Houston Rockets 2010 Draft Preview
Basketball Betting Lines
06/21/2010 -
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rick Adelman did a really nice job in Houston last season,
leading the Rockets to 42 wins despite being without injured All-Star Yao Ming
for the entire season.
Yao is expected to return in 2010-11 from reconstructive foot surgery, giving
Adelman an imposing starting five on paper of Aaron Brooks, Kevin Martin,
Trevor Ariza, Luis Scola and Yao.
Having Brooks, the 2010 Most Improved Player, and Martin together for a full
season playing off the low-post game of Yao could turn the Rockets into title
contender rather quickly. Scola can handle the dirty work on the boards and
Ariza, along with defensive stalwart Shane Battier, are excellent wing
players,
All that said, taking some insurance for the oft- injured Yao is probably the
right thing to do with the final lottery pick at No. 14. Marshall center
Hassan Whiteside is coming out after his freshman season so he needs some
seasoning but will be an imposing physical presence once he grows into his
body. Whiteside also has already been working out in Houston with former
Rocket great Hakeem Olajuwon so he is familiar with the area.
Players under contract: C David Andersen; G/F Trevor Ariza; F Shane Battier;
G Aaron Brooks; F Chase Budinger; G Mike Harris; F Jordan Hill; F Alexander
Johnson; G Kevin Martin; F Jermaine Taylor
Free agents: F Chuck Hayes (Unrestricted - T); F Jared Jeffries (Unrestricted
- ETO); C Yao Ming (Unrestricted - ETO); G Kyle Lowry (Restricted); F/C Luis
Scola (Restricted)
Draft picks: 1st round (14th overall)
<< Golden State Warriors 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Warriors are far too talented to win just 26 games but
injuries and Don Nelson's flawed, defensively-challenged coaching style was
too much to overcome last season.
The franchise is for sale and a new ownership group w
<< Detroit Pistons 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Kuester's first year in the Motor City was a bit of a
disaster, resulting in just 27 wins and a birth in the NBA Draft Lottery, an
unfamiliar position for a franchise that had gone to the postseason eight
consecutive tim
<< Chile downs record-setting Swiss
Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Gonzalez scored 15
minutes from time as Chile downed 10-man Switzerland, 1-0, on Monday at Nelson
Mandela Bay Stadium to take over the top spot in Group H.
Switzerland set the rec
<< Federer avoids first-round shocker at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on
the ropes Monday but managed to avoid an opening-round shocker against game
Colombian Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon.
The 60th-ranked Falla stunned Federer by winning
<< Denver Nuggets 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nuggets are coming off another solid regular season and
a seventh straight playoff appearance but George Karl's battle with neck and
throat cancer proved to be too much to overcome as the team bowed out in the
first round
Indiana Pacers 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers have a solid group of young players that
are developing nicely but they need a legitimate quarterback to lead them.
The Pacers just don't think T.J. Ford is the answer at the point guard
position and are
Panthers' Smith breaks arm again >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith
broke his left arm for the second time in six months.
The Panthers said Smith suffered his latest injury while playing flag football
this past weekend and has a
Beat earn first WPS win, 1-0, over Chicago >>
Kennesaw, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta beat topped the Chicago Red Stars
1-0 at KSU Soccer Stadium to earn their first WPS win on Saturday.
Beat defender Tina Ellertson scored the game's only goal - her first of the
season - just be
Los Angeles Lakers 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With their 16th NBA championship safely tucked away, the
Los Angeles Lakers will get to work on a three-peat by trying to unearth a
shooter in the second round of the upcoming NBA Draft.
Obviously a championship team doesn
Jankovic, Clijsters win Wimbledon openers >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Jelena Jankovic
and Kim Clijsters were among Monday's first-round winners at The
Championships, Wimbledon.
The fourth-seeded former U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic was tested in a 6-3
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.
Chiefs' Treen Green out for Sunday's game
How long Trent Green will remain sidelined is unknown. Coach Herm Edwards said Monday he will miss a second straight start Sunday when the Chiefs host the San Francisco 49ers.
A two-time Pro Bowler, Green was going into a feet-first hook slide when he was knocked unconscious by a thunderous, head-snapping hit from Cincinnati's Robert Geathers.
Oddsmakers at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com currently have the Chiefs listed as 7-point favorites versus the 49ers.
The 49ers got beat by Philadelphia 38-24 as a 6.5-point underdog last week. The combined score went OVER the posted over/under total (42.5).
Alex Smith completed 27-of-46 passes for 293 yards with a touchdown. Michael Robinson rushed for 29 yards and a pair of touchdowns on five carries.
The Chiefs lost 9-6 to Denver last week as an 11-point underdog. The combined score was well UNDER the posted over/under total (38).
Larry Johnson rushed for 126 yards on 27 carries. Damon Huard completed 17-of-23 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions.
To visit this online sports book got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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