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Thunder's Cole Aldrich knows focus will be defenseBasketball Betting Lines07/13/2010 - OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -Cole Aldrich says defense comes naturally to him - a trait made easier by the fact he's always been the biggest guy on the basketball court. The 6-foot-11 Aldrich finished his career at Kansas as one of the school's great shot- blockers, and he hopes to continue focusing on defense now that he's reached the NBA. ``Defensively is, I think, really where I'm going to make an impact,'' Aldrich said Monday. The Oklahoma City Thunder acquired Aldrich, the No. 11 pick in this year's draft, and veteran forward Morris Peterson from New Orleans in exchange to the draft rights to Craig Brackins and Quincy Pondexter. In making the trade, Oklahoma City added a player with a defense-first approach, something general manager Sam Presti said can be rare among rookies. ``Cole really shares the same mentality and approach that we try to embody with our team,'' Presti said. ``He's another hardworking, high-character player.'' Thunder coach Scott Brooks listed Aldrich's positives: ``Defense, protects the basket, rebounds, sets great screens. He's a great outlet passer.'' Notice Brooks didn't say anything about scoring. On a team that already includes the NBA's reigning scoring leader in Kevin Durant and other players capable of big offensive games, ``we're not looking for him to come in here and be a big-time scorer,'' Brooks said. Aldrich, a native of Bloomington, Minn., grew up a Minnesota Timberwolves fan - and defense was an early love. ``I was, I wouldn't say a bully on the court, but I was bigger than everybody so I just loved to block shots and rebound,'' he said. ``If somebody comes in the lane, I don't want them to score. I take real pride in blocking the shot or altering the shot or (making opponents) pass it out. I've always liked to think that the paint is kind of my home and I don't want anybody coming in my home.'' As a sophomore at Kansas, he averaged 14.9 points and 11.1 rebounds and recorded the first official triple-double in the history of the Jayhawks' storied program with 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in a NCAA tournament game against Dayton. Last season as a junior, he set a school record with 125 blocked shots and was named the Big 12 Conference's top defensive player. Favored to make the Final Four, Kansas lost a second-round game to Northern Iowa in the same Oklahoma City arena where Aldrich now will play as a pro. Aldrich finished his Kansas career with 253 blocks, five shy of the school record held by Greg Ostertag. The Thunder's frontcourt, thin when the franchise arrived from Seattle before the 2008-09 season, has become crowded. Nenad Krstic started last season and rookie Serge Ibaka saw his playing time dramatically increase as the season wore on. Another Kansas product, veteran Nick Collison, provides front-line depth, and the Thunder also has been developing a 2009 first-round draft pick, Byron Mullens. At small forward, Jeff Green is entrenched as a starter. Brooks said he prefers a nine-man rotation and everyone in that rotation is returning next season from a team that went 50-32 and pushed the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers to six games in the playoffs. That means significant playing time for Aldrich is not guaranteed. ``It's going to be tough,'' Aldrich said. ``They just don't hand out anything. That's been my whole life. I've had to work for everything. I'm just excited to go against those guys and compete with them.'' Whether he's playing a lot or a little, Aldrich is guaranteed $1,772,000 in rookie salary as the No. 11 pick. Brooks had some advice for his newest center if he wants to get on the floor quickly. ``Being a bully is not bad,'' Brooks said. ``Minutes? Who knows. I met the guy four days ago. We'll have to see how he continues to get better the rest of the summer and training camp. I know our guys are going to be ready to compete and he's going to be in there competing with them.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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SPORTS BETTINGNFL Football Betting OnlineIn terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy. In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect. Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
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." 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. To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. |
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