By Lenn Robbins
Growing up in New York, two of the state’s lottery ad slogans continue to haunt me.
One was “Lenny the Loser,” a guy who never put money down and watched his friends win. With the first name of Lenn, I took a lot of grief over Lenny the Loser. The other was, “You gotta be in in to win it,” a mantra I carry with me.
Here at BetBasics.com, our goal is to help reward those of you who are in it to win it, and spare you the days of feeling like Lenny the Loser. Here begins the first weekly “Lenny the Loser” column.
By Lenn Robbins
There’s a certain type of NBA player I’m drawn to, the kind of guy you want by your side if walking down an alley in the sketch part of town at night:
Captained by Kevin Garnett, my man during our time together with the Brooklyn Nets, the list includes:
Kyle Lowry. Marcus Smart. Russell Westbrook. Jimmy Butler. Patrick Beverley. P.J. Tucker. Jae Crowder. Montrezl Harrell.
And Draymond Green.
Scratch Green. He’s gone from OG to Oy No. All he does these days is run his mouth. And cost me money. Oy, has Green been costing me money.
I had a nice little bankroll going and decided to put some cabbage down on a Golden State parlay in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. It consisted of the Warriors money line, Jordan Poole to score more than 13.5 points and Green to grab more than 8.5 boards.
Lenny the Loser no more, right? Wrong.
The Warriors won – check.
Poole pumped in 17 points – check.
Draymond? Draymond had five rebounds – bust.
Let’s put this in context. Steph Curry, at 6-foot-2, had five boards in 32 minutes. Nemanja Bjelica had five rebounds in only 11 minutes. The 6-foot-6 Green played 36.
Instead of taking my lovely wife to a magnificent dinner, we ordered in from Five Guys burgers. Fine burger, don’t get me wrong. But it’s hard to enjoy your meal when you’re getting the hairy eyeball from across the table.
In fact, I think I saw her mutter, “Putz.”
Fast forward to Game 3 in Boston. This was when the Warriors needed their warrior to step up – a swing game on the road. This was Draymond Jamal Green Sr.’s night to walk the walk. Senior played like junior.
Green talked the talk. And talked. And, not much else.
He fouled out, finishing with as many rebounds, and points, combined, six, as fouls. He had as many turnovers as points – two!
My parlay was Jayson Tatum (26 points) and Jaylen Green (27) to each score more than 25 points, Green to have more than five assists and the Celtics moneyline. The Celtics won, 116-100. Tatum (26 points) and Green (27) balled out. Green fouled with three assists.
By Game 4, a Warriors 107-97 win, coach Steve Kerr had seen (and heard) enough of Green’s nonsense. He benched him for nearly four minutes in the fourth quarter. Green did finish with nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals but he scored just two points (again!) on 1-of-7 shooting.
Now that Kerr has shown he’ll bench Green at any time, Lenny the Loser learned not to include the power forward in any parlays. Game 5 is Monday night in Golden State. We’re in with Marcus Smart (15.5 points/over) Andrew Wiggins (6.5 rebounds/over) and Warriors moneyline.
Burgers and fries won’t cut a second time, but we at BetBasics.com believe you’ve got to be in it to win it. Did she really mutter, “Putz?”