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03/13/2010 -
NEW YORK (AP) -Now that West Virginia is in the Big East tournament final, coach Bob Huggins and his Mountaineers have a large problem on their hands.
His name is Greg Monroe.
The 6-foot-11 center with the uncommon all-around game has dominated at Madison Square Garden, leading No. 22 Georgetown to three impressive wins and a matchup with No. 7 West Virginia for the championship Saturday night.
``He passes the ball, he finds open people, he can lay it down, he can score in the post,'' Huggins said. ``Quite frankly, people with size bother us, because we're not that big.''
Monroe had 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists as the eighth-seeded Hoyas (23-9) overpowered an undersized Marquette team Friday night, pulling away for an 80-57 semifinal victory.
Flashing his versatility, the sophomore from New Orleans with the smooth, left-handed shot is averaging 18 points, 10.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game during the tournament.
``I would say that when he first got here, we were amazed at what he could do. Especially the way he passes,'' said Georgetown guard Chris Wright, who scored 27 points against top-seeded Syracuse in the quarterfinals. ``He sees the court very well. I mean, it's nothing new. We all know Greg is a phenomenal player. It's nothing that we - it's not like he just started doing this in the Big East tournament. So we know he's a great player.''
West Virginia (26-6) has its own star in Da'Sean Butler, who is having a big tournament as well. The senior forward scored 24 points Friday night in a 53-51 victory over pesky Notre Dame that ended a season-best six-game winning streak for the Irish.
That exquisite performance came about 24 hours after Butler banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer from the top of the key to give the Mountaineers a 54-51 win over Cincinnati in the quarterfinals.
West Virginia has won five straight and seven of eight. In a tournament full of surprises, the Mountaineers became the first No. 3 seed to reach the Big East title game since St. John's in 2000.
Now, Butler thinks a conference championship could earn his squad a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
``I think it's possible. I don't think there's any reason why we can't,'' he said. ``All the other teams fell out. We take care of business and win this game tomorrow, I don't see why we can't be a No. 1 seed at all.''
In the championship game for the third time in four years, Georgetown is looking to extend its record to eight Big East tournament titles.
The Mountaineers are in the final for the second time, following a 68-59 loss to Syracuse in 2005.
``We can't blow this opportunity,'' Butler said. ``I'm looking forward to this game tomorrow really bad. It's just an honor to be in this game.''
Playing at home, West Virginia beat Georgetown 81-68 on March 1 in the teams' only meeting this season. Monroe had 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
``They're really good. Extremely well coached,'' Huggins said. ``Monroe is terrific. We jumped on them pretty good in Morgantown early and then they came out the second half and played extremely well against us. And Monroe was a large part of that. It's the Big East, you know? I'm not trying to be redundant. You look around the league and who do you play that doesn't have good players?''
The Hoyas were missing leading scorer Austin Freeman when they lost at West Virginia. He was diagnosed with diabetes that night.
Freeman is back in the lineup and said he feels good.
``These three days have been great,'' he said. ``Nothing is wrong with me right now. I'm happy right now. We're winning, so it makes it a little bit better, too. I'm good.''
And so is Monroe.
``I think he's an early-entry pro,'' Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. ``I thought he turned over his right shoulder every single time tonight. He used his left hand every single time tonight. We didn't play to the scouting report. And we looked really, really bad. And he looked really, really good.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< UNLV knock offs BYU to reach Mountain West title game
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tre'Von Willis finished with 18 points and
made critical free throws down the stretch, as UNLV upended No. 14 BYU, 70-66,
to reach the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Willis
<< Wozniacki, Sharapova advance at Indian Wells; Henin slips
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki and
former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova were among Friday's second-round winners at
the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event.
The second-seeded Wozniacki, of
<< Vandy downs Georgia in SEC QFs
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Jenkins poured in a career-high 25
points to lead the 20th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores to a 78-66 victory over
the Georgia Bulldogs in the quarterfinal round of the Southeastern Conference
Tournam
<< Roy leads Blazers to rout of Kings
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy poured in 28 points and finished
10-of-13 from the field, leading Portland to a 110-94 rout of the Sacramento
Kings.
LaMarcus Aldridge tacked on 18 points as the Trail Blazers remained in t
McDonald plays role of sage for young Blue Jays >>
DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) -Becoming a coach isn't on John McDonald's radar just yet, but while he's playing he enjoys being a mentor to his fellow Toronto Blue Jays infielders.``I would hope the younger players would use a player like me as a source of kno
UNLV knocks off BYU to reach Mountain West title game >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tre'Von Willis finished with 18 points and
made critical free throws down the stretch, as UNLV upended No. 14 BYU, 70-66,
to reach the championship game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
Willis
Leach faces James in Texas Tech lawsuit deposition >>
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -Mike Leach is sitting across from his accuser as Craig James gives sworn testimony in the former coach's lawsuit against Texas Tech.James, whose complaint of mistreatment of his son led to Leach's firing, declined to comment Sat
Panthers shoot for rare victory over Sharks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida needs all the victories it can muster from now
until the end of the season to even have a chance at making the playoffs. The
Panthers could have a tough time getting a win today, when they visit the
mighty San Jose Sh
Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.
We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.
Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.
Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.
Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.
NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.
The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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