Bulls hope to have Rose in New Orleans

Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The best from the NBA's Eastern Conference meets the worst from the West when the Chicago Bulls resume their grueling nine-game road trip against the lowly Hornets in New Orleans.

The Bulls won their third straight contest and improved to 4-2 on the trek with a 108-87 blowout win over the New Jersey Nets on Monday. Chicago shot 55.6 percent from the floor, made nine three-pointers and went 19-of-23 from the foul line en route to the easy win.

The news wasn't all good for the Bulls, however, who lost star guard Derrick Rose in the second quarter to lower back spasms. The reigning MVP had just four points in nearly 11 minutes of action before leaving.

Carlos Boozer led the way with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists for Chicago, which improved to 21-6 on the season. Luol Deng added 19 points.

"We're a good team. If I play or if I don't play, I know that we're going to go out there, compete and play hard every single second when we're out there," said Rose.

Rose is listed as questionable tonight and wants to play but the Bulls may consider resting him against a poor New Orleans team, which has dropped 21 of 23 games since starting the season 2-0. Rose's running mate in the backcourt, Rip Hamilton, is also questionable with a nagging groin problem.

The Bulls, who are 12-5 as the visitor, will finish their lengthy trip with visits to Charlotte and Boston before returning to the Windy City for six-game residency.

Things continue to go south for the Hornets, who dropped the opener of a four- game homestand to Sacramento on Monday. New Orleans had five players in double figures in the 100-92 setback led by Greivis Vasquez's 20 points and nine assists.

Emeka Okafor had 19 points and Chris Kaman added a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double in his first game since January 23 for a Hornets team that has dropped six straight and 15 of 16.

"Give them credit," said Hornets head coach Monty Williams. "They came out with more intensity. We gave up 61 points in a half after holding them to 39 points in the first half. It's a tale of two halves once again, and down the stretch in the fourth quarter, we can't pull the game out."

Part of New Orleans' problems stem from injuries. High-scoring guard Eric Gordon remains out with a balky right knee, capable big Carl Landry is sidelined due to a sprained left knee, guard Jarrett Jack has been wrestling with a sore left and knee and center Jason Smith is struggling with concussion related symptoms.

The Hornets, who are just 2-12 in the Big Easy, will also face Portland and Utah on their residency.

The Bulls have won six straight over New Orleans.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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