NBA Betting – Perkins Will Get Opportunity At Revenge Against Former Teammates

After helping the Boston Celtics to two of the past three NBA finals, including a title in 2008, Kendrick Perkins will line up against his former teammates in an Oklahoma City Thunder jersey on in this year’s finale. The Thunder believe that they have found the missing piece that they have been lacking over the years to get through the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western conference, and with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook beginning to reach their potential this will be the year they make it all the way. It won’t be easy against a talented Celtics’ team that realizes the window is closing for the chance to clinch another championship, but it should make for an entertaining series in the weeks following the Kentucky derby betting.

The fact that it is a sports betting team other than the Lakers that will come out of the west is something that is good for the sport, and a rising Oklahoma City group is the perfect option. They will match their high-flying offense against one of the best defenses in the association, and will try to force the issue to have a chance against a much more experienced Boston team. Players like Ray Allen will make the difference with their cool demeanor and focus, but the experience will be invaluable to the Thunder players. Oklahoma City will get a couple of wins to make things interesting, but in the end it will be the Celtics that are back as champions in six games.

March Madness Betting – Calhoun’s Fourth Trip To Final Four Should Be All For Huskies

When head coach Jim Calhoun makes his fourth appearance in an NCAA national title tournament Final Four, it will be about more than just numbers for the longtime bench boss. Calhoun will have potential tournament MVP Kemba Walker and company behind him as they brace for the Kentucky Wildcats in a game that could very well determine the winner of this year’s online sports betting Madness.

All of the no. 1’s are gone from the March Madness betting tournament, but there is no reason to call the Huskies a Cinderella team this year. The Big East sent a record 11 teams to the Madness, so it’s fitting that the last one standing is the team that won this year’s conference title. Connecticut dominated down the stretch with wins over four straight ranked teams, and that more than prepared them for a dominant run to the Final Four. Walker topped the 30-point mark in each of the Huskies’ tournament games before registering 20 in their Elite Eight win over the Arizona Wildcats, while dishing out seven assists and grabbing four rebounds. Walker was helped by freshman Jeremy Lamb, who has been one of the biggest surprises of the Madness. Lamb scored 19 against Arizona, and the Connecticut continues to get solid contributions from both players they won’t be stopped by the Wildcats. It’s hard to imagine Butler falling to VCU in the Final Four, but regardless of which team gets through in that matchup it will be the Bulldogs that push through in the end.

March Madness Prediction

In less than two months college basketball betting enthusiasts will be sitting down at their computers to make brackets for the 2011 edition of the March Madness tournament. This year’s NCAA basketball betting tournament has 68 teams instead of the familiar 64. With the division one teams currently inter twined in conference play, we decided to make an early pick at National Champion. Guided by two Canadian rookies, the Texas Longhorns are the team that will win the March Madness tournament.

Currently sitting atop the Big 12 Conference with a 20 win and three loss record, and an eight win no loss record within the conference, the Texas Longhorns have taken the college basketball scene by storm in 2010-2011. Within the NCAA in general, the Longhorns are the number three seed behind, fellow Big 12 rival Kansas and Big 10 leader Ohio State. The Longhorns are led by two Canadian freshmen, guard Corey Joseph and duel forward threat Tristan Thompson.

To date, the Longhorns have had a pretty decent schedule, facing a lot of non-conference teams en route to the schools best record in the last three years. The Longhorns could enter the March Madness tournament, as one of the four top seeds in the tournament, despite having a worse record than Kansas. Speaking of Kansas, despite their 23 and one record, it should be noted, that when they played Texas, then an 11 seed in the AP top 25 polls, the Longhorns outclassed and out hustled the Jayhawks, in an 11 point thrashing.

What’s most impressive about the Longhorns is that all five of their starters can destroy teams. As we noted above, the centerpieces of their attack are guard Corey Joseph and forward Tristan Thompson. However, when teams are focusing on those two, guard forward Jordan Hamilton can do a lot of damage as well. The Longhorns are presently on an eight game winning streak, and if they can carry this momentum into the March Madness tournament, we highly doubt any team will be able to overcome them.

College Basketball Betting Tips

College basketball betting is growing in popularity by the day. For football betting fans looking to turn their attention to college basketball in March during March Madness, here are a few tips to help you along the way.

No Names – The majority of sports bettors new to college hoops tend to only wager on the brand name teams. Schools such as Duke, UNC, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Kansas receive plenty of action. However your goal ultimately as a sports bettor is to win money and find value in doing so.

As a result, we suggest that you look at the schedule during the regular season as you are bound to find value. For instance, during the regular season, there are 100s of games being played. Through the 100s of games being played, at least a handful of sportsbooks will have soft lines on certain conferences or games, because it is hard to keep track of all of the games. This is where you come in and place your bet, as you can find value just by keeping track of a team’s schedule.

Some teams have losing records, but are still good to bet on, because win loss is a poor indicator of a team’s overall play. Such as in 2006, Davidson had an awful record, but it was due in large part to the team’s schedule, as they faced perennial powerhouses. Yet when they played Georgia Southern, they were an eight and a half point underdog to another unknown team. Eventually Davidson would lose the game 62-60 which allowed them to cover the
spread.

Conference Play – Also known as the second season, conference play as the name suggests is when teams of the same conference begin to play each other. For sports handicappers’ looking to get a clear indication of a team’s overall talent, studying how they fair during the conference play is of great importance.Conference play allows handicappers to break down personal matchups and statistics.

Non- conference play is normally what starts the college basketball season. Teams in tougher conferences tend to schedule non- conference games against easy schools to build up their records. This is to act tough before the conference games show us what these teams real value is.

How To Bet Basketball

The two most popular sports betting genres are that of the NFL and the NBA. Of the two, the NBA is a distant second when it comes to the hearts of most betting handicappers. However, with an increase in superstar players on certain teams, more and more fans from other sports are becoming interested in basketball gambling. For the average sports fan unfamiliar with
basketball betting, here is a guide on how to wager on the NBA.

There are two main ways to wager on the NBA, the money line and the point spread. Comparable to that of the other three major North American sports, football, baseball and hockey, the NBA money line and point spread have a plus and minus sign next to each team. As you would know from the other sports, the plus sign represents the underdog while the minus sign takes the favorite.

On a point spread, the common line is seven and a half points. For the bet to be considered, you would have to risk money when taking the favorite and risk less when taking the underdog. Here is how this appears.

LA Clippers +7.5 +120
Phoenix Suns -7.5 – 120

As we noted above the favored team on both the money line and point spread is that with the negative symbol next to it, in this case Phoenix. Essentially, if Phoenix wins by eight or more points, they are considered to have covered the point spread. Therefore, fans who risked $120 on Phoenix covering would get back $100. Conversely, if the Clippers lost by fewer than seven and a half points or won the game outright, fans taking them would have got $120 for risking $100.

The money line by itself only takes the winner of the game into account not the score of the game. Using the same teams as above, the bet line may now appear as

LA Clippers +170
Phoenix Suns -140

In this example, the Clippers would have to win the game to get $170 back after laying $100 on their team. Conversely, the Suns supporters would need the Suns to win to get back $100 on a $140 bet.

NBA Betting System Examined

The two most popular sports betting niches in North America are NFL and NBA. The latter of the two, NBA betting has been around longer and many handicappers have created systems to achieve great success. Today we will be looking at a classic NBA betting system that was popular back in the early 1990s. Now some 20 years later, the system has returned.

Essentially, the system allows handicappers to determine the favorite and underdogs based on win percentage, as well as the point spread in two scenarios. As well it should be noted, that this system was formerly known as the holiday basketball betting system, as statistics involved in the system were not determined until after December. Here is an example of the system at work.

Step one requires us to take each team in the game we want to bet on and subtract the lower winning percentage from the higher. For instance, the Toronto Raptors after 25 games have 700 winning percentage, while the LA Clippers have a 400 winning percentage. After determining the winning percentages, we would subtract 700 from 400 for a total of 300.

The second step requires that we divide the difference in win percentage between the Raptors and Clippers with the total amount of games they have played to this point. This then means that 300 will be divided by 25 giving us a total of 12. Meaning to say, the rough point spread on the game has the Raptors as a 12 point favorite over the Clippers.

Step three requires us to give three points to the spread whether the game is in Toronto or in Los Angeles. What this tells us is that if the game is played at home in Toronto the Raptors are minus nine point favorite. Yet if they play in Los Angeles they will be a -15 favorite.

Can the Celtics Knock Off Superman and the Magic?

Last night the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals kicked off as the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic collided in a match for the ages. Fans betting on the game in favor of the Celtics were treated to an early blowout, which almost came to a screeching halt as the Magic regained form by the fourth quarter. Luckily for Celtics fans and betters alike, the Celtics lead by Paul Pierce were able to hold on for the 92-88 victory.

The Magic led by Superman Dwight Howard, appeared rusty for the majority of the game after a six day layoff. On the contrary however, was a Celtics who has not looked this strong since their championship run back in 2008, which saw them end the regular season as the best team in the league and carry over the success to the playoffs where they won the 2008 championship. Orlando although finishing second to Lebron James Cavs, are attempting to follow up on a strong regular season, as thus far in the playoffs they seem to be in cruise control, after sweeping both the Charlotte Bobcats and the Atlanta Hawks. Boston, after defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers in a much more dominant manner than expected, were able to carry over the success against the Cavaliers in their victory last night versus the Magic, as they led by as much as 20. If the Celtics, finally with a healthy roster, can continue the dominance they displayed in game one for the rest of the series, they will have the best NBA finals odds.

Lakers Start Strong Against Thunder

With eight games now having been played in the 2010 NBA playoffs, fans of sports betting are focused on their picks, and in some cases, desperately re-evaluating their predictions.

The Lakers, for their part, answered a lot of questions on Sunday afternoon, defeating the playoff-novice Oklahoma City Thunder in game one of their best-of-seven series. Game 2 goes down Tuesday at Staples Center. The solid start for the Lakers is a much needed turnaround from their troubles at the end of the regular season.

Many players cited injuries and a road-heavy schedule down the stretch in the regular season, which ultimately led to the Lakers cruising and looking less than impressive down the stretch. Fans of basketball betting agree however, that their performance on Sunday was a step in the right direction.

The return of Kobe Bryant also certainly helped the Lakers. Bryant returned to the starting lineup after sitting out four of the final five regular season games to rest, heal injuries, and prepare for the important post-season. While Bryant looked rough around the edges at times, he led the team with 21 points on 6-for-19 shooting.

Also returning for the Lakers was Andrew Bynum. Bynum had been out of the lineup for 13 games after suffering a strained Achilles tendon. Bynum finished the game with 13 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

Ron Artest played a phenomenal defensive game against the Thunder’s Kevin Durant, who scored 24 points on 7-for-24 shooting – Durant led the league with an average 30.1 points per game during the regular season. Despite the defense, Artest finished the game with only seven points on 3-for-11 shooting, and expressed disappointment in his performance after the game.

With a solid opener under their belts, the Lakers hope to continue their winning ways on Tuesday at the Staples Center.

Sportsbook odds calling for Kobe and LeBron

This year’s NBA odds has a couple of familiar teams on the top of the list of favorites for the upcoming season. But it won’t be easy to line up this massive superstar matchup in the Finals, as the East will be fiercely competitive at the top.

Good Plays

Los Angeles Lakers (+180): Can Crazy Ron Artest focus his intensity and help Kobe Bryant win a second straight title? A healthy Andrew Bynum would also do wonders.

Cleveland Cavaliers (+300): The Cavs picked up Jamario Moon, Anthony Parker and Shaquille O’Neal to support

Boston (+500): The Celtics’ repeat run was ruined by Kevin Garnett’s ailing knee. Rasheed Wallace brings some championship experience, but his prediction of 72 wins may come back to haunt him.

San Antonio (+800): Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili apparently look healthy, and the Spurs can make one more push for a ring with Richard Jefferson on the board.

Orlando Magic (+1200): Even with no Hedo Turkoglu or Courtney Lee, the Magic should have enough to challenge in the East. Vince Carter and Dwight Howard may stage their own personal dunk contests.

Possible Darkhorses

Portland (+1500): The pickup of Andre Miller may prove to be the sharpest of the offseason, meaning Brandon Roy doesn’t have to handle the ball as much. Now, if Greg Oden can stay healthy and/or out of foul trouble.

Miami (+4000): Dwayne Wade led a young team to the playoffs. A healthy Jermaine O’Neal back at his All-Star form would be a huge boost for the Heat.

Denver (+1200): Chauncey Billups changed the culture of the Nuggets’ locker room, and now he has a training camp to further school the young Denver players.

Utah (+2500): Carlos Boozer is pretty much gone at the end of the season, but coach Jerry Sloan won’t let it be a distraction.

Toronto (+7500): This is the biggest reach in the league. This is either a playoff team, or last in the East. Chris Bosh has to prove he’s worth $20 million a year to someone, and Turkoglu gives them a new dimension.

Don’t Even Think About It

Memphis (+10000): It’ll be funny to see Allen Iverson, O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay fight over shots. Marc Gasol is never going to see the ball.

Los Angeles Clippers (+10000): Poor Blake Griffin, gets drafted and gets stuck in Clipperland. He needs to stay far away from Ricky Davis.

Phoenix (+5000): Amare Stoudemire is probably gone after this season, meaning his indifferent defense may be worst than usual. This could be the worst defensive team in the league.

The rest of the East (various): After the top three and maybe Miami, Atlanta and Chicago, no one else has a chance.