Orlando Magic 2010 Draft Preview
Basketball Betting Lines
06/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Magic are clearly one of the most skilled teams in the NBA but seem to lack the requisite toughness to get over the top.
I'm not sure you can correct that in the draft and you certainly can't do it at No. 29, where Orlando will be selecting.
Dwight Howard is the key and needs to start intimidating more since players like Vince Carter and Rashard Lewis are never going to knock people around. Carter, meanwhile, is also no longer the feared scorer he was in Toronto so the Magic need to start developing a plan for his eventual replacement.
UConn's Stanley Robinson, a 6-foot-8, 220-pound small forward has a nasty streak and can run the floor and finish, although he lacks a top-tier jumper Gani Lawal, the Georgia Tech power forward, could also help improve the team's toughness.
Players under contract: C Dwight Howard; G Vince Carter; C Marcin Gortat; F Rashard Lewis; G Jameer Nelson; F Mickael Pietrus; F Brandon Bass; F Ryan Anderson; F Matt Barnes.
Free agents: G J.J. Redick (restricted); G Anthony Johnson (unrestricted)
Draft picks: 1st round (29th overall); 2nd round (59th overall)
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Venus Williams, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were among Monday's first- round winners at Wimbledon 2010. The second-seeded Williams blew past Paraguayan veteran
<< Lakers celebrate 16th NBA championship
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A celebratory parade didn't seem plausible
a week ago, with the Lakers having returned to Los Angeles after dropping Game
5 of the NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics.
The loss placed the defending champs in
<< Jankovic, Clijsters, Henin win; Schiavone exits Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1s Jelena Jankovic,
Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin were among Monday's first-round winners, while
surprise French Open champion Francesca Schiavone exited the draw at The
Championships,
<< Oklahoma City Thunder 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best young team in basketball will have a chance to add
a few more pieces to the puzzle in the 2010 NBA Draft.
The past three drafts have given Oklahoma City Kevin Durant, Jeff Green,
Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and
<< Federer survives; Roddick rolls at Wimbledon
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Six-time champion Roger Federer was on
the ropes but managed to avoid an opening-round shocker against game Colombian
Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon. Last year's runner-up Andy Roddick joined
Federer in the s
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more active teams early in the offseason, naming Doug Collins as the team's new head coach, and trading disappointing center Samuel Dalembert to the Sacramento Kings. Collins is
Monterey is more than Pebble Beach >>
Monterey, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Most golf nuts are always searching for that
ultimate buddy trip. To play 12 rounds of golf in 5 days, visit the local
establishments and enjoy the fruitful libation to the wee hours of the
morning.
Myrtle Be
Phoenix Suns 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Suns rebounded nicely this year after the Terry Porter
debacle but that didn't stop Steve Kerr from announcing that he would not
return as president and general manager when his contract expires on June 30.
Kerr intend
Portland Trail Blazers 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pritchard has built the Portland Trail Blazers into a
contender in the Western Conference but he is reportedly not in the good
graces of team owner Paul Allen.
In fact, Pritchard has acknowledged he knows ownership i
Saints release DE McCray >>
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have released
defensive end Bobby McCray.
McCray, 28, signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2008. The
Florida product started eight of 32 regular-season ga
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.