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76ers still alive for lotteryBasketball Betting Lines02/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All it takes is a dollar and a dream for a select few to strike it rich in the lottery. But in order for the Philadelphia 76ers to start raking in the loot, they have to bag the rest of the 2006-07 season and start evaluating talent for June's NBA Draft. Philly has its own lottery pick this summer and a pair of first- round selections acquired from Denver for Allen Iverson. The second half of the campaign gets started on Wednesday for the Sixers, who will wrap up a series of seven straight games at home versus the division- rival New York Knicks. Mo Cheeks' squad entered the All-Star break with three straight losses and a 2-4 record on the homestand, and sits 12 games off the lead in the Atlantic standings. Philadelphia is just 9-15 at the Wachovia Center this season and will play six more games there following a brief two-game road trip to Charlotte and Milwaukee. After the quick swing the Sixers will host Sacramento, Phoenix, Memphis, New Jersey, Seattle and the Los Angeles Lakers. Cheeks had this team playing better basketball before the current slide, but now must realize it's time to start cutting into the time of his regulars for a chance to see who will make next year's roster. It seems like an easy solution, especially with three draft picks on the horizon. It's unclear whether guards Andre Miller, Kevin Ollie or Louis Williams will be around next season. And who knows if forward Kyle Korver, center Samuel Dalembert or forward Shavlik Randolph will be back either? Randolph is still recovering from left ankle surgery. Instead of guard/forward Andre Iguodala averaging 40:12 minutes per game, Cheeks should shave about six to eight minutes off his star's average. There's no sense to have Iguodala bust his rump every night just to sit at home come playoff time. Rookie forward Rodney Carney, who averages 17:18 mpg this season, would be even more dangerous if he was recording 25 to 28 minutes per contest. Veteran forward Joe Smith does not have to be on the court for 23:18 a night for Philly, and Korver doesn't score enough to average 31:11 per contest. Dalembert posts 30:06 a night and has been streaky over the past few games. On the injury front, forward/center Steven Hunter will not require surgery on the dislocated pinkie finger on his left hand. Hunter suffered the injury during the first quarter of a loss against the Mavericks on February 11, but returned to the game. Hunter does not make or break this team, but to have a player his size (7-0, 240 pounds) on the hardwood is beneficial for the inside game. Hunter has missed just one contest because of the finger. The Sixers have their work cut out for them over the next few months, and are currently the third-worst team in the NBA behind Boston (13-38) and Memphis (14-40). The Celtics and Grizzlies are not going to pile up wins in the near future and Philadelphia should follow suit. On a brighter note, last week the 76ers unveiled their new second road uniforms against Washington. The red jerseys bring back memories of the Dr. J, Charles Barkley and Hersey Hawkins era, and have the old-school PHILA script across the chest. Philadelphia should go back to its retro-style uniforms soon.
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Irving, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys signed offensive lineman Andre Gurode to a six-year contract on Tuesday. Gurode started all 17 games last season for the Cowboys and was added to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement f
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Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit CardsMichael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football. As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL. The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago. Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996). But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side. Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show. Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East: Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1 Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2 New York Giants - 9 - 2 Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1). Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship. So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume. And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top. They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy. Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday. But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division. Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS. Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS. Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162. Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense? Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS. In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS. Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division. Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do. The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20. The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550. Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs. |
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