Rockets feel ready to contend in West

Basketball Betting Lines

07/22/2010 -

HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Rockets think they are ready to contend in the Western Conference, even after striking out on the big names in this summer's free-agent bonanza.

When their main target, Chris Bosh, opted to join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami, the Rockets turned their focus to luring center Brad Miller and retaining starting forward Luis Scola and point guard Kyle Lowry.

Houston introduced Miller on Tuesday and officially announced the re-signings of Scola and Lowry on Wednesday, the last major moves expected heading into next season. Even without Bosh, general manager Daryl Morey thinks the current roster is deep and talented enough to make a long playoff run.

``We feel very good about the set of players we have now,'' Morey said. ``We think it's a playoff team. We feel great about this team. We've got a lot of really high-quality players on this team, so improving it, it's going to be very, very difficult.''

The Rockets' hopes of returning to the postseason start with the healthy return of All-Star center Yao Ming, who missed last season following foot surgery. Morey says Yao is on schedule in his recovery and should be ready for training camp.

Houston was quiet early in free agency, but Morey vowed to match any offers to keep Scola and Lowry, who were restricted free agents. Lowry signed an offer sheet with Cleveland, and the Rockets matched it within a day.

``I didn't know if it would happen that fast, I didn't know if it would take seven days,'' Lowry said. ``But, hey, it happened in a quick enough way where we got it done.''

The 6-foot Lowry will again back up Aaron Brooks, voted the league's most improved player last season. Lowry said heading into the offseason that he would prefer a full-time starting role somewhere, but said Wednesday that he was happy to accept his old position.

``It's not an issue at all for me,'' Lowry said. ``Everyone knew I wanted to be a starter. The Rockets did what they had to do to retain my rights, and they had the option to match any offers out there. I'm back, I'm going to be the backup for Aaron, and things will work out how they're going to work out.''

The 6-foot-9 Scola started all 82 games last season, averaging 16.2 points and 8.6 rebounds. He has appeared in every regular-season game over the past three seasons.

Once free agency began on July 1, Scola said he was nervous waiting for a deal to get done. He agreed to a five-year contract worth about $47 million.

``I was never a free agent before, so it was kind of hard,'' Scola said. ``I kept repeating to myself that I was working hard every year of my life and something good will happen, it's going to be OK. It was just anxious, 15 days is not a lot of days, but when you are in this situation, it was a long time for me. I was just anxious to get it done.''

With Lowry and Scola signed, the Rockets have 15 players under contract for next season. Houston went 42-40 and missed the playoffs last year.

The Rockets acquired shooting guard Kevin Martin in February in a complex deal that sent Tracy McGrady to New York. Martin has yet to play with Yao, and Scola said the biggest issue for Houston now is building chemistry.

``We still have some work to do, making everything work, with Yao and Kevin especially,'' Scola said. ``But I think we are in pretty good shape. I think we've got all the pieces.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

Andruw Jones 25-1

Barry Bonds 50-1

Carlos Delgado 40-1

David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.