March Madness: NBA style

Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When watching the NCAA Tournament, I'm not holding my breath waiting for Cinderella to appear like most of America.

Nope, I'm all about the next level and trying to project which players have the athletic skills and basketball smarts to flourish in the NBA, and which ones are the frauds, manufactured in the Dick Vitale/Jay Bilas ESPN-generated hype-machine (think J.J. Redick).

If you are looking for talent, it's usually a good idea to find John Calipari, the coach that mentored both Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans at Memphis for a season before they burst onto the NBA scene.

Calipari may have fled Beale Street for the blue grass of Kentucky but he remains the best recruiter in all of college basketball, and his new one-year wonder is point guard John Wall, who figures to be the No. 1 overall selection in June's draft.

The 6-foot-4 Wall has the size and physical skills to become an elite player early in his NBA career. His speed and athleticism are strikingly similar to Rose, and few guards can finish above the rim like Wall. One scout told me Wall has an Allen Iverson-like extra gear, with five more inches of height.

Kentucky power forward Patrick Patterson, a junior, may also be a lottery pick. At 6-foot-8 and 240 pounds, Patterson already possesses an NBA-body and has the demeanor you want in a post player, a rare thing in today's college game. Patterson actually enjoys contact and seeks to bang inside, like a far more skilled Charles Oakley.

Georgia Tech doesn't bring the same cachet to the dance as UK but they sure bring talent and like the Wildcats figure to have two NBA Lottery players in forwards Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal.

Favors, a freshman, is a sure-fire top five pick and will remind you a lot of Al Horford. Like the Atlanta big man, Favors is only 6-foot-9 but is an explosive leaper with that rare combination of power and quickness that can give even the best fits on a daily basis. Favors also possesses a 7-footer's wingspan, and figures to turn into a top-tier shot-blocker early in his NBA career. Like most young players, Favors lacks a go-to move on the blocks and relies too much on his athleticism, but that's the nature of the beast these days.

Lawal is a junior with a relentless work ethic. He also has the 7-foot wingspan along with an NBA-body and solid athletic skills, but Lawal will beat you with conditioning. Like a big-time NFL defensive end, the Georgia native has a non-stop motor and runs the floor extremely hard on a consistent basis.

Kansas is a No. 1 seed for a reason and could have three first round selections is this year's draft. Freshman shooting guard Xavier Henry has the biggest upside and could be gone in the top 10. At 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, unlike most freshmen, Henry is physically ready. He's a naturally gifted scorer that gets his shot effortlessly but lacks the foot speed to be a true superstar.

Junior Cole Aldrich is the premiere center in the country and is as fundamentally sound a player as you will find in college. He may not have the athletic skills that wow NBA scouts but he's improved every year and could certainly be a late lottery pick.

Meanwhile, senior point guard Sherron Collins figures to be a late first-round selection. Collins is only 5-foot-11 and thinks shot first, but as a 15- or 20- minutes-a-night backup, he has value. In fact, if Collins proves he can keep people in front of him defensively, he could be a nice little role player on a championship-level club.

Right behind Wall in most mock drafts is Ohio State superstar Evan Turner, a 6-foot-7 combo guard that is silky smooth with a great feel for the game. Offensively, Turner reminds me a lot of Portland Trail Blazers star Brandon Roy. He's not the freakish athlete that Wall is, but has the length to give people fits on the wing.

Syracuse junior forward Wesley Johnson rounds out the top three as far as NBA projections go. The prototypical athletic small forward, Johnson actually has a monster mid-range game, something that is usually lost in the three-point- driven college game.

If you are looking for role players that could be steals in the second round, I like Washington forward Quincy Pondexter, Maryland guard Greivis Vasquez and Notre Dame big man Luke Harangody.

Pondexter is slight but he seems to understand the game and has a feel for his own strength and weaknesses, an underrated trait. Few players have the basketball IQ to stay away from things that hurt them.

At 6-foot-6, you have to like Vasquez's size and he plays with great intensity. Of course, that same intensity means Vasquez will play out of control at times, and his decision making suffers. If a coach can harness that, he might have something in the Maryland senior.

Harangody is 6-foot-7, 245-pound plodding power forward. He lacks athleticism, explosiveness and height but dominated the toughest conference in all of college basketball for three years. In short, Harangody knows how to play the game, and there will always be room for a guy like that.

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It's less than a month until the NHL hockey betting season opens at MySportsbook.com and preparations are underway for another battle in the race to hoist Lord Stanley's mug in 2007.

As cup crazy fans prepare to place their bets, one online sportsbook ,MySportsbook.com, is offering hockey betting lines on the 2007/2007 Stanley Cup , who will bring it home this upcoming season.

Despite a poor showing in last season's playoffs and the loss of Steve Yzerman to retirement, the Detroit Red Wings are early favourites at this online sportsbook with wagering odds of 6-1. The Wings will look to offensive powerhouse Pavel Datsyuk and newly appointed captain Nicklas Lidstrom to lead one of the league's most prominent franchises.

Always a threat are the Ottawa Senators, with newly acquired goaltender Martin Gerber from the Stanley Cup champion ,Carolina Hurricanes. The Sens are second best in the rankings at a 7-1 bet, and odds makers at this sportsbook are optimistic that the Ottawa squad will fare better than last season's Eastern Conference semi-final upset to the Buffalo Sabres.

Also worth noting are the defending Stanley Cup champs Carolina Hurricanes, a 10-1 bet to repeat. Behind the Canes are the New Jersey Devils, Calgary Flames, Buffalo Sabres, Philadelphia Flyers, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks all sit at 12-1. In the basement are the Washington Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues who all have 100-1 odds to win.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your hockey betting needs.

MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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