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02/21/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta went through the definition of futile in the third quarter, ending the period without a field goal, as the Chicago Bulls widened a halftime edge and rolled to a 106-81 rout of the Hawks at the United Center.
Atlanta made eight free throws during the period, not making a field goal for 14:06 spanning three periods. Chicago outscored the Hawks 28-8 in the decisive period, and opened a 76-51 lead at the stanza's conclusion.
"In the third quarter, we couldn't make a shot," Hawks head coach Mike Woodson said. "I thought we had good looks, but they got on a nice roll and we continued to not make shots."
The Bulls have owned the Hawks of late, winning their 10th straight in the series. Atlanta's last victory occurred on April 9, 2004 at the United Center, but a Chicago victory in the last season meeting would result in three straight season sweeps.
Chris Duhon scored a game-high 17 points with seven assists, Kirk Hinrich and Luol Deng added 16 points apiece and Malik Allen donated 12 points for Chicago, which snapped a brief two-game losing streak.
Josh Childress scored 16 points with seven boards and Marvin Williams added 12 points with six rebounds for the Hawks, who have lost two of three.
Atlanta was positioned nicely entering the third quarter, trailing just 48-43, before going the entire period without a basket from the floor. The Hawks finished the stanza 0-for-16 from the field.
"We were good (on defense) and they just missed some shots," said Chicago head coach Scott Skiles. "When they had opportunities, we fouled them and they weren't able to get the shot off."
P.J. Brown's free throws capped 10 in a row out of the halftime gates for a 58-43 edge, then a Ben Wallace tip-in made the score 70-47 with 2:15 on the clock.
The Bulls cruised to victory from there.
Chicago led 26-19 after one quarter before Atlanta cut into the deficit. It drew within two points multiple times in the second quarter, the last coming at 34-32 on Childress' jumper with 6:29 remaining.
Game Notes
Ben Gordon left the game with a left thigh bruise and could have returned if the game was close. Gordon finished with six points on 3-of-11 from the floor...Chicago improved to 21-7 at home this season, while Atlanta fell to 12-17 on the road...The Bulls held a 51-40 edge on the glass.
<< Stastny and Avs down Calgary
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored two power-play goals during
a high-powered first period and Peter Budaj made 33 saves, as the Colorado
Avalanche defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-3, at Pepsi Center.
Milan Hejduk tallied
<< Kruger leads UNLV past No. 14 Air Force
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Kruger scored 14 points and added 10
assists to help the UNLV Rebels to a 60-50 victory over the 14th-ranked Air
Force Falcons at Thomas & Mack Center.
Joel Anthony added 10 points and nine re
<< Williams advances to quarters in Memphis
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh-seeded American Venus Williams
advanced into the quarterfinals of the $175,000 Regions Morgan Keegan
Championships and the Cellular South Cup with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over
Denmark
<< Parker and Spurs knock off Denver
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Parker led a balanced San Antonio
attack with 17 points, as the Spurs routed the Denver Nuggets, 95-80, for
their third straight win.
Manu Ginobili added 14 points and Tim Duncan scored 12 f
Happy Returns: Nash leads Phoenix over Clips >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Nash scored 13 points and dished out
12 assists before spending a large chunk of the second half enjoying his
return to the lineup from the bench, as Phoenix cruised from the outset in a
115-90
Sedin leads Canucks past Ducks in OT >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Sedin scored 2:19 into overtime, as the
Vancouver Canucks won their fifth straight game with a 3-2 decision over the
Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.
Kevin Bieksa and Markus Naslund also scored fo
Kings edge Celts >>
Sacramento, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Martin scored 22 points as the Kings
held off a late Boston rally to beat the Celtics, 104-101, and continued their
domination in the series.
Ron Artest contributed 18 points, eight rebounds a
Red Wings put home streak on the line against Blackhawks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings shoot for their 13th consecutive
victory on home ice when the rival Chicago Blackhawks enter Joe Louis Arena
tonight for a matchup between Central Division foes.
Detroit has been tremendous in the Mot
American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout
An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.
Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off. Randy was not impressed though. Paula thought he started off fantastic. "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either.
Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed. Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact. He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition.
Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula. Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.
Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next. Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential. Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell. He sang "Careless Whisper".
22 year old Chris Richardson was up next. He was listed with +1100 odds coming in. He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great.
Nick was boring and pitchy. Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week. Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition.
Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds . These of course were the early odds. He was considered original for picking an "odd song". He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night.
Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good.
Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds. Great voice and a great sense of humor. He's a real standout. Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit. Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig".
Jared Cotter followed. He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition. The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good.
22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next. "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon. Though the judges felt he performed okay. Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.
Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition. He was the last to perform. He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start.
Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys. Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.
And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.
Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.
So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.
Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)
The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.
As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.
The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.
In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.
Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.
And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.
So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.
There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.
So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.
And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.
There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)
Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.
Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.
Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.
So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.
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