, bobcats get the job done tonite keep rolling along j.j.
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I agree with the pick of Charlotte here. Charlotte has looked very good of late, especially at home where they are 8-2 in their last 10. Orlando does not look like the same team that started out the season on a tear. Losing Nelson was a big blow. In the game on Tuesday, Orlando needed a late 3 to force overtime, at home. I like Charlotte at home in this spot.
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I hate to bet against Orlando but I do feel like they don’t have the same game they used to. Charlotte has been surprisingly playing well. I’m on the fence leaning towards charlotte!
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I went one step further and took the blackhawks -1.5 and won nicely. I knew nothing about Troy but went with it anyway. Oops.
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I believe that with Gerald Wallace back in the lineup, I would have to agree the Bobcats being at home and getting points is to easy to pass up. Great pick for the free side, because I feel this is a great choice. With Charlotte playing well at home recently, and with Orlando not playing well overall, how can you pick otherwise.
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I agree on Charolette plus the points tonight as well as bobcats have been doing well at home lately and are looking for revenge on Orlando
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You have been super hot for me with the FREE picks going 5-0 since I been receiving them. BUT NBA is the ONLY free picks that are below .500. Orlando will bounce back from their 32 point loss to the Hornets. Charlotte gets their 5 game cover streak squashed tonight as the Magic plasy with purpose tonight and win by Double Digits. Good luck or pick but I don’t think they continue tonight.
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Good luck with this one. Can’t really make a solid pick either way i feel.
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JJ I was leaning this way so it looks good to me but it is hard to go against Orl. regardless of who or where they are playing.Hop you are right here and we hit. Good Luck.
Thanks to all those that wrote in the forum yesterday.
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I agree with your pick for the night because I think the Bobcats are underrated, especially at home and because the magic are definitely hurting after they lost nelson.
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i agree on this choice
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Sorry mr. Jones I have to disagree with you I am going with magic no reason to think they can’t keep beating this team. Until they can prove otherwise I am on the magic as far as my game I am taking magic and the thunder!!!
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ALWAYS A GOOD PLAY HOME DOG
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No NBA opinion but two small notions on NCAAB, two bets who seem a little incorrectly priced when accounting for fairly good conference record evidence, when the rankings would only slightly indicate this side.
I recommend
Princeton (-5) over Harvard – a clincher for this is that late fouls if our guys have a small lead only might allow a free throw or two to cross the number.
Columbia (money line, 6/4) to beat Brown.
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Jack I have went with you 4 times on your premium picks and I am 0-4. We need this one tonight!! I am taking Orlando though tonight.
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Keith Dix Reply:
February 20th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
I want go with orlando also and think i will but i hope he isnt right on this one as soon as we go against the grain….
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Charlotte is a much better team than people give them credit for being. I like the Bobcats to win outright tonight.
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I personally like Orlando tonight, not sure which way to go on this one…
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I belive macig preveil in this one only becaus last game magic got blown out and Howard had awful game, lots of critisim look for Howard to have big game with recelnly added Alston to the starting line up today but could go either way taking Magic, and Cleveland over Mil. Mil being playing well with out redd and bogut but James too much i like CLevland 2 cover
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I like orlando for tonight game, but the hockey pick yesterday was awesome
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Apparently others agree with you; the spread is already down to 2 on my site…
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The free hockey pick yesterday rocked. I fully agreed with you, and won big. But tonight is a different story. I’m leaning strongly towards Orlando covering, and big.
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I like the pick let’s go!
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Sorry taking Magic tonight….GL
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Charlotte will win this game!!!
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Jack, the NBA’s usually screw me but I gave it a try. Only wound up with a bucket and a half. Hope the hook don’t matter. good luck
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nba hasn’t done me right so far this year, going to stick with college hoops. thanks anyway!
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