|
The NBA 2008 Playoffs are reaching the most interesting point: Just 8 teams are left to fight for the Championship. Even though there are some favorites, we can’t deny they’ve all done a supreme job and that’s why they are the best on this race to the NBA Finals. But what are the possibilities on each pair of contenders?
Today we’ll focus on one of the Western Conference pairs.
L.A. Lakers vs Utah Jazz
Some thought it would be harder for Utah to crush the Houston Rockets, who’d been having a great NBA Season. But just as it happened last year, the Jazz gave everyone an unexpected level of performance, getting their pass to Conference semifinals. They have solid (but not outstanding) players like Mehmet Okur adding some weight to the team (as we just saw during the first game against Los Angeles, where Okur scored 21 points).
The Lakers have the advantage of winning the first game (109-98), and now the second one will be at home. And whether we want to admit it or not, their arrogant Kobe Bryant is still one of the stars of the team. Just in game 1, he scored 38 points, 24 of them just on the first half. This potential ’08 MVP does a lot for the team and they definitely love him. Could the Jazz face Kobe Bryant’s experience, still being a great player? If they do, it will be really hard.
Right now L.A. has the upper hand. Let’s see how true that may be on the next game.
Source: NBA.com
Comment
Things start to heat up at 2007-2008 NBA Playoffs. You can feel the tension and teams want to take it to another level. An act? Could be, but will do just fine for rabid NBA betting fans.
The Washington Wizards thought they would be heading home after Wednesday’s game. Well, they are! But they won’t be sitting and watching the games on TV (at least not yet). In what is rumored to be a bad play almost made on purpose, the Cavaliers let the Wizards win this one to have at least one more game.
Sure, one missed layup doesn’t mean you fixed the game. But you start to feel that way when you read Caron Butler’s declarations to press. He says he’d been messing with LeBron James during the entire game and, just a few moments before the match ended, he told King James to miss the shot and make things “more interesting” with another game.
Could that be possible? Cavs fans would feel offended to know they could be celebrating already their pass to the next phase, when just 4 teams will fight to be in the Eastern Conference Finals. Instead of that, Caron Butler made the layup with almost 4 seconds left and his last basket gave the Wizards some hope with a victory 88-87. It is often said that some teams lose on purpose in many sports to play more games and make more money. Could they be so obvious?
My choice is that King James didn’t actually do it on purpose (Caron is just taking the credit of it with too much arrogance), but he definitely felt pressured and influenced in some way by Butler’s comments. Now the results are 3-2, and even though they will be playing at Washington, I really doubt LeBron will let another one slip like that. Will this extra game really be a surprise? We’ll know very soon.
Source: Chicago Tribune
1 Comment
Roger Clemens, Paul Pierce. The last few days have brought more controversy than exciting action in the Sports World. Famous names are flashing all over the place, but just because of bad scandals.
Former baseball star Roger Clemens is on the news headlines again. Besides his bad reputation for the possible use of steroids, he seems to have something else to worry about: it was recently discovered that he had a decade-long affair with country singer Mindy McCready, which started when she was just 15. Not exactly what you want to hear about your baseball field idols. What happened to all the good sports-related stuff he should be remembered for? Sports people have always been surrounded by scandals, but it’s really sad when you realize that those dumb actions can actually outshine the golden Yankee years.
Stepping into a much more active zone, the 2007-2008 NBA Playoffs are giving a lot to talk about… and again it doesn’t have much to do with basketball. A part of the Celtics divine-dunk trinity seems to be also in the polemics club: Paul Pierce was fined with $25,000 for making an offensive gesture to Atlanta Hawks’ Al Horford after he taunted him. Many have associated the “B” sign made by Pierce with gangs and some kind of threat. Other have jumped immediately to say it’s not gang-related and it’s something Paul Pierce does all the time. Funny thing is, the video that showed the moment is not available anymore. In the end, how come people are talking about the Celtics and Paul Pierce but not for the outstanding performance they should be showing?
There’s a lot going on for the true sports betting fan. However, it seems players are busy doing controversial stuff instead of focusing on what really matters and what let them into the spotlight in the first place: their game.
Source: TheSportsPoint , AP
1 Comment
It seems the San Antonio Spurs always get infected with the NBA Playoffs fever. Even though their regular NBA Season wasn’t as shocking as many expected, now they’re going strong for another title and they’re making it very clear to the Phoenix Suns.
Last Tuesday the Spurs took a bigger advantage on Phoenix, taking the victory 102-96 on game 2. Adding this to the previous 117-115 result, San Antonio celebrates a 2-0. It was about time the Spurs acted like the Defending Champions for once this year!
The San Antonio star trio was present too: Tony Parker with 32 points and 7 assists, Manu Ginobili (Sixth Man of the Year Award!) with 29 points, and Tim Duncan with other 18 points. This was too much for the Suns, even when they had the advantage during the first half.
Conference Finals will be here soon and maybe last year’s story will be repeated. The Spurs do way better under pressure, it seems. Will they be holding the trophy one more time?
Source: NBA.com
Comment
NBA betting fans should better be ready with their calendars because the NBA Playoffs Schedule is out. Some of the last games have already defined the ones that go with the biggest advantage, like the Lakers, that now place themselves on top of the Western Conference Playoffs spots. But starting on Saturday, April 19th, many teams will be fighting for the spots that really matter at the 2007 NBA Playoffs.
We will be watching the 7 games of round one for what’s left of this month. The NBA Semifinals will start on May 5th, and after the corresponding 7 games we will all be part of the Western and Eastern Conference Finals, which will start on May 20th (Eastern Conference) and May 21st (Western Conference). If everything goes as planned, we will have the 2007-2008 NBA Finals starting on June 5th.
We’ll have the LA Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics (one of the huge favorites!), Atlanta Hawks, New Orleans Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Orlando Magic, Toronto Raptors, Utah Jazz, Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards. If you are a fan of any of these 16 NBA teams, you really have to write the dates down so you can enjoy the NBA rush!
For specific dates, don’t forget to check the NBA Official Website
Comment
On the fierce race to the 2008 NBA Playoffs, one team has actually stood up without us noticing so clearly. The New Orleans Hornets are having one of their best NBA Seasons in history and they are right there, ready to kick some Playoffs butt.
Wednesday night they gave a good proof of it, by beating the Timberwolves 122-90, with 19 points and 16 assists courtesy of Chris Paul and 22 points scored by David West.
Would you have placed the Hornets on top of the Western Conference when this NBA Season started? I never imagined I would see these guys right above the defending champions, the Spurs. This last win just gave the Hornets a franchise record of 55 wins.
Playoffs will be very interesting with these new figures on the map. The unexpected teams that will be fighting for a spot on the finals will add a lot more excitement to the NBA betting action. Do you picture your favorite team as the underdog now?
Source: NBA.com
Comment
I know, you must be thinking “Why would I care about Photoshop? I want to read about things I can bet on!”. I know this doesn’t sound related to sports, but you’ll see it actually is. Now that Adobe has released its first Photoshop online, you could get something good out of it.
Adobe has invited everyone to test its beta version of Photoshop Express Online and give them feedback on how it works, features, etc. It can store up to 2GB for you.
If you have no idea of what Adobe Photoshop is, let me tell you: this is a program created to work on images and design, for example to create posters, or even modify simple pictures, like adding text to them, changing its size, or adding some cool effects to them. It’s like Paint, but more complex and with the possibility of more tools to work on your pictures. You should give it a try, there are millions of online tutorials for those who want to get started. Online Photoshop is here: http://www.photoshop.com/express.
And why is this related to Sports? Well, it could be really helpful for you if you want to be a part of our upcoming BookPerHead Forum Contest, where all you have to do is choose a picture of the ones we are going to give, modify it and try to make it the coolest and most creative NBA Picture. The winner will get $200 cash and $100 in exchange for great prizes. And all that just for having fun with a picture! *Please read restrictions so you don’t post something that doesn’t qualify*.
The Bookie Corner NBA Contest will be open on Monday, March 31st for participation and will last until the NBA Finals. There’s plenty of time! You can use Paint or try to take it a little further with Phothoshop. Don’t forget to check our BookPerHead Forum on Monday and join our community if you aren’t there yet!
Source: Technology News Daily
Comment
The controversial April Vogue Magazine Issue is finally out, with the cover that has everyone talking. Just like it was announced: our King James standing right next to top model Gisele Bündchen.
As said before, they made the Cover of Vogue because this was an issue dedicated to shape and “perfect fit”. The funny thing is that many people seem to be upset, but for different reasons. The cover, as you can see, shows an angry king-kong like LeBron holding the poor lady in danger, Gisele. It seems it looks too racist because of the angry, dangerous black man stereotype. And if you take a close look at it, you’ll probably see that too:
However, what really upsets me is the fact that King James apperars on the cover of a Fashion magazine and not even for his great performance as one of the best players in the NBA right now. He looks like he’s there selling tips to lose weight or something like that. With Gisele on the side, it looks like “this is the couple everybody should be trying to be”.
I prefer to see LeBron on his natural habitat, actually using his basketball for something good and getting “woes” from the crowd for his non-stop scoring and his amazing skills. Now that’s some inspiration! He inspires me to place my bets based on his brilliant play.
Source: MSNBC
3 comments
While some NBA teams had their winning streak cut off, some others are building one of their own with great results. That’s the case for the Phoenix Suns, after their impressive victory over the Seattle SuperSonics gave them his 6th game won in a row.
The hightlight of the game was Amare Stoudemire, scoring 26 points and placing himself as a leader. The final result was 110-98, good enough for Phoenix, which is builidng its second longest streak in 2007-08 Season. However, they really need to work on their performance. They seem kinda sloppy lately and a team that moves faster than Seattle could take advantage of that.
Another issue the Suns will be facing is the injury on Raja Bell during the third quarter. At least it was just a sprained right ankle, and not a worse fracture like they thought. However, this means he’ll be out for a while, and this could affect. The guy scored 20 points before having to leave. So, he’s not a player you can afford to lose. At least not if you have a team like the current Phoenix Suns.
This wouldn’t be the best time to put money on Phoenix, but they’re still up and running. If they want to reach the finals… it’s not impossible, but they have a lot of work to do.
Source: NBA.com
2 comments
Well, it was good while it lasted. The Rockets had been on fire with a winning streak of 22 games. But then came the Celtics and ruined their party. Last night, Boston crushed the Rockets’ hopes with a solid 94-74.
The game was pretty exciting, with Houston somehow taking some advantage in the first half, and then the Celtics coming out of nowhere, Kevin Garnett with a total scoring 22 points and another 20 points from Paul Pierce, changing things dramatically. This makes Boston the unquestionable favorites right now for beating the unbeatables. This upcoming offseason looks full of action for the Celtics!!
Still, this doesn’t mean the Rockets’ NBA season is over. No way! Right now the rest of the Conference teams could be a little bit afraid of them. We are talking here about the second longest streak in NBA history. The Houston Rockets were just 11 games away from reaching the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers. They still hold the record with 33 wins in a row.
I’ll dare to say the Rockets and the Celtics are the strongest NBA teams of each Conference. Sure, there’s the Lakers also with 46-21 and teams like the Pistons putting up a good fight. But the Celtics have Garnett, and the Rockets have some strong performance nobody could beat for 22 games. Having these 2 on the NBA Finals would be definitely something worth watching!
But the Rockets will have to stay strong and don’t let the loss push them down for the upcoming matches. Let’s see how this goes tonight against the New Orleans Hornets!!
Source: NBA.com
Comment
Next Page »—« Back Page
|
