Posts tagged with “zack cimini”

FREE PLAY NBA SUMMER LEAGUE: KINGS VS BOBCATS

Sunday, 13 July, 2014

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At 3PM in Las Vegas one of the many Sunday games in action comes in the Sacramento Kings vs Charlotte Bobcats. Totals are awfully tough in any instance. I’m one to play a total 25% of the time (1 out of every 4 handicapped plays). Today I have a five game board and plays can be purchased in the today’s picks section.

For this free play I’m going to harken back to how these teams played in the regular season. You’re likely thinking why is he comparing a completely different looking regular season roster versus a summer league. Well, if you look at the Kings roster it is filled with some of their main components of the regular season. Players such as Ray McCallum, Ben McLemore, and Derrick Williams. McLemore and McCallum were the Kings starting backcourt for a solid month and a half when Isiah Thomas was out with injury.

In addition to that nucleus of players the Kings have first round pick Nik Stauskas. I do not expect these four players from the Kings to play the high amount of minutes they did in game one of the summer league. With that in mind, you’d have to expect their minutes to leave a lot to be desired on the court. Poor shot selection in the summer league is awful for totals. Ten minute quarters truly do go be quickly. A stretch of four misses in a row and seven out of ten empty possessions could erase a quarter.

That doesn’t bode well for a total set at 157.5. Charlotte is set as favorites at 3.5 points for a reason. They’re a defensive laden NBA summer league team. They aren’t going to score a ton of points.

Expect both teams to shoot poor and for this game to fall well below 157.5.

MLB FREE PLAY YANKEES VS INDIANS

Wednesday, 9 July, 2014

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The Yankees are struggling to produce runs as of late. Pitching has been erratic for them. By swapping Nuno for Brandon McCarthy the Yankees hope to find the veteran ace that CC Sabathia was supposed to be.

At this stage of the season the Yankees look like a tired old baseball team. The usual reliability of Tanaka came to another blow yesterday. Cleveland jumped on top of several of his pitches for two home runs.

Cleveland is one of those teams that gets hot and cold unlike any other team in baseball. They’ve had a couple of different winning and losing streaks to showcase this.

Josh Tomlin heads to the mound today for the Indians and should find success against the struggling Yankees. In his last three starts he has had two poor performances and one outstanding against the Mariners. Due to his erratic play there is value on the Indians today. They opened around -114 and are now at -120.

Though Tomlin may give up a few runs, I think the Indians bats are confident after success against Tanaka. Tanaka had been 10-0 against teams he was facing for the first time. Breaking that streak has to be a boost of confidence to the Indians.

Take Cleveland to win again against the Yankees.

MLB MONDAY FREE PLAY: TAMPA BAY VS YANKEES

Monday, 30 June, 2014

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Today’s free play comes in the Tampa Bay vs New York. The Yankees are coming off a horrible Sunday night outing against Boston. Value on today’s game is set currently at -105 on both the Yankees and Rays.

Tampa Bay is coming off a great series against the Baltimore Orioles. They displayed some hitting for the first time in consecutive games that transferred into wins. Duplicating that will be the goal as Chris Archer takes the mound today. Archer has arguably been the best rotation pitcher for the Rays. Commanding complete control of games with a great fastball and long outings.

He had a solid month and a half on the mound before having a rough outing against Pittsburgh. His strikeout rate has not waned but he is starting to show a bit of inconsistency for walks and hits. The Yankees are not struggling hitting the ball and should be able to produce runs.

Those looking at Tampa Bay and expecting a replication of strong bats need to calm down. They’ve struggled all season. Now is the time to capitalize on value on the Yankees. Enjoy and good luck on today’s play.

TOP TEN DYNASTY LEAGUE QUARTERBACKS

Wednesday, 25 June, 2014

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Dynasty leagues continue to grow in popularity. Having the authority to retain players is the essence of being a general manager. Standard leagues owners can make mistakes and file for bankruptcy the following year—full clearance to redraft and disown their past mistakes. While in a dynasty league you would need to dig yourself out of mistakes by trying to grab young athletes.

Preparation for the future is also a must in a dynasty league. You may have a Tom Brady or elite veteran quarterback keeping you atop, but in a few years who is to say Brady is relevant still?

Here are the top ten dynasty league quarterbacks (QB’s in the league four years or less) for potential and upside.

1. Colin Kaepernick-
Kaepernick has the vote of confidence from the 49ers with his new contract. Unlike Mike Vick and other mobile quarterbacks of the past, Kaepernick has great size. He’ll be able to take the licks that other quarterbacks couldn’t. Look for Kaepernick’s progression to start to come to fruition in 2014.

2. Andrew Luck-
As Luck’s years progress he’ll lose the current mobility he uses to rank ahead of Kaepernick now. Where he’ll stay out in front of the rest of the league is with his arm and pocket presence. Indianapolis has always been great at keeping a steady group of consistent receivers.

3. Nick Foles-
Assuming Chip Kelly remains a coach in Philadelphia this pair should be a connection for awhile. Kelly’s offense showed last year it had no problem transitioning to the NFL. Counting on Foles to slump could appear for a mini stretch, but not enough to force him out of a top twelve fantasy quarterback.

4. RG3-
We may never see the RG3 from his rookie season. A second blownout knee just may be the dagger to that. He has the arm strength to be a flourishing passer. He just needs to convince Washington that.

5. Cam Newton-
Newton and the Panthers may have been the top team for blanketing their inefficiencies last season. Carolina won a bunch of games last year with ball control game plans. Sooner or later the team will need to find out if Newton can carry the team when needed.

6. Russ Wilson-
Wilson is who he is. I don’t think he’ll ever be a top tier fantasy quarterback. Similar to Eli Manning in his Super Bowl days, I’d expect Wilson to range between the ten to sixteen fantasy range.

7. Johnny Manziel-
The unknown is with Manziel. His maturation will be before our eyes in no time. Barring injury I fully expect him to rise to the occasion. He’ll continue to find a way to utilize his mobility and uncanniness to create on the run. It may take awhile for the Browns to be a playoff contender, but they’ll have new fans each and every week.

8. Ryan Tannehill
9. EJ Manuel
10. Teddy Bridgewater

WHAT VALUE DO SAINTS RB’S HAVE?

Monday, 23 June, 2014

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Perhaps no team in football has been as tortuous as the New Orleans Saints to figure out their stable of running backs. Pierre Thomas has had the highest prime value for the Saints. He went from a high carry back to an inordinate amount of carries. Last year his fantasy worthiness almost came exclusively out of the backfield.

The Saints have used a platoon of running backs intermittently that drives fantasy owners nuts. With Darren Sproles departed to the Eagles, it leaves the same backfield of players. Is the Saints backfield being overlooked from a fantasy standpoint because of this? Likely so.

It seems odd to think about, but Darren Sproles has been a main key to Brees career. Out in San Diego, Sproles played the lightning bolt to LT. When he became a free agent the Saints went after Sproles to replace Reggie Bush’s role. He filled it admirably.

Now who will Brees have to be his Reggie Bush or Darren Sproles?

Both guys were fantasy havens for PPR leagues and combined yards of rushing and receiving. It was a toss up between Sproles and Pierre Thomas for more effective fantasy running back. Neither lit the fantasy scoreboard on a weekly basis, but did just enough to be fantasy running back three or four.

Who is going to catch the out of the backfield receptions for the Saints? Sproles had over 70 catches for the Saints each of the last three seasons.

Based on the Saints current roster, you’d have to believe the Saints are planning on reducing Pierre Thomas’s carries some more. They dwindled quite a bit last year as he boosted his performance out of the backfield. Last year he caught 77 passes for over 500 yards. Before that career season he had over 40 catches just once in his eight year career. His yards per carry dipped to a career low of just 3.7 yards last season. This should be clear evidence that the Saints want to use Thomas as their Sproles/Bush 100 percent.

That leaves the big void of whom will be the Saints main tail back for rushing the football. Mark Ingram has been nothing short of a disappointment in his stint as a Saint. The former Heisman Trophy winner has struggled with injuries and consistency. One bright sign from Ingram was his finish to the 2013 season. He had two games in which he came close to 100 yards, including in a playoff victory over the Eagles. In the divisional round he did have a costly fumble against the Seahawks though.

The Saints other two running backs are Khiry Robinson and Travaris Cadet. Robinson had spots a year ago where he looked like he would overtake the main running back duties. It just never materialized and left fantasy owners regretful on taking a flyer on him.

Maybe that was a move warranted for this upcoming season. Robinson will likely have a fair amount of carries with Ingram. For now it’d be hard to rank one higher than the other. You’d expect the Saints to give Ingram every chance to gain the upper hand on the time split, but Ingram’s proven to drop the ball when given opportunities.

I’d still downgrade Ingram and have an asterisk on Cadet stealing some thunder from both. New Orleans has too many receptions and carries available to have fantasy eyes drifting. If you’re anti-Ingram take your shot in later rounds on Cadet or Robinson.

MLB MONDAY FREE PLAY

Monday, 23 June, 2014

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For Monday’s free play, we are going to take a look at game one of Miami vs Philadelphia. The Marlins are starting to show signs of fatigue with their bats and bullpen. Strong starts by their starters have been nullified by poor hitting and bullpen woes lately.

In the last two games against the Mets, Miami rested some of their regular starters to get new life in the lineup. It worked a bit as Miami scored five runs yesterday. It wasn’t enough to offset a poor outing from the starting pitcher in Anthony DeSciafani. A tired bullpen stood know chance and allowed four more runs—for a total of 11.

Philadelphia on the other hand, has finally found a groove with their batting order. They’re getting runs from all areas of their lineup. Suddenly they’re back in contention after no signs of hope a few weeks ago.

I’m not sure the Phillies can sustain the way they’re playing. This same lineup has been configured for multiple years, and is what it is.

But for the first game of this series the money is on the over. Nathan Eovaldi has had solid numbers but is being relied on to much by the Marlins staff. Trying to compensate for a poor bullpen has meant leaving in Eovaldi for seven innings a start.

Expect the Phillies to get an early run and a few later before Eovaldi exits. The way the Marlins bullpen is right now, they’re assured an additional run or two late.

With that said, I also expect the Marlins bats to get out of their week and a half long slump. Roberto Hernandez is the perfect pitcher for the Marlins swing for the fences type of lineup. He is inconsistent with his delivery. Facing a power lineup like the Marlins is a disaster waiting to happen for Hernandez.

This will be one of those high scoring affairs. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Miami have a four run inning.

Play the over today.