2013 NBA All-Star Snubs

With the NBA All-Star game just around the corner it is always fun to talk about which players deserved to make the roster. First here is a list of who made the team in the East:


Eastern Conference

Carmelo Anthony
Lebron James
Kevin Garnett
Rajon Rondo (injured)
Dwayne Wade
Chris Bosh
Tyson Chandler
Luol Deng
Paul George
Jrue Holiday
Kyrie Irving
Joakim Noah


Eastern Conference Snubs:

Brook Lopez- I find it hard to believe that Lopez was left off the All Star team this year. He probably has the largest case in the East as he leads all centers in scoring at 18.6 points per game and he is averaging 2.1 blocks which ranks as 7th best in the NBA. His team is also having a great season and he is one of the main reasons why. The Nets look very fortunate to keep Brook Lopez in what may have been a disasterous trade for Dwight Howard, who is shockingly an All-Star in the West.

Greg Monroe- Monroe who is referred to as "Moose" in Detroit is having another workman like year on a bad team. Greg is averaging close to a double-double with 15.4 points and 9.1 rebounds and throw in 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals to boot. If guys like Kyrie Irving and Jrue Holiday can slide in playing for bad teams then Monroe should have been able to as well. Look for Monroe to make many All-Star games in the East for years to come.

Josh Smith- Josh is filling up the stat sheet every night for the Atlanta Hawks and he is clearly the guy running the show in Atlanta now that Joe Johnson is gone. His numbers are even better than Monroe's as he is averaging 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals. Smith is clearly an all around player but what hurts him is he settles for jump shots when playing tougher opponents.

Paul Pierce- Perhaps he can replace Rondo on the East roster but it is difficult to understand how Pierce doesn't make it in while Garnett does. Pierce is averaging 18.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. The fact that the Celtics are struggling this year is probably why Pierce doesn't make it but he is clearly still one of the best players in the Eastern Conference.


Now lets take a look at the West:

Western Conference

Kevin Durant
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Kobe Bryant
Chris Paul
LaMarcus Aldridge
Tim Duncan
James Harden
David Lee
Tony Parker
Zach Randolph
Russell Westbrook


Western Conference Snubs

Serge Ibaka- Serge has finally turned into an all around player instead of just a defensive specialist. His reputation as only a defensive player probably hurt his chances at making the All-Star team but this guy is averaging a respectable 14.0 points per game this year which is higher than Tyson Chandler in the East. OKC Thunder traded Harden in part so they could keep Ibaka and he is proving his worth on the court this year. Ibaka has a strong case to make the West All-Star team over a guy like Zach Randolph.

Stephen Curry- Steph probably has the strongest case to be made for being on the All-Star team in the West. Curry is leading the resurgence of the Golden State Warriors who currently sit as the 5 seed out West. Curry is averaging 20.9 points, which is second among point guards in the West, and he is averaging 6.6 assists. His three point shooting percentage is third in the league at over 45% and without him Golden State would not be in contention. I hope Curry finds a way onto the West's roster as he deserves it more than any other snub at this point. Stumpthespread

2012: A Sports Handicapping Year in Review

StumptheSpread.com enjoyed a highly successful and profitable year in 2012. Our expert handicappers locked in massive and steady profit throughout the entire year. StumptheSpread.com did not have one unprofitable month throughout the year of 2012. Looking deeper into our data set, we've only had three unprofitable months in our entire history. That is a statistic very few if any other sports handicapping professionals can state.

StumptheSpread.com profited 661.56 total units last year with many great achievements along the way. We had arguably the best MLB season of any professional handicappers. STS totaled 242.09 units of profit during the baseball season with a 57.3% winning percentage. You will not find a better record from any sports service which picks over 400 games and publishes their results on a daily basis.

We are excited about 2013 and look forward to continuing our streak of positive unit months. Try out our premium picks by purchasing a week of expert picks for just $40.

Handicapping NHL Stanley Cup Odds Post-Lockout

Hockey fans rejoice, the lockout is over! The lockout was a long one but our handicappers have not taken their eyes off the proverbial puck. We are geared up and ready to have a profitable accelerated NHL season. Hockey is one of the least bet on sports along with baseball. This means that bookies spend less time setting the lines and our systems penetrate the holes. Last season, our NHL winning percentage was an outstanding 76.5%. This is an unheard of winning percentage for handicapping any sport. Our expert handicappers are back with their lethal systems to lock in another winning season. StumptheSpread.com dominated the playoffs last year as well with a killer 84% winning percentage. While these numbers are going to be tough to obtain again, we will be working hard to secure solid numbers and keep you in the green.

The NHL season is slated to start on January 19th, 2013. Be on the cutting edge of our NHL systems by purchasing the Full Post-Lockout Special NHL Season including the playoffs for just $219.99. Or receive these hockey picks by purchasing a One Month All Sports Package or a One Month NHL Premium Package.

Handicapping potential champions is always challenging but there are certainly valuable spots when it comes to these long term projections. We'll offer two potential Stanley Cup values.

The St. Louis Blues were massively impacted by the first lockout of the last two decades. After making the playoffs for 20 straight seasons they were an abysmal team and failed to come close to a playoff appearance. The management of the St. Louis Blues and Doug Armstrong have made some incredible moves over the past years and have quietly positioned the Blues as a top tier NHL team again. The Blues are practically bringing back the entire squad from the successful campaign of last season while cutting the fat and adding some great talent. St. Louis made a significant playoff run last year and while there did not appear to be a hotter team going into the playoffs, star goalie Jaroslav Halak became injured and the Blues ran into the brick wall that was the Los Angeles Kings. St. Louis sported a two goalie system last season and while I was shocked initially when I heard they picked up Brian Elliot, he made a complete turn around and was an all-star goalie however I do think Halak's injury in the playoffs is what ultimately resulted in the Kings sweeping them. Both goalies will return with the Blues this season and there is not a better 1-2 punch in the league right now. Moving forward to the defense, Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk (possibly the two best young defensemen in the league) will be returning although there contracts are a bit of a mess right now, they will be signed. Another solid move the Blues made was getting rid of former 1st round draft pick of the Maple Leafs, Carlo Colaiacovo and moving up Ian Cole from the minors. Cole is the real deal and I am glad to see him take Carlo's spot. Carlo was a solid defensivemen but he had a knack for making terrible decisions in key spots in the game whether that be taking a dumb penalty or an errand pass. The Blues will benefit from his absence. St. Louis didn't make any big moves in free agency to pick up defensive talent because they have a solid group and know Petriangelo and Shattenkirk will deserve top dollar contracts. St. Louis was able to retain their core young offensive players including Tj Oshie, David Perron, Patrick Berglund, Ryan Reaves, and Chris Stewart. The Blues locked up young stars Oshie and Perron for 5 and 4 years respectively. This is a great group of guys with solid chemistry and minor league all star Jaden Swartz will be moved up to play with the big boys. The time he has spend in the minors should show that he is ready for the NHL and we look forward to seeing his contributions. Captain David Backes is also one of the most overlooked players in the NHL, his leadership is unmatched. The biggest offensive news the Blues have this offseason is bringing over 21 year old KHL all star Vladimir Tarasenko. Whether he will play this year or not is unseen but this is the missing piece for St. Louis. Tarasenko is a lethal scorer, putting up 99 points in the KHL over 175 games. Tarasenko is a top end weapon and is poised to be a superstar in the NHL. Coach Ken Hitchock will be coming back for two more years and that is huge news. He went 43-15-11 after taking over the Blues and completely changed the atmosphere and culture of the St. Louis franchise in a short amount of time. The Blues have a great foundation set and have built upon it tremendously. St. Louis has top end goalies, top end defense, and an explosive offense. They will be a force to be reckoned with in this short season and our systems predict them at 9/1 to win the Cup. Give them a shot at their current price of 16/1.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have had one of the busiest off seasons in the NHL with GM Steve Yzerman at the helm. He's added some key players including stiffening up the blue line with huge additions of Matt Carle and Sami Salo. Anders Lindback was selected in the first round and he has some great potential to be a starting goalie in the NHL. Yzerman also added some grit with forwards BJ Crombeen and Benoit Pouliot. The biggest question is how all these pieces will mesh with the accelerated schedule and much less practice time. For that question, I have Lightning coach Guy Boucher as an answer who is possibly one of the most cerebral and underrated coaches in the league. We all remember that hideous Philadelphia vs. Tampa Bay last year. Boucher will have this team ready to go and with a core of veterans like the Lightning have, they'll get their act together and put together a playoff run. Our systems have the Lightning projected at 15/1 which makes the current price of 28/1 a serious bargain.

Be on the look out for the rise of the Blues and Lightning this season. StumptheSpread is 24-10 +63 units in the L8 days and looking forward to dominating the ice.

San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Controversy: An Indepth Look

With the Rams coming to town this week, Jim Harbaugh has a very tough decision. He has to pick a quarterback to start against an improving and NFC West rival defense. This week seems to be more important to the 49ers franchise than one would think. They’re already sitting atop the NFC West and are heading straight towards the playoffs. This team needs to figure out which quarterback they want controlling their offense for the rest of the season. San Fran’s success in the future is going to be determined by Harbaugh’s decision.

Luckily for Harbaugh, he gets to choose from a pair of quarterbacks who have played exceptionally well this season. We’ll start with the guy who has had his best professional season in the NFL until a concussion sidelined him in week 10, Alex Smith. Before he was forced to leave the game, Smith was taking advantage of another season in Jim Harbaugh’s system. In 2012, Smith has thrown 13 touchdowns compared to 5 interceptions and completed 70% of his passes. In the past season and a half, Smith has tallied 30 touchdowns through the air, only 10 interceptions, and completed 64.2% of his passes. Those are very solid numbers in the 49ers offense, but that’s not all. It all comes down to winning and losing for quarterbacks. After a very shaky start to his career, one that includes 6 different offensive coordinators in his first 6 seasons, he has a regular season record of 19-5-1 over the past year and a half. Oh, and the former number one pick out of Utah led his team to the NFC championship game while throwing for 5 touchdowns, no interceptions, 495 yards, rushed for a score, and had a QB rating of 101.0 in two playoff games.

Smith has shown he’s more than capable of running the show with a good head coach looking after him. After all Harbaugh turned around Stanford’s football program in just 4 years, going 4-8 in his first season then finishing his tenure with a 12-1 record and an Orange bowl win. He also developed and groomed the number 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, quarterback Andrew Luck. For the past two years or so, Smith has finally been put in what looks like his best position to succeed… ever. He has done everything Harbaugh has asked and taught him. He’s finally taking care of the ball, making the right decisions and reads, and still improving after being in the league for 8 years. Then came what San Francisco fans are all too used to: another injury. Smith’s career has been put on hold multiple times, most notably when he missed the whole 2008 season with a shoulder injury. Smith went down week 10 with a concussion against the Rams and this is when the Colin Kaepernick era could have possibly started.

Kaepernick came into the game and didn’t have too bad of a day for a backup. He finished 11 for 17 with 117 yards through the air. He also added 8 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. The 25 year old has played very well since he stepped on the field in week 10. He’s been great as a starter especially against the Bears, who boast one of the best defenses in the league. He finished that game with a 133.1 quarterback rating, going for 243 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Along with a strong arm, Kaepernick is a mobile QB who can make things happen with his legs as he’s shown it with 4 rushing touchdowns this year. He stands at 6’4” and 230 pounds, prototypical quarterback size. And he’s been sitting on the bench, learning and waiting for his chance to take over.

Can you really hand the kid the starting job based off two and a half games? Probably not, so let’s take a look at his college numbers as it’s the only other production we can look at. This guy definitely showed he can play while starting all four years at Nevada. He was a dual threat quarterback rushing for over 1,100 yards three out of four seasons, adding 17, 16, and 20 rushing scores in those seasons. He threw for over 20 or more scores in 3 different seasons while never throwing more than 8 interceptions. The 49ers grabbed him in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL draft. They saw what most don’t know about: an intelligent, big and strong armed, athletic, and mobile playmaker. Kaepernick may be just what the 49ers have needed the past few years at quarterback and he’s doing his best to prove it.

It all comes back to Harbaugh though. How do you make this decision? After sticking with Smith instead of getting free agent Peyton Manning in the offseason, you feel as if the coach should go down that same road. Stick with Smith, the quarterback who had been playing good and doing enough to win. Smith has been cleared to play and is ready to take back his job. But you still have this 25 year old quarterback who has a bunch of potential and just like Smith, has benefited from Harbaugh’s system and coaching. It’d be a different story if this team had barely won with Smith out. But the truth is, Kaepernick dismantled arguably the best defense in the league and then when into the noisy superdome and took down Drew Brees and the Saints. There’s another truth though, Alex Smith was having himself a really good season. He wasn’t playing like the Smith from three plus years ago. All things considered I still see Kaepernick taking over within the next year or two, if not this coming Sunday. Harbaugh likes to go with the hot hand and he’s got the 49ers this far, but let’s face it, at least he doesn’t have to pick from Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow.

Expert Handicappers at StumptheSpread Total Huge Profits

The expert team of sports betting handicappers at StumptheSpread have been on a huge profit streak in the last two and a half months. We've been working overtime to continue to pile on positive units onto an already highly profitable year. In case you've missed out or have only been trailing our results page, we're going to lay down the hard numbers.

In the past 80 days, StumptheSpread.com has netted 234.14 units profit.

There is not a better group of sports handicappers on the planet. We do not achieve our numbers posting huge unit plays like some well known handicappers. Our results are 100% honest and accurate. If you've been trailing our results page, you'll notice we usually recommend five units per pick. We do have different unit systems, but our daily systems normally call for five units. When the numbers line up, we will use our varying unit systems. In terms of large unit plays, in the last 80 days we've only had 3 plays greater than 10 units, risking 12, 15, and 17 respectively. In these large unit plays we went 2-1 with a 12.36 unit profit. We are 10-3 L13 plays when the units risked are greater than 10. We grind away profit and premium members have benefited greatly.


StumptheSpread.com looks forward to continuing our domination of the sportsbooks into the New Year. Now is a great time to become a premium member and get the inside information you need to crush the bookies. We have put together 4 years of highly profitable sports picks and are eager to get 2013 under way. We'll be releasing our full year end statistics around the first week of the New Year.

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