Tuesday, August 17, 2010

VEGAS ODDS: 2010-2011 SEASON

1. Miami Heat +250 (5/2)
2. Los Angeles Lakers +350 (7/2)
3. Orlando Magic +800 (8/1)
4. Boston Celtics +900 (9/1)
5. Chicago Bulls +1300 (13/1)
6. Dallas Mavericks +1300 (13/1)
7. OKC Thunder +1300 (13/1); +1800 with Bodog
8. Denver Nuggets +1700 (17/1)
9. San Antonio Spurs +2000 (20/1)

With the free agent signings of Lebron James and Chris Bosh the Heat catapulted into the favorite's role. With Dwyane Wade already in Miami, the Heat have a fantastic nucleus and some are saying the groundwork has been laid for a dynasty.

James and Bosh have never won an NBA Championship before but Wade did win one a few years ago alongside Shaquille O'Neal. That might help deflect some "can't win it all" type pressure away from James and Bosh as the Heat have a key player that is a proven winner.

+250 are not the greatest odds in the world especially since 3 of the other 4 favorites besides the Heat are in the Eastern Conference. Whether the Heat have the best team or not, they are going to have a tougher schedule than the Los Angeles Lakers and that might cost the Heat home court advantage in a possible 2011 finals match-up as LA should pad their winning percentage against weaker Western Conference opponents.

Also, the Heat can be criticized for lacking a center that can be called a true starter as Dexter Pittman is a rookie, picked 32nd overall, and Jamaal Magloire is washed up.

However the starting point guard on opening day will probably be Mario Chalmers, a player whose numbers can be expected to improve as defenders will have to sag away from Chalmers in every direction with James, Bosh, and Wade on the court.

Here's what to expect out of the Heat for a starting lineup:

PG - Chalmers
SG - Wade
SF - LeBron
PF - Bosh
C - Pittman?

If Chalmers, who suffered an injury in 2009-10, improves then the Heat's starting 5 will be unstoppable. The rookie center won't hurt with 3 super stars and one solid player starting provided that Pittman follows orders and contributes simply by not doing anything stupid.

The gamble with the Heat is that after the starting lineup the Heat's bench is hardly loaded with talent and injuries could expose that lack of depth.

However injuries are random and the possibility is faced by all teams. With James, Bosh, and Wade all logging big minutes depth won't matter and this team just needs to stay healthy and avoid foul trouble.

Our recommendation is to pound the Miami Thrice at +250 (5/2) with Bwin and cover with a sprinkle on the OKC Thunder who are priced at +1800 (18/1) with Bodog. Miami have opened as short as +175 (7/4; Bodog) with sportsbooks besides Bwin so even if +250 seems short, it isn't that bad of a price

Article courtesy of Bodog@ crunchsports.com

Saturday, August 14, 2010

EASTERN CONF. PREDICTIONS 2010-2011




1. HEAT
2. BULLS
3. MAGIC
4. CELTICS
5. HAWKS
6. BUCKS
7. WIZARDS
8. NETS


WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON ?

WESTERN CONF. PREDICTIONS 2010-2011



1. LAKERS
2. BLAZERS
3. MAVERICKS
4. THUNDER
5. NUGGETS
6. SPURS
7. SUNS
8. JAZZ OR ROCKETS

WHAT ARE YOUR PREDICTIONS FOR THIS COMING SEASON ?

Friday, August 13, 2010

NBA 2K11






Jordan is featured,Drake and Snoop Dogg on the Soundtrack, and all-new dribble controls, euro stop, Lebron crab dribble,Kobe's spin pull-up jumper, and yeah, when you dunk on this game, you can press a button to hang on the rim. In stores OCTOBER 5,2010

Derrick Rose Mix



ROSE TO THE OCCASION


D-Rose is ready this season to take his game to Super Star status. When a point guard becomes expected to produce 20+ points worth of buckets a game, drop 10+ dimes, and keep the crowd hyped with sick hesitation dribble crossovers, smooth pull up jumpers, and show off the boosties with fast break alley-oop throw downs. Now that Rose has a legitimate post up big man in Boozer, look for the bulls to finish as one of the top 3 seeds in the East, and possibly having a shot to stop the Lakers from winning their third championship in row.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Successful Shot Selection



HIGH PERCENTAGE

A few months ago me and some buddies were at a sports bar watching the NBA Western Conference Finals between the Suns and Lakers. Kobe Bryant pulls up for a forced fade away jumper with Jared Dudley's hand all over his face and just drains it, Buckets!
In the middle of this crowded bar my two boyz begin having this heated debate about taking a shot with a hand in the face or shooting the open High Percentage shot. Some where in between listening to their debate and looking at this fine dime piece that had just walked through the entrance, I had a thought.

Well, besides the obvious one. I remembered asking myself, " when was the last time I saw Steve Nash take a bad shot?" And I had a hard time trying to remember the last time I had seen that. At this point my boyz had temporarily stoped their conversation because Steve Nash had just hit a wide open three to tie the game at 90-90 with 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Before I can even say a word my buddy stands up from his chair and just blurts out: " hell yeah, F the Lakers, Kobe ain't better than Nash, cuz Nash always be taking that High Percentage shot".

Sunday, August 8, 2010

SCOTTIE PIPPEN TO HALL OF FAME



THE DYNAMIC DUO

August 13,2010 at 6pm est. time, one of the NBA's 50 greatest players ever will be inducted to the basketball hall of fame. Known as the " side kick " to a player who wore the number 23 for the chicago bulls, I forget his name, but you might know him, he played for North Carolina. Any ways, Batman always needed a Robin. Whenever Batman would try to fight too many bad guys and was starting to get his butt kicked,you always expected Robin to show up to get Batman's back. For six championships Pippen played Robin to Jordan's Batman and was always there to help save the day.

RECOGNIZE THE GAME

Personally, I really didn't recognize the greatness in Pippen until that first year Jordan retired to go play baseball. I remember being at the park talking to some of my boys about how the bulls would do without MJ. They would say " ah man, if it wasn't for Jordan the bulls would have never won those 3 championships, Pippen aint as good as Jordan, I bet the bulls don't even make the playoffs next season".

NUMBERS DON'T LIE

The 93'-94'season while MJ was striking out at the plate trying to hit 80 mile per hour fast balls, Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to the eastern conference championship and averaged 22 points, 8 rebounds , 5 assists, and 2 steals. Not bad for a Hall of Fame player who was known as a side kick. Good job Robin!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Shaq to Boston



The big four leaf clover is officially a Boston Celtic. He signed a two year deal worth about 2.5 yr. Boston realizes they need big boys in the paint to grab boards and lock down the middle if they are going to take the championship away from the Lakers, so signing Shaq, even if he is 38 years old is a good pick up for the celtics. Boston plays a slow it down, get the ball to the post type of offense and with lots of veteran leadership, there should be no problem as far as Shaq's ego is concerned because he realizes it's about winning the ring and adding to his already hall of fame legacy. The Miami Heat, especially Chris Bosh, should be very concerned about Boston's new big man.... VERY CONCERNED!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Chips on my shoulders


Drake's song off the new THANK ME LATER album called " Up all night " describes the mind set of a person who knows the only people we can realistically change are ourselves, when he rhymes: "f**k what they be talking 'bout/ they opinion doesn't count". In the game of life, victory is not won only by stopping your opponent from doing what he does best, its won by the inner voice that says: " If i do what i do to the best of my ability and focus my attention on the basics i know that work for me, then it doesn't matter what my opponent does, victory is already mine". We spend so much time trying to manipulate and change other peoples thoughts, we forget the most important thoughts of all... our own!

Kobe

Kobe