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McGrady, Knicks welcome Bucks to MSG

Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tracy McGrady's debut with the New York Knicks was spoiled in overtime, but the former NBA scoring champion will shoot for an encore performance tonight versus the Milwaukee Bucks at Madison Square Garden.

McGrady went 10-of-17 from the field for 26 points in Saturday's 121-118 overtime setback versus the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks acquired McGrady on Thursday in a three-team swap with Houston and Sacramento. New York, which freed itself of about $32 million in salary cap space, received McGrady's league-high $23 million expiring contract from the Rockets as well as Kings point guard Sergio Rodriguez.

"I didn't expect to play the way I did," McGrady said after a few media outlets predicted he wouldn't see action. "I expected to move the way I was out there, but as far being efficient offensively, playing that many minutes, no."

David Lee paced the losing squad with 30 points and 10 rebounds, while Eddie House, who was also making his New York debut after the Knicks acquired him from Boston in exchange for Nate Robinson, added 24 points and five rebounds off the bench. It wasn't enough as New York lost for the sixth straight time and ninth in 10 attempts.

The Knicks are 0-2 on a three-game homestand and have lost four in a row at Madison Square Garden. They own a 12-18 mark in the Big Apple this season.

Meanwhile, the Bucks have won two in a row and eight of their last 11 games, including Saturday's 93-88 victory versus the Charlotte Bobcats behind 19 points from both Brandon Jennings and John Salmons.

Andrew Bogut delivered 18 points and 13 rebounds for the victors.

"It was a hard fought game, even when we had the lead," Bucks head coach Scott Skiles said. "They have a good club in general but when a guy like Stephen Jackson isn't going to quit out there, he's going to keep playing hard. Then we went cold. We had trouble knocking down shots that we were knocking down in the first half."

The Bucks are one game off the final playoff spot in the East and have won three in a row as the guest. They own a 9-19 record away from the Bradley Center this season.

Milwaukee has won the first two encounters with New York this season and six of the last seven meetings overall. The Bucks have won three straight after losing their last three trips to historic MSG.


<< Mavs, Pacers collide in Big D
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Mavericks will continue their three-game homestand tonight against the Indiana Pacers at American Airlines Arena. The Southwest Division-leading Mavs have won three in a row and opened the residency

<< Hawks hope to bury the past in Utah
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Atlanta Hawks won in Salt Lake City Dominique Wilkins was still entertaining the crowd with his acrobatic dunks. "The Human Highlight Film" has long since retired and the new Hawks will try to snap

<< Bobcats shoot for road success in LA
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing on the road hasn't been much fun for the Charlotte Bobcats, who will continue a four-game journey Monday night against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center. The Bobcats are 7-20 as the guest this season,

<< Bulls make a stop in Washington
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bulls will try to keep a pair of win streaks intact when they take on the Washington Wizards tonight at the Verizon Center. Chicago has won four in a row overall and three straight as the guest, and is comi

<< Greene not reporting to Rangers' camp
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers announced Monday that newly signed infielder Khalil Greene will not be joining the club and won't be reporting to the team's spring training camp. "The Rangers fully support Khalil's

Pletcher: King of the Weekend >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There were many extraordinary individual performances last Saturday. However, the star of the day was a trainer, not a racehorse. Todd Pletcher, who has had 24 career Kentucky Derby starters without brin

Tevez hopeful over City return >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Tevez's advisor claims the absent striker is likely to be back in the Manchester City fold in time to play against Chelsea on Saturday. Tevez has missed City's last three games af

Portsmouth accepts resignation of Al Fahim >>
Portsmouth, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portsmouth have accepted Sulaiman Al Fahim's resignation from his position as the non-executive chairman at Fratton Park. However, Pompey cannot understand why Al Fahim announced his intention to qui

Bruce hit with FA fine >>
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has been fined by the Football Association following his critical comments concerning the performance of referee Andre Marriner. Bruce labeled the referee's decision

Johnson close to Liverpool return >>
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool are poised to welcome back defender Glen Johnson following a two-month injury absence. The England international has been sidelined with knee ligament damage since the 1-0 Premier League

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.