As the basketball season in the colleges comes nearer, it increases the task of the bettors so that they could gain maximum amount of money. The basket ball betting can help the bettors to get huge amount of money in case the betting is done with a bit of research and keeping in mind certain important points. With so many teams in different colleges, the bettors must not take away their focus from the main issue- winning maximum amount of money, so throughout the season they must remain focused on the basket ball game. A little bit of homework is needed to be done before one gets into the actual betting. One should go through the previews and other related publications. Updated knowledge about the various conferences, players, teams and coaches must be obtained in order to make the College basket ball betting a money-machine. One should set the goal and start focusing long before the basket ball season starts. Here in this article one can find important tips about dos and don’ts of the betting so that the college basketball betting could be just a “Spin it and win it” for the bettors.

The dos:

• One should attain the information about the players, teams, coaches in details as much as they can. The roster changes, the old players, the changes in the team, inclusion of new players should be studied in detail. Precisely one should get the feel of the upcoming season by this time before the session starts.
• It is important to have information about any injuries, suspensions or related information about the players in their last 3-4 matches so that one can access the actual scenario very well.
• One should go through the college basketball information called overnights that get published early. These can help a person to do a great deal of homework in an accurate way. By doing a well-updated and proper research work, the risk factor of college basketball betting gets reduced by almost 50%.
• It is advisable to bet on the second half of the college basketball games. Even if the favorite team does not perform as per the standard in the first half, there is always a chance for them to come back and the risk of the bettors remains less.

The don’ts:

• It is not advisable to bet on the favorites. For the bettors who are betting for the favorites for the entire season, the money remains blocked for very long. One might not be able to bet again during the season with no money in hand.

• It is not advisable to bet with much money even if one feels good chance for a team.
• One should think twice before betting for a team if there are too many what-ifs associated. One should bet only after being sure of what is going to happen with a team.
• The final don’t which must be followed strictly is not to get emotionally involved with the betting process even if one of your favorite team or favorite player is playing during the session.

After just being together for 24 hours the US Olympic women’s basketball team were successful in settling quickly. They had practiced together for hardly two and a half hours before the exhibition game against China. The game was scheduled in the middle of the three day training camp for the American team.

The Chinese team is in the same pool as the American team in the London Olympics2012. There, both the teams will again face each other in July. In the 2008 Beijing Olympics both the teams had played each other and US had routed China 108-63. While China finished in the fourth place, US had claimed the Gold in the Beijing Olympics games.

In the exhibition game the Chinese team had hung with their opponents for the first fifteen minutes. Later the US team used their depth and pulled away. In the early second quarter they led 29-23, later the US team went on a 21-6 run to take complete control of the game.

The American led 52-33 at the half and went on to win the game. While China played without its two of the top players Chen Nan and Miao Lijie, in the US team Tina Charles absence was felt as she is recovering from a groin injury.

One of the star attractions in the American camp was Swin Cash, former Seattle Storm player. She had led the Storm to a WNBA title in 2010. The audience had warmly greeted her with a huge round of applause in the pregame introductions.

Among the audience were Cash’s former Seattle coach Brain Agler, three times Olympics gold medalist and current Storm player Katie Smith, WNBA president Laurel Richie.

The American team will spend three days in Washington D.C. then head to Manchester, England for other exhibition games. They would then participate in a tournament in Istanbul just before the start of the London Olympic Games that will begin on 27^th July. The American team has the opportunity to set up a record for the maximum number of consecutive wins in Olympics if they manage to bag the gold medal in London. This will be the fifth straight gold medal. The United States have won 33 straight Olympics contest.

This is the first time the US Olympic team has returned to Seattle to train since 1995 when they had played an exhibition game against the University of Washington.

A leader is defined as an individual within the paradigm of a group or an organization who enjoys the most influence over other team members. Leadership is the method of influencing and motivating the fellow group members by the individual designated as leader towards the accomplishment of definite group objectives.

In reference to the Memphis Grizzlies, the formulated group objectives are to exceed the previous season’s post-season success, which was to eradicate the number-one-seeded San Antonio Spurs and leading the gifted OKC Thunder to seven games. After the ratio of three losses to one victory and the chance of potential elimination, Grizzlies are staring in the eyes of excessive hard work if they wish to achieve their goal.

It is essential for any team, organization or group in pursuit of success to possess a clear and refined leadership. Informal leadership is imperative, so is the specialized role players, but it has been evident from history that teams with laconic leadership achieve success.  The leaders behind the success of the San Antonio Spurs are Tim Duncan and Tony Parker, while the Los Angeles Lakers have Kobe Bryant. Derrick Rose is leading the Chicago Bulls and their previous championship rosters were directed by basketball legend Michael Jordan.

In the first round of the year 2012, the Memphis Grizzlies are facing Chris Paul, who is the former 6’0” point guard of the New Orleans Hornets. The performance of Chris Paul over the years particularly in the NBA Playoffs has exposed his innate aptitude to lead. He has achieved a lot of name for leading averagely talented teams to surpass their capability. These are the traits of great leaders.

Probing the Memphis Grizzlies 2011 playoff roster, revealed a clear leader on the team, which is the power forward Zach Randolph, Z-Bo.  That resulted from the injury of Rudy Gay. However, the current 2012 NBA playoffs have shown that there is no player who has the potential to assume the role of Grizzlies’ leader.

According to the conformist logic, the natural choice of the Grizzlies’ leader would be Zach Randolph as he exhibited leadership skills during last season. However, Randolph is recuperating from his injury as he played the major portion of the regular season coming off the bench following his return. In spite of his previous eminent performance, Z-Bo has not exhibited enough steadinesses in performance to guide the Grizzlies on his own.

Rudy Gay is very talented on the offensive-end, but has not shown any vocal leadership for the grit-and-grind ball club. Despite the fact that Gay is the most talented player on the team, apparent he does not have the inborn skill to lead this ball club as this is his first experience with the playoffs ambiance and intensity.

An individual can only be a leader when he has devoted followers. It is only when the eleven other team members commit to their leader that they can exceed their talents, drawbacks and objectives. The most obvious choice for leadership perhaps is all-star center Marc Gasol, who is the younger brother of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol.

In the eliminating game six in Los Angeles at the Staples Center, the Grizzlies fed the ball to M. Gasol and in response they got the resourceful 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists. The Grizzlies need to stand by the side of their latent leader if they want to establish themselves as a winning team. Many basketball betting clubs are watching them closely.

The former Syracuse assistant basketball coach Bernie Fine’s wife Laurie Fine is going to sue ESPN in federal court for libel in response to the network’s reporting of alleged child molestation allegations against her husband. She announced her intend on May 16^th in Geneva, N.Y.

The lawsuit will be filed against two of ESPN’s employees, accused reporter Mark Schwarz and producer Andy Berko. Both of them have been accused of acting negligently in their reporting of the allegations against Bernie Fine and in the process casting Laurie Fine in a false light by taking her words out of context.

The lawsuit alleges that ESPN wrongly reported that Laurie Fine knew about the abuse of Davis by her husband and ESPN has doctored a conversation recording in between Laurie Fine and Davis.

In response to the recent developments ESPN released a statement saying that the suit is without merit and they stand by what they have reported.

In November 2011 the ESPN’s Emmy Award winning investigative series “Outside The Lines” that scrutinises topical issues off the play fields reported that Bernie Fine allegedly molested two former ball boys, Bobby Davis and Mike Lang for a period of more than 10 years.

The Syracuse police and the federal authorities have been investigating the allegations but have not pressed any charges on Bernie Fine. He has denied all the accusations against him but was fired on 27th November by Syracuse.

According to Laurie Fine the network was motivated by the unfolding child sex-abuse scandal at Penn State University involving former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. The only motive behind the report is boost television ratings in the wake of the Penn State scandal.

Laurie Fine said, “I’m here today as a wife and a mother who has had to endure the trauma of being smeared in the public as a monster. My life has been destroyed. They should apologize and retract these horrible lies reported about me.”

Since the media coverage and the attention Laurie was forced to live a secluded life for the past six months and she also had to give up charity work which she enjoyed doing. As going out in public in her hometown became difficult, they held the news conference in Geneva, a Finger Lakes resort town 45 miles west of Syracuse. The family has also put their home in the suburban Syracuse on the market.

The star shooter of the Chicago Bulls, Luol Deng is the sole reason why Britain could secure its place in the forthcoming London Olympics. On 21^st January Deng injured his wrist but did not go for the surgery immediately as he wanted to first see through the season with Bulls first and then continue with the Olympics. But if he goes for the surgery after the Olympics then he will not be available for a major chunk of the next NBA season.

Deng is from Sudan but is a citizen of England. He intends to complete for Great Britain as he feels a sense of obligation to do so because when Deng was a child his family had fled Africa and had come to England. The country had provided them shelter and given them new opportunity to begin afresh. Now Deng wants to show his appreciation by representing England in the Olympic and putting his best to win the games.

There is a deep sense of loyalty Deng has for his country (England) but many are questioning his loyalty for the team that pays him (Chicago Bulls). Deng’s loyalty for the Bulls is unquestionable as in spite of his injury he continued playing throughout the season without quitting.

In the current times when we hear about players being self- important, self-absorbed and self-serving with misguided principles and priorities; here is a player who is very different from the crowd. For Deng his love and patriotism for his country is more important than his pay check.

Deng has made up his mind and he has clearly stated his intention to play in the Olympics this August for his country England. No one, not even your employer has the right to dictate your preference in life. An individual should be free to participate in events which are important to him from his personal point of view. Deng’s resolve to stand for something which is so honourable is commendable. He intends to stand for something which is more than just money. This is what future athletes should incorporate in them.

To put things plainly from Deng’s prospective neither NBA nor basketball in America saved his life. It was England that had taken his family under its wings in their bad days. He has indeed made the right decision to represent England in the Olympics. This will be his one opportunity to honour the country to which he owes his life.

The Dallas Mavericks held the sixth position in the Western Conference when they came face to face with the Bulls in Chicago on Sunday night. The defending NBA champions at that time were ahead of Denver Nuggets by half a game in the standing. Something unexpected happened next as apparently the Mavericks head was not in the game and they seemed uninterested in playing.

The coach of the Dallas team, Rick Carlisle, met with the media before the game between the Mavericks and Bulls. He mentioned casually that Jason Kidd and Jason Terry would not be playing in the game. According to Carlisle, Jason Terry requested if he can sit out of the match tonight and the coach agreed. Hence, he would be sitting on the bench suited up but would not be playing in the game. Moreover, Carlisle also mentioned that the only goal for the tonight was to win the game.

In the meeting of Jason Kidd with the media, he joked that he was on the vacation for tonight. On the other hand, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter and Shawn Marion all played approximately 30 minutes in the match. It does seem a bit strange. But, it is true that the Mavericks are an older team in need of rest but they are a winning team as well with something to play for.

In Chicago, the Mavericks lost the game by 93-83 whereas the Nuggets gained a victory in Phoenix which resulted with Dallas being tied in the standings. In addition, Denver also gained a victory in their following game against the Orlando Magic. Hence, currently they have surpassed Dallas in the number six position.

If the playoffs were to commence today, the Nuggets would come face to face with the Los Angeles Lakers whereas the Mavericks would face off with the Oklahoma City Thunder. This bags the question whether this is a strategic move by Dallas to keep away from the Lakers in the first round. It apparently seems that way.

Only game can recognize game and the Mavericks are well aware of the capabilities of Kobe Bryant in the playoffs. The almost inexperienced Thunder has come close to holding the league’s best record during the entire season. They are not to be dismissed without a thought, but when it comes to big game, Thunders are an easier opponent than Lakers on any given day, and perhaps the Dallas Mavericks share the opinion.

Although the Thunders are pretty volatile but they are a jump shooting team. If Westbrook, Durant and Harden are unable to deliver the Mavericks possess the experience and know-how to cause an upset. It is a smart move by a team which is defending a championship. Dallas think that they can defeat Oklahoma City similar to the way they did in the Western Conference Finals last year.

There is merely one game remaining for Dallas on the schedule which is on Thursday night in Atlanta. It is expected that all of the experience Mavericks players are resting and gearing up for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and company. All the veteran players of the Mavericks should be resting and get all geared up for Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and company.

Larry Bird, 56, is a former NBA player and coach who is now the Vice President of Indiana Pacers Basketball Operations, has been named the NBA Executive of the Year. He received 88 points and 12 first place votes which lead him to the award. The voting of this award is done by NBA executives throughout the league. For each first place vote the executive is awarded five points, for the second place vote they get three points and for the third place vote they get one point.

The General Manager of San Antonio Spurs R.C. Buford came in second place with 56 points and eight first place votes while General Manager & Vice President of Los Angeles Clipper, Neil Olshey, came in the third place with 55 points.

Bird had joined the Boston Celtics in the 1978 NBA Drift and played for the next thirteen seasons. He had to retire from active play in 1992 because of a chronic back problem. After his retirement he had been employed by the Celtics as a special assistant in the team’s front office from 1992 to 1997. In 1997 he was offered the position of the coach of the Indiana Pacers which he continued for the next three years till 2000. During this period because of his brilliant efforts he led the Pacers to a 58-24 record. During the 1997-98 season he was also awarded the Coach Of The Year Award. In 2003 he came back as the Pacers’ President of Basketball Operations.

[geocode id=6]

Bird has three MVP awards, three NBA Championship rings and was also named the coach of the year back in 1998. He also played and had won the Gold in the 1978 World Invitational Tournament and the 1992 Barcelona Olympic. He is the first person who has won MVP awards, NBA championship award and the NBA executive of the year award. Frank Layden, Pat Riley and Red Auerbach had won two of these awards the coach of the year and the executive of the year. This is indeed a great achievement for any person.

Behind the Pacers becoming playoff contenders a lot of hard work by Bird has gone into it. His well-planned move during the off season has paid off well. Bird signed up power forward David West and traded for Lou Amundson, Leandro Barbosa and George Hill which helped to get experienced players to the Indiana’s bench. He also signed Head Coach Frank Vogel. All these strategic changes showed results. The Pacers not only finished the 2012 season with the fifth best record in NBA but also the third in the Eastern Conference.

On Saturday, in the game 7 of the season which turned out to be a decisive one the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets by 96-87. JaVale McGee, the former Washington Wizards center accomplished 6 points on 1-for-7 shooting as well as the team-high 14 rebounds and 5 blocks in defeat.  Now the question is whether this loss will act as a wake-up call for the fourth year center or the future agent will disappear again.

The sporty NBA fans have just begun to be familiar with Pierre, aka Big Daddy Wookie, aka the JaValevator, aka JaVale McGee.  On one hand, McGee is a machine with his rare left hand hook or his more usual right hand slam dunk,; an individual who has the potential to make smutty blocks and succulent jams.  However, on the floor and in an effort to get back up, McGee is still a trivial among true NBA centers.

McGee’s final image from the game last night was the aggravated expression following an unsuccessful attempt to recoil his own missed free throw. This was followed by the hit from Lakers center Andrew Bynum with 4.9 seconds left to play in regulation.  Technically, this was not a foul but even so it was a Playoffs-hearty foul.

On the floor of the court, squirming in pain McGee put on theatrics that suggested he had a dislocated shoulder, or even worse.  Despite the pain, he got up and proceeded to the free throw line. He made the first of the two shots, followed by attempting a miss, but as aforementioned, it did not quite work out.

In the game in which the team was led by McGee with 14 rebounds, the tandem of skill Spaniard Pau Gasol and enforcer Bynum accomplished a total of 35.  In the fourth quarter alone, the duo was able to secure 10 of their 20 offensive rebounds.  However, those numbers were cushioned by Gasol, who entered a tip-miss frenzy which got him 6 rebounds in just six seconds midway into the fourth quarter.

In McGee’s justification, there was nothing more that he could accomplish from his position.  Again, he led the Nuggets at the free throw line with six attempts, out of which he made four. Although McGee is yet to prove himself as a substantial, go-to option and his poor performance in free throw shooting overall implies that he will get hewed each time he attempts to go strong, the Nuggets went a dreary 2-for-12 from behind the three-point arc in the fourth quarter.  Denver would have suffered a worst loss without McGee and his theatrics.

The Nuggets united in spite of a 1-3 Playoffs series hole and in the fourth quarter of last night’s game they lead even being in a 16-point deficit.  McGee held a major role with an averaged 8.6 points, 9.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks over the seven-game series.  He timed 25.9 minutes off the bench following Timofey Mozgov, who in comparison accomplished less at starting center.

Mozgov remained the starter in all the seven games while McGee got most share of the minutes during the playoffs. Also the fact that Denver has the huge Kosta Koufous on the deck indicates that the Nuggets could pass on McGee in this year’s NBA Free Agency period. Although McGee’s performance was better than Koufous and Mozgov during the regular season but it still is not clear if Denver is willing to keep the 3 centers on the file and bear the cost.

The National Basketball Association which is popularly known as the NBA presented the awards for the 2011-2012 season in the past week. On 10th May the KIA Sixth Man of the Year award was presented to Oklahoma City Thunder guard James Harden. The award was presented to Harden at a basketball news conference in Oklahoma City, by Kia’s Percy Vaughn. Harden is the second youngest player to receive this award and leads all NBA reserves with 16.8 points per game. Ben Gordon was the youngest to win it, at age 21 in 2005.

Lou Williams was in the second place in the balloting while Chicago’s Taj Gibson got the third place. Harden had received 115 of the 119 and came out as a clear winner.

Harden, 22, played college basketball for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In 2009, he was named consensus All-American and Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2009. He is well known for his conspicuous beard.

Right from his sophomore year Harden has been the top pick for the sixth man position. Then he had averaged 22.9 minutes a game. He has proven to be vital addition to the line-up. In the 2011-12 season though he played from the bench the average was 31.4 minutes and putting up 16.8 points a game. He is a bench player by name only. Coach Scott Brooks calls him the sixth starter and usually gives him the minutes given to a front line player.

In April this year Harden scored a career high of 40 points in a 109-97 points win of the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Phoenix Suns. In the same month while playing against the Los Angeles Lakers, Harden suffered a concussion after being elbowed by Metta World Peace of the Lakers. Peace was ejected and later was suspended was stamped with a seven games suspension. After recovering completely Harden returned to the first game of the playoffs against the Dallas Mavericks.

This season Harden has outperformed his earlier season and increased his points to 16.8 per game from 12.2 points per game in the last season. He has improved his shooting percentage in all areas in just 62 games than he did in the earlier full season of 82 games schedule. Coach Scott Brooks thinks that Harden has all the quality and ability to become a better all-round player. He can make more improvements on all areas of the floor and not just on the offensive end which he has already done with.

There are different betting methods that are actively used by bettors. Each of them comes with certain pros and cons. Here are some of the advantages and limitations of 3 major betting methods.

Money line betting

Money line betting is one of the most common kinds of betting used in basketball. In this kind of betting method, bets are placed on either of the two teams and you win or lose depending on whether the team on which you bet wins or not.

Pros: The major advantage of money line betting is that it is a simple and straightforward betting method. There is no confusion and you can clearly know if you win or lose and by how much amount.

Cons: The major disadvantage of money line betting is that the risk is high. Since the betting method does not give any kind of leverage for the bettor, the team on which you bet has to win for you to win. If the team loses, you do not have any chance of winning. Another disadvantage is that if you want to bet on the favorite, you have to bet more money. However, your winning margins are low. The case is reversed when you bet on the underdog. You bet less money and stand to win more.

Spreads betting

Spread betting is a system that gives you leverage over winning or losing. Your win does not depend on whether the team on which you bet wins or loses but on by how much margin the team wins or losses. A spread is a range of values giving different eccentricities over the outcome of the game.

Pros: The major advantage is that you have a chance to win when your team losses as well. For example, if you bet on a team and it loses, you can still win some money if it loses by less than a fixed number of dunks. The spread gives you the chance to choose this number.

Cons: The major disadvantage of spread system is that it is complex. You need a good understanding of the betting method to be able to bet well. Secondly, the money that you win might be pretty low depending on the eccentricity of your bet with reference to the outcome. For example, if the team on which you bet wins straightaway, you can win good money. If it loses and the farther it moves from the game outcome, the money that you win is reduced. So, you get more money if you team losses by 2 points than if your team losses by 10 points. The money keeps reducing. In many instances, the win amount does not seem significant.

Over/under betting

Over/ under betting is another common sports betting method in which the betting is done on whether the outcome of the game will be above or below a line fixed by the bookie. So, if the bookie says that a team will win by a 10 points, your bet will either be on the team winning the game by more than 10 points or less than 10 points.

Pros: The biggest advantage of this kind of bet is that the chance of your win is enhanced. Since you bet on the possibility, there is a good chance that your prediction turns out to be true. The second advantage is that the team on which you bet does not necessarily have to win, for you to win.

Cons: The disadvantage is that the house edge is very high in these kinds of bets. Also, if you are a professional bettor and bet to make money, this betting method is not for you.