CP3 summit in New Orleans
Basketball Betting Lines
07/26/2010 -
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets have prepared for
their scheduled sit-down with All-Star guard Chris Paul by fending off the
latest flurry of trade calls received from teams salivating over adding the
game's best pure point guard.
Opposing general managers are circling New Orleans like sharks smelling blood
in the water, with most convinced Paul will formally request to be moved at a
planned Monday meeting, and furnish new Hornets GM Dell Demps a list of teams
to which he would like to be dealt.
Paul's desire to move away from New Orleans reportedly stems from watching his
close friend LeBron James land in Miami with fellow Team USA teammates Chris
Bosh and Dwyane Wade. In fact some have even speculated that LeBron and his
lackeys, Maverick Carter and William Wesley, have been pushing Paul to force
the Hornets' hand.
"Best of luck to my brother," James wrote on Twitter about Paul. "Do what's
best for you and your family."
Of course Demps has no reason to panic and pull the trigger on an ill-
conceived deal right now. The Hornets still have two full seasons before CP3
can opt out of his deal in the Big Easy and become a free agent in the summer
of 2012.
Monday's tete-a-tete with Paul will be Demps' first face-to-face meeting with
his star since taking over basketball operations from Jeff Bower last
Wednesday. He and new coach Monty Williams are hoping to sell Paul on the new
regime slowing being put in place, and address concerns over the team's
inactivity in free agency and delay in ownership transfer from George Shinn to
Gary Chouest.
That's a tough task, since Paul urged the Hornets to be an active player in the
market and their only move thus far has been re-signing backup center Aaron
Gray.
Likely wary of the public backlash James received for ditching Cleveland on
national television, Paul has been careful to play both sides of the fence.
During the recent Las Vegas Summer League, Paul told his new coach he would
like to stay in New Orleans.
"I'm not going to jump to any conclusions off of something that's been
alleged," Williams told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "We've already had
dialogue and all of it has been great and everything that he said to me is
what I'm going off of. He wants to be in New Orleans, and he hadn't said
anything to me about any kind of movement, and we're going to sit down again."
What is clear at this point is Paul has been looking at the new NBA landscape
and now realizes he has little chance to compete for an NBA championship
unless things change drastically in New Orleans. In fact, Paul is suffering
from a severe case of envy. Like LeBron, he wants to be part of a super team.
It looks like the competitive juices that defined players like Michael Jordan,
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird just doesn't exist in this generation.
"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry, called up
Magic and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' In all
honesty, I was trying to beat those guys," Jordan recently said when discussing
the James-Wade-Bosh Holy Trinity in Miami.
To players like M.J., the rings may have defined them, but it was the
competition that fueled them.
The battle cry of today's NBA player should be "if you can't beat 'em, join
'em."
Paul is just the latest superstar that wants to tap out just as things are
getting a little tough.
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Pacific-10 Conference odds
Teams that should be in: Stanford
 Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.
Should be in:
Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.
| Southeastern Conference odds |
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State
 It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.
Work left to do:
Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.
Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.
Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.
Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile. |
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