Toronto Raptors 2010 Draft Preview

Basketball Betting Lines

06/21/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Raptors figure to lose Chris Bosh in the offseason so they will need to acquire a big man to replace him.

Toronto would like to work a sign-and-trade with Bosh's prospective new team, where it could get an asset in return. However, if they need to make the move in the draft, Kentucky forward Daniel Orton has a significant upside at No. 13.

Orton's already got the NBA body and has impressive length but his offensive game needs a lot of work despite a very soft touch that is rare among young bigs today.

Other possibilities include Marshall center Hassan Whiteside and VCU forward Larry Sanders.

Players under contract: G Marcus Banks; C Andrea Bargnani; G Marco Belinelli; G Jose Calderon; G DeMar DeRozan; F Reggie Evans; G Jarrett Jack; F Hedo Turkoglu; G Sonny Weems

Free Agents: F Chris Bosh (Player option); F Amir Johnson (Unrestricted); C Rasho Nesterovic (Unrestricted); C Patrick O'Bryant (Unrestricted); F/G: Antoine Wright (Unrestricted)

Draft picks: 1st round (13th overall)

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<< San Antonio Spurs 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After 13 Consecutive trips to the postseason and four rings, you can almost see the end of the road coming for a great San Antonio team. Injuries and age have taken a toll on Gregg Popovich's club for the last two seasons

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Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra put in her first workout at Churchill Downs on Monday morning since her victory in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap. The four-year-old filly breezed

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Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints have released defensive end Bobby McCray. McCray, 28, signed with the Saints as an unrestricted free agent in 2008. The Florida product started eight of 32 regular-season ga

<< Portland Trail Blazers 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Pritchard has built the Portland Trail Blazers into a contender in the Western Conference but he is reportedly not in the good graces of team owner Paul Allen. In fact, Pritchard has acknowledged he knows ownership i

<< Phoenix Suns 2010 Draft Preview
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Suns rebounded nicely this year after the Terry Porter debacle but that didn't stop Steve Kerr from announcing that he would not return as president and general manager when his contract expires on June 30. Kerr intend

Miyazato takes over top spot in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With her fourth win of the season on Sunday, Ai Miyazato took over the No. 1 spot in the world rankings for women's golf. Jiyai Shin, who slipped to No. 2, is scheduled to return to action thi

FC Dallas names Quinn president, CEO >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas announced that Douglas Quinn has been named president and chief executive officer of the Major League Soccer club, effective Aug. 2. "We are thrilled to welcome Doug to FC Dallas, and look fo

Utah Jazz 2010 Draft Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The rich plan get richer, as Utah will use the New York Knicks' pick to select a big man as insurance for the injured Mehmet Okur and free agent power forward Carlos Boozer. The Jazz must also make a decision on Kyle Korve

Villa's brace pushes Spain comfortably past Honduras >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain used a David Villa brace to top Honduras, 2-0, in FIFA World Cup Group H action at Ellis Park Stadium on Monday. With the win, Spain moves into a second-place tie with Switzerland

'Quakes acquire midfielder Cronin from TFC >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Earthquakes acquired midfielder Sam Cronin from Toronto FC in exchange for allocation money, the Major League Soccer teams announced. "Sam is a good, young player who had big impact in the leag

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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