Sports Handicapper ASA's Picks & Predictions

ASA play on Philadelphia Flyers -120 vs. Nashville Predators, 7pm ET - The Flyers look like a new team under new head coach Shaw after Philly fired Tortorella last week. Philly was 1-10-1 SU in their last twelve games under Tortorella and had managed just 10 total goals in their previous six games. With Shaw the team atmosphere has changed dramatically, and it’s led to a 2-0 run with 13 goals. It could be a stretch, but mathematically the Flyers still have a shot at making the Wild Card. Nashville on the other hand has been officially eliminated from the Playoffs this season. The Predators are 2-7 SU their last nine games with a negative total goal differential of minus -9 total goals. The Preds lost center Colton Sissons on Saturday who is listed as doubtful tonight. Nashville is 4-17 as a road dog this season -1085, Philadelphia is rarely a home favorite, but they are 11-5 in that role +255. The Preds goaltender Juuse Saros is 18-28 this season with an average 2.89 goals against.

ASA play on OVER 235.5 Boston Celtics at Memphis Grizzlies, 7:30pm ET - The Grizzlies sit 5th in the Western Conference, a game behind the Lakers for 4th, yet fired their coach Tayler Jenkins last week. Interim coach Lisalo Tuomas has never been an NBA head coach, but has extensive European experience. His philosophy is to play fast. In the Grizzlies most recent game they produced 261 combined total points with the Lakers. They attempted 95 field goals in the game, slightly more than their season average of 93.4. Memphis is already the fastest paced team in the league at 103.85 with the 6th most efficient offense in the league at 1.182-points per possession. The Grizz average 55.6 points in the paint this season, 2nd most in the NBA. Boston comes into this game with the 2nd most efficient offense in the NBA at 1.208PPP. They attempt more 3’s per game at 48.3 than any other team in the league and make more at 17.9 per game. They have the 8th best 3PT% in the NBA at 37%. The best way to attack a solid Memphis defense is from beyond the arc. Memphis allows opponents to make 36.3% of their 3’s (16th) and give up the 25th most attempts and makes from Downtown. Both teams favor the OVER when playing non-conference games with a combined 35-20 record. When these teams met earlier this season they combined for 248 total points. Expect more of the same tonight.

#650 ASA PLAY ON Butler Pick'em over Utah, Monday at 3 PM ET - Our power ratings have Butler a few spots ahead of Utah and a 1 point favorite which is dead on with what the oddsmakers believe as well.  However, we think the Bulldogs hold some key advantages which will be the difference in this game.  First of all, Utah bad FT shooting team and in what is expected to be a tight game, that can play a huge factor.  The Utes make less than 64% of their FT’s on the season (357th out of 364 teams) and on top of that they won’t get their very often as Butler fouls very little.  Bulldog opponents have scored only 13.5% of their points from the FT line this season which is the 6th lowest mark in college basketball.  So when Utah gets there, they better take advantage and they’ve proven throughout the season they struggle at doing that.  Butler, on the other hand, hits just over 74% of their FT’s and they get there a decent amount with almost 21% of their points come from the charity stripe.  They should have a solid advantage from the FT line as well as from beyond the arc.  Both teams rely fairly heavily on making 3’s (114th and 115th in percentage of points from 3) but the Bulldogs are simply better at shooting it and defending it.  They rank 43rd in the country in 3 point FG% and 49th in the country in opponents 3 point FG%.  Utah ranks 234th and 174th respectively in those 2 key stats.  Neither team has been great when away from home but the Utes have been worse with only 1 road win (road or neutral) the entire season.  They shoot less than 40% overall away from home, less than 30% from 3 and average only 64 PPG while allowed 78 PPG.  Butler has 4 road/neutral site wins on the year and much more stable right now with long time solid head coach Thad Matta at the helm.  Utah, on the other hand, just hired a new head coach, Alex Jensen, but he is on the Dallas Mavs coach staff until the end of the season while this year’s interim and now soon to be leaving, head coach Josh Eilert will be coaching in this tourney.  We like Butler to win this one on Monday afternoon.