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02/13/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If an unproven scriptwriter took Jeremy Lin's story to Hollywood a month ago, he would have probably been thrown out on his ear.
"Too unrealistic, kid," a jaded Tinseltown exec likely would have told the young scribe.
After all, a skinny Asian-American kid from Harvard outdueling Kobe Bryant in Madison Square Garden? The Looney Tunes beating the Monstars in "Space Jam" was more realistic.
But there was Lin last Friday dismantling Kobe and the mighty Lakers, using his smarts, savvy and craftiness to find seam after seam in a defense manned by a couple of lengthy 7-footers in Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.
The former Reno Bighorn and Erie Bayhawk dropped in a career-high 38 points and dished out seven assists in a 92-85 Knicks win over L.A., one that snapped New York's nine-game skid to the Lakers.
In fact, Lin has done something in less than a week that a five-time NBA All- Star couldn't do in a year -- he made the Knicks his team.
Neither Carmelo Anthony nor Amare Stoudemire have resembled anything but overpriced square pegs being pounded into a round hole night after night by a coach, Mike D'Antoni, who longs for the days of Steve Nash running his seven- seconds-or-less offense.
When Rick Pitino was stinking it up in Boston a number of years ago, he once snapped at reporters after a frustrating loss, saying, "Larry Bird isn't walking through that door. Kevin McHale isn't walking through that door." The implication was clear -- no one was coming to save Pitino or his Celtics, they would have to do it themselves.
In a similar vein, Nash wasn't coming to save D'Antoni and Toney Douglas, Iman Shumpert and Baron Davis proved incapable. The status quo had the Knicks floundering at 8-15 and perhaps the most disappointing team in all of basketball.
Only desperation gave Lin his chance and in seven days this unlikely protagonist took an overpaid, under-performing roster and turned them into a possible championship contender.
"It's a completely different team," Knicks center Tyson Chandler said when talking about Lin's impact. "You can't look at this team the same. He's not a fluke."
LeBron never came to save the day in Gotham, but an econ major who could have served as an extra in "The Social Network" did.
Scouts who missed the boat on Lin are already trying to poke holes in his game. Most detractors point that a lockout-truncated season short on practice time has rendered coaches unable to implement ways to stop Lin.
Once they figure out his jumper isn't reminiscent of Dell Curry's, or that his lateral movement isn't exactly Tony Allen-esqe, things will start to change.
Lin isn't Pete Maravich, so the numbers are going to settle down at some point, especially when the Knicks' resident ball-stopper is back in the lineup. That said, understand anyone who can put together four straight games of 20-plus points, six-plus assists and 50 percent shooting at the NBA level has talent.
"I don't know what to tell you," D'Antoni gushed. "I have never seen this. What he's doing is amazing."
Talent, however, doesn't guarantee an opportunity and Lin's long winding road to success is more than a bit of an indictment on the NBA's system for judging its players.
I wish I could say I saw it coming.
But, an Asian-American kid out of Harvard who can play with Kobe Bryant?
Get out of my office.
<< Ivanovic, Kuznetsova among first-day winners in Doha
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Svetlana Kuznetsova
of Russia were among the winners Monday on the first day of main draw action
at the Qatar Open.
The 13th-seeded Ivanovic was ahead 6-1, 4-1 when Spain's Carla
<< Van Basten to take charge of Heerenveen
Heerenveen, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Netherlands international
Marco van Basten has agreed to take over as manager of Heerenveen in the
summer after agreeing to a two-year contract.
Van Basten will take over for Ron Jan
<< Korda cracks top 100 in women's rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Following her playoff victory at the
Women's Australian Open on Sunday, Jessica Korda jumped 203 places in this
week's women's world rankings.
Korda, who birdied the second playoff hole to def
<< Sa Pinto replaces Paciencia at Sporting
Lisbon, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sporting Lisbon fired manager Domingos
Paciencia on Monday and has replaced him with Ricardo Sa Pinto.
Sa Pinto has been promoted to manager from his role in Sporting's youth setup,
and the 39-year-ol
Baylor still women's No. 1, UConn second >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor is again a unanimous choice as the No.
1 team in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The undefeated Lady Bears received all 40 first-place votes and a total of
1,000 points from
Oilers ink Sutton to extension >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers agreed to terms with
defenseman Andy Sutton on a one-year contract extension Monday.
Acquired on July 1 from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Kurtis
Foster, the 36-ye
Union adds MLS veteran Albright >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union has signed MLS veteran
defender Chris Albright, the club announced on Monday.
Albright is a three-time MLS All-Star and has spent 13 seasons in the league
with four teams.
The 33-
Jeremy Lin highlights NBA Players of the Week >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin was
further acknowledged for his surprising play on Monday, earning Eastern
Conference Player of the Week honors for games completed through February 12.
Oklah
JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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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