NBA Betting Beat: Preseason potpourri
NBA Betting Beat: Preseason potpourri
The NBA exhibition season has tipped off with the start of the regular season less than three weeks away. Despite the warmup games not counting in the standings, cappers are still paying close attention with one eye on injuries like the one Wizards center Brendan Haywood suffered and another eye on teams that are coming together in a good groove or already stuck in a midseason rut.
The NBA exhibition season has already started. None of these games have betting odds attached, but handicappers are paying close attention anyway. You can still see which teams are starting to click and which ones are having trouble. And a ligament tears just the same whether or not the game counts in the standings.
Speaking of which, that shredding sound you heard last week was Brendan Haywood’s right wrist. The Washington Wizards center was injured in practice; doctors say he needs surgery, and nobody’s sure how long he’ll be out. Rumors from The Washington Post say the surgery is expected to keep Haywood out 4-6 months.
The Wizards are no strangers to injury – they’re lucky if two of the Big Three of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison are on the floor at the same time. But without Haywood (18.37 PER, +3.9 Roland) in the middle, the Wiz have to rely on Etan Thomas (15.61 PER in 2006-07), who missed all of last year after open-heart surgery.
I’m looking at Washington’s total of 38½ regular-season wins. The team went 43-39 (46-36 ATS) last year without Arenas for the most part – and he’s out again to start this year. The Wiz had a point differential of -0.3 per game, which suggests they were more like a 39-43 team over the course of the season. Haywood was good for 6.6 Win Shares last year; Thomas had 2.8 Win Shares two years ago. Roger Mason (13.84 PER, 3.3 WS) is gone. The Eastern Conference has improved around Washington this offseason. I’m liking the Under here.
The Portland Trail Blazers have an injury concern of their own: Martell Webster broke his foot in Tuesday’s preseason win over Sacramento. It’s tough news for Webster (12.07 PER), who had a strong start to the 2007-08 season before losing more and more playing time to Travis Outlaw (15.79 PER). Otherwise, the Webster injury just means more minutes for Outlaw and Spanish sensation Rudy Fernandez.
I am a big fan of the Trail Blazers to make the leap into the playoffs and blow out their total of 42½ wins. Portland already improved to 41-41 (43-39 ATS) last year without Greg Oden for the entire season. Oden has played very well in the preseason; the fashionable thing to do these days is compare him to David Robinson, who had a monster rookie campaign in 1989-90 with a 26.3 PER and 15.1 Win Shares. The depth and talent level with Oden and Fernandez on board is staggering.
The New York Knicks will also have a new look in 2008-09. Coach Mike D’Antoni inherits a team that hit rock bottom last year from an organizational standpoint under Isiah Thomas. Chris Duhon is the new starting point guard, and 6-foot-11, 240-pound swingman Jared Jeffries was reportedly going to be the starting center until he broke his leg during a practice last week. He’s out 6-8 weeks.
The Knicks started David Lee at center in their exhibition opener against the Toronto Raptors, and he scored 22 points in 30 minutes to lead the Knicks. We got a taste of what D’Antoni has in store; he went with an eight-man rotation and piled up 111 points while giving up 113 to the Raptors.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” D’Antoni told the Associated Press after the game. “If we keep playing like that, we’ll be OK.”
That’s straight from the horse’s mouth. The Knicks have a total of 29½ wins after going 23-59 (37-44-1) last year. The coaching change makes it difficult to project just how well the Knicks will respond, but if we look to D’Antoni’s debut with the Phoenix Suns in 2003-04, the Suns were 21-40 after he took over from Frank Johnson. That translates to 28-54 over the course of a full season. Fittingly enough, 2003-04 was also when Phoenix traded Stephon Marbury to the Knicks. This will definitely be an interesting year in New York.
The NBA exhibition season has tipped off with the start of the regular season less than three weeks away. Despite the warmup games not counting in the standings, cappers are still paying close attention with one eye on injuries like the one Wizards center Brendan Haywood suffered and another eye on teams that are coming together in a good groove or already stuck in a midseason rut.
The NBA exhibition season has already started. None of these games have betting odds attached, but handicappers are paying close attention anyway. You can still see which teams are starting to click and which ones are having trouble. And a ligament tears just the same whether or not the game counts in the standings.
Speaking of which, that shredding sound you heard last week was Brendan Haywood’s right wrist. The Washington Wizards center was injured in practice; doctors say he needs surgery, and nobody’s sure how long he’ll be out. Rumors from The Washington Post say the surgery is expected to keep Haywood out 4-6 months.
The Wizards are no strangers to injury – they’re lucky if two of the Big Three of Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison are on the floor at the same time. But without Haywood (18.37 PER, +3.9 Roland) in the middle, the Wiz have to rely on Etan Thomas (15.61 PER in 2006-07), who missed all of last year after open-heart surgery.
I’m looking at Washington’s total of 38½ regular-season wins. The team went 43-39 (46-36 ATS) last year without Arenas for the most part – and he’s out again to start this year. The Wiz had a point differential of -0.3 per game, which suggests they were more like a 39-43 team over the course of the season. Haywood was good for 6.6 Win Shares last year; Thomas had 2.8 Win Shares two years ago. Roger Mason (13.84 PER, 3.3 WS) is gone. The Eastern Conference has improved around Washington this offseason. I’m liking the Under here.
The Portland Trail Blazers have an injury concern of their own: Martell Webster broke his foot in Tuesday’s preseason win over Sacramento. It’s tough news for Webster (12.07 PER), who had a strong start to the 2007-08 season before losing more and more playing time to Travis Outlaw (15.79 PER). Otherwise, the Webster injury just means more minutes for Outlaw and Spanish sensation Rudy Fernandez.
I am a big fan of the Trail Blazers to make the leap into the playoffs and blow out their total of 42½ wins. Portland already improved to 41-41 (43-39 ATS) last year without Greg Oden for the entire season. Oden has played very well in the preseason; the fashionable thing to do these days is compare him to David Robinson, who had a monster rookie campaign in 1989-90 with a 26.3 PER and 15.1 Win Shares. The depth and talent level with Oden and Fernandez on board is staggering.
The New York Knicks will also have a new look in 2008-09. Coach Mike D’Antoni inherits a team that hit rock bottom last year from an organizational standpoint under Isiah Thomas. Chris Duhon is the new starting point guard, and 6-foot-11, 240-pound swingman Jared Jeffries was reportedly going to be the starting center until he broke his leg during a practice last week. He’s out 6-8 weeks.
The Knicks started David Lee at center in their exhibition opener against the Toronto Raptors, and he scored 22 points in 30 minutes to lead the Knicks. We got a taste of what D’Antoni has in store; he went with an eight-man rotation and piled up 111 points while giving up 113 to the Raptors.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” D’Antoni told the Associated Press after the game. “If we keep playing like that, we’ll be OK.”
That’s straight from the horse’s mouth. The Knicks have a total of 29½ wins after going 23-59 (37-44-1) last year. The coaching change makes it difficult to project just how well the Knicks will respond, but if we look to D’Antoni’s debut with the Phoenix Suns in 2003-04, the Suns were 21-40 after he took over from Frank Johnson. That translates to 28-54 over the course of a full season. Fittingly enough, 2003-04 was also when Phoenix traded Stephon Marbury to the Knicks. This will definitely be an interesting year in New York.