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02/10/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the most part, the NBA's coaches do an outstanding job picking the reserves for the NBA All-Star Game.
With so few slots available there are always a number of players who are going to feel slighted but you can almost always defend the ones picked. That changed a bit this time around with three big names selected that have no business being in Orlando in late February.
Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Boston's Paul Pierce and the Suns' Steve Nash will all be enshrined in Springfield one day but their selection as All-Star reserves this season smacked as more of a lifetime achievement award and was a direct slap in the face to players like Kyle Lowry, Rudy Gay, Josh Smith and Danny Granger.
In the West, the 33-year-old Nowitzki, who has struggled with conditioning and a balky knee in this lockout-shortened season, is arguably having his worst campaign as a professional. Despite his travails, Nowitzki was humbled by the respect he received.
"I am really excited to make the All-Star Team this year," Nowitzki said. "It was a tough road back to full health for me, but I am honored that the coaches thought enough of me to make me an All-Star. It has been a privilege to represent the Mavericks organization over the last decade and I look forward to doing it again in Orlando."
Nash, who turned 38 earlier this week and is as crafty as ever, becomes just the fourth player in NBA history to earn an All-Star selection at 38 or older, joining a Hall of Fame club that includes only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Karl Malone.
He's also got some solid numbers and is currently enjoying the best statistical season for a point guard 38-or-older, averaging 15.1 points and an NBA-best 10.0 assists entering play tonight. However, Nash pilots a team that is just 11-15 and is a major liability at the defensive end.
TNT aired the All-Star reserves selection show and a number of its analysts were up in arms over the picks of Nowitzki and Nash, former teammates in Dallas as well as past NBA MVPs.
"Clearly, we gave Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki a lifetime achievement award," Charles Barkley said. "Kyle Lowry should've been an All-Star. I'm rewarding Kyle Lowry. No disrespect for Steve Nash."
"Rudy Gay is the biggest snub [in the West]," the Hall of Famer added.
Cross over to the East and Pierce, who has come on a bit lately, even admitted surprise to TNT's Craig Sager when he was selected. In fact, most thought if Boston was going to have an All-Star this season, it would be point guard Rajon Rondo, the team's one ascending player.
"I would've liked to see my man Rondo on there" former C's big man Shaquille O'Neal said. "Rondo is still the best point guard in the game. He's the best true point guard in the game."
Barkley concurred: "Paul Pierce is a great player but he did not deserve to be on the team."
Chris Webber took to social media and Twitter to make the case for the Hawks' Smith:
"Josh smith. Call 911.You got robbed. No mask no gloves- its fingerprints- all over the place call first 48-no call Atlanta CSI- Call the FBI," the former All-Star Tweeted.
Kenny Smith was similarly perplexed with who wasn't on the team.
"The contributions from Danny Granger and Josh Smith, when the game is on the line, have been well above some of the other guys," the former point guard said.
What makes the selections of Nowitzki, Nash and Pierce so puzzling is that the coaches didn't rely solely on reputation. There were five first time All-Stars selected in Chicago's Luol Deng, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, Indiana's Roy Hibbert, Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge and the Grizzlies' Marc Gasol.
"I could not be more proud of Andre Iguodala for being recognized as an All- Star," said Sixers coach Doug Collins. "Andre has meant so much to the success of our team this season and he is one of the most talented, unselfish players I have ever had the opportunity to coach."
In the grand scheme of things, the actual NBA All-Star Game, like all the rest in professional sports, is meaningless. The honor, as you can see by Collins' reaction to Iggy's place on the team, remains anything but.
Being named an All-Star is still a major deal for NBA players, whether it's a veteran on the downside of a spectacular career like Nash, or a first-timer like Iguodala and Company.
Missing the cut, meanwhile, is often a tough pill to swallow, especially when All-Star appearances don't dot the resume on a yearly basis.
There's no guarantee players like Lowry or Smith will ever be back at the precipice again, making their neglect by the coaches harder to understand and defend.
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Lifetime achievement awards behind this season's All-Star snubs >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the most part, the NBA's coaches do an
outstanding job picking the reserves for the NBA All-Star Game.
With so few slots available there are always a number of players who are going
to feel slighted bu
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In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
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