CBB Grind Down: Saturday, February 21st
Glean insight from one of the game’s best, Varncass, as he lists picks he’ll actually be targeting in his tournament games below, along with detailed analysis and reasoning.
Saturday, February 21st
Welcome to Saturday! One of the last regular season Saturdays of the year is here, and it should be a good one. There are not a lot of great value plays on this slate, so finding the right ones is going to be the key. There are a few teams that you can just ignore and some other ones that you are going to want to target. Like every other Saturday, I will post the late games as soon as the early games tip to give you the rest of the day’s picks at that time.
Georgia Tech at North Carolina
| Georgia Tech | North Carolina | |||||||
| Vegas Total | 141 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 7.22 | Vegas Total | 141 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 8.30 | |
| Vegas Sprd | 11 | Paint Pts/Gm | 26.89 | Vegas Sprd | -11 | Paint Pts/Gm | 31.60 | |
| Team Proj. | 65 | Opponent TOs/GM | 13.30 | Team Proj. | 76 | Opponent TOs/GM | 13.67 | |
| Ast/TO Ratio | 85% | Field Goal % | 43.90% | Ast/TO Ratio | 130% | Field Goal % | 45.30% | |
Georgia Tech
None – I tried to find solid value on this team and I really cannot. Georges-Hunt is most likely going to do a lot of the scoring work and should be considered, but I do not love his price at $7,800. Mitchell is a risk and no one else gets consistent minutes or produces consistently even, in an uptempo matchup. This just is not my favorite spot here and even without Chris Bolden, it really does not open up much. Because Georgia Tech is such a terrible shooting team from the outside, none of the guards get consistent work.
North Carolina
Brice Johnson ($7,900) – Johnson was great against Duke and I would expect the same here against Georgia Tech. UNC comes home with a good over/under and gets to face the Georgia Tech defense who is decent but really struggles stopping guys in the paint. Most of Georgia Tech’s post players are big and immobile and Johnson is just the type of player who is long, athletic and moves quickly to abuse their posts on the defensive end. Tokoto’s price has jumped, Paige is nearly as expensive as Johnson, and I think if Johnson stays out of foul trouble he is the way to go here.
Pittsburgh at Syracuse
| Pittsburgh | Syracuse | |||||||
| Vegas Total | 134 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 7.33 | Vegas Total | 134 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 9.00 | |
| Vegas Sprd | 6 | Paint Pts/Gm | 19.33 | Vegas Sprd | -6 | Paint Pts/Gm | 33.33 | |
| Team Proj. | 64 | Opponent TOs/GM | 13.56 | Team Proj. | 70 | Opponent TOs/GM | 11.44 | |
| Ast/TO Ratio | 142% | Field Goal % | 44.60% | Ast/TO Ratio | 111% | Field Goal % | 44.10% | |
Pittsburgh
Cameron Wright ($5,800) – I was excited to get to see Wright go up against Syracuse in the last game, but he only ended up playing 4 minutes and did not have an impact after getting injured. He is back and healthy now and should be a solid play today against the Syracuse zone. Artis makes a great play, as well, as he can shoot it from outside, but where is the fun in using all of the high price guys? Wright is priced just below where I think he should be, and I would rather have him over Jeter today as I could see him taking 15 shots and picking up a few garbage stats along the way.
Syracuse
Rakeem Christmas ($9,900) – Christmas is such a beast on FanDuel that it is not even funny. He has some of the best combined block and steal upside, and for $9,900 you get a guy who regularly goes over 40 fantasy points. Christmas was awesome in the last game against Pittsburgh, and is going to want revenge as the Orange lost that one and these games are his last opportunities to impress the NBA scouts watching him. Christmas is my top play on the board despite the slow tempo that Pittsburgh plays as when he wants to dominate a game, he takes it to the team and crushes them.
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