Dumars rolls the dice with Iverson

Basketball Betting Lines

11/03/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For some reason Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars has been intent on breaking up his team since his club succumbed to the eventual NBA champion Boston Celtics in six games during the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

And I don't understand why.

I mean, the Pistons did win 59 games under Flip Saunders and still had a championship-tested nucleus led by "Mr. Big Shot" himself, Chauncey Billups.

In fact, considering the way Boston dominated the Los Angeles Lakers on the boards and abused them with the pick-and-roll on the offensive end in the NBA Finals, it wasn't all that hard to argue that Detroit was the second-best team in the NBA last season.

Dumars wasn't the one making that argument, however.

First, the Louisiana native jettisoned Saunders and went with the unproven Michael Curry as head coach, and then he put virtually all his key pieces on the trade market.

Rumors dogged Billups, enigmatic big men Rasheed Wallace and the unselfish Tayshaun Prince all summer.

Dumars was unable to pull the trigger on anything significant until Monday when he agreed to ship Billups, veteran power forward Antonio McDyess and center Cheikh Samb to the Rocky Mountains for mercurial scoring machine Allen Iverson.

A former league MVP with Philadelphia in 2000-01 and nine-time All-Star, Iverson is without peer as an offensive player but off-the-court problems and maturity issues have plagued the diminutive one since he arrived in the City of Brotherly Love from Georgetown in 1996.

For a while, Larry Brown was able to rein in Iverson and take advantage of his incredible talents by moving him from the point to the off guard, and surrounding him with defensive-minded role players like Eric Snow, Aaron McKie, George Lynch and Tyrone Hill.

The result was a trip to the NBA Finals in 2001, before injuries - along with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant - ended a spectacular run.

Iverson, who will become a free agent in the offseason, will arrive in the Motor City with plenty of defensive-minded players. In fact, Prince and Wallace can be torturous at that end of the floor. But, unlike Snow, Lynch and Hill, the Pistons' big time defenders aren't offensively challenged. Prince and Wallace, especially, need their touches.

Meanwhile, the Pistons already have Richard Hamilton, the game's best player at moving without the ball, at the two spot, meaning Iverson will be forced to take over Billups' role as the quarterback of the team.

A shoot-first guy, Iverson isn't likely to care about getting the ball to his new teammates in spots where they can succeed, something Billups excelled at.

Clearly, Dumars was itching for change, and now he finally has it.

No one deserves a longer rope. Dumars was a two-time NBA champion as a player in Detroit. He was the NBA's executive of the year for the 2002-03 season, the architect of the 2004 NBA Championship club and the pilot of a team that has been to the Eastern Conference Finals six straight years.

So it's not hard to understand why William Davidson, the Pistons' owner, defers to Dumars and gave him the rope.

That said, change for the sake of change rarely works, and Dumars is about to find that out the hard way.

Sprotsbook Basketball Betting News

<< Orton has ankle injury; could be out a month
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith confirmed at his Monday press conference that quarterback Kyle Orton has a right ankle injury, but did not elaborate. "He has an ankle injury and we'll let you know a lit

<< Trio of Ducks highlight NHL's Three Stars
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anaheim Ducks forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Teemu Selanne shared the top of the list as the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending November 2. Getzlaf led the NHL with 10 points on two goals

<< Ovechkin returns to Caps
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin returned to the team on Monday after spending the past week with his sick grandfather in Russia. Ovechkin missed two games while he was gone, ending a s

<< Nadal pulls out of Tennis Masters Cup
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 star Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week's season-ending Tennis Masters Cup, citing fatigue. "I have decided not to compete on the Masters Cup in Shanghai," the Spaniard said in a written

<< JMU continues to hold down top spot in FCS poll
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Madison used a 41-7 thrashing of Delaware to remain on top of the Sportsbook Betting Lines FCS Top-25 poll, but the gap between the Dukes and runner-up Appalachian State closed in results released on Mond

Kjeldsen, Palmer make big gains in rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Soren Kjeldsen and Ryan Palmer won on the European and PGA Tours respectively over the weekend and made big jumps in this week Official World Golf Rankings. Kjeldsen's win jumped him 39 places to 47th

Former GM Gillick to remain with Phillies >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pat Gillick, whose contract as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies expired last Friday, will remain with the team in a different role, the team announced on Monday. Only a few hours after Rube

This Week in Golf - November 6th through November 9th >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK CLASSIC, Magnolia Golf Club & Palm Golf Club, Lake Buena Vista, Florida - Stephen Ames closed with a four-under 68 last year to hold off Tim Clark and win

Aeros' center Kolanos called up by Minnesota >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Aeros center Krys Kolanos has been called up to the American Hockey League club's NHL affiliate, the Minnesota Wild, it was announced on Monday. Kolanos, 27, has recorded seven goals and an

Nuggets waive Howard >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets waived veteran forward Juwan Howard on Monday. The Nuggets added the 35-year-old in training camp. He played sparingly in the three Nuggets games this season, averaging 0.7 points and 1.3 re

NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.