Joseph D'Amico
Tony George
Tony George, President and CEO of Midwest Sports Consultants and Sports Audio Shows, is one of the most consistent and most respected handicappers in the sports gaming world.
Jordan Haimowitz
Jordan is among the worlds best handicappers.
Mark Franco
Mark Franco helped start Vegas Insider in 1997 and worked under some of the most well respected handicappers in the Nation.
Bryan Leonard
Owner of Bryan Leonard Sports for the last 28 years.
TOP 10 NBA POWER RANKINGS WEEK by Tony Karpinski
1-San Antonio Spurs (38-7); The Spurs have been rock-solid all around, shooting well, hitting their free throws and rebounding. Even though a bad loss to Hornets, they are still the monsters in Midwest
2- Boston Celtics (33-10); Boston needs to make sure they keep the pace up in their games. Even on old legs (that seem to get younger?) they keep winning, with wins over Orlando and Utah. They still are tops in the East, wait til they get healthy, and get Kendrick Perkins and Jermaine O’Neal back on the court.
3- Orlando Magic (29-16); The Magic are a dangerous team to measure up with, they lead the NBA in 3-pointers made and attempted. They have alot of offensive players who can do a lot of things on the court, making them very tough to guard.
4- Miami Heat (31-13); Mike Miller has arrived in Miami; the 3-point specialist has now officially opened up his donation to the team. Shooting the rock from long range isn’t going to be an issue in South Beach either.
5- Los Angeles Lakers (32-13); The Lakers have gotten their strut back, averaging 104 /game over the last 9.
6- Atlanta Hawks (29-16); The team with potential seems to be seriously ready for the next step, showing poise and confidence on the court.
7- Chicago Bulls (31-14); The Chicago Bulls have had a difficult time putting away lesser opponents. Sometimes the energy level wasn’t there. To stay as a top contender they can’t play down versus the high end competition.
8- New Orleans Hornets (30-16); Quietly fought through a wicked stretch of the schedule, recently, beating Atlanta and San Antonio in that span. Rapidly, the Hornets seem bona fide again. They need to show some consistency, if they could only get fans to embrace this team.
9- Dallas Mavericks (28-15); Dirk delivers, always, even when shooting the pill poorly, he seems to help contribute somehow and someway, which makes the Mavs a threat on the court every night he is out there. Especially after struggling for so long while he was out.
10- Oklahoma City Thunder (28-16); Kevin Durant struggled this week, shooting badly all week long, nonetheless still putting up 21/gm, while the Thunder wrestled to a 1-2 run in that stretch.
Big Baller of the Week (BBW)
Blake Griffin (PF, Los Angeles Clippers) 28.8 points per game, 14.6 rebounds per game, 4.8 assists per game, 53% FG shooting for the week. His Clippers went 4-1, beating the Lakers, the Warriors and the T-Wolves, including his best game of the week vs the Pacers, hanging 47 on them while also grabbing 14 rebounds and shooting 19-24.
Top performers of the week
Scoring; Blake Griffin (PF, Los Angeles Clippers); 47 points in a 114-107 win vs Indiana.
Rebounding; J.J. Hickson (PF, Cleveland Cavaliers); 20 rebounds in 92-79 loss vs Chicago during the week.
Assists; John Wall, Steve Nash; 17 assists in their games during the week.
Steals; Nene Hilario, Rudy Fernandez; 5 steals in each of their respective games.
Blocks; Al Horford (PF, Atlanta Hawks); 7 blocks in the Hawks 100-98 win vs the Sacramento Kings.
X-factor- tri bomber of the week
Eric Gordon; (SG, Los Angeles Clippers) Gordon knocked down a red hot 55% of his threes he put up in the week. Knocking ‘em down from deep with precision shooting including a 7-11 three point marathon vs the Blazers, as he dropped 35 in the game.
