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U.S. set to kick off WorldsBasketball Betting Lines08/26/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States National Team will kick off the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, Turkey on Saturday when they take on Croatia in Group B play. Team USA, which is led by defending NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, along with veterans Chauncey Billups of the Denver Nuggets and Lamar Odom of the NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, is attempting to avenge the team's bronze medal performance during the 2006 Worlds in Japan. Piloted by Duke University head coach Mike Krzyzewski, this group probably has the least amount of star power since the professionals started playing for USA Basketball in the early 1990s. Most of the NBA superstars who restored order in the hoops world back at the 2008 Beijing Olympics took a pass this time around. The "Redeem Team," featuring Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Chris Bosh all helped bring back the gold medal to the United States for the first time since 2000 in China but decided against an encore performance, forcing USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo, along with Krzyzewski and his assistants, Jim Boeheim, Mike D'Antoni, Nate McMillan and Jay Triano, to cobble together what can best be described as an NBA B-team. The only true superstar in the bunch is Durant but that didn't stop Team USA, from finishing its preparation for the Worlds undefeated after a 87-59 rout over a highly-regarded but shorthanded Greece team in Athens on Wednesday. The Americans also topped France, Lithuania and Spain in the Global Community Cup during their prep for the Worlds. "Coach K" has been starting Durant along with Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala, and either Odom or Dallas' Tyson Chandler in the frontcourt depending on the opposition's size. Billups and Chicago's Derrick Rose handle the backcourt. Depth, however, is what differentiates the U.S. from the rest of the world and Krzyzewski's bench is made up of Warriors sharp-shooter Stephen Curry, Indiana scorer Danny Granger and rising stars Russell Westbrook of Oklahoma City, Kevin Love of Minnesota and Eric Gordon of the Clippers, along with swingman Rudy Gay of Memphis. Boston point guard Rajon Rondo was the final player left off the roster when he withdrew on Tuesday. "I think this group is really a good group," Krzyzewski said in New York earlier this month. "I can tell you intangible-wise it's off the charts with attitude, team, hard work, 'I'll do anything', all that. That's a good place to start." Gordon was the star against Greece, coming off the bench to lead the U.S. with 18 points and shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range as the second-ranked American men closed out the pre-FIBA exhibition schedule with a perfect 4-0 mark. "We're getting more comfortable, since that first game against France," Durant said. "It's starting to get easier playing with everybody. Everybody's coming out and playing hard. I think that's the best thing about it." "The thing we need to do is understand that we're a group that's just coming together so we have to improve game by game," Chandler added. "We are competing against ourselves. We want to the best that we can be in this short period of time we are together." Twenty-four teams will compete in the 2010 FIBA World Championship, divided into four preliminary round groups consisting of six teams each. The United States was drawn into Group B back in December with Brazil, Croatia, Iran, Slovenia and Tunisia. The U.S. has never faced Croatia in World Championship play, but is 3-0 against the club in Olympic action. Led by Roko Ukic, a former NBA player with Toronto and Milwaukee, and Ante Tomic, Croatia is currently ranked 15th in the world by FIBA. The country won a bronze medal at the 1994 FIBA World Championship but dropped off until a bit of a comeback at the 2008 Olympics and EuroBasket 2009 with sixth-place finishes in both. Team USA will follow its bout with Croatia by facing its second European team in as many days on Aug. 29 when it meets Slovenia, a team it defeated 114-95 in 2006 World Championship preliminary play. Slovenia, ranked 20th in the world, is without a few key players like Sacramento's Beno Udrih, who decided to quit the team because of lack of playing time, and Erazem Lorbek. Despite the setbacks, Slovenia has enough talent with Goran Dragic and Bostjan Nachbar to make them a threat in the tournament. FIBA Americas Zone champion Brazil will then challenge the U.S. on Aug. 30. The USA-Brazil World Championship series stands at 6-5 in favor of the United States, with the two teams last meeting in the 1998 World Championship. This version of the Brazilians, led by Toronto's Leandro Barbosa, Cleveland's Anderson Varejao, San Antonio's Tiago Splitter along with new coach Ruben Magnano, should be the United States' toughest test in Group B but is only ranked 14th in the world by FIBA. Following a day off on Aug. 31, the USA resumes play Sept. 1 against Asia Zone champ Iran, a team it has not faced previously in World Championship play, then closes out preliminary play with a contest versus Tunisia on Sept. 2, another team that the Americans have not met in World Championship action. Led by head coach Veselin Matic, who previously had coached the Polish national team, Iran saw great success immediately by defending its FIBA Asia Championship title last year. Memphis' Hamed Haddadi, the first Iranian to play in the NBA, headlines the club. Tunisia, meanwhile, will be participating in the World Championships for the first time after earning a berth with a bronze medal performance in the 2009 FIBA Africa Championship. Star guard Amine Rzig can fill it up from outside but Tunisia lacks depth and defensive skills. The real competition for the Americans figures to come later in the tournament against teams like Argentina, Spain and a healthier Greece team. The Argentines are ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA and feature Houston Rockets power forward Luis Scola, Milwaukee swingman Carlos Delfino and Philadelphia forward Andres Nocioni. The real star, San Antonio swingman Manu Ginobili, is not participating, however and the Sixers have advised Nocioni to withdraw due to an injured left ankle. Even without Ginobili and the possible absence of Nocioni, Argentina figures to have one of the most balanced and fundamentally sound teams in Turkey, but may not have the go-to-guy down the stretch to build on its recent success that has included a silver at the 2002 FIBA World Championships, gold at the 2004 Olympics and bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games. Spain, the defending world champion, is also toiling without its biggest name, Lakers power forward Pau Gasol. Pau's brother, Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies, highly-touted Minnesota draft pick Ricky Rubio and Portland sharp-shooter Rudy Fernandez are on hand, however, as the team hopes to build on its silver medal performance at the 2008 Olympics. Greece, meanwhile, figures to be much tougher with Sofoklis 'Baby Shaq' Schortsanitas, who was injured during warm-ups before Wednesday's exhibition game against the U.S., and Yiannis Bourousis back in the lineup. "Greece did not have its two big guys (Schortsanitas and Bourousis) inside, but for us it was good to play another international game against a great country, a good atmosphere, and it just gives us more experience," Krzyzewski said after that win. "We're happy that we got a chance to play everyone and I think they played all their healthy players. The score is insignificant really because they didn't have their complete team against us." Held every four years, the FIBA World Championship is considered international basketball's crown jewel event. The U.S. has had mixed results in World Championship play. The same players that won the gold in Beijing, minus Bryant, were only able to take home a bronze in the 2006 World Championship, and the U.S. hasn't won a gold since 1994 in Toronto, when Shaquille O'Neal was in his prime and dominating for the Americans. All told, the USA has compiled an overall 105-27 win-loss record in the World Championships and won 10 medals - three gold medals (1954, 1986 and 1994), three silver medals (1950, 1959 and 1982) and four bronze medals (1974, 1990, 1998 and 2006). The winner of the 2010 FIBA World Championship automatically earns a berth in the 2012 London Olympics.
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Online Sportsbook Football BettingThe 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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