Cavs' Jamison relishing title shot
Basketball Betting Lines
04/26/2010 -
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) -While breaking down game tape during a serious film session, the Cleveland Cavaliers sometimes will break into laughter.
Seeing Antawn Jamison toss in one of his unorthodox shots can be pretty funny.
``I hear the giggles,'' Jamison said Monday. ``I'm used to it.''
Floaters. Runners. Underhanded scoops. From odd, almost impossible angles, Jamison can make just about any shot.
Currently, he's shooting for something else: an NBA title.
Acquired in a February trade from Washington to take pressure off LeBron James and serve in a supporting role to the superstar, Jamison scored 24 points in Sunday's 121-98 win over the Chicago Bulls that gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.
The Cavs can advance to the second round with a win in Game 5 on Tuesday, and Jamison believes they better put away their young, stubborn opponent.
``If you want to be a championship-caliber team and you've got a team on the brink, you've got to find a way to get it done,'' Jamison said. ``We realize this is a great opportunity and we have to take advantage.''
Jamison would know.
The 12-year veteran, who played with Golden State, Dallas and Washington before joining the Cavs, was once part of a young, talent-rich Wizards team that was on the verge of being a perennial title contender when it all fell apart.
In his second season with Washington, the Wizards beat Chicago in the first round before being eliminated by Miami. Jamison figured they'd go further the next time, but James and the Cavaliers eliminated Washington in the first round the next three years.
Then injuries and Gilbert Arenas' legal woes fractured the Wizards, who were eventually split up and may need years to recover.
At one point, Jamison feared he had missed his title shot.
``It was very frustrating,'' he said. ``You start asking questions like: Why is this happening? You were part of a franchise that was so promising a few years ago and all of a sudden you don't know what's going to happen. You go from that to there is a light at the end of the tunnel.''
At 33, Jamison, is running out time.
He hasn't won a championship - of any kind - since he was 16. Now he's on a team with James and Shaquille O'Neal, desperately seeking his fifth NBA championship.
It's now, or maybe, never for Jamison.
``This is an opportunity of a lifetime,'' he said. ``I don't have another five or 10 years left in this body. The sense of urgency is there, not only with myself but with the rest of these guys. That's why I think it's a great fit because we all have the same mentality. We are all trying to accomplish the same thing - right now. We're not trying to wait until next year or the year after that.''
The Bulls, meanwhile, are fighting for survival.
After stunning the Cavs in Game 3, they had no match in Game 4 for James, who added to his postseason legacy by totaling 37 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists. James highlighted his fifth career playoff triple-double with a pair of buzzer-beating shots, including a 42-foot jumper to end the third period.
Chicago may have missed its chance, and now the Bulls face a win-or-see-you-next-season scenario at less than full speed.
Guard Derrick Rose missed practice Monday to undergo an MRI on his right ankle and forward Luol Deng sat out with a sore knee and calf.
Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro, facing an uncertain future in Chicago, expects both Rose and Deng to play.
Del Negro's biggest challenge is devising a plan to slow the Cavaliers, who are no longer a one-man band. With James, Jamison, O'Neal and Mo Williams, Cleveland has four players capable of carrying the load and the Cavs' deep bench seems bottomless.
``It's not one guy. I thought yesterday that Antawn played very well for them,'' Del Negro said. ``They isolate him on the wings and it's very tough to cover him one-on-one.''
Jamison's size and speed make him a difficult, if not impossible, matchup. His range spreads a defense, forcing big men to come out where they aren't comfortable. Jamison also can post up smaller players, backing them down before beating them with one of his patented scoops.
While James has his own arsenal of shots, even he can't match Jamison's.
``All my seven years in the NBA, I've always said 'Tawn is the most unorthodox guy we have,''' James said. ``He makes shots that I've never seen. It's hard to guard a guy like that. It's effective. I'm glad he's on our side.''
And not just because he can score.
Jamison is one of the most respected players in the league. On Monday, he finished fourth in voting for the Joe Dumars Trophy, given to the player who best exhibits the ideals of sportsmanship. Jamison has been an ideal fit for the Cavs - on and off the floor.
``A big, big, big, big-time guy,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said. ``He's special. You couple that with his ability to play and you've got the whole package.''
Jamison credits his respect for the game to Dean Smith, his coach at North Carolina, and his parents.
``You have to carry yourself in a certain manner,'' Jamison said. ``My parents raised me the right way.''
His father, Albert, also may have helped Jamison develop his unique shooting touch. Albert Jamison accidentally put up an 11-foot-high basket and not a 10-footer at their home, forcing his son always aim a little higher.
``It comes natural,'' Jamison said of his unusual delivery. ``In the summer time, I'm not in the gym working on it or trying to perfect it at all. It's nothing I work on.
``But as long as that ball keeps going in the basket, I'm happy.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Betting the NFL preseason
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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