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07/23/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Paul is looking to follow in the footsteps of his good friend LeBron James and form his own trio of star players in the hopes of winning an NBA championship. The Hornets' talented point guard reportedly has told the club he wants to be traded and has given a wish list of four teams to which he'd like to be dealt. The Knicks top that list with the Magic being his second choice, followed by the Mavericks and Trailblazers.
I can't blame Paul for wanting to leave New Orleans to pursue a title, but he'll have a much more difficult time putting himself in the kind of position LeBron did in Miami since he's not a free agent like James was. In all likelihood, the exchange of talent it would take to acquire Paul would leave that team with a very weak supporting cast, and some clubs may not even have the players it will take to make the deal. Let's take a look at what the four teams face that are on Paul's wish list.
KNICKS: Paul would join Amar'e Stoudemire in New York, but that's where the good news would begin and end. A trade for Paul would leave the rest of the roster, which isn't very good at this point, even worse. The Big Apple may be his first choice, but I say it would be his worst choice if he hopes to win an NBA Championship.
MAGIC: I'm sure Dwight Howard would love to have Paul join him in Orlando and give him the chance to play with a point guard that actually makes other players better. But I have to wonder if the Magic have the pieces to pull off this deal. Other than Jameer Nelson, I don't see any other players that would be attractive to the Hornets. Even if the Magic were able to acquire Paul, they'd still be a long way from competing with the likes of the Lakers and Heat. After the Big Two of Howard and Paul, you're left with a supporting cast that's weaker than last year's that failed so badly in the playoffs.
MAVERICKS: The combination of Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki has produced some very good teams in Dallas, but zero NBA championships. Even though Paul would be a significant upgrade over the aging Kidd, it wouldn't be nearly enough to make Dallas serious title contenders.
TRAIL BLAZERS: Of the four teams reportedly on Paul's wish list, Portland has the best talent to make the deal, but once again would probably be left with a roster that wouldn't be in a position to contend for a championship.
QUICK DRIBBLES
It's a free agent signing that won't get much attention, but the Lakers made a terrific move with the addition of Matt Barnes. He's an excellent defender who can also knock down the open jump shot, and there should be plenty of those available playing with Kobe and Gasol.
The Heat re-signed free agent point guard Carlos Arroyo. "By re-signing Carlos, we feel we have accomplished another big step in adding to this team," Heat president Pat Riley said." A big step? I didn't realize bringing back a player that averaged 6.1 points and 3.1 assists in 22 minutes would elicit such a reaction.
Former Knicks guard Allan Houston reportedly is the front-runner to be the club's next general manager under team president Donnie Walsh. I guess owner James Dolan wants the Knicks to continue to be irrelevant by hiring a GM with no experience or track record.
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Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Patterson's two-run double in the 13th
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Cardinals go with winless starter Suppan in Chicago >>
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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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