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08/11/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets, Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets have reportedly agreed on a trade that will change the homes of five players, including Trevor Ariza and Darren Collison.
The trade has been reported by multiple sources, including the Indianapolis Star and The Newark Star-Ledger.
Ariza, a forward who signed a five-year contract with Houston prior to last season, is heading to the Hornets, who sent point guard Collison to Indiana. Additionally, the Pacers also get forward James Posey from New Orleans while sending forward Troy Murphy to New Jersey. The Nets sent Courtney Lee to the Rockets.
The 25-year-old Ariza had his best statistical season in 2009-10, averaging 14.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists in 72 games for the Rockets. Despite his career-high averages, his shooting percentage was a career-low 39.4 percent, and he hit 33.4 percent of his three-point shots and 64.9 percent of his free throws.
Ariza was initially a second-round pick of the Knicks in 2004 and has spent time in New York, Orlando, Los Angeles with the Lakers and Houston, averaging 8.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 383 games -- 123 starts.
Collison, who turns 23 later this month, served as the backup to Chris Paul in his rookie season with the Hornets and the starter when Paul went down with a knee injury. The UCLA product, a first-round pick in 2009, averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 assists in 76 games last year, including 37 starts. He figures to slide in as the Pacers' starting point guard immediately.
Collison is still on his original rookie contract, which could run through 2013-14 if the team exercises its options and extends a qualifying offer in the final year.
Posey, a 33-year-old veteran who has won two NBA titles with Miami in 2006 and Boston in 2008, scored 5.2 points and pulled down 4.3 rebounds per game in 77 contests for New Orleans last season. In 11 seasons with Denver, Houston, Memphis, Miami, Boston and New Orleans, Posey has career per-game averages of 8.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 815 contests.
Posey has two seasons left on his contract.
Murphy spent the last three-plus seasons with Indiana and has been one of the most versatile forwards in the league. In 2009-10, he averaged 14.6 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 38.4 percent from three-point range. A first- round pick of Golden State in 2001, Murphy has averaged 12.1 points and 8.6 rebounds in 621 games for the Warriors and Pacers over nine seasons, although he has appeared in 82 games just once -- his rookie campaign.
Murphy is in the final year of his contract.
Lee will suit up for his third team in three NBA seasons, having played with Orlando as a rookie in 2008-09 before participating with the Nets this past season. In 71 games for the Nets in 2009-10, Lee averaged 12.5 points, and he has a career 10.3 scoring averaged in 148 games.
Lee, like Collison, is on his rookie contract that extends to 2012-13 if the team exercises a 2011-12 option and extends a qualifying offer in 2012-13.
<< Colts' Saturday could miss start of season
Anderson, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colts owner Jim Irsay intimated center Jeff
Saturday may not be recovered from knee surgery in time to start the regular
season following Tuesday's morning practice.
Saturday underwent arthroscopic knee s
<< Menard joining RCR in 2011
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Menard has signed a multi-year agreement
with Richard Childress Racing to drive a fourth and new entry for the
organization in the Sprint Cup Series beginning in 2011, the team announced
Wednesd
<< Pacers F Granger dislocates finger
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger
reportedly dislocated a finger during a U.S. national team scrimmage on
Tuesday.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Granger doesn't believe the injur
<< South Dakota State to visit Kansas in 2012
Brookings, SD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - South Dakota State will open its 2012
football season by traveling to the University of Kansas for a Sept. 1 game in
Lawrence.
The Jackrabbits, from the Missouri Valley Football Conference, open their 2010
s
Indians recall Todd, option Huff >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians recalled pitcher Jess
Todd from Triple-A Columbus and optioned pitcher David Huff to the same club
on Wednesday.
Todd has appeared in five games for the Indians this season ou
Report: North Carolina implicated in more NCAA violations >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of 2010 NFL draft picks from the
University of North Carolina were reportedly involved in the latest of a
string of incidents of apparent improper conduct under NCAA guidelines.
The Raleig
Bulls sign G Keith Bogans >>
CHICAGO (AP) -The Chicago Bulls have signed free agent swingman Keith Bogans.Terms were not disclosed Wednesday, though a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press last week that the deal is guaranteed for one year with a team opti
Sabres re-sign F Mark Mancari >>
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -The Buffalo Sabres have re-signed forward Mark Mancari to a one-year contract.Mancari was a restricted free agent who spent most of last season playing for Portland of the American Hockey League. The 2004 seventh-round draft pick
Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds
Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.
The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.
The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.
Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.
MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:
Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)
Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)
Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.
Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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