2012 Olympics: Basketball Odds + Prop Bets

Our friends over at Bovada.lv hooked us up with the betting odds and prop bets for the basketball event during the 2012 Olympics.

I'm a big fan of straight odds, but there are some interesting prop bets on the board that should interest many gamblers.

I enjoy the historical prop bets that have Michael Jordan's stats from 1992 face Lebron James' 2012 stats. Charles Barkley/Kevin Durant and Magic Johnson/Chris Paul have similar prop bets.

Are you going to put some money on the Olympics? Team USA is heavily favored to win the gold in London, so betting on them would be super patriotic, right? (At least that's what I tell myself)

Men’s Basketball Props

Basketball - Men's - Odds to win the Gold Medal

USA                                         1/8

Spain                                        13/2

France                                      28/1

Argentina                                  28/1

Lithuania                                   33/1

Russia                                      33/1

Brazil                                        40/1

Australia                                   100/1

Great Britain                              250/1

China                                        400/1

Nigeria                                      500/1

Tunisia                                      1000/1

Basketball Men's - Odds to win Silver

Spain                            4/9

France                          7/1

Argentina                      7/1

Basketball Men's - Will USA and Spain meet in the finals?

Yes                              4/5

What will be the average margin of victory for the USA Men's Basketball Team at the 2012 Olympics?

Over/Under                    25.5

What will be the largest margin of victory for the USA Men’s Basketball Team?

Over/Under                    45.5

What will be the smallest margin of victory for the USA Men’s Basketball Team?

Over/Under                    12.5

Will the USA win both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Gold Medals?

Yes                  -600   (1/6)

No                    +400   (4/1)

Lebron James - PPG for the tournament?

Over/Under                    17

Lebron James - APG for the tournament?

Over/Under                    4.5

Lebron James - RPG for the tournament?

Over/Under                    6.5

Kobe Bryant - PPG for the tournament?

Over/Under                    13.5

Kevin Durant - PPG for the tournament?

Over/Under                    17

Carmelo Anthony - PPG for the tournament?

Over/Under                    13.5

           

Historical Matchups – Who will Average More Points Per Game

(Whole Tournament)

Lebron James                            -2

Michael Jordan (1992)                +2

(Note: Jordan averaged 14.9 pts per game)

Kevin Durant                              +1

Charles Barkley (1992)               -1

(Note: Barkley averaged 18 pts per game)

Kobe Bryant                              -.5      

Karl Malone (1992)                     +.5

(Note: Malone averaged 13 pts per game)

Historical Matchups – Who will Average More Assists Per Game

(Whole Tournament)

Chris Paul                                 Pick

Magic Johnson (1992)                Pick

(Note: Magic averaged 5.5 assists  per game)

Game 1 Lines

USA                 -24.5                -8000               167.5

France              +24.5                +1400

Total Points – Team USA

96

Total Points – Team France

71.5

Margin Of Victory

USA by 1-5                               18/1

USA by 6-10                              10/1

USA by 11-15                            6/1

USA by 16-20                            9/2

USA by 21-25                            4/1

USA by 26 or more                    1/1

France by 1-5                            50/1

France by 6-10                          200/1

France by 11-15                         250/1

France by 16-20                         300/1

France by 21-25                         350/1

France by 26 or more                 400/1

NBA Players Who Are Now Pressured To Win Their First Ring

The Miami Heat defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder tonight to win the 2012 NBA Championship. The pressure is now off Lebron James and Chris Bosh. The NBA is filled with young stars who have played past the age in which people expected them to already have a ring. It is hard to win a championship when you have Kobe Bryant, Boston's "Big Three, and now Miami hogging up all the titles.

Lebron got the monkey off his back and he has given it to a few other NBA players. I've scoured through rosters and made a list of players who are now pressured to win an NBA Championship.

The 2011 Dallas Mavericks had many players who had to wait 10+ years to win their first title (Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, etc). There is hope for these players and odds are a few will win a ring in the next few seasons.
Kevin Durant (age 23) - I guess that I should start off with a couple players who just lost in the NBA Finals. Kevin Durant has a couple scoring titles under his belt and had a great postseason. He will have many other opportunities to get his ring and maybe he needed this loss to help push him to the next level. Durant is locked up with the Oklahoma City Thunder long term. They have some nice pieces around him and they will get even better.

Russell Westbrook (age 23) - Westbrook and Durant play really well together, but they came up just a bit short in the 2012 NBA Finals. James Harden and Serge Ibaka didn't have a strong series, but they have both of them signed through next season. If OKC can sign them for three or four year deals, this team will be even scarier. Russell Westbrook is a turnover waiting to happen, but fixed that problem in the postseason. OKC will have Eric Maynor back next season and could give Westbrook some time at two-guard.

Dwight Howard (age 26) - The Orlando Magic center (for now) has already made a NBA Finals appearance and lost. His current contract situation has made the news over the last 18 months and painted him in a very negative light. If Dwight Howard were to be traded, he would have a lot of pressure on him to bring a championship. The rumor is the Los Angeles Lakers want him and Howard wants to play for them, but Lakers would have to trade Andrew Bynum and their salary cap situation is messy. I don't see him going to the Lakers unless they decide to go above the luxury tax threshold.

Steve Nash (age 38) - He is the one player in the NBA that basketball fans would love to see win a ring the most. Steve Nash had many chances to jump ship and basically pick a team to be traded to, but he was loyal to the Phoenix Suns. He is an unrestricted free agent this off-season and wants badly to win a ring. I could see him signing for near the minimum amount to join a contender for one last run. New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Oklahoma City, and Miami are great fits for Nash in 2012-13.

Chris Paul (age 27) - He is currently in the situation that Lebron was in previous to this year. He is in a new place with some nice talent around him. Can Chris Paul recruit enough talent to join the lowly Los Angeles Clippers? It remains to be seen if the Clippers can keep any talent past their first contract. They need more than Griffin and could use some perimeter shooters. Donald Sterling will need to tone down the crazy and open up his wallet if he wants to finally get a banner at the Staples Center.

Deron Williams (age 27) - Williams is a guy that basketball purists would always point to when people  would claim that Chris Paul was the best young point guard in the NBA. Well, both players find themselves in different places and Williams was stuck in New Jersey for the last 18 months. He is a free agent this off-season and is rumored to be headed to Dallas. This would put him in a great situation with an owner who wants to be a contender every season...plus he gets to play next to Nowitzki.

Carmelo Anthony (age 28) - Anthony forced his way out of Denver to play in a bigger market. He took a lot of heat from the media for being a diva. The New York Knicks haven't won a championship in my lifetime and the pressure to do so is immense. Anthony is a scorer and needs a few players around him to force teams to play man-to-man. Amar'e Stoudemire is a nice piece, but he also needs to score to get the most out of his game. A full season of Jeremy Lin will be a test to see if Anthony's game will ever translate to winning an NBA title.

Derrick Rose (age 23) - The Bulls have been trying to add pieces to surround Derrick Rose with NBA championship caliber players. They attempted to swing for the fences by signing Carlos Boozer, but struck out swinging. Rose was hurt for most of the 2011-12 season and injured his knee in the first round of the playoffs. It is unknown how much time Rose will miss next season and Chicago may force him to ease back slowly. Rose will win a title because he's too good of a player, but it could be with a different roster in the future.

Other notable players who have yet to win an NBA title: Zach Randolph, Josh Smith, Danny Granger, Kevin Love, Elton Brand, and John Wall.

Weekly Crush: 10 Videos of Kate Upton

It's Father's Day weekend and it seems appropriate to give our dad readers a treat. After you open your gifts (probably ties and golf balls), relax and watch some Kate Upton videos.

The Sports Illustrated cover model has appeared in movies "Tower Heist" and "The Three Stooges" and even made a small cameo in an episode of "Saturday Night Live" last season. I assume that she will soon host an episode herself.

Upton is the current 'it' girl in modeling. She has been connected to New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and she will probably be connected to a few more before she settles down.

Here are 10 of the best YouTube videos of Kate Upton...
The most searched terms on Google are 'Kate Upton playboy', "Kate Upton nude", and "Kate Upton naked". I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she has never posed for Playboy or has ever posed nude for any video or publication.

I'm sorry to ruin your day, but keep your chin up and watch these videos of Kate Upton doing things.

Skullcandy's 'Take A Supermodel To Work Day' featuring the Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant and James Harden.

This is the video that started her ascent to fame. All it took was her doing 'the Dougie' at a Los Angeles Clippers game.

The Dougie video lead to this video of her doing the 'Cat Daddy'. It was even taken down from YouTube at one point because it violated the site's sexual content rule...it was later put back up.

Here is a Bikini.com video with Kate Upton. She talks about her rise from horseback rider to runway model.

A video of Kate Upton's 2011 "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue shoot.

Carl's Jr./Hardee's banned Super Bowl commercial starring Kate Upton.

Kate Upton's appearance on Comedy Central's "Tosh.0"

Video of Complex Magazine's farm-themed photo shoot with Kate Upton.

Beach Bunny Swimwear 2012 photo shoot

Kate Upton attempts to do the 'Cat Daddy' on "The Dan Patrick Show"...but the song wasn't right.

Multiple People Shot After Thunder Win Series

The Seattle Supersonics were moved to Oklahoma City a few years ago. This was the first time that their team reached the Western Conference Finals...but none of that is important anymore. After the Thunder beat the Lakers, shots were fired and some rioting occurred. So far, many are injured from gunshot wounds, but no fatalities have been announced.

Rioting after WINNING a sporting event is the most moronic thing a fanbase/city could do.

I will keep updating this blog post as more information spills in about this horrible tragedy in OKC.

As many as eight people were wounded by gunfire shortly after the Oklahoma City Thunder game Monday night. NewsOK.com reported that the victims are still being located and turning up at hospitals. Two people are in police custody in connection with the shooting, police said. As of 3:200am EST, no one has been announced as a shooter.

As of this moment, police said that multiple people were shot downtown shortly after the Thunder game let out. Before midnight, another round of shorts were fired near Mickey Mantle Drive. The shooting could have started less than five minutes after the game ended.

The injuries that have been announced have yet to claim a life. One person was shot in the back, another in the upper arm and a third in the hand. There are also reports that a pregnant lady was kicked during the melee. Victims are still turning up to hospitals.

Oklahoma City police Capt. Lisa Camacho said that two suspected shooters are in custody at the Bricktown Harkins Theater.

NewsOK.com have interviewed some eye witnesses and they claim that this was not the first time this has happened. After Game 2, a witness said that traffic was backlogged because of fights breaking out.

I will never understand why cities riot after winning a sporting event. Vancouver's riot after last year's Stanley Cup loss was bad, but it would have been worse if they actually won. Let's end the stupidity and celebrate responsibly and watch out for one another.

This is amateur video of the scene after the Thunder game.

Tyler Maxwell, one of NewsOK.coms's eyewitnesses, summed everything up perfectly. He said, "The playoffs are (good) for our city but they're starting to bring violence...I can't imagine what would happen if this was the NBA Finals.” Let's hope that the city has extra police force on duty when the Thunder hosts the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.


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(Fake) NBA Player "Walk-Up" Songs

I was watching the L.A. Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets playoff game last night. At the end of the game, just like any other basketball game, there were a lot of free throws. After a player is fouled, there is a minute lull in-between the foul and the free throw attempt. What if each individual NBA player had their own personal "walk-up song," like in baseball? I tweeted this out and many agreed that this needs to happen. I instantly started to think of either humorous or fitting walk-up songs for random NBA players. You have to follow basketball pretty close to get all of the references. Most of the walk-up song references are very easy to get, but a few of them are a bit obscure.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me. Enjoy!

*I included a YouTube link that will open in a new window*

Kris Humphries - Ben Folds Five - "Song For The Dumped"
Serge Ibaka - Matt & Kim - "Block After Block"
Kevin Love - Bon Iver - "Skinny Love"
Lebron James - Motion City Soundtrack - "Can't Finish What You Started"
Delonte West - Cypress Hill - "Insane In The Membrane"
Gordon Hayward - "Olive Garden Jingle"
Kevin Durant - Childish Gambino - "Backpackers"
Chris Bosh - Mandy Moore - "Cry"
Lamar Odom - Sam Cooke - "That's It, I Quit, I'm Movin' On"
Josh McRoberts - Haystak - "Whiteboy"
Blake Griffin - Van Halen - "Jump"
Steve Nash - Tenacious D - "Rize of the Fenix"
Michael Beasley - Kid Cudi - "Marijuana"
Drew Gooden - "Ducktales Theme Song"
J.J. Redick - Collective Soul - "Gel"
Metta World Peace - Pretty Boy - "Throw Bows"
Glen Davis - Justin Bieber - "Baby"
Amare Stoudemire - Orgy - "Stitches"
Gilbert Arenas - M.I.A. - "Paper Planes"
Brian Scalabrine - Average White Band - "Pick Up The Pieces"
DeMarus Cousins - Gnarls Barkley "Crazy"
Dwight Howard - Say Anything - "I Want To Know Your Plans"
John Wall - Troop 41 - "Do The John Wall"
Ricky Rubio - El Chombo - "Chacarron Mocaron"
Patty Mills - Men at Work - "Land Down Under"
Anthony Davis - Rise Against - "Savior"
Kyrie Irving - Nelly - "Number One"
Joe Johnson - Fitz & The Tantrums - "Moneygrabber"
Derrick Rose - Blink-182 - "Miss You"
Greg Oden - Social Distortion - "Bad Luck"
Tyson Chandler - Silverstein - "Defend You"
Tony Parker - Joey + Rory - "Cheater, Cheater"
Tyler Hansbrough - Snoop Dogg - "Tha Shiznit"
Dirk Nowitzki - Rammstein - "Der Meister"
Matt Bonner - Perv One - "Counting Money"
Josh Howard - "Star Spangled Banner"
Boris Diaw - Kanye West - "New Workout Plan"
Shaun Livingston - Sleigh Bells - "Comeback Kid"
Kenyon Martin - Trina - "Single Again"
Chris Anderson - Nelly Furtado "I'm Like A Bird"
Earl Boykins - Skee-Lo - "I Wish"
Brad Miller - Nsync - "Bye Bye Bye"
Eddy Curry - Weird Al Yankovic - "Fat"
Jeremy Lin - No Use For A Name - "Fairytale of New York"



Also, check out Projectshanks.com for some of my other work.

Re-Do - 2007 NBA Draft

You can't really judge any professional sports draft until after three years. I have done "NBA Draft Re-Do" posts since the 2005 Draft and they are always eye-opening. When you start to weed out the busts and players that never achieve their potential due to injury, sometimes you're left with mixed bag. This year was not different, luckily I didn't have to add Josh McRoberts as a potential NBA Lottery pick, that would have been ugly. Does Greg Oden even make the cut? Here is my 2007 NBA Draft Lottery, if the draft were held today.

After taking out guys like Brendan Wright, Acie Law, Spencer Hawes, and Yi Jianlian from the draft, after pick #6, it starts to get ugly, you have been warned.

1. Kevin Durant – Portland Trail Blazers - Portland would be a legit contender in the Western Conference with Durant as the leader of the team. They thought they had a sure thing by picking Greg Oden #1 in 2007, but he has been made of glass. Durant is an MVP candidate and will be for many years to come. (Durant went #2 to Seattle)

2. Al Horford – Seattle Supersonics – Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly Seattle) would have a true inside force with Horford in the paint. He has been improving every year since he's been in the league and who knows what kind of player he'll be in five years. (Horford went #3 to Atlanta)

3. Joakim Noah – Atlanta Hawks - Would Atlanta be a better team with Noah instead of Horford? That's a tough question because Horford is a much better offensive player, but Noah's defensive skills are more advanced. The Hawks would matchup better against Orlando if Noah went to the Hawks with this pick. (Noah went #9 to Chicago)

4. Marc Gasol – Memphis Grizzlies – Well, I guess if Gasol was drafted here, Memphis would still have Pau Gasol and he never got a ring. Marc Gasol is still improving and has helped Memphis become a playoff team in the West. (Gasol went #48 to L.A. Lakers)

5. Carl Landry – Boston Celtics (traded to Seattle) - If this draft re-do happened, the Thunder would have Horford and Landry being one of the best rebounding tandems in the league. The team would be cleaning the glass and would be a tough team to beat in when it comes to rebounds. (Landry went #31 to Seattle - traded to Houston)

6. Jeff Green – Milwaukee Bucks - A scorer that can make his own shot? It sounds exactly what Milwaukee has been missing since Rashard Lewis took the money and got out of town. (Green was picked #5 by Boston)

7. Thaddeus Young – Minnesota Timberwolves - This is the part of the draft where this re-do starts to go downhill. Young, due to injuries and busts in this draft lands at this pick. He would be serviceable in Minnesota, but not a big piece of the puzzle in the big picture. (Young went #12 to Philadelphia)

8. Rodney Stuckey – Charlotte Bobcats (traded to Golden State) - Stuckey would have been a godsend in a Don Nelson offense. He can score in bunches, but he has the tendency to disappear every few games. He would have been a nice compliment to Monta Ellis. A backcourt of Stuckey and Ellis would fill up the boxscore. (Stuckey was chosen #15 by Detroit)

9. Mike Conley Jr. - Chicago Bulls - Conley Jr. isn't the ninth best player in this draft, but the Bulls needed a point-guard (this was pre-Derrick Rose) and they would have picked him. He would have filled the need and they could have moved Kirk Hinrich to shooting guard. Conley would have probably been a bust here, they are lucky to have picked Joakim Noah here instead. (Conley was picked #4 by Memphis)

10. Wilson Chandler – Sacramento Kings - Chandler is a proven scorer in the NBA and the Kings needed a perimeter scorer in 2007. Chandler has been a solid player in the up-tempo offense for the Knicks and would have been a better choice for them than Spencer Hawes was. They wish this re-do was real life. (Chandler was picked #23 by New York)

11. Glen Davis – Atlanta Hawks - A frontcourt of Noah & Davis seems a bit outlandish, but it would work. Josh Smith could handle the offensive duties and help defensively by blocking shots. The paint would have a lot of bodies in it and they would forget that they actually picked Acie Law with this pick. I think all Atlanta fans would wish to forget Law and you would have funny YouTube videos to watch from Davis. (Davis was picked #35 by Seattle - traded to Boston)

12. Jared Dudley – Philadelphia 76ers - It took Dudley a few seasons to find his role in the NBA and he has been a solid player for the Phoenix Suns. Would the Sixers welcome a dead-eye 3-point shooter right now? Of course they would. (Dudley was picked #22 by Charlotte)

13. Aaron Brooks – New Orleans Hornets - I doubt having Brooks and Chris Paul on the same team would work in real-life, but it would be a lot of fun to watch. I would make sure that I would watch every game on League Pass. Their backcourt would be over-matched by bigger guards, but they could find a way to make it work. Hey, Brooks would be a better pick than Julian Wright. (Brooks was picked #22 by Houston)

14. Corey Brewer – Los Angeles Clippers - Brewer is a streaky player that some would say is a headcase, he would have been perfect for the Clippers! Brewer has been bouncing in and out of the rotation on Minnesota and he could have been a starter on the 2007 Clippers. Al Thornton, their actual pick, didn't stick with the team, but I have a feeling that Brewer would still be on the team today. (Brewer was picked #7 by Minnesota)

Next Three Picks - Marco Belinelli, Al Thornton, Ramon Sessions


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