Philadelphia 76ers 2010 Draft Preview
Basketball Betting Lines
06/21/2010 - (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 a huge upgrade over Eddie Jordan and the Sixers were able to get two solid rotational players for the overpaid Dalembert, center Spencer Hawes and forward Andres Nocioni.
Now comes the third piece to the puzzle, the second overall pick. The Sixers jumped up from six to No. 2 in the lottery and lucked out with a virtually mistake-proof pick in Ohio State combo guard Evan Turner, the college player of the year.
Turner has a tremendous feel for the game and is an extremely efficient offensive player in the mold of Portland's Brandon Roy. He should team with Jrue Holiday to give the Sixers a top-tier backcourt for the next decade or so.
Players under contract: F Elton Brand; C Spencer Hawes; G Jrue Holiday; F/G Andre Iguodala; G Jodie Meeks; F/C Jason Smith; F/C Marreese Speights; G Louis Williams; F Thaddeus Young; F Andres Nocioni
Free Agents: F Rodney Carney (Unrestricted); C/F Francisco Elson (Unrestricted); G Willie Green (Early termination); G Allen Iverson (Unrestricted); F Jason Kapono (Player option)
Draft picks: 1st round (2nd overall)
(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 Orl
<< Venus, Jankovic, Clijsters, Henin advance at Wimbledon
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
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
Rachel Alexandra back to work in morning >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel
Alexandra put in her first workout at Churchill Downs on Monday morning since
her victory in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap. The four-year-old filly
breezed
FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash 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.
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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