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06/18/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Spurs walked into Quicken Loans Arena on June 12 needing to win two games in order to sweep the Cavaliers and win their third NBA championship in five years. Both contests were close, but in the end, the better and more experienced team prevailed.
Many in the media spent countless hours debating if San Antonio has reached "dynasty" status and a large proportion felt that four titles in nine years does not necessitate the elite standing of such clubs as the 90s Bulls, winners of six of eight, or the Lakers run of three straight earlier in the decade. I wholeheartedly agree that the Spurs arent in that class...yet. But with the big three - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili - set to return next year, four rings in six years sounds mighty impressive.
Some radio talk show hosts had also mentioned that San Antonio does not even fall into the class of the New England Patriots, a team that had won three Super Bowls in four years. I highly disagree with that statement, as theres not much difference between three titles in four years or three in five. The bottom line is the Spurs are the NBAs team of the decade - three titles and a solid chance for a fourth in the next year or two, which would be one more than the Lakers.
DEFENSE WINS TITLES, JUST NOT TELEVISION VIEWERS
Not only does defense win championships, it also gets team's there. The NBA champ has finished in the top three in points allowed in four of the last five years, and four of the last six finalists also ended up in the top five. One of those clubs that didnt make the list, more than made up for it in the playoffs, as Miami finished second in that category to Detroit in the 2005-06 postseason. The Heat were 13th during the regular season.
This year, the Spurs led the league in scoring defense (90.1 ppg), while the Cavs were fifth at 92.9. The Finals were a microcosm of that statistic as three of the four games went UNDER the totals in convincing fashions. The fourth and final games finished at 165 with the OVER/UNDER set at 176. That was as close as it would get. The first contest was an 85-76 San Antonio win for 161 points, which crushed the total set at 179.5. The third game was even better for those playing the UNDER, as the two teams combined for 147 points, 32.5 points below the number.
There are those that say it was boring basketball...and the ratings surely reflected it. This years finals set an all-time low in terms of the television audience with the horrendous rating of 6.2 and an 11 share. The projected wisdom is that network programming, especially sports, do not get the ratings they used to back before the onslaught of cable and the Internet. Still, that doesnt explain how last seasons Miami-Dallas series blew the San Antonio-Cleveland match-up to smithereens.
The six-game affair between the Heat and Mavs crushed last weeks series by over 25%. The only way to clarify the difference is to mention one name - Shaquille ONeal. Nonetheless, isnt LeBron James supposed to be the next Michael Jordan? Wasnt he dubbed that coming off his spectacular 48-point outburst on the road in game five vs. Detroit? Didnt many people say that he has a chance to be even better than Michael? Why wasnt he the draw NBA higher-ups thought he was?
The answers are hard to pinpoint but might lie with his opposition - the Spurs. The 6.2 rating topped the previous low, a 6.5 marking when these very same Spurs defeated the Nets in 2003.
Another answer could be that not many people care too much about the sport, or sports in general on the tube these days. Since 1982, only four series registered single digit numbers and all four came in the last five years. The only one that finished over that mark Shaq's series vs. the Heat.
Two seasons ago, San Antonio defeated Detroit in an epic, seven-game series and, yet, the TV ratings were the second lowest since 1981. Defense wins championships, but it also drives away the viewing public in droves. Sure many people would have preferred seeing the run and gun Suns or the upstart Warriors, but that style of play doesnt bring trophies to the locker room.
Both the Suns and Warriors finished one-two in scoring this past season with 110 and 107 points per game, respectively, but Golden State ended up in last place on the opposing end allowing 107 ppg. Phoenix didnt fair any better and finished eighth from the bottom at 103 ppg. Two years ago, the Suns also let up 103 per contest (third worst in the league) and failed to reach the NBA Finals. Coincidentally, they allowed the same 103 points per game the year before that and finished last in the league in that category.
Commissioner David Stern tinkered with a big change at the start of this past season bringing in a new-styled ball, but that got pushed out on January 1, 2007. It will be interesting to see if he decides to do something else to combat public apathy towards his sport.
Logic dictates he should leave it alone. The best thing he ever did was making sure high school athletes get at least one year of college ball and with Greg Oden coming into the league next season, the NBA might usher in a new version of "Shaq," which is so important since ONeals time has passed.
The league has come a long way from having its championship series on tape delay prior to the Magic and Bird infusion, but more rivalries have to be established before Stern and his staff can take it to the next level. Its unfortunate that there doesnt seem to be a dominant team in the Eastern Conference. Maybe if the Cavaliers get the services of another superstar to go along with LeBron, they will be the team to watch in the coming years, not just by NBA standards, but by the viewing public.
<< Bruce headed back to Baylor
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor guard Aaron Bruce announced Monday he
will return to school for his senior season after withdrawing from the NBA
Draft.
Bruce, who participated in workouts with the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rocke
<< Senators shake up: Murray leaves bench to replace Muckler
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators have made some big changes
within the front office, firing general manager John Muckler and replacing him
with head coach Bryan Murray, who will leave his position behind the bench.
Murray,
<< Perlozzo fired in Baltimore
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles officially announced
at a press conference Monday the firing of manager Sam Perlozzo.
The Orioles also announced that bullpen coach Dave Trembley will take over on
an interim basis.
<< Yankees sign a pair of Chinese players
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have signed a pair of
Chinese players to minor league contracts, becoming the first Major League
Baseball team to ink a player from the People's Republic of China with
approva
Blue Jays release Ohka >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays announced Monday they
have released right-hander Tomo Ohka.
Ohka, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the team in January,
started just 10 games for the Blue Jays. H
Wallace named GM of Grizzlies >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Memphis Grizzlies have named Chris Wallace
their new general manager and vice president of basketball operations.
"This is a great day for the Wallace family, and we are excited to become
Memphians,"
Zvonareva withdraws from Wimbledon >>
Wimbledon, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 19 Vera Zvonareva announced
her withdrawal from Wimbledon 2007 on Monday, citing a left wrist injury.
The 22-year-old Zvonareva, sidelined since April, also missed the recently-
concluded
This Week in Golf - June 21st through June 24th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR -
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut - J.J.
Henry made this tournament his first win last year when it was called the
Buick Championship, shooting a final-round 67 to
The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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