Timberwolves open homestand vs. Bobcats

Basketball Betting Lines

02/21/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves hope home is where the heart is when the struggling club opens up a five-game homestand this evening against the Charlotte Bobcats at the Target Center.

The Timberwolves have lost six of their last nine contests and hold just a one-half game lead over three teams -- the Clippers, Warriors and Hornets -- for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

Minnesota's most recent loss came on Tuesday against Washington, which never trailed en route to a 112-100 home win over the Timberwolves.

Kevin Garnett had 26 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which fell to a dismal 9-19 on the road this season. However, the club is a healthy 16-9 as the host. Ricky Davis ended with 24 points and Mike James scored 20 for the Timberwolves.

It promises to be no easy homestand for Minnesota, which has won three in a row at home, as Phoenix, Washington, Dallas and Utah will all come to town over the next week and a half.

More good news for the Timberwolves is the fact that they have won three of their last four over the young Charlotte Bobcats. The two teams will meet for the second and final time this season with Charlotte aiming for its first-ever victory in Minnesota. The Bobcats are winless in two attempts so far in franchise history.

Charlotte comes in on a winning note after Raymond Felton scored 21 points and doled out 11 assists, and the Bobcats topped the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, 104-100, on Tuesday.

Gerald Wallace also tallied 21 points, and grabbed seven rebounds for the Bobcats, who won their second in a row. Emeka Okafor was a force, finishing with 16 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocked shots.

Adam Morrison added 18 points off the bench, and Derek Anderson scored 12, including two clutch free throws with 6.4 seconds left to ice the game.

Brevin Knight was a late scratch for the Bobcats with a sore right groin and, along with guard Jeff McInnis (sprained right ankle) and forward Sean May (sore right knee), is questionable for tonight's game.

Charlotte is 8-18 on the road so far this year and will next return home for a pair of games beginning with a tilt against Philadelphia on Friday.

Offsmaker Basketball Betting News

<< Magic, Pistons play front end of home-and-home set
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic open a home-and- home set tonight when the two teams square off at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Detroit comes into the game on a winning note after holding on for an 84-83 win over t

<< Nets open homestand against Hornets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets open up a five-game homestand this evening when they welcome the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets to the Continental Airlines Arena. However, the big question for the Nets is how many of those games s

<< Cavs, Raptors meet in Toronto
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers conclude a three-game road trip tonight when they travel to Toronto to battle the Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Cleveland has split the first two games of its trek so far. The Cavaliers were downe

<< Knicks visit Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers conclude their seven-game homestand tonight when they welcome the Atlantic Division rival New York Knicks to the Wachovia Center. The Sixers fell to 2-4 on their stand before the All-Star break when

<< Florida inches closer to SEC crown, as Gators host Gamecocks
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Florida Gators have been knocked off their perch atop the college basketball world, at least temporarily, but they continue to rule the SEC and are heavy favorit

Celtics continue swing in Phoenix >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pacific Division-leading Phoenix Suns welcome the NBA-worst Boston Celtics tonight to US Airways Center. This is the second and final meeting of the campaign between the squads. On December 8th, Shawn Marion poured i

Kobe, Lakers get back to work against Portland >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All-Star Game MVP Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers return to the court tonight, as they welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to the Staples Center. Bryant scored 31 points, dished out six assists and had six steals to

Miami's Pat Riley returns to bench in Houston >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat welcome head coach Pat Riley back to the bench tonight when they travel to Houston to battle the Rockets at the Toyota Center. Riley announced before the Heat's 104-85 win over Portland last Tuesday he wo

Warriors return from All-Star break to host Grizzlies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Golden State Warriors play their first game back from the All-Star break, as they welcome the Memphis Grizzlies tonight to ORACLE Arena. Golden State went into the break on a winning note. On February 14th, Stephen J

Spurs need to put together some big winning streaks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs own a solid 36-18 record, but that is not good enough in the Southwest Division. Dallas, which is the defending Western Conference champion, is at the top of the division, 8 1/2 games a

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.

Problem with Bears?

Chicago, IL - New Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and star linebacker Brian Urlacher shot down reports of a rift, saying they're simply not true.

"There's nothing between us," Cutler said Thursday, when he reported to training camp. "I just want to put that to rest. There never has been anything between us."

Bet on NFL

Urlacher added: "I never said what I was quoted as saying and that's it. I have a lot of respect for Jay. I think Jay knows that."
Former Bears receiver Bobby Wade caused a stir when he told Minneapolis radio station KFAN-AM that Urlacher used a profanity while questioning Cutler's manhood during a conversation in Las Vegas last weekend. Wade, who now plays for the Vikings, said Urlacher used a profane version of the word "wimp" during the interview that had to be edited out.
go radio station WSCR-AM also reported that Urlacher had to be restrained from confronting Cutler during organized team activities.
"I wouldn't go face-to-face with Brian, anyway," Cutler said. "No, that's never happened. I've hung out with Brian away from the facility numerous times and we've always gotten along."
Urlacher, noting he was limited by a groin injury, denied the reports in an interview with the Chicago Tribune and did it again when he reported to camp.
"I didn't practice this summer, so I don't know how I would fight the guy if I didn't practice," Urlacher said. "We have no problems. I'm excited about football starting. I'm excited to have him as our quarterback."
Why would Wade say that?
"I don't know," Urlacher said. "Maybe he's jealous because we have a good quarterback now."
Cutler said the first he heard of any friction was when he got a call from Urlacher to clear the air. Urlacher, however, said he had already taken several calls from teammates wondering if the reports were true when Cutler phoned.
"He called me and I said, What's up (expletive), what are you doing?'" a grinning Urlacher said, uttering the same word he allegedly used with Wade. "It's so dumb to me that this even got to this point, but it did and then here we are."
better place after going 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. They have a franchise quarterback for the first time in decades after acquiring Cutler in an offseason trade with Denver. But there are questions about his attitude following a fallout with Broncos management and new coach Josh McDaniels.
His critics include former Bears coach Mike Ditka and former Indianapolis and Tampa Bay coach Tony Dungy, one of Smith's mentors. Smith, however, said Cutler has been a model teammate so far while denying any animosity with Urlacher.
"There's no issue with Jay and Brian, except Brian and Jay are both excited about being teammates for our club this year," coach Lovie Smith said. "No more than that. We can't spend a whole lot of time on something that isn't true. I have talked to the players. Whenever something comes out, you have to address it, but it's a non-issue."
In some ways, Cutler is getting a second chance in Chicago, an opportunity to repair his reputation.
Smith said another quarterback - Michael Vick - deserves one, although he doesn't see it happening with the Bears, who lack an experienced backup. The former Atlanta Falcons star, who served a 23-month sentence for running a dogfighting ring, said Thursday he is getting close to signing with a pro football team.
"A second chance, like everyone in society who has paid their debt to society," Smith said. "He deserves a second chance. As far as we're concerned, we like this team that we have right now."
Particularly the new quarterback.
"Me and Brian have been on a good relationship since I've been here, and I expect it to continue that way," Cutler said.

Bet on NFL

Mysportsbook.com online online sportsbook accepts Visa & Mastercard