Basketball Picks

How Do We Make Our Basketball Picks?

You might be thinking right about now, “There are thousands of people online making NBA and college basketball betting picks, what makes you any better?”

We get it. Doing your due diligence before taking betting advice from anyone is just common sense. Luckily, our group of betting experts live and breathe basketball, so they can consistently bring you the best NBA betting picks and March Madness bets.

Need further convincing? Learn more about how we make our basketball picks below.

Extensive Day-to-Day Knowledge

Like a carpenter building a home, a good sports handicapper starts with a solid foundation. Our experts know NBA and college basketball inside and out, keeping up to date with everything from the latest beef to the smallest injury that could sway the outcome of a game.

When it comes to sports betting, you can never have enough context, because you never know what piece of information a sportsbook might have overlooked when setting the lines.

By following Overtime Heroics college basketball expert picks and NBA consensus picks, you can rest easy knowing our handicappers have encyclopedic hoops knowledge at their disposal.

Mastery of Analytics

At its core, sports betting has always been a game of numbers. That’s why our handicappers combine their general basketball knowledge with an analytical mindset to create a concoction of incredible profits.

Things like offensive rebound rate, FG at the rim, and free throw rate are often overlooked by betting experts. But numbers like these can often be the deciding factors between a win or loss. We don’t just look at the flashy stats, we dive deep into all the numbers that affect the outcome.

A Historical Lens

The best betting experts know their history, and we’re not talking about George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Knowing the historical likelihood of an event occurring is a great way to get a leg up on a sportsbook that might be setting lines based on reputation.

Our handicappers delve into the records to find scenarios where teams are over or undervalued based on historical precedent.

Whether it’s a popular March Madness upset pick that past years would say doesn’t stand a chance, or an NBA playoff underdog with the perfect underlying numbers to make some noise, our historical expertise helps us strike gold where others don’t.

Keeping an Eye on the Schedule

With 1,230 regular season games and more in the playoffs, keeping track of the NBA schedule can be a lot for the average fan, and that’s not counting the chaos of college basketball. Our betting experts keep a watchful eye on the schedule to find slight advantages so you don’t have to.

We look for good teams with scheduling vulnerabilities, such as the second night of a back-to-back matchup, or going up against a weaker opponent after a tough rivalry game. Opportunities like this put our NBA parlays and NCAA predictions a step above the rest.

Basketball Betting Tips

Following our expert picks might be profitable, but we understand that a lot of the fun of sports betting comes from making your own picks. Testing your best NBA picks against the consensus can be a great time, and it’ll be even better if you make informed and knowledgeable decisions.

Below are a few helpful tips from us to make you a better basketball odds bettor:

Look at Past Matchups

Live in the now might be a popular saying, but that won’t get you anywhere as a sports bettor. Making the right picks is all about getting as much information as possible from past results.

The best NBA parlays don’t just look at what’s going on today, they take into consideration previous games between teams, how certain players perform against specific matchups, and recent form.

By taking the time to look at a team’s recent games, you’ll uncover a lot of helpful information.

Dive Into the Numbers

Just like our experts, an important part of making informed basketball bets yourself is checking the numbers. A team could look vastly outmatched at first glance, but looking under the hood at some underlying stats might uncover a closer game than even the sportsbooks realized.

This is especially important when building parlays around player props. With such fine margins, the difference between a win and a loss can come from something as small as an opponent’s defensive rebounding percentage or how often they foul.

Analytics don’t offer a guaranteed victory, but they do provide a greater chance to pick up wins.

Research Ahead of Time

One of the perks of doing your research ahead of time is that you’ll be able to take advantage of earlier lines. While this does run the risk of player injuries, betting the overnight lines on NBA and college basketball games will often give you better odds than the closing ones.

This also works the other way around. Let’s say you have all the info on a particular game, but the lines just aren’t looking that great. If they change as things start to get more volatile right before game time, you’ll be ready to swoop in.

Watch for Load Management

This is advice exclusively for the NBA bettors out there. No matter how annoying it can be, load management is here to stay. But, as they say, when life gives you lemons, use them to make yourself a better sports bettor.

It’s not an exact science, but player load management usually follows a specific system that each team does a bit differently. When it comes to players like Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James, you should always have back-to-backs circled on your calendar.

Injury-prone or older stars are likely to rest one of those games and knowing that ahead of time means you can get some great odds before the inevitable news comes out.

Now go forth and bet on hoops!