NBA Friday....

B.A.R.

B.A.R.

CTG Partner
Staff member
13-12 +6.00 units

Alright, went through these twelve losses and learned a few things. I got away from a few things I do and overanalyzed a few things as well. Thats how you continue to grow as a capper. Self analyzation and learning from both losses and wins. The win on LA was nice the other night but I wasn't happy juicing out with two plays I liked but shouldn't have made the final cut. Once again, live and learn.

Good news here in Detroit. Looks good as far as McDyess coming back on December 7th. He has been in communication with a lot of teammates and it is believed that he wants to come back. We can use that defensive presence, no doubt. I'll also post a great article after the intial post with Chauncey. It's a great read and made me think of other ramifications of the trade. Still like the trade business wise but the guy is one class act.


Utah at Charlotte

Deron Williams 3rd game back from injury. Memo has family issues, couldn;t find a timetable on that. The Bobcats have had two of their "usual" upsets at home so far this year. Teams like Denver, Detroit and Toronto have done what they are supposed to playing in Charlotte. The Cats have had great home success recently against the Jazz. I didn't look into those situations too much though. I liked laying chalk here intially because this is best chance to somewhat salvage the roadtrip. Getaway game in a 5 games in 7 days situation tomorrow night at Cleveland. I think maximum effort is put forth by Utah here. Like I mentioned earlier though, gotta stay away. Not enough going my way here. Pass. Lean Utah though at 6.5.


Orlando at Dallas

First, history. Dallas has won last 4 games versus the Magic in series. Different teams now though. I can see Dallas missing the playoffs. They are in a brutal stretch right now to start the season. They have lost four straight already with the latest coming after holding a 24-5 lead at Chicago last night. Since November 1st they have played 5 of 7 on the road. Things don't get easier either. They have this home game against Orlando before stops at MSG and Charlotte. They then finish this 3 game road trip at Houston(boy, that spot could be quite sexy). So thats 8 of 11 on road. Brutal. Think Stern had some hand in Cuban's schedule this year? Lol. Orlando finishes this min three game set at Charlotte Saturday. Fact time: Orlando has been playing every other day since November 3rd and has yet to have a back to back. I think Dwight Howard can have just a huge game here. Hopefully focus on him early and play inside out. I don't think Dallas can defend this too well. We shall see. Great scheduling spot here and love the matchup. Dallas on B2B off a tough game in Chicago for their state of minds. Will be playing when a line is released almost for sure.

The Play: Orlando TBA


Houston at San Antonio

The Rockets go into the phone booth named arena as a favorite. Been a hot minute for that. Injuries have obviously taken a toll on the Spurs to start the season. Your two guys in the backcourt that generate the most minutes are both out intil December. You have Timmah, a bunch of grizzled veterans and some names many are not totlly familiar with holding down the fort. In their last outing up at Bradley Center they lost by 4. The starters sans Duncan were a sexy 5-20 from the floor. For those not good with percentages, thats 25 percent, roughly the same amount STEED shot from the floor playing at his Community College. Lets keep going with numbers. These are the amount of points the Spurs have given up this year in regulation(note that due to Minnesota game): 82-80-99-106-98-100-103-100. The last two games were against New York and Milwaukee. Me thinks thats Pop really making things slow in order to help maximize this bunch. Basially, one of the best defensive teams of the past 10 years wasn't performing up to snuff this season for most part. Lets jump over to the Rockets now. Lets get the negatives out of the way. Last of a 5 game trip through the Western Conference. The good, its not a B2B. Its near home and its over the course of 9 days and not the usual 8 in this situation. The other bad thing, New Orleans at home tomorrow night. Thats goosd as well too as we'll discuss tomorrow night perhaps. Why I making this play. Houston had its players only meeting before Suns game among the veterans. It worked. They pounDed the Suns despite Scola and Ronnie combining to shoot a dazzling 2 of 18. For those of you who like to reminice, thats pretty close to what John Staks shot in Game 6 in '95 and why Patrick never got a ring. I digress though. T-Mac looked great, finally. They are adjusting to a new guy(Artest) and are starting to mold. Played a great first half out in LA on Sunday. This team though should suffocate the Spurs. I just don't see how San Antonio can generate enough offense. On the other end, Houston should be able to execute enough to get a double-digit win or so. I wanna ay about 94-83 here. I am laying the points. Woulda been a max play but taking into account the two somewhat negatives I will downgrade a bit.

The Play: Houston -5 -110 3 units


Detroit at LA Lakers

Lets look at the Allen Iverson era so far in Detroit. I like a lot of what I am seeing. He is the break down the defense guy we really have not had since Stackhouse and Grant Hill. Its been awhile indeed. He is creating for himself and others and getting comfortable. Rip has been shell-shocked since the trade and finally came back into his own last night in the 2nd half a bit. Rasheed turned on the defense in the 2nd half as well. Defensivly its good and bad. One, they cannot stop dribble penetration at all. Ask Devin Harris, Rajon Rondo, Beno Udrih and a host of Warriors about it. It's a problem for sure and gets them out of position on the glass for defensive rebounds. Iverson creates a lot of problems off the ball which is great but the team defense is also having that "turn it on" attitude that it has had for a few years. Both the Kings and Warriors affairs showed that. Gotta bring 48 minutes, not when your down.

Tell ya what. Detroit is at Staples tonight then goes to Phoenix on Sunday. This is a four game trip and they know that winning at GSW was huge for them to ensure the split. They played balls out in the second half to get that win. When they come home, they get two days rest then have rival Cleveland at home on Wednesday followed up by a trip to Boston on Thursday. Four straight tough games. They HAD TO WIN in Golden State last night and they know it. Just think about that capping this Lakers game.

Rebounding and defense are going to be very big in this game. Thats cliche but lets look at some numbers. Since the Iverson trade these are the reboudning tallies for Detroit vs opponents:

49-51
39-44
38-45
44-50

That first one is deceiving too. Golden State was all over the glass. It was their inept shooting in the second half that closed that number up.

Lets look at the Lakers season rebounding versus opponents:

40-43
48-54
50-36
54-44
53-38
51-32
49-44

The second one was the Dallas game. Please mark down that they had 95 FGA's in that game. Thats a lot and skewed numbers a bit in my estimation.

Now defense. It's been harped on about how commited LA is to defense this year. They learned their lesson in the Finals versus Boston. They are giving up 86.7 ppg so far this year. Look at what they did to New Orleans in the first half he other night. They are allowing opponents to shoot a palrty 40.2% per game. Thats the stuff of champions right there.

If you watched the 'Stons and Warriors game you know about the magic stats for Detroit. Shooting above 47 percent they re something crazy like 110-14 last several years. They also score 100 and they win. LA has the perfect recipe here to combat those trends.

Scheduling wise, we mentioned what Detroit has on tap. The Lakers have a nice little break till the 18th before Chicago comes to town. They basically can go balls out here. Kinda negates the "comedown" after big win in New Orleans.

The Lakers are simply too big for Detroit. They should have their way inside. My guess is Kwame makes it no more than three minutes before he has two fouls. Two much for Wallace to have to shoulder in this game. Detroit will end up being a jump-shooting team offensively and thats no good on a back-to back and won't win you many games. The line is where it is for a reason.

The Play: LA Lakers -10 -110 4 units




Alright, thats an old school Alimony thread right there. Jeebus, its 3:30 am. Hopefully before I cash out I see an Orlando line. If not, hope for the best in morning.

Good luck
 
http://www.freep.com/article/20081113/COL22/81113121/1051/SPORTS03






CLEVELAND –– Chauncey Billups and Rip Hamilton were crying. There they were, two NBA All-Stars, in Billups’ room in the Hilton City Center in Charlotte … crying. And laughing. And crying again.

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The Pistons had just traded Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince had gotten word that morning, when Billups did not attend the team’s shootaround. They got back to the hotel and pounded on Billups’ door.

Billups was on the phone with his wife, Piper. He told her he’d call her back later. It turned out to be much later.

“It was the hardest two or three hours that I’ve had in a long, long time in my life,” Billups said. “We just couldn’t believe that it’s over. It’s over. That’s the thing that’s so tough about trades. No matter what happens, it’s over. So those two or three hours were crazy.”

They reminisced, told stories, savored their last hours before Billups’ 4 p.m. flight to another franchise. It was a strange dynamic, and not just because of the crying.

The three had been teammates since 2002, when they joined the Pistons. There had been trade rumors all summer. Pistons president Joe Dumars had told Billups that he had offered Billups and Prince for Denver’s Carmelo Anthony, and that he had turned down a Billups-for-Iverson trade over the summer. Once the season started, Billups figured the Pistons would stick with their core.

Now Billups knew he was gone. Prince knew the trade meant that he probably would stay put. And Hamilton had just agreed, days earlier, to a three-year contract extension.

There is no place for sentiment in the NBA. But there was a place for it in Chauncey Billups’ hotel room that day.

“It was good,” Billups said in a wide-ranging interview Thursday, at the Nuggets’ team hotel in Cleveland. “It was deep. I will never forget my six years in Detroit, and I will never forget those three hours that I spent with my two brothers in that room.”
Career commitment?

In the summer of 2007, Chauncey Billups was one of the premier free agents on the market. He was 30 years old. He signed a five-year, $60-million contract to stay with the Pistons. The money was right, but Detroit felt right, too. Billups had been a Piston since the summer of 2002. He saw himself as a Piston for life.

If Billups had known that he would be traded a year later, would he have re-signed with the Pistons?

“No way,” he said. “No way. I don’t think anybody would. If anybody told you that if hindsight was 20/20 and they knew a year later they were going to get traded from the place that they signed, they wouldn’t sign.”

When the Pistons were wooing Billups, they talked about putting down roots in the community. Billups won the NBA’s J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2008 for his charity work. His Porter-Billups Leadership Academy helps prepare at-risk kids in his hometown of Denver for college, and he planned to extend the academy to Detroit. He also ran a charity golf tournament in Michigan and wanted to invest his millions in the area, like former Pistons guards Dave Bing and Joe Dumars.

“Those were all my intentions when I signed back with Detroit — not just the basketball thing, me retiring a Piston, but me really sinking my two feet into everything that Detroit is going through,” Billups said. “Detroit has obviously been through some tough times. I think at some point here it is going to turn around. I was trying to be part of that development.

“It’s up in the air right now, to be honest with you. I won’t say it’s off the table. But when I’m doing something like that, I like to be able to have my hands on it. I like to be able to be there and do a lot of the things in person.”

Piston for life? When Billups re-signed, he seemed like a likely candidate to have his No. 1 retired. Last week, after he was traded, Billups turned on the television. And there was Allen Iverson, wearing No. 1 for the Pistons.

“I will admit, that shocked me,” he said. “It’s kind of surreal when you first get traded. But when I saw that No. 1 on TV with a different name, that’s when I said, ‘It’s official.’ ”
Heart of the team

Chauncey Billups was not just an All-Star for the Pistons. He was their captain, their soul. While several of his teammates bristled at Flip Saunders’ coaching, Billups was the glue holding Saunders to the rest of the roster — without Billups, it seemed like the whole thing could have fallen apart.

Of course, he never said that then.

But he can say it now.

“Yeah, I did, I felt that way,” he said. “It could have really got out of hand, probably, had it not been for me trying to keep everybody together.”

There is a perception that the problem was between Rasheed Wallace and Saunders. That’s not really the case.

“’Sheed was just vocal and visual about his (frustration),” Billups said. “I can’t say it was all Rasheed or it was only Rasheed. But even with that, I just still feel like that should have never come into play. I feel like no matter what the coach is doing, how you feel or whatever, you can’t cheat your teammates and not give maximum effort because you’re mad at the coach.

“I think that cost us at least one championship.”

Really? Which one?

“At least one,” he said.

Billups also said “don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming anybody.” He didn’t take sides and didn’t really defend Saunders. His point was that the Pistons let their differences with their coach get in the way of their ultimate goal.

“I don’t point fingers,” he said. “I just think problems, and maybe disbelief in Flip on a player or two’s behalf, cost us in some different series that I thought, had we been locked in, we could have won.”

Is it fair to say there was a lack of respect for Saunders?

“That probably is a fair term.”

When the Pistons fired Saunders and hired Michael Curry this year, Billups expected to have a smoother ride.

“I felt like now I could just play,” he said. “ ‘I don’t have to overexert myself in that area. We got somebody that can control and keep everybody right. I can just play.’ That was my mind-set.”

He laughed.

“I got two games of that.”
Haunting unknowns

Billups said he has no regrets. He did everything the best way he knew how at the time. But what-ifs … yeah, he has plenty of those.

What if he hadn’t injured his hamstring in last year’s playoffs?

“I felt like if it’s not for my injury, (even) with Flip, we win the championship last year,” he said. “I think we win it all and that No. 1 has still got BILLUPS on the back of it.”

What if the Pistons had kept their core together for one more run? I mentioned to Billups that I understood why they made the trade, and I thought most people understood … and it became clear that he didn’t understand.

“I still don’t know, man,” Billups said. “I hear a lot about two, three years from now, next year. … I don’t know. But I will say this: Teams don’t make deals caring about if you’re gonna understand it. I’m here to play basketball. So it really doesn’t matter.”

What if Hamilton had known that Billups was going to be traded? The normally affable Hamilton was so upset by the trade that he didn’t talk to the media for several days. Would Rip have signed his contract extension without Chauncey on the roster? Did the Pistons wait until the contract was signed before making the deal?

“If Rip would have knew that this deal was going on, I just don’t know that he would have signed that extension,” Billups said. “It was kind of funny to me that they announced this trade the same day that he signed. I really don’t know. … It just seemed weird to me. He signed that extension three days before the trade. … I think it might have been a little different if all this was exposed early.”

What if Billups had seen this coming, back in June of 2007, when the Pistons used a high draft pick to draft point guard Rodney Stuckey? What if he had left then, as a free agent?

We know this much: The same fans who cheered Iverson’s arrival would have ripped Billups for leaving. The media probably would have piled on, too. In the hypocritical world of modern sports, we expect loyalty from athletes but not from teams.

“If I do something different and leave, then I come back and people are gonna be like, ‘How are you gonna do that to us?’ ” Billups said. “Now this happens to me, now who are they looking at and saying, ‘How are you gonna do that to Chaunce?’ It’s a double-standard. But that’s just how this game is. I understand that.”

While Billups was in that hotel room with Hamilton and Prince, laughing and crying, his phone rang. It was an old teammate.

Ben Wallace.

“We put him on speaker,” Billups said. “He was basically saying, ‘First me, now you.’ But I was like, ‘You left on your own, dog! You chose to get out of there. I didn’t.’ It was funny.”
Onward and upward

Chauncey Billups says he is “not bitter.” He says he is in a good situation in Denver, in his hometown, and he is lucky that way. He definitely doesn’t want anybody’s sympathy, and he wishes the Pistons only the best.

And maybe that is the point here: Chauncey Billups is what we say we want. He was a great player who connected with the fans, pulled his teammates together, did charity work and appreciated his city. Now he is gone, and fans and columnists (myself included) applauded the move, and you have to wonder: What do we really want?

Thursday afternoon, in a hotel lounge in Cleveland, Chauncey Billups put up his fists.

He was talking about being sucker-punched by reality.

“After my last trade, when I got traded from Denver to Orlando (in 2000), I vowed to never let my hands down and get caught like that again,” he said. “That was two or three times already in my young career. I vowed to never put my hands down, to get comfortable again.

“I allowed myself to do that again. And I think it was because of what we’d done there, man … the team, the success we had, me signing a long-term deal. I allowed myself to say, ‘Damn, I think I’m done. I think I’m here. I think it’s over.’ I’m kicking myself for letting my guard down.”
 
Great write ups, really changed my mind about my own leans on some games (and that is not an easy thing to do).
But as great are the write ups, the article simply terrific, thanks for posting it, can't remember when I enjoyed so much reading a sports article.
Hope you have another perfect night (it's about time, no? :) )!
 
Excellent write-ups BAR. I'm on Houston and Lakers myself.

Thanks for the article too. Very interesting read.

Good luck buddy.:cheers:
 
Already on board with Mr. Howard, am still on fence on the others depending on line

GL BAW:smiley_abvm:
 
BAR, posted the link with the article and your write ups on Israeli site, giving you the credit of course. Hope it's ok...
 
think it will keep moving? Dallas probably a public play.. Up to +1.5 now.

Think I'll wait a bit and see where it goes.. GL bro:cheers:
 
Tee,

I do think it will fluctuate between pk to +2 all day long..thats my best guess...I got a busy day it looks like so I wanted to lock in now...

Marlo,

lol, I saw your thread and totally understand your points about SA. Pop is going to maximize this team and try to stay with defensive roots. I just see another great defensive team that will be able to score much easier. It is going to be tough for SA to get good looks. Like I said, lookahead is there but at same point these guys got their heads on straight other day and I think they'll be focused.

Divol,

No problem whatsoever.
 
Good stuff BAR. GL today .

Just a note Deron Williams is a G/T decision and Jason Richardson is out today and probably a few days more . :cheers:
 
Still looking but currently no interest in LA. Agree LA could roll Detroit today up in a little ball and drop kick them to the moon. Detroit has no outs by strength. Problem is 90-89 win by Detroit at home vs the Lakers. Laker team was super thin. Had lost 4 of last 6 and Koby was pretty much playing with just Ronny and Fisher against Detroit and Detroit was in a 10 game win streak with excellent rest for the game. 90-89 just feels a lot to me like Detroit took it very easy on them that game. I think teams remember. Could easily be on the rest. Still need to think. GL
 
tuck321 said:
Still looking but currently no interest in LA. Agree LA could roll Detroit today up in a little ball and drop kick them to the moon. Detroit has no outs by strength. Problem is 90-89 win by Detroit at home vs the Lakers. Laker team was super thin. Had lost 4 of last 6 and Koby was pretty much playing with just Ronny and Fisher against Detroit and Detroit was in a 10 game win streak with excellent rest for the game. 90-89 just feels a lot to me like Detroit took it very easy on them that game. I think teams remember. Could easily be on the rest. Still need to think. GL
Click to expand...

That was the game on TNT Thursday last year where Tayshaun hit a three in closing seconds to win it. Detroit qwas down most of 2nd and 3rd quarters I believe. I remember, I layed the 7.5 oer whatever it was in that game. It was a typical 2005-2008 Detroit take an opponent lightly game. KB had 39 in that game as well.
 
Like 'em all.
Mavs looks so old for a team that wants to run.
Also Dirk is struggling big time after he questioned the effort of his team mates. A combined 10/34 FG in the last 2 games, not even to mention his 1/10 FG in both 4th quarters.

Lets get this done!:cheers:
 
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NBA_Williams_small.jpg

Deron Williams (ankle), Andre Kirilenko (finger), and Mehmet Okur (personal) will not play for the Jazz on Friday night.
"I can't push off of it, I can't move like I want to," Williams said. His status for Saturday's game also remains in doubt, but look for Brevin Knight to have a decent game in his absence. Ronnie Price also figures to get some playing time, while rookie Kosta Koufous looks to make his third straight start at cente
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Stuckey can return tonight and Stuckey can do to Fisher what Rondo did to him and more important, it shows I think, that Pistons are taking this game seriously. With the balance of Stuckey's toughness and Iverson's scoring abilities, we can see this one being a high scoring game. Over looks to be a nice bet, since I think that Lakers, if take the line, will do that through Over, not an Under, don't you think, BAR?
 
divol said:
Stuckey can return tonight and Stuckey can do to Fisher what Rondo did to him and more important, it shows I think, that Pistons are taking this game seriously. With the balance of Stuckey's toughness and Iverson's scoring abilities, we can see this one being a high scoring game. Over looks to be a nice bet, since I think that Lakers, if take the line, will do that through Over, not an Under, don't you think, BAR?
Click to expand...

After I got off the site last night I remembered I had forgot to post one other thing regarding Stuckey...

I think its will take a bit of time for him and Iverson to mesh. Now, they can be a lethal combo as they both can get to the hole with the best of them. We even saw that with Bynum and AI last few games. That being said, its still a feeling out situation. Iverson likes ball in his hands, so he'll have to play off the ball with Stuckey in the game. Down the line it will work well. That bweing said, they could get in each others way a bit tonight.
 
Good luck Bar. Lets get some tonight. I do have the Lakers-12 but it goes against my religion with that much chalk. I will be pulling for yall tonight to cash this puppy.
 
GOOD LUCK BAR, Love the Rockets pic, layin 10 with the Lakers is ALOT Hell layin 10 with any team is ALOT GD luck bro
 
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