 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
New uniform suits WallaceBasketball Betting Lines10/02/2006 - DEERFIELD, Ill. (AP) -Ben Wallace took a quick glance at his new uniform and smiled. The new threads fit perfectly and the colors worked, too. ``It's a little different, but I will say I look good in red and white,'' he said. The Chicago Bulls think so, too. Wallace is in. Tyson Chandler is out. And the revised Bulls hope to build on last season's playoff appearance, their second straight. Expectations haven't been this high since the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen era. And the centerpiece of the optimism on the eve of the Bulls' first practice was Wallace, the low-post defender they signed away from Detroit for four years and $60 million to complement a young nucleus of guards and forwards. ``He's the type of big guy you love to have,'' guard Kirk Hinrich said Monday. ``He's a no-nonsense type guy. He gets down and dirty. He's hard-nosed. I think he fits perfectly with the mentality of this team.'' Wallace was fourth in the NBA last season in rebounding (11.3), ninth in blocks (2.2) and 10th in steals (1.78) - the only player among the top 10 in all three categories - while averaging 7.3 points. There are still questions, though. He just turned 32, and his tenure in Detroit had a rough ending, with reports that he did not get along with coach Flip Saunders and refused to enter a game. Still, he was a driving force as Detroit reached four straight Eastern Conference finals and won the NBA championship in 2004. He has never averaged in double figures since entering the league in 1996, and has shot just under 42 percent from the free throw line over his career. ``I've heard the criticisms of him,'' Bulls general manager John Paxson said. ``He's getting older, those types of things. I have a funny feeling that's going to motivate Ben Wallace in a big way for us.'' The positive vibe was a stark contrast to the atmosphere at the Bulls' practice facility one year earlier. A seething Paxson entered the gym that day, announced he had traded center Eddy Curry to New York and walked away about three minutes later without taking questions or saying who else was involved in the deal. The Bulls had insisted Curry submit to a DNA test to determine if he's susceptible to a potentially fatal heart condition before re-signing the restricted free agent. Curry, who had missed the final 13 games of the 2004-05 regular season and the playoffs, said it violated his privacy and refused. So there was a standoff. And, ultimately, a trade. The Bulls sent Curry, who had averaged 16.1 points, and Antonio Davis to New York for Tim Thomas, Michael Sweetney, Jermaine Jackson and, most importantly, a bundle of draft picks. That jarring move left the Bulls in a haze for much of the season, but they won 12 of the final 14 regular-season games to finish 41-41 and reach the playoffs. They threatened eventual champion Miami, before losing in six games. And a trade that seemed at first like a major blow for the Bulls turned out to be a windfall. They wound up with the No. 2 selection in this year's draft and the right to flip-flop first-rounders with New York in 2007 if they finish with a better record. In May, the Bulls used the Knicks' pick to select forward LaMarcus Aldridge, whom they immediately packaged to Portland for No. 4 pick Tyrus Thomas and defensive-minded forward Viktor Khryapa. The 6-foot-9 Thomas, who helped LSU reach the Final Four, was considered the best athlete in the draft. The Bulls acquired forward P.J. Brown from New Orleans for Chandler, who did not mesh with coach Scott Skiles, a week before signing Wallace in July. Although they held opponents to a league-low 42.6 percent from the field last season, the Bulls had a knack for collecting fouls. Adding Brown and Wallace should help, but they still lack a consistent scoring threat down low. Paxson shrugged that off, then came to Wallace's defense. ``There are a lot of different ways to play,'' he said. ``I've heard the remarks of teams playing four-on-five with Ben in there. I don't buy it. I think Ben takes offense to that, too, especially when he hears someone he played for say that about him. I'm not worried about the scoring issue. You win a lot of games by defending and rebounding, and we have the potential to be a very good defensive team as long as we don't foul like we did last year.'' Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< McClelland, Marsh, Hirschbeck, Davis to be crew chiefs in first round
NEW YORK (AP) -Tim McClelland, Randy Marsh, John Hirschbeck and Gerry Davis will serve as the umpire crew chiefs for the first round of the playoffs.McClelland will work the series between the Detroit Tigers and New York that starts Tuesday night at
<< Disgruntled NHL players ask court to remove union director
<< Tampa Bay QB Simms released from hospital
<< Karl, Martin say they've put spat behind them
<< Timberwolves sign Vin Baker
Lions-Vikings game could move to Monday night >>
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -The Minnesota Vikings will move their game against Detroit from Sunday to Monday night if the Minnesota Twins and Oakland Athletics go to a fifth game in their first-round baseball playoff series.The Vikings-Lions game is scheduled
Time for Owens' long-awaited return to Philly >>
NATIONAL LEAGUE WORST (MONTH OF SEPTEMBER 2006) >>
Tigers Postseason History >>
Nelson takes lead role as Magic head into training camp >>
With all the style and sex appeal of Las Vegas, MySportsbook.com is without a doubt the coolest online sportsbook on the Internet. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
2007 online football betting PreviewMy fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online." The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet. To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession. However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks. Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable. Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone. Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC. 2007 College Football Betting PreviewThere will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson. The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans. So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California. USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl. USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter. Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles. That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy. The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?" The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning. Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years. Las Vegas Sports LinesThe Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States. It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella." The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot. The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan. Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season. After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country. To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
|
