Sports Keeper: Australian online bookmaker

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Sunday, February 16, 2014

Despite Carmelo Wanting to Stay, Knicks Future Still in a Bind

With the horrible season the team is having, talks of trades regarding the New York Knicks didn't exempt anybody on the team. Even Carmelo Anthony, the franchise's prized star, was involved in trade rumors. Anthony is planning to opt out of his contract by the end of the season and this meant that the team could lose him for zero return. As such, talks of trades were only logical.

However, Anthony recently expressed his desire to stay with the team. In a story by Marc Berman of the New York Post, the 30-year old forward said:

"I don’t want to be traded. I came to New York, I said before I wanted to retire here. I said it, meant it. That’s how I feel. I still feel strongly about that. That’s why at the end of the season, everything has to be laid out — something that we can grow with and build on."

Despite his desire to stay, the future of the team is still in question. Anthony wants to compete but with the current salary situation of the team, making an improvement is going to be a very tough challenge as the Knicks are already locked to pay $91 million for next season. Unless the Knicks front office can conjure a miracle, the team is going to be stuck in a bad shape for at least one more season.

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Saturday, February 1, 2014

Indiana Pacers Interested in Bynum

Skilled 7-footers are rare and very valuable in the NBA. That is why it isn't surprising that the Indiana Pacers are reportedly interested in making recently waived center Andrew Bynum a part of the team. It was reported a day ago that Bynum and his agent are in Indianapolis and are very much likely in discussion with the Pacers.

Although Bynum has lost some mobility due to injuries, his elite skills can still allow him to contribute to a team despite playing limited minutes. The question now is if he can play as a backup behind Roy Hibbert who's one of the best centers in the league right now. If he can, then he will be a very big boost to the Pacers second unit as there's really no second-unit centers that can compare to his combination of size and skills.

Another point of interest with the Pacers signing Bynum is the fact that it will allow to stop other teams from getting their hands on the center. The team's advantage has always been their size and that is why it makes sense for them to deny opposing teams from getting players who could decrease their advantage.

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Saturday, January 18, 2014

76ers Looking to Trade Hawes and Turner

They are tanking. That there is the story for the Philadelphia 76ers during the off-season. Stuck in mediocrity for years as they reached the playoffs but just never looked competitive enough, many believed that the best plan for the team is to throw away the season and improve their chances for the 2014 draft.

During the off-season, the management decided to trade away fast-rising point guard Jrue Holiday for a Nerlens Noel, a rookie recovering from ACL injury and likely to miss the entire season. It became clear that winning wasn't a part of the plan for the team this season. The is looking for building blocks and the upcoming draft provides quite a few of those. The worse the record, the better the chances of the team getting a good player. Obviously, losing was the way to go and bookmakers have pegged the 76ers to win around 12 games this season.

Spencer Hawes

However, the season didn't went the way many expected it to go. They played fast and aggressive and teams who weren't prepared were surprised by the pesky energetic team. Racking up some unexpected wins that the anticipated 12-win team has already surpassed the mark only mid-way to the season. Several players on the team has been playing quite well this year and have become attractive to other teams and thus have had their trade value increased. Two of these players are Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner who are now reportedly being shopped around for trades.

Evan Turner

Both Hawes and Turner have expiring contracts after this season which are valuable by itself for other teams looking to have a cap room to sign free agents in the next off-season. They are also quite valuable for their abilities. Hawes is a big man who can stretch the floor with his shooting while Turner has been a better dynamic guard who can make plays and can score.

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Sunday, January 5, 2014

Can the Nets Salvage their Season?

The Brooklyn Nets have mortgaged their future for a chance to win now. They have traded draft picks and are set to pay over $180 million in salary and luxury taxes that resulted from going over the salary cap. I could also add the lack of flexibility in terms of cap hold for the next season, but when the owner is willing to overspend, it really doesn't matter.

Anyways, we are all currently seeing what is happening with the win-now plan. The Nets right now are 11-21 and similar to the Knicks, have become a butt of jokes. In the first couple of weeks, many tried to explain the poor performance due to team chemistry and injuries. However, after two months into the season and the Nets are finally out of excuses.

As they are right now, I just don't see enough improvement from the team that would make me believe that they could still save the season. The injury to Lopez was a huge blow as the team lost one player who could produce consistently.

With him being out, the guys who will have to produce are a bunch of old guys who have been very inconsistent and unreliable this season. While they could surprise in some games, I doubt they can play consistently enough to save the season.

The Nets might be able to reach the playoffs due to the sheer volatility of the eastern conference, but I just don't see them having much of a success this year or the next unless some big moves are made, which is still very unlikely.

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

What's Wrong with the Spurs Resting Their Stars?

Recently, as I was visiting various forums and fan sites for NBA teams, I had a bit of argument regarding the Spurs and the way that coach Popovich is resting the old core of the team. I'm pretty sure you will remember last year's hullabaloo when he decided to send Duncan, Parker, Ginobili and Green back to San Antonio prior to the game against the Heat that resulted to a hefty $250,000 fine.

In Thursday's night game against the Warriors, Pop decided to sit Duncan and Ginobili. One reaction that really caught my attention was about how Pop is doing a disservice to the league by taking out the stars. There's the argument that it doesn't bode well with the spirit of the competition that the poster defined as playing at their highest level. The Spurs as they say with the decision to sit out players at certain games are smart, effective but wrong.

Now, I don't mind someone telling me that they don't like these moves by the Spurs. However, saying that it is wrong is what is wrong. Saying that something is right or wrong is presuming that the person saying it knows all about the morality of it.

If Pop sits out his stars, it is not with the intention to give the game away. What is morally wrong with that? If coaches are careful at managing his players on a per quarter minute basis for health reasons that would play an important role in the future, what makes Pop's decision to manage his team players' health in a bigger per-game basis wrong?

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Saturday, December 7, 2013

NBA Coaches are Underappreciated

A team is winning? Go players! A team is losing? The coach sucks! Fire him!

The importance of coaching in the NBA is often underappreciated by many fans. If a team wins, all the credit are directed towards the awesome performance of the players. The only time a coach can get attention is when the team is playing bad and he becomes the one to blame. There is a double-standard against coaches in the NBA and the reason for this isn't so complicated but can be offending.

Getting straight to the point, many NBA fans lack the necessary knowledge about the sport to grasp the importance of coach's role on the team.

A Perfect Example

A good example for this is Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra who gets disrespected a lot by fans due to having three elite players playing for him. A common slight is that any coach can win a championship with the amount of talent on the team.

Case in Point

However, you don't need to look farther than the Heat defense to see how good of a coach Spoelstra is. As potent as their offense might be, the Heat needed to have a very good defense to win their championships.

His scheme has allowed the Heat team which plays small lineups to have one of the best defense in the league. The team is playing an aggressive yet disciplined defense that negates much of their size disadvantage. It is chaotic yet methodical.

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Friday, November 22, 2013

A Good Way to Have a Bad Season

In the NBA, there are really only three ways a team can improve. The first one is the acquisition of talented players through trades. The second one are the free agency signings. The third one is through drafts. There is the argument for the fourth way which is the development of the players, but there will always a be ceiling when it comes to individual improvement. When a team signs a player, the salary already covers the potential and whatnot.

Anyways, in the above-mentioned ways for improvement, the acquisition of a talent through drafts is one of the most cost-effective method. Topnotch talents that can be acquired through trades and signings can demands maximum contracts that could cost more than $20 million per year while the rookie-scale salary is just around $4 million.

That said, it is easy to understand why certain teams prefer to improve or build team's through drafts. However, in order to have a good chance of being able to pick the best players in the draft, a team has to be one of the worst in the league. And this is the reason why there are teams who are willing to throw away or tank the current season so that they can build a better future.

However, throwing away a season is not an easy thing to do. As wise of a decision it might be, the loyal fans of the team can't help but feel the pain of constantly losing. That is why teams need to find a way to have a bad season that is less agonizing. A team that is able to do so can be considered as one who is tanking the season right.

This season, the Philadelphia 76ers are tanking the right way. By winning against some big-named teams at the start and playing hard every game, the 76ers have allowed the fans to take a glimpse of the possibility of a bright future, thus giving them hope and making them understand that although the season might be bad, something great will come out of it at the end.

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Friday, November 8, 2013

The Bulls Troubles

Many Bulls fans were hyped up during the summer due to the return of Derrick Rose on the team for this season. The hype was further exacerbated by the media, such as proclaiming the team as the one that could dethrone the defending Champs.

However, in the first week of the new NBA season, the Bulls have been a frustrating team to watch. The offense is a mess and their well-regarded defense seemed to have taken a vacation during the summer and is yet to return. I'm not too worried about their defense though as the lapses in rotation that they showed in their games can easily be fixed, especially as they have one of the best defensive coach on the league. However, their offensive woes is certainly worrying.

The issue on offense isn't even just about Rose being rusty. The team doesn't run enough plays that allows for easier shots for the other players on the team. As a result, they become quite similar to the Knicks wherein they give the ball to their rusty superstar and pray for a miraculous play. If the Bulls are serious about playing for title, they are going to have to do better than put the fate of the team on one player. They already did that in 2011 and we all know what happened then.

The good news is that there is still a long way to go for the season. There's all the time and opportunity to improve. The coaching staff might come up with some creative plays or they might add some personnel later in the year.

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