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06/25/2010 - Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Suns managing partner Robert Sarver has exercised head coach Alvin Gentry's contract option for the 2011-12 season.
Gentry's contract was already partially guaranteed for that season after guiding the Suns to the Western Conference Finals. His $2.15 million salary for 2011-12 is reportedly subject to whether there is a lockout in the NBA, as the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire in July, 2011.
"Alvin has done a phenomenal job as our head coach," Sarver said. "His leadership and ability to connect with and lead our players was exceptional."
Gentry became Phoenix's interim head coach after Terry Porter was fired at the All-Star break during the 2008-09 campaign. Gentry guided the club to an 18-13 record in the second half of the year, though Phoenix missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003.
In 2009-10, Gentry had more success, helping the Suns go 54-28 in the regular season before a six-game series loss to the eventual champion Lakers knocked them out of the playoffs.
Gentry, who has 20-plus years of coaching experience in the NBA, joined the Suns as an assistant coach in 2004 and was the only holdover of Mike D'Antoni's staff under Porter.
The 55-year-old Gentry had previously been a head coach in Miami (1994-1995), Detroit (1997-2000) and Los Angeles with the Clippers (2000-03), posting a 177-226 record during those stints. He has a 249-267 regular season record overall when adding his current tenure with Phoenix.
The Suns also signed assistant coaches Dan Majerle, Bill Cartwright and Igor Kokoskov to contracts through the 2011-12 season.
<< Suns exercise option for Gentry, sign 3 assistants
PHOENIX (AP) -The Phoenix Suns have exercised the option year of coach Alvin Gentry for the 2011-12 season.Gentry guided the Suns to a 54-28 regular season, third-best in the West. Phoenix eliminated Portland and San Antonio in the playoffs before f
<< Suns select Georgia Tech's Lawal with 46th pick
PHOENIX (AP) -The Phoenix Suns, working with a general manager who will walk away from his job next week, have selected Gani Lawal of Georgia Tech with the 46th pick overall in the NBA draft.Lawal left college after his junior season, when he averag
<< Surreal draft night in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -There were rumors the Portland Trail Blazers were going to make a big move on draft night. What happened was downright surreal.A report surfaced less than an hour before the draft started that general manager Kevin Pritchard had
<< Raptors get Alabi from Mavs
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors acquired center Solomon
Alabi, the 50th overall pick, from the Dallas Mavericks in a draft-night deal.
Alabi, who played at Florida State, will head to the Raptors, while the Mavs
obtain a
Pacers, Thunder exchange second-round picks >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder
exchanged second-round picks in Thursday night's NBA Draft.
Louisiana Tech forward Magnum Rolle was drafted No. 51 overall by Oklahoma
City and acquired by the Pace
Wizards, T'Wolves make draft-night deal >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards acquired the draft
rights of forward Trevor Booker and center Hamady N'Diaye from the Minnesota
Timberwolves in exchange for the rights to Lazar Hayward and Nemanja Bjelica.
"We are very
Pedroia hits 3 HRs as Red Sox slug past Rockies >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dustin Pedroia homered three times, including a
two-run blast in the top of the 10th inning, and drove in five runs overall,
as the Boston Red Sox avoided a sweep and outslugged the Colorado Rockies,
13-11,
Heat deal second-round pick Williams to Oklahoma City >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat traded the draft rights to
forward Latavious Williams to the Oklahoma City Thunder during Thursday
night's draft.
Williams was chosen in the second round, 48th overall. The Heat get a 2011
prot
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
Stay with us here as we take you through the best in NFL action on a consistent basis, with advice columns as well as handicapping selections. If you're looking for college football betting, that's in our NCAA section, which you can reach by clicking here. And if you're looking for a different kind of football, such as the Canadian Football League, which we'll deal with occasionally, or the Arena Football League, which we really like, you can find it in our Miscellaneous section by clicking
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook betting credit cards
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