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02/06/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - DeMarcus Cousins hopes to build on one of his best games as a professional when the Sacramento Kings shoot for a season-high third straight victory tonight in the Big Easy against the New Orleans Hornets.
Cousins had his first career 20-20 game, recording 21 points and a career-high 20 rebounds on Saturday when the Kings edged Golden State in overtime, 114-106, at Power Balance Pavilion.
John Salmons scored 14, including the go-ahead three-pointer to start the extra frame for the Kings, who have won two straight after dropping five in a row. Marcus Thornton totaled 28 points and Tyreke Evans 26 for the Kings, who also received 15 points and 16 rebounds from Jason Thompson.
"When it comes along and develops, they're going to be pretty good," Sacramento coach Keith Smart said of his starting lineup. "All those guys in that lineup bring something that's very positive on both sides of the ball."
Sacramento, which is just 2-11 as the visitor on the year, will be playing eight of its next 10 games on the road.
The Hornets, who are kicking off a four-game homestand tonight, have lost five straight after Saturday's 89-87 heartbreaker at Detroit. Trevor Ariza paced the Hornets attack with 26 points in that one and Greivis Vasquez added 14 points and nine assists as the Hornets also dropped their sixth straight road game.
New Orleans has now lost 14 of its last 15 contests overall.
"Well, this is the dog days of the NBA right now," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "A lot of players are kind of going through the motions and tired and we certainly looked that way tonight. I thought we'd be a bit fresher because I gave them the day off yesterday and maybe that hurt us."
On the injury front for New Orleans, forward Carl Landry went down in the third quarter in Detroit with a second degree MCL sprain in his left knee and is expected to miss three to four weeks. Meanwhile, center Jason Smith suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter and listed as day-to-day.
The team could get a boost up front, however, with the possible return of Chris Kaman. After failing to work out a trade for the veteran, the Hornets have brought him back into the fold and he will be eligible to play tonight.
"For a number of reasons, including the team's decision to give more time to younger players, we had thought it best for Chris to work out on his own at as we made efforts to trade him," said Hornets General Manager Dell Demps. "However, following discussions with Chris, we have since concluded that being with the team is better for both Chris and the team, particularly our younger players who benefit from his experience and skill level.
"Chris has been working out daily over the past week and is in game condition," Demps added.
Finally, guard Jarrett Jack, who has missed the last two games with a sore left knee, is questionable for the Hornets.
New Orleans, which is just 2-11 at home on the season, has won five straight and 11 of 12 in the Big Easy against Sacramento.
<< Big 12 brawl pits Missouri against Oklahoma
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Missouri Tigers set their sights on
continued success as they head to the Lloyd Noble Center for a Big 12
Conference battle with the Oklahoma Sooners this evening.
This will be the 209th meeting in the all-t
<< Marquette and DePaul meet in Big East action
Rosemont, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a humbling loss, the Marquette
Golden Eagles will try to bounce back tonight against the DePaul Blue Demons
in a Big East Conference battle at Allstate Arena.
This will be the 111th meeting in the a
<< Cirstea advances in Thailand
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Romanian Sorana Cirstea was an easy
first-round winner Monday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis tournament.
The seventh-seeded Cirstea blew past Japanese Erika Sema 6-2, 6-2 on the
hardcourt
<< Farrington expected to become VMI's defensive coordinator
Lexington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - VMI is expected to name Jeff Farrington as
the new defensive coordinator of its football program later this month.
Farrington became Mercer University's defensive coordinator last July as it
builds a program
Nuggets target a win vs. visiting Rockets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly shaky Denver Nuggets will try to avoid a
season-high third straight loss tonight when they welcome the Houston Rockets
to Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets, who are opening up a three-game homestand, have dro
Thunder invade Portland's Rose Garden >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The West's best faces a tough test tonight as Oklahoma City
resumes a five-game road trip against a Portland team that has been dominant
in Rip City.
The Thunder are an NBA-best 18-5 despite losing the opener of their
Flames try for rare win in Anaheim >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Calgary Flames took care of business at home on Friday
before hitting the road for a few games. The task gets a little daunting right
off the bat tonight as they aim for their first victory against the Ducks at
Anaheim in
Howard-less Red Wings aim for win in Phoenix >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Not having their starting goaltender over the weekend did
little to help Detroit shake off its road issues. However, a trip to Phoenix
just might do the trick.
The Red Wings look to record a sweep of their season series wi
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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