Scola leads Argentina past Brazil to gain FIBA quarters

Basketball Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Scola continued a blistering scoring clip with 37 points on 14-of-20 shooting as Argentina edged Brazil, 93-89, to gain a quarterfinal berth in a thrilling South American showdown at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Scola of the NBA's Houston Rockets leads the tournament with 30.3 points per game and is knocking down 62 percent of his shots. He scored a dozen points in the decisive fourth quarter, including 10 of the final 12 points for Argentina.

Carlos Delfino of the Milwaukee Bucks added 20 points and hit 4-of-7 from three-point range.

Argentina will take on Lithuania in the quarterfinals after its win over China earlier Tuesday.

The Brazilians were led by Marcelo Huertas' 32 points and led at halftime, 48-46, in what was a tight game throughout. Huertas and then Delfino traded buckets at the conclusion of the third quarter with the game tied at 66 moving to the fourth.

Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns gave Brazil a lift with back-to-back three-pointers -- two of his five -- to open the final frame. Barbosa scored 20 points in all but it was Huertas who kept it close at the end.

Huertas recorded 10 points in the fourth and hit two free throws early on to keep Brazil in front after Hernan Jasen dropped a pair of threes to answer Barbosa.

The lead continued to change hands down the stretch as Jasen and Huertas knocked down shots for their respective countries as the clock wound under six minutes remaining.

The advantage was back in Brazil's hands, 81-79, on two Tiago Splitter free throws with 3:15 left before Scola took over late.

Scola dropped in consecutive buckets to swing the momentum, and poured in another two following a Brazil counter to get the margin to 89-84 with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Splitter came back with a deuce to make it a one-possession game before Delfino was able to sink two clutch free throws with under 10 seconds to play.

Huertas continued the excitement by nailing a three as time was about to expire, cutting the lead to two. Scola, though, drew the quick foul and made both at the line to wrap things up.

Linas Kleiza poured in 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Lithuania in its 78-67 win over China. Martynas Gecevicius added 14 points and Mantas Kalnietis chipped in 11 for Lithuania.

Liu Wei scored 21 points to lead China.

The Chinese opened a 22-17 lead after the first quarter, but Lithuania used a 23-10 run during the second and went to the break with a 43-40 edge. A three by Liu pulled China even at 48-48 with just over seven minutes left in the third quarter, but Gecevicius answered with a shot from beyond the arc to ignite an 11-0 run for Lithuania.

Kleiza scored four during the burst, which gave Lithuania a 59-48 lead, and the third quarter ended with a 64-51 cushion for the Lithuanians. China got as close as five with just over five minutes left on a bucket by Wang ZhiZhi, but Kleiza scored the next 10 points for Lithuania to extend the margin to 12 with just over a minute remaining.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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