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Posted at 12:15 PM EST

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RHODE ISLAND +7 -110 over Arizona St

7:00 PM EST. This game also takes place on a neutral court. Rhode Island guard Fatts Russell confirmed early in the summer his intent to return to Kingston for one last rodeo. The Rams’ perimeter lightning bolt tried to parlay the momentum from a stellar junior campaign into the NBA Draft evaluation process, hoping to hear ‘stock-rising’ words of affirmation. Holes in his game remain but end-to-end, there isn’t a faster guard in the conference. His ability to change speed and direction on a dime is what makes him so dangerous.

Then there’s the twins. Makhi Mitchell and Makhel Mitchell, two immensely talented forwards from Maryland. Of the identical twin package, Makhi is the one who should do serious damage this year. A former top-70 recruit, Makhi played in Jalen Smith’s shadow last year at Maryland, but the starting center spot is his to lose this season. He’s a plus athlete with above average shot blocking potential and is a shockingly confident handler out in the open floor. Above all, he’s a versatile asset on both ends and an enabler to Rhode Island’s up-tempo brand of ball.

Truth be told, Fatts is the only known commodity on a roster littered with unknowns. The Rams have Fatts, they have the twins and they have Jermaine Harris and Antwan Walker, two physical enforcers who aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves. They could be a top-5 conference team or a bottom 5 team but we’re leaning to the former. Regardless, this team is tailor-made to fly all over the floor in David Cox’s NASCAR paced system. On Adam Finklestein’s podcast this summer, Cox talked about his plans to crank up the full-court pressure this year, citing the bolstered bench as a key reason why. That said, this wager is more about fading the Sun Devils.

Arizona State is ranked #18th in the country and while it remains to be seen whether or not that ranking is legit, one of our strategies to begin the season is to attack ranked teams that might not be legit and Arizona State is among the group that we’re not quite ready to trust as a ranked squad.

Arizona State is still coached by one Bobby Hurley and if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Hurley’s style during his regime, it’s that you better buckle the f*** up. Is that the type of style we want to get behind after such a long layoff? Probably not. Is that the type of style one wants to get caught spotting inflated points with in the first game of the year when sloppiness and turnovers figure to play a big part? Probably not.Arizona State’s basketball stock has been more volatile than a cryptocurrency stock, constantly oscillating between sizzling hot streaks and subzero cold spells. During the offseason, Arizona State basketball became a fixture on ESPN’s bottom line news ticker, as transfer announcements, NBA draft declarations and recruiting splashes continuously cracked last year’s roster foundation. This is a hyped up team that sports fans and bettors have become familiar with simply because of the constant sports news during the pandemic.

We’re constantly observing what the media is feeding the public and made a note back in the summer that ASU might be a good fade target to start the year because of all the attention. Don’t get us wrong, as ASU will be fun to watch and they have talent to be sure. However, the DNA of Sun Devils bears a striking resemblance to the 2017-18 squad. That group leaned on a high-octane perimeter unit, spearheaded by Tra Holder, Shannon Evans, a young Remy Martin and sharpshooter Kodi Justice. Hurley made a deal with the Devil to sacrifice size and physicality (adversely impacting the defense) for speed and shooting (significantly boosting the offense). The 2021 rendition will feature superior length at the 3 and 4 positions, but the blueprint for success is largely the same – that is, let those game-breaking guards unleash hell. Point being, this team will go as far as the offense carries it and that means they’re extremely vulnerable to big scoring runs, both for and against but it’s that interests us to a large degree when taking back points like this.

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