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07/16/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This year's rookie crop got its first taste of the NBA in the recently completed Orlando Summer League and the one in Las Vegas which concludes on Sunday. Though it's not the competition the player will see in the regular season, you can still get a good feel of the skill and talent level in this setting.
In watching these games, it wasn't difficult to come away with some of the steals and blunders of the draft. Here's some of the talent that stood out to me in good and bad ways:
WASHINGTON WIZARDS: John Wall exhibited the talent that earned him the first overall pick, but the point guard will have to cut down on the high turnover totals that plagued him in college along with working on his perimeter game.
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: Evan Turner, by his own admission, struggled pretty badly in Orlando. He was used to controlling the ball at Ohio State and didn't seem comfortable playing off the ball with Jrue Holliday running the offense. Holliday, by the way, looks like he's really ready to make a real impact this season.
NEW JERSEY NETS: Power forward Derrick Favors looked like the project he was labeled before the draft. He needs a lot of work on his post-up game and mid- range jumper. I think DeMarcus Cousins would've been a better choice at this spot. New Jersey's second pick of the first round, Damion James, was very impressive and looks like he's ready to make more of an impact than Favors in his first season.
MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES: Wesley Johnson had problems creating his own shot off the dribble, which is something you definitely don't want to see from the fourth overall pick in the draft. I have a strong feeling the T-wolves will regret this selection.
SACRAMENTO KINGS: Sacramento has to be thrilled with the play of Cousins, its first-round pick. He scored inside and out, rebounded and passed the ball extremely well while showing a really good feel for the game. The former Kentucky center could turn out to be the second-best player in the draft.
DETROIT PISTONS: Greg Monroe did not look comfortable working in the low post. He appears to have a small forward's game in a power forward's body.
UTAH JAZZ: A lot of people questioned Utah's selection of Gordon Hayward with the ninth overall pick, and his play in Orlando showed why. He struggled to get his shot off and his lack of foot speed hurt him on defense. I thought Paul George would have been a much better choice than Hayward.
INDIANA PACERS: Speaking of George, he was clearly one of the standout players in the summer league. His athleticism, size and length will be assets along with his excellent basketball skills. George was selected 10th overall, but looks like he should have gone a bit higher. And speaking of going higher, Indiana's second-round pick (40th overall), Lance Stephenson, looks like he should have gone much earlier in the draft. Character questions scared off a lot of teams, but there doesn't seem to be much doubt about his skill set.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS: The defending champs didn't select until 43rd and 58th picks overall, but it looks like they came away with some NBA talent in small forward Devin Ebanks and power forward Derrick Caracter. Ebanks showed good play on both ends of the floor, while Caracter's play had me wondering how this kid lasted until the third-to-last pick in the draft. He can score with either hand around the basket, has a nice mid-range touch and showed the ability to pass the ball out of the post, which is helpful in the Lakers' triangle offense.
BOSTON CELTICS: Luke Harangody was one of the standouts in summer league play and looks like one of the draft's big steals after being taken 52nd overall. The Notre Dame power forward showed the willingness to bang inside and the ability to step outside and hit 3-pointers.
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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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