Good morning to you beautiful people out there in DFS land! You have managed to find yourself in a great spot here at DFS Army. I look forward to providing you with analysis and picks throughout this 2018-2019 CBB season! Remember, if I mention a player as a cash game play they most likely are OK for GPP play. Let’s take a look at what games are on the slate for DraftKings and Fanduel. The KenPom score projections are in parenthesis.
Pittsburgh (69) vs Boston College (68)
St Marys (69) vs Gonzaga (81)
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PITTSBURGH vs BOSTON COLLEGE
Pittsburgh is going to put up a ton of threes in this spot. While I prefer to find ways to attack BC in the post, they aren’t all that great at stopping teams from putting up threes. With that said, my favorite PITT play is Wilson-Frame. He is going to put up a bunch of threes. Johnson is definitely in play as the one that will put up the most shots overall. I like McGowens as a sneaky GPP play as he has been really bad since he went for 50+ in a two of a three-game stretch. Chukwuka is a play that I really like for GPPs if he is starting again over Brown. Toney and N’Dir have been rotating minutes at this point, so I do not have a desire to use either player.
BC is a mess with injuries right now so a ton is up in the air. The only thing not up in the air is the fact that Bowman is a top tier play in this spot. The injuries that we are waiting for word on are, Popovic, Jared Hamilton, Tabbs, and Jairus Hamilton. It sounds like Tabbs is going to be out and that there is a good chance that Jared Hamilton is out as well. From what I have read, Popovic practiced with the starters yesterday and should be on the court. The Jairus Hamilton injury caught me off guard in my research so we need to find out his status ahead of time because I think he is a GPP play in this one. I really like Mitchell and Chatman in this spot as Mitchell is going to be a way to attack the interior of Pittsburgh, while Chatman is going to put up a bunch of threes. If a guy like Herren is in the starting lineup he is usable as a GPP play.
Preferred Plays: Wilson-Frame, Chukwuka, Bowman, S.Mitchell
ST MARYS vs GONZAGA
I do not see a ton to like for St Marys in this game and that worries me, to be honest. Jordan Ford is their best player but could struggle, much as he did in the two regular-season contests. Gonzaga forced Pepperdine’s best player, Ross, into a ton of turnovers and I could see that happening tonight. With that said, he is going to need to have a really good game if they want to pull off the major upset. Fitts is a guy that I have interest in but its a bit worrisome given the match-up. I used Hunter earlier in the season and he makes sense to get St Marys exposure here but, again, he worries me. With Krebs and Kuhse, I much prefer Kuhse and will probably have a decent amount because of how it will make my lineup work tonight. Tass can be used as a GPP dart throw.
The spot for Gonzaga is a slight downgrade from their spot last night. With that being said, its all about two-point shooting against St Marys as they really push teams off of the three-point line. So again, we are on Clarke and Hachimura. I continue to rank Clarke higher as his rebounding and blocked shots offer us a solid floor. I think this is a spot that I am going to fade Norvell Jr and hope he just lives around the perimeter. I will again rely on Perkins in cash as I think he needs to be priced over $7K. Tillie returned last night and looked really good so he is definitely in play for GPPs. Crandall and Kispert are both in play, especially if they help you fit the top tier guys in.
Preferred Plays: Kuhse, Clarke, Perkins, Crandall
DK SHOWDOWN SLATE: ST MARYS vs GONZAGA
This game has me believing we have to choose either Clarke or Hachimura as the Captain. I know above I said I would be fading Norvell Jr but for this showdown, he may be the differentiator in the Captain spot if he gets hot from the field. I just prefer one of the guys that are going to contribute across the board. If I was going to use any St Marys player in the Captain spot it would be somebody like Fitts or Hunter. The both offer multi-category upside but I just do not see the need to use a St Marys player in that spot unless you think Gonzaga is a bit flat and the game isn’t as high scoring as projected.
Make sure you tune in to the slack channel to get my updates as news comes out! We will be discussing CBB all afternoon and evening long. I will be updating my Coaches-Notes throughout the day and we will discuss what injuries we need to monitor and what they mean to our construction. I will also be posting my cores for each site in slack!