The Sixth Man: Lakers' strife was predictable

Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Expectations in the NBA are often measured on a sliding scale.

Most clubs would consider a 19-13 record that placed them a game behind the division leaders with two days to go before the All-Star break a success. Most teams aren't the Los Angeles Lakers, however.

For the 16-time champs, it's not about being competitive or having a chance to win a division, it's all about the Lawrence O'Brien Trophy.

And it's hard to look at these Lakers and say they are a legitimate contender for the crown. Oklahoma City is far too young and talented in the West while Miami and Chicago are more well-rounded in the East.

It's more than conceivable that the Lakers could compete with just about anyone else over a seven-game span, but that's just not good enough for Kobe Bryant, perhaps the most competitive player in the game.

L.A.'s decline sped up during last season's Western Conference semifinals when the Dallas Mavericks dethroned them by sweeping them out of the playoffs, sending Phil Jackson into retirement with an emphatic 122-86 Game 4 loss.

Jackson actually foreshadowed the current strife in Hollywood when he walked away. "The ultimate winner," Jackson probably knows better than anyone what a winning environment looks like. When he called it quits, it was a direct indictment of the Lakers and their immediate future.

Since longtime owner Dr. Jerry Buss has retreated a bit from the day-to-day operations of running the club, his son Jim is now the most influential man in the organization.

The younger Buss was no fan of Jackson's perceived smugness and cleaned house in the front office once Phil left. Everything from the scouting staff to the training staff was gutted in order to put his stamp on the league's marquee team.

More unhappiness developed after the Lakers, with Buss' prodding, sent the popular Lamar Odom to Big D before this season for a song and a dance. That was just days after a proposed three-way deal that would have moved both Odom and Pau Gasol for Chris Paul fell through.

Trade rumors have continued to swirl around Gasol since and the team's cornerstone, Bryant, finally reached his boiling point after a setback in Phoenix on Sunday, ripping L.A.'s management team for allowing his teammate to twist in the wind.

"I wish management would come out and either trade him or not trade him," Bryant said when talking about Gasol. "It's tough for a player to give his all when you don't know if you're going to be here tomorrow. I'd rather them not trade him at all. If they're going to do something, I wish they would just do it."

With no Jackson on the bench and no Odom coming off it, first-year Lakers mentor Mike Brown has been able to count on just three players this season as he implements a more complicated system, Bryant and his two 7-footers, Andrew Bynum and Gasol.

The rest of the team, including battle-tested veterans Derek Fisher and Metta World Peace, has lacked consistency and offered little production.

The depth is virtually non-existent with little upside. In fact, the only young player who has even remotely stepped forward this season is rookie guard Andrew Goudelock, a College of Charleston product, who has flashed at times but has a very limited ceiling as a player.

With a stunning lack of assets to work with, it's ludicrous to think general manager Mitch Kupchak would shelve the idea of trading any commodity, never mind one of the few who others actually covet.

If a normal player spoke out of turn, Kupchak could have brushed it off, but when Bryant speaks, it might as well be an advertisement for E.F. Hutton -- when Kobe talks, people listen.

That forced Kupchak to address the situation and to his credit he was as frank and honest as any GM could be.

"As a former player, I understand how the days leading up to the trade deadline can be nerve-wracking for an NBA player," he said in a statement. "Nonetheless, as general manager of the Lakers, I have a responsibility to ownership, our fans and the players on this team to actively pursue opportunities to improve the team for this season and seasons to come.

"To say publicly that we would not do this would serve no purpose and put us at a competitive disadvantage. Taking such a course of action at this time would be a disservice to ownership, the team and our many fans."

A day can make quite a difference in someone's mood and Bryant was all smiles after scoring 28 points in Los Angeles' 103-92 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday.

Afterwards, however, Bryant and Fisher held a players-only meeting as the team looks at the daunting task of back-to-back games on the road against West powers Dallas and Oklahoma City.

In the midst of his 16th NBA season, Bryant's brilliant career is a lot closer to the finish line than the starting blocks. The fact that his future championship aspirations are in the hands of someone he simply doesn't trust is a tough thing for him to swallow.

It may have seemed like Kobe was trying to paint an "us vs. the world" scenario, but he was really trying to rally the troops to keep playing despite what he perceives as Jim Buss' mismanagement.

Wwdirecthit Basketball Betting News

<< Hradecka exits Memphis
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Czech Lucie Hradecka was a second-round loser Wednesday at the $220,000 Memphis International tennis event. Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko came from behind to beat Hradecka 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) on the

<< Pogatetz commits future to Hannover
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hannover defender Emanuel Pogatetz has signed a new three-year contract with the club, it was confirmed on Wednesday. The Austria international's contract was due to expire at the end of the seas

<< City brushes Porto aside in Europa League
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City steam rolled over Porto at home on Wednesday, earning a 4-0 victory against the Portuguese side to advance to the Round of 16 of the Europa League. Four different players got on th

<< Indians ink Guzman to minor league deal
Goodyear, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians have signed veteran infielder Cristian Guzman to a minor league contract with an invitation to major league spring training. Guzman, 33, did not play in 2011, reportedly due

<< Azarenka pulls out; Wozniacki advances in Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka decided to pull out of the Dubai Duty Free Championships, citing a left ankle injury, while former top-ranked star and reigning champion Caroline Wozniac

Nets' Williams has successful surgery, will miss season >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Jersey forward Shawne Williams had successful left foot surgery on Wednesday, the Nets announced in a release. He will miss the remainder of the 2011-12 season. The surgery was performed by Dr

Coyotes obtain Vermette from Jackets >>
Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday acquired center Antoine Vermette from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a pair of draft picks and goaltender Curtis McElhinney. A three-time 20-goal scorer, Ver

Hawks' Johnson to miss All-Star Game >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson will miss All-Star weekend because of tendinitis in his left knee, the team said Wednesday. Johnson, who is averaging 17.6 points per game, was selected to the All-Star game as a reserve

Line of Scrimmage: Combine questions have a need for speed >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Class was back in session for prospective graduates into the football profession when the world's most celebrated college job fair, the NFL Scouting Combine, got underway Wednesday, even though this year's tw

Zusi re-signs with Sporting >>
Kansas City, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi has signed a new contract with the club, it was announced on Wednesday, although terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 25-year-old Zusi is coming of

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.


MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.