NBA Atlantic Division Off-Season Grades
Basketball Betting Lines
07/30/2010 -
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlantic Division had only one team finish
with a winning record last season (Celtics), and although some members have
improved since then, it looks like it will be pretty weak once again. Let's
take a look at how each has fared in the attempt to upgrade their rosters.
CELTICS: Boston kept its "Big Four" intact by re-signing free agents Paul
Pierce and Ray Allen. The Celtics did lose a valuable bench player to free
agency with Tony Allen signing with the Grizzlies. Another key sub may not
return, as the C's await Rasheed Wallace's decision on whether he'll remain
retired. Boston signed free agent Jermaine O'Neal to bolster its front line,
which will help with Kendrick Perkins being sidelined to at least December as
he recovers from major knee surgery. O'Neal is more of an offensive threat than
Perkins, but the Celts will miss his physical presence. In the draft, the
Boston picked up guard Avery Bradley and power forward Luke Harangody. Even
though Harangody was a second round pick, he may be more ready to step in and
contribute this season following a very impressive showing in the summer
league.
KNICKS: Team president Donnie Walsh stripped his roster down to almost nothing
over the last two years to get under the salary cap, in hopes of striking free
agent gold this summer. What he ended up with was some nice bronze and two
straight horrible seasons. Free agent Amar'e Stoudemire was glad to come to New
York for a guaranteed $100 million dollars. The only problem was none of his
fellow big-ticket free agents wanted to do the same. Point guard Raymond
Felton, also a free agent, did opt to join Stoudemire in the Big Apple, signing
a three-year contract. Walsh did manage to get some useful pieces for free
agent David Lee, as he sent him to the Warriors in a sign-and-trade for Anthony
Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike, and Ronny Turiaf. The Knicks had two second-round
draft picks, and came away with small forward Landry Fields and guard Andy
Rautins. Fields showed some promise in the summer league, while Rautins may be
even a worse pick than Jordan Hill was last season. The end result for the
Knicks was they got rid of eventual All-Star Zach Randolph and sixth-man-of-
the-year winner Jamal Crawford for Stoudemire and Felton. Not much of a trade-
off for two horrible seasons, if you ask me.
NETS: New Jersey had the third overall pick in the draft and selected power
forward Derrick Favors. He has a wealth of potential and tremendous
athleticism, but it's unlikely he'll have a big impact in his first season. The
Nets selected Damion James with the second of their two first-round picks.
James played very well in the summer league and may be more polished at this
point than Favors. The Nets also picked up some serviceable pieces in the free
agent market, signing point guard Jordan Farmar, small forward Travis Outlaw,
and shooting guard Anthony Morrow. Farmar gives the Nets a solid backup for
Devin Harris, while Outlaw and Morrow can both fill it up from the outside.
Grade: B
76ERS: The big addition was Evan Turner, the second overall pick in the draft.
He struggled in the summer league by his own admission, and you wonder how
effective he'll be having to play off the ball in the NBA. The Sixers made one
trade of note, sending the highly outsized contract of center Samuel Dalembert
to the Kings for center Spencer Hawes and small forward Andres Nocioni. Aside
from dumping a bad contract, Philly gets a big man in Hawes that is seven years
younger than Dalembert. However, the overall effect of the trade as far as
improving the team is likely to be minimal at best.
Grade: C
RAPTORS: Even though Toronto lost its All-Star power forward Chris Bosh to the
Heat via free agency, it actually wasn't a disastrous off-season for the
Raptors. Toronto got another lefty power forward in the draft's first round,
North Carolina's Ed Davis. He's still very raw and will take time to develop,
but the Raptors potentially got themselves a good replacement for Bosh with the
13th overall pick. The Raptors made two free agent signings of their own,
inking small forward Linas Kleiza to a very reasonable four-year, $18.4 million
dollar deal, and a somewhat unreasonable five-year, $34 million dollar contract
to power forward Amir Johnson Kleiza played overseas last year, but was very
productive previously backing up Carmelo Anthony in Denver. Johnson earned his
hefty payday by averaging 6.2 ppg in nearly 18 minutes per game last season for
the Raptors. He does do some good work off the boards and provide a shot-
blocking presence, but has always had trouble staying on the floor due to
foul problems. Toronto also traded the disgruntled and disappointing Hedo
Turkoglu to the Suns for Leandro Barbosa. The Raptors had to be thrilled
getting a quality player like Barbosa in exchange for a player who didn't want
to be there and is four years older.
Grade: C+
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Anything but pre
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According to the Boston Globe, Wheeler was awarded a $2.2 million deal f
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Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the Washington Post reports it to be
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Tigers bring up Frazier; designate Larish for assignment >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers have purchased the contract
of outfielder Jeff Frazier from Triple-A Toledo and opened a roster spot for
the slugger by designating infielder Jeff Larish for assignment.
Frazier was hitti
Blue Jays seek fourth straight victory in opener with Indians >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays take aim at their fourth straight win
this evening when they open a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians
at Rogers Centre.
Toronto started its six-game homestand in impressive fashion, as i
Tigers hope to stop road skid in clash with Red Sox >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Tigers are quickly falling out of contention in
the American League Central. Tonight, they try to put the brakes on their 10-
game road losing streak when they open a three-game series against the Boston
Red Sox a
Yankees open key set with Rays; A-Rod tries again for 600th homer >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Rodriguez's quest to become the youngest player in
baseball history with 600 home runs takes him to St. Petersburg where the New
York Yankees open a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana
Field.
Ro
Slumping Diamondbacks visit Mets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The slumping Arizona Diamondbacks head to New York in hopes
of notching a rare road win when they open a three-game weekend series with
the Mets at Citi Field.
The Diamondbacks, now 24 games off the pace in the National Le
Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).
Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.
A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.
Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.
"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.
De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.
The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.
The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.
De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.
Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.
But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.
NFL Football Trash Talk
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject
would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms.
Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends,
their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the
sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies
your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming
the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like
your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in
defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your
hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say,
will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt
focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea
is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to
make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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