CBB Grind Down: Saturday, January 24th
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, January 24th
Today we get the first large tournament of the college basketball season in the January Jam. It is a $5,000 first place prize for only $100, and at the writing of this only has about 100 spots left. There is a really good chance that it ends up filling, so read on and then go throw in your entry. I am going to be focusing more on tournament plays in this article and guys with upside.
I should have the injury hub updated around 11 a.m. and will tweet out any surprise news as it gets close to lock. Let’s get this tournament filled so DraftKings has the moxie to run more huge ones.
Wake Forest at Clemson
Wake Forest | Clemson | |||||||
Vegas Total | 127 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 11.60 | Vegas Total | 127 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 4.89 | |
Vegas Sprd | 3 | Paint Pts/Gm | 33.80 | Vegas Sprd | -3 | Paint Pts/Gm | 31.11 | |
Team Proj. | 62 | Opponent TOs/GM | 12.89 | Team Proj. | 65 | Opponent TOs/GM | 15.30 | |
Ast/TO Ratio | 87% | Field Goal % | 42.70% | Ast/TO Ratio | 85% | Field Goal % | 44.70% |
Wake Forest
None – There is a large slate today, and I am not seeing any real value here on either site frankly for the Wake Forest guys. Clemson is a slow, solid defensive team at home and I could see Wake struggling across the board here in a game that Clemson is favored to win. You could argue for Codi Miller-McIntyre because of his ability to impact the game across the board, but I think his upside is extremely limited and he is going to be hard pressed to make value in a 60-possession game. His price is more expensive than it has been recently, so I am off him today.
Clemson
Jaron Blossomgame – I hope people are off Blossomgame after his dud against Florida State. All Blossomgame has done is produce this year, and he is one of the most consistent options every time out. Wake Forest is an uptempo team with a horrible interior, and I can see a lot of offensive and defensive rebounds for Jaron. He should be able to score at will and Clemson has one of their higher over/unders of the year here. Blossomgame’s price on FanDuel is an absolute steal at $6,900, and I am going to have him in everywhere on FD.
Donte Grantham – Grantham is cheap across the industry today and gets a great matchup with the up-tempo Demon Deacons. Grantham does a lot of work outside which scares me because you attack Wake Forest in the paint but he is a decent size and has rebounding ability. Blossomgame is my number one target on Clemson, but if you want to swerve a bit I could see going the cheaper route with Grantham as we know he is going to play 35 minutes without foul trouble.
Oklahoma State at Kansas State
Oklahoma State | Kansas State | |||||||
Vegas Total | 122 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 12.56 | Vegas Total | 122 | Fast Break Pts/Gm | 6.90 | |
Vegas Sprd | -2 | Paint Pts/Gm | 27.11 | Vegas Sprd | 2 | Paint Pts/Gm | 27.00 | |
Team Proj. | 62 | Opponent TOs/GM | 14.80 | Team Proj. | 60 | Opponent TOs/GM | 12.67 | |
Ast/TO Ratio | 99% | Field Goal % | 46.90% | Ast/TO Ratio | 99% | Field Goal % | 47.00% |
Oklahoma State
Anthony Hickey Jr – Almost a lock to be extremely low owned today, Hickey brings you the 35-point upside that you need for a $6,000 price player to win a tournament. He does have a ten-point disappointment potential here, but with his ability to make the three, and with Forte and Nash scoring buckets from three and from the long two, assists are always in his wheelhouse. I could see his upside being somewhere near a 15-point, 10-assist double-double, however this is not a great matchup and that potential is rare. Hickey is obviously a tournament-only play, and is a risky one.
Kansas State
Marcus Foster – Foster’s price is still extremely affordable and with the amount of shots that he takes, his upside is around 40 points here. This is not a great game to target, but with Foster being under $7,000 still and now playing almost the entire game, I still think he is a viable option. He may be decently owned however so you might want to look elsewhere, like the next guy.
Nino Williams – Coming in at $1,000 less than Foster and potentially less owned here, Williams brings some of the same upside that Foster does. His downside is greater, but that is what we get for the lower price. Williams takes the second-most shots on Kansas State and is actually their top defensive rebounder at 6’5”. This is not going to be a high scoring game, but Williams has been great in the last two.
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