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02/09/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pau Gasol had a spectacular all-around game with 21 points, 19 rebounds, a season-high eight assists and five blocked shots, pacing the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-89 win over the San Antonio Spurs.
Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant sat out his second straight game due to a sprained left ankle. LA was also missing Andrew Bynum (bruised right hip), but Gasol filled the center role nicely.
"I can't move my ankle," Bryant said. "It's frustrating. If the All-Star game was today I wouldn't play. If I can move and get to the basket I'll play. We'll make a decision Wednesday."
Lamar Odom chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Ron Artest scored 18 for the Lakers, who moved to 25-4 at home this season. They've won seven of their last nine games overall.
"We finished well for a game that seemed to be a struggle," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "It's a good win for us. I like our defense. We're playing better. Rebounding was terrific. It's always good for a team to rally with two stars out."
Manu Ginobili had 21 points off the bench, while starter Tony Parker scored 20 for the Spurs, who failed to build on a victory in this same building two nights ago against the Clippers. Tim Duncan registered 16 points and 15 rebounds.
"A disappointing loss. The Lakers were obviously a little short-handed and played mentally tougher than we did," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They played physically tougher than we did and got a win."
Ginobili's layup moved the Spurs within 74-70, 44 seconds into the final quarter, but the Lakers ran off the ensuing seven points, capped by Shannon Brown's three-ball.
A Ginobili three had the visitors within 81-75, but the Spurs failed to close the gap the rest of the way.
The Spurs led 34-28 after one quarter, but the Lakers surged back for a 50-47 halftime edge. LA held a double-digit lead in the third before going to the fourth with a 73-68 edge.
Game Notes
San Antonio's Richard Jefferson went 2-of-9 from the field for nine points. It was the 16th time this season he was held under double digits...San Antonio has lost four straight at the Lakers...Under Jackson, the Lakers are 17-19 against San Antonio in the regular season. In the postseason, Jackson is 15-7 against the Spurs, advancing to the next round in four of five series meetings...San Antonio is 9-2 against the Pacific Division this season...The Spurs are 2-2 on their eight-game rodeo road trip.
<< James, Westbrook take home NBA weekly honors
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James and
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook were named the Eastern and
Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for the period ending
Februar
<< Lady Vols rally to beat Vandy
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelley Cain scored a career-high 19 points
and No. 5 Tennessee came back from an eight-point deficit to top Vanderbilt,
69-60, to sweep the regular season series.
Glory Johnson, Angie Bjorklund and Aly
<< Lombardi's career night propels Phoenix over road-weary Oilers
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matthew Lombardi had a career-high five-point
night with a pair of goals and three assists, as Phoenix blew out Edmonton,
6-1, for its seventh win in eight games.
Ilya Bryzgalov turned aside 33 shots for t
<< Stewart, Yip help Avs upend Blues
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists as the
Colorado Avalanche downed the St. Louis Blues, 5-2, at Pepsi Center.
Brandon Yip had two goals while Paul Stastny added a goal and an assist for
the Avalanche
Berdych, Dent victorious in San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and unseeded
American Taylor Dent were first-round winners Monday at the $600,000 SAP Open.
Dent topped fellow countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) on the indoor
hardco
Hoyas head north to battle Friars >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a statement victory, the
Georgetown Hoyas are slated to collide with the Providence Friars this evening
in a Big East Conference affair.
Georgetown had lost two of its previous three games heading
Alabama visits Kentucky in SEC action >>
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Alabama Crimson Tide invade Rupp Arena
this evening for an SEC clash with the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.
Alabama is a respectable 13-10 overall, but that record is overshadowed by a
3-6 mark versus l
Illini and Badgers square off in Big Ten brawl >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Illinois Fighting Illini carry a four-game
win streak into tonight's Big Ten Conference battle with the 11th-ranked
Wisconsin Badgers, who are tough to beat in Madison.
Illinois has quietly gotten itself in
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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