Basketball Picks - August 25, 2009

Today, we are back on the WNBA floor with five premium picks, including two 4-unit plays.

WUNDERDOG 2009 RECENT RESULTS ($100/bet)
SPORT	WINS-LOSSES	%	NET
WNBA	81-69 last 150 picks	54%	+$870
MLB	179-117 last 296 picks	60%	+$15080
NBA	299-237 last 536 picks	56%	+$12460
NFL	72-44 last 116 picks	62%	+$7320
TOTAL			+$35730

Today's WNBA Basketball Picks:

Game: Detroit at Connecticut (7:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Connecticut -3.5 (-105) (risk 3 to win 2.9)

The Detroit Shock are a long way from where they finished a year ago, cutting down the nets and claiming a WNBA Championship. This team has battled injuries and a coaching change, but still sits at three games under .500, and on the outside looking in. The Connecticut Sun are 13-9 after a poor 1-3 start and are certainly hoping to make the playoffs, so this becomes a critical game for them at home. The Sun have really taken advantage of their home court as after an 0-2 start, they have rallied to go 10-2 here. The Shock have really struggled against the East, as they are just 4-13 ATS in their last 17, while a Sun's team with a couple days rest has not lost ATS in their last six. Connecticut is hot at home and has more to play for here, so I'll back them in this one.

The Connecticut Sun have a few things going for them I like here. They have been on a 10-2 run at home, and one of the two losses was at the hands of the Shock in OT. They will be poised, confident and ready to extact revenge on a Detroit team that is not the same quality of the group that won the WNBA Championship a year ago. The Sun have the playoffs in sight, while the Shock are just playing out the string - certainly a far cry from where they were a year ago. I'll go with Connecticut on the moneyline here.

This one is hard to make sense out of as Sacramento is one of the worst teams in the league, yet are rated even on the road against Atlanta if you take away the three point home court advantage. Sacramento has won all of four games on the road, but none against a team with a winning record. When they have played against teams with a winning record on the road, they have been 0-5 losing by an average of 11.8 points per game, and they have not come closer than eight points in any of them. I’m going with the Dream on the moneyline here as well.

The Atlanta Dream was the laughing stock of the WNBA in their first year, closing the season with just four wins. That has changed dramatically as they are currently tied for second with the Connecticut Sun with just eight to play, looking to shock the league by making the playoffs. They have taken advantage of their home court at 10-5 and 7-2 in their last nine. The Sacramento Monarch's season has long been over, and their trips east have just a win against last place New York to show for it. Although they have played better lately, they remain just 1-5-1 ATS against teams with a winning straight-up record. The Dream is still under the oddsmaker’s radar as they are 12-3 ATS in their last 15 games. This line makes no sense as the three point Atlanta spread says these teams are even on a neutral court? Far from it. I'll go with the Dream here.

Both of these teams have playoff aspirations. The Chicago Sky was not supposed to be in this position, and the LA Sparks were expected to be cruising into the playoffs, but have disappointed. The Sparks have played much better as they have won five in a row, but they also have won three of them by four points or less. They have really struggled against the teams they should be winning big against, as suggested by the 7.5 line here, but have only gone 11-24 ATS against teams with a losing record. The Sky has followed a straight-up loss with a 5-2 ATS mark in their last seven and has had very good success against the West, where they are 4-1 ATS in their last five. I like the points here and will back Chicago in this one.

Results: 2-3

WNBA Basketball Picks Resources:

• Check out 2009 WNBA pick season results here.
• Here we show our free basketball predictions.
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• View WNBA basketball ATS recprds here.

Check out the last five WNBA Basketball Picks Newsletters:

WNBA-Basketball-Picks-August-22-2009
The Detroit Shock has certainly been disappointing this season. After a WNBA Championship, they were expected to contend again. Injuries took their toll early on this team as they got out of the gate ...

WNBA-Basketball-Picks-August-21-2009
The LA Sparks have had a very disappointing season. They were supposed to be in the hunt for the WNBA Title, but won't be in the playoffs. They have been very poor on the road, where they have won...

WNBA-Basketball-Picks-August-20-2009
You don't have to look too far to see why this Sacramento team has struggled this season. They have had trouble on offense as they have been held to the 60s or less on nine occasions already this ...

WNBA-Basketball-Picks-August-19-2009
There were high hopes in LA that this Sparks team would be hanging a WNBA Championship banner at the conclusion of the season, but those thoughts are long gone. It has been disappointing to say the le...

WNBA-Basketball-Picks-August-18-2009
The Seattle Storm has dropped six straight games ATS, but remain a top team in the league. I expect them to bring their "A" game to Detroit tonight as they will be out to revenge a three-poi...