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Bryant has a chance to stamp his legacyBasketball Betting Lines06/01/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It took longer than he had hoped but by finally stepping out of Shaquille O'Neal's enormous shadow last season, many felt Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant put the final stamp on a brilliant basketball legacy. He didn't. Four NBA championships, an MVP award and an Olympic Gold Medal may have already convinced those of us who cover the game that Bryant is one of the all-time greats. But, he still has something left to prove to himself -- Kobe has to beat the Boston Celtics, something the Lakers rarely do. The league's two marquee franchises will fight over the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy for a record 12th time when the NBA Finals kick off in Hollywood on Thursday, a rivalry that dates all the way back to the 1958-59 season when the Lakers nickname actually made some sense and the team still called Minneapolis home. The Celtics' and the game's ultimate winner, Bill Russell, dominated the early years of the rivalry. In fact, it's tough to call anything a rivalry when one side is so dominant. Red Auerbach's Celtics took the Lakers all seven times they met in the finals. Things lay dormant for 15 years until Larry Bird and Magic Johnson "saved" the NBA by bringing their storied college rivalry to the pros. Bird avenged his loss at Indiana State to Magic's Michigan State Spartans in the 1979 NCAA Finals when the Celtics got past the Lakers in seven games to win the 1983-84 NBA title. Johnson and his Lakers responded the next season as LA finally beat Boston in the finals for the first time. Magic also won the rubber match two years later before the rivalry went cold again, this time for 20 years as the Celtics struggled mightily in the post-Bird era. Of all the legendary names in Lakers lore, Magic stands above the rest because it was his teams that finally beat the hated Celtics. Kobe got his chance when Boston basketball chief Danny Ainge re-ignited things by acquiring both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen prior to the 2007-08 season. The two All-Stars teamed with Paul Pierce to create the "Boston Three Party" and the Celtics were relevant again. A 17th Boston championship was the result as Garnett and his Celtics got the best of Bryant's Lakers. A rematch could have been in the offing last season, but a knee injury to Garnett derailed any hopes of a Boston repeat. Instead, LA earned its 15th championship by taking Orlando in five games. Bryant claims he didn't care who the Lakers met in the NBA Finals this season but that's tough to believe when you consider just how competitive he is. It was these same Celtics that turned him away from his first championship without Shaq, and embarrassed the Lakers in the process by clinching the title with an emphatic 39-point rout. The defensive-minded Celtics went into that series with a simple game plan: make someone else beat them. Bryant was double- and triple-teamed every time he touched the ball with the intent of getting it out of his hands. but the superstar didn't trust his teammates and took contested shot after contested shot, finishing the set shooting just over 40 percent. The Lakers' frontline, minus the oft-injured Andrew Bynum, was beaten up physically by Garnett and Company while Pierce did the damage on the offensive end. "Last time we played [the Celtics], it was a great learning experience for us," Bryant said. "It taught us what it takes to be a champion. With the defensive intensity they play with, the tenacity they play with, we learned a great deal in that series." This time Bryant will have his center, albeit a limited one in Bynum, who is dealing with yet another knee injury, as well as another defensive stopper, Ron Artest, to help curtail Pierce as he shoots for the final piece of the puzzle that is his career. As good as Magic was, his game can't match up with Kobe's. Johnson was certainly a better pure playmaker and more versatile but Bryant's offensive skills and ability as an on-ball defender give him the edge. In today's game, LeBron James might be younger, stronger and a little more athletic but Bryant is still the biggest bully on the block -- just ask Grant Hill. With another trip to the finals in his grasp during Game 6 of the Western Conference finals against Phoenix with the Suns charging hard, Kobe let loose with a couple of daggers. First, he spun away from Hill and buried a fadeaway jumper. Just over a minute later, with Hill in his shorts, Bryant pump-faked once, before rising above the former Duke star to nail another jumper right in front of the Phoenix bench. Bryant smiled after the second shot and playfully tapped Suns coach Alvin Gentry. "Right now he's the best player in basketball," Gentry said after the game. "And it's not even close." A superlative scorer, ball-handler and defender, the Philadelphia native is the scariest closer west of Mariano Rivera and the NBA's best since the glory days of Michael Jordan. Bryant is officially done playing with his peers -- he's now playing history. Watch out Magic, here he comes.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game. Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta. "Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed." To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it. He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games. "Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote. He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games. Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk. Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines. Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy. With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season. Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas). And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.) The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors. While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger. Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under. One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it. Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami. What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5. That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well. MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple. "The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money. "At the end of the day, we liked the home team." So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams. In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish. MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover. The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing. Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed. MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash. To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
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