Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/21/2007 - (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 star guard Jason Kidd will play in.
Kidd, the recent subject of trade rumors, has missed New Jersey's last two games because of a strained lower back that also kept him out of the All-Star Game. He is questionable for tonight's game.
However, New Jersey's rumored attempts to deal Kidd, who is averaging 14.3 points, eight rebounds and 8.7 assists per game, may lead it to keep him out of the lineup again tonight.
The Nets come out of the All-Star break 4 1/2 games behind the Toronto Raptors for the lead in the Atlantic Division. Those same Raptors sent the Nets into the break on a losing note after handing New Jersey a 120-109 loss last Wednesday.
Bostjan Nachbar poured in a career-best 26 points and also grabbed eight rebounds while Eddie House and Marcus Williams chipped 19 points apiece for the Nets, who have lost two in a row. Vince Carter had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in the loss, the sixth in nine games for New Jersey.
Carter did play in the exhibition tilt, and had seven points in the East's 153-132 setback.
New Jersey is 14-13 as the host this year and is currently two games out of a playoff spot. It will also host Sacramento, New York, Washington and Boston on the current stand.
The Nets have had recent success against the Hornets, having won six straight and eight of the last 11 in the series. They have also won three in a row at home.
New Jersey swept a pair of meetings last year with New Orleans, which hasn't captured a victory over the Nets since November of 2003. This is the first meeting between the clubs this year.
The Hornets, though, have been having success against the rest of the NBA. However, they came out of the break on Tuesday and suffered a 104-100 loss to Charlotte, just the club's fourth defeat in its last 13 games.
Despite the setback, New Orleans is just one-half game behind Minnesota for the eighth playoff spot in the West.
Chris Paul scored 20 points and tallied seven assists for the Hornets, while Tyson Chandler finished with 16 points and 20 boards. Desmond Mason added 17 points with six boards, and David West scored 16 points and racked in seven boards.
Paul represented the Hornets in the battle between the NBA's freshman and sophomore stars. The second-year Wake Forest product tallied 16 points with 17 assists and nine steals in the sophomore's 115-114 victory.
Tonight's tilt is the second of back-to-back road games for New Orleans, which has lost three of its last four on the road and is just 8-18 as the visitor. The team returns home on Friday to host Seattle.
<< 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
<< Louisville seeks 20th victory of the season
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked Louisville Cardinals gun for
their fourth straight win tonight, as they host the St. John's Red Storm
in Big East play from Freedom Hall.
The Cardinals moved into the Top-25 this
<< Streaking Commodores set to battle Bulldogs
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off one of the most memorable
victories in recent memory for the program, the 17th-ranked Vanderbilt
Commodores hope to carry the momentum into tonight's SEC clash with the
Mississ
Timberwolves open homestand vs. Bobcats >>
(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 l
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
MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!
Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives
away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter
- All you have to do is play at least 10
hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the
specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host
randomly hands out free bonuses ranging
from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who
will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.
"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting