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NBA's brightest to shine in Las VegasBasketball Betting Lines02/18/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's best take center stage on Sunday, as the Western Conference and Eastern Conference clash in the 56th annual All-Star Game at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. In the 2006 annual event, Dwyane Wade's follow shot in the lane with 16.6 seconds remaining rallied the East past the West, 122-120, at the Toyota Center. LeBron James had 29 points and six rebounds for the East and at 21- years-old was named the youngest MVP in the history of the contest. Wade ended with 20 points for the East, which rallied from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to win the contest for a second straight year. The East has won six of the last 10 All-Star contests overall. Miami's Shaquille O'Neal, Cleveland's James and Toronto's Chris Bosh makeup the starting frontcourt for the Eastern Conference, while Wade of the Heat and Washington's Gilbert Arenas combine to give the East a strong starting backcourt. Shaq is a 14-time NBA All-Star and has been selected to the All- Star Game 12 times by the fans (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007). However, this will be just the 11th game that he has played in. The monstrous center did not play in the contest in 1997, 2001 or 2002. James, who was the 2003-04 NBA Rookie of the Year, will be playing in his third NBA All-Star Game, while Bosh is participating in his second. Wade, who was the MVP of the 2006 NBA Finals, and Arenas are both appearing in their third contest. Arenas and Bosh are both in the starting lineup for the first time in their careers. The bench for the Eastern Conference is filled with plenty of talent. Detroit's dynamic backcourt of Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton headline the reserves for the East. The Pistons All-Star duo has earned their way into the contest for the second time in their careers in as many years. They are joined by Atlanta's Joe Johnson, Orlando's Dwight Howard, Caron Butler of the Wizards, New Jersey's Vince Carter and Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal, who was voted in as a starter for last year's contest but did not play because of a groin injury. Butler, Howard and Johnson are all making their All-Star debuts, while Carter has been selected to his eighth All-Star team and Jermaine O'Neal has earned his way on to his sixth squad, including 2006. New Jersey guard Jason Kidd was originally named as a reserve to the East squad, However, Kidd is sidelined with a back injury and will not play in the contest. He would have played in his eighth All-Star Game (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007), The versatile Kidd has been voted as a starter three times (1996, 2000, 2001) and as a reserve five times. Washington's Eddie Jordan is the head coach for the Eastern Conference All- Stars. Jordan is in his fourth season with Washington. He has guided the Wizards to two straight playoff appearances. The Western Conference is feeling the injury bug for this year's contest, and will try to halt a two-game losing streak. The starting frontcourt for the West was supposed to consist of Houston center Yao Ming and forwards Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs and Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tracy McGrady of the Rockets and the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, who won the MVP of this contest in 2002 at Philadelphia, makeup a very athletic backcourt. Yao, who leads the Rockets in scoring (25.9 ppg) and rebounding (9.4 rpg), suffered a non displaced fracture in a bone under his right knee during a 98-93 loss on December 23rd to the Los Angeles Clippers. The 7-6 Yao, who had been in the starting lineup four straight years for the West, is expected to be sidelined at least until early March and will not participate in the mid- season classic. Duncan, who shared MVP honors with Shaq in the 2000 contest in Oakland, is making his ninth All-Star appearance, while Garnett will play in his 10th All-Star Game and was the MVP in the 2003 contest in Atlanta. McGrady will take the court for his seventh All-Star contest, sixth as a starter, and Bryant, who won the MVP of the 2002 contest, is making his ninth straight All-Star appearance, all as a starter. Two-time reigning NBA MVP Steve Nash of the Suns, Denver's Allen Iverson and Carlos Boozer of the Jazz were all supposed to be reserves for the West. However, the three All-Stars are all dealing with injuries. Nash has right shoulder inflammation, Iverson is hampered by a sprained right ankle and Boozer, who would have made his All-Star debut, has a hairline fracture in left fibula. Boozer is averaging team-highs in points (22.1 ppg) and rebounds (11.8 rpg) for the Jazz, while Nash, who would have played in his fifth All-Star contest, leads the league in assists (11.8 apg) and Iverson, who was acquired by Denver from Philadelphia in a blockbuster deal on December 19th, is averaging 28.7 points and 7.6 assists in 35 games for Sixers and Nuggets. Iverson has won the MVP twice (2001, 2005) for this event and had played the previous seven All- Star contests for the East, all as a starter. The healthy bodies on the bench for the Western Conference are very versatile and athletic. The frontcourt has Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Josh Howard, Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire of the Suns, and Utah's Mehmet Okur. Seven-time All-Star Ray Allen of Seattle and Tony Parker of the Spurs are the backups for Bryant and McGrady. Allen, who made the East squad three times as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks, is playing in his fourth consecutive All-Star Game as a member of the Sonics, while Parker is playing in his second-career mid-season classic in as many years. Anthony, who served a 15-game suspension earlier this season for his participation in the infamous brawl with the New York Knicks on December 16th at Madison Square Garden. Josh Howard and Okur will both be appearing in their first All-Star Game, while Nowitzki will play in his sixth, Marion his fourth and Stoudemire in his second. Phoenix' Mike D'Antoni, who makes his All-Star coaching debut, will be calling the shots from the West bench. D'Antoni has led the Suns to back-to-back Pacific Division titles and two straight appearances in the Western Conference finals. He was named the 2004-05 NBA Coach of the Year. The starters for tonight's contest were determined by the fans' votes, while the 30 head coaches in the NBA voted for the reserves in their respective conferences after the starting players for each squad were finalized. Head coaches for the East and West All-Star teams are based on teams with the best winning-percentage in each conference following the games on February 4th. Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson and Detroit Pistons head coach Flip Saunders were not eligible to coach in this seasons contest because they coached in last year's game. PLAYERS TO WATCH This could be Wade's year to grab MVP honors. Wade can do it all and has proved many times that he is capable of taking over a game single-handidly. The defending world champions All-Star guard showed what he is capable of against Dallas in the 2006 NBA Finals and will be ready to showcase his talents on a different stage. Stoudemire is definitely back and looks like the dominant force he used to be. The 6-10 Stoudemire, who averaged 26.0 points and 8.9 rebounds during his first All-Star season in the 2004-05 campaign, played just three games last season because of a serious knee injury. He underwent successful left knee microfracture surgery in October 2005 and had a tough road back to the court. The Suns star forward wants his peers and all of the NBA fans to see first hand how he can dominate against anyone who gets in his way. NOTABLE This is the first time the mid-season classic will be played in Las Vegas. Anthony, Bosh, James and Wade are all members of the 2003 NBA Draft Class. James was selected first by Cleveland, Anthony third by Denver, Bosh went No. 4 to Toronto and the Heat grabbed Wade with the fifth overall pick. Allen, Anthony, Josh Howard and Okur were the four replacements for Boozer, Iverson, Nash and Yao on the Western Conference roster. Johnson replaced the injured Kidd on the East squad. Duncan (U.S. Virgin Islands), Nowitzki (Germany), Okur (Turkey), and Parker (France) are the four international players who will participate in this year's contest. The 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 NBA All-Star Games all had a record-tying six international players on the respective rosters.
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Online Sportsbook Football BettingThe NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason. New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall). The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo. Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years. Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason. Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes. The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher. Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer. The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick. Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards. However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed). The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense. Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style. In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record. Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme. Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack. 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