Wolves welcome Spurs to the Twin Cities

Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves were able to snap a 16-game losing streak to the San Antonio Spurs when the two clubs met in early January and shoot for a rare win streak in the series tonight at the Target Center.

The Timberwolves finally got the best of the Spurs with a 106-96 victory on Jan. 2 in Minneapolis thanks to 24 points and 15 rebounds from Kevin Love, while Michael Beasley and Luke Ridnour both had 19 points. They had not defeated the Spurs since January 3, 2007, but have still lost 21 of the last 23 meetings between the two clubs.

San Antonio lost guard Manu Ginobili in that one with a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand and is 10-2 in the previous 12 contests in the Twin Cities. The Wolves have still lost 14 in a row in the Alamo City.

Minnesota is in the midst of a tough schedule and will play the Spurs, Lakers, Rockets and Pacers in succession. It has split the last four games against the Clippers, Jazz, Rockets and Mavericks, and recorded a 105-90 triumph at Dallas the last time out on Wednesday behind 31 points and 10 boards from Love, who inked a contract extension prior to the game. He has posted 17 double-doubles this season and helped Minnesota stop a two-game slide and win for the fifth time in eight tries.

"It was a good day," said Love. "I wanted to put everything aside that happened off the court and really wanted to focus on the game tonight.

Ricky Rubio added 17 points and 12 assists, and Wayne Ellington scored 16 points for the Timberwolves, who are 4-6 as the host and last in the Northwest Division standings. The Wolves will play two straight and three of the next four games at the Target Center. Wolves guard Luke Ridnour (knee) is questionable for Friday's game.

San Antonio is just 2-6 away from home this season and will begin a three-game trek tonight against the Wolves, Mavericks and Grizzlies. It has won two straight and six of its last nine games, including Wednesday's 105-83 victory versus the Atlanta Hawks.

Matt Bonner and DeJuan Blair each scored 17 points for the Spurs, who improved to 10-1 at home this season and got 16 points from Tiago Splitter. Tony Parker added 15 points and seven assists, while reserve Danny Green had 10 points. The Spurs bench scored 51 points to make head coach Gregg Popovich happy.

"Our bench was fantastic," Popovich said. "A number of people came into the game and played good solid basketball both at the defensive and offensive ends."

Tim Duncan had just six points and grabbed 11 boards for a San Antonio squad that sits one game ahead of Dallas for Southwest supremacy. Duncan leads the team with five double-doubles this season. Parker holds the record for most points at the Target Center with 55 on Nov. 5, 2008 in a double-overtime win. He is averaging 21.3 points and 8.9 assists in his previous 10 games.

The Spurs are currently in the midst of playing 16 of 21 road games. They are currently 3-3 during that stretch, with four games on the road and two at the AT&T Center.

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.

Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.

Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.