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03/02/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics hope to put an embarrassing loss behind them when they pay a visit to the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
Boston just went 1-2 on a three-game homestand and suffered a 104-96 loss to the lowly New Jersey Nets on Saturday from TD Garden. Kevin Garnett had 26 points and nine rebounds, while Marquis Daniels chipped in 16 points and Rajon Rondo added 13 points and 17 assists in the loss.
"I still believe in this team. I just know for a fact we're not playing well," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said after the Nets recorded just their sixth win of the season. "I don't think you change just to change. I don't think we need it. I think we need to change our approach and the way we play."
The Atlantic Division-leading Celtics played without star forward Paul Pierce, who missed his third straight game due to a sore right thumb. Pierce is averaging 17.9 points per game and says he is ready to return for Boston, which has dropped three of four overall and will try to improve its 20-10 road mark.
The Pistons are also trying to bounce back and lost the last three tests of a four-game road trip, including Saturday's 95-88 defeat at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.
Tayshaun Prince had 18 points for the Pistons, while Rodney Stuckey scored 17 and Richard Hamilton 16 in a losing cause.
"We missed free throws. I missed a couple of gimmies in the paint," Prince said. "It's one of those games, four in five nights. You have to fight through it, but we ran out of gas."
Detroit is 14-16 as the host this season, and won the first of three meetings with Boston by a 92-86 score back on January 20 at The Palace. Stuckey scored 27 points and had a career-high 11 rebounds in that one.
The Pistons have won 11 of the previous 16 matchups with the Celtics, who have lost 11 of their last 15 visits to Detroit.
<< Gordon helps Clippers hold off Jazz
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Gordon scored 24 and the Los Angeles
Clippers nearly blew a 17-point lead in the final quarter before holding off
the Utah Jazz, 108-104, at Staples Center.
All five starters finished in double
<< Georgia Tech QB Shaw to transfer to Georgia Southern
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia Tech's back-up quarterback Jaybo Shaw
will transfer to Georgia Southern at the conclusion of the current semester.
Shaw has been Georgia Tech's top backup for the past two seasons. In 2008 as
a tru
<< Report: Iverson will not return to Sixers this season
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Allen Iverson will reportedly not return
to the 76ers this season. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia reported Monday night
the Sixers are expected to make a formal announcement in the next day or two.
On F
<< Wozniak reaches second round; Medina Garrigues bows out in Mexico
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak was a
first-round winner, while sixth-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues was ousted
Monday at the $220,000 Monterrey Open tennis event.
Czech Klara Zakopalova snuck
Thunder finish homestand vs. Kings >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA's most improved team, the Oklahoma City Thunder
hope to finish up a three-game homestand in perfect fashion tonight when they
welcome the Sacramento Kings to Ford Center.
The Thunder improved to 2-0 on their reside
Pacers aim for first win at Staples Center vs. Lakers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers close out a
brief three-game homestand on Tuesday by hosting the Indiana Pacers.
The Pacers have never beaten the Lakers at Staples Centers, dropping 10
straight games in the b
Struggling Wildcats seek turnaround in Queen City >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Villanova Wildcats will try
to get things straightened out tonight, as they take on the desperate
Cincinnati Bearcats in Big East play at Fifth Third Arena.
In one of the most anticipated ma
Miners set sights on C-USA crown >>
Huntington, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a chance to claim the outright title in
the Conference-USA on the line, the 24th-ranked Texas-El Paso Miners will
tangle with the Marshall Thundering Herd at the Cam Henderson Center.
The Miners current
Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value
If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture. Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).
For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot. The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.
TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.
"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,' it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."
"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.
Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash. Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
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