I am on my way to Vegas, going to put a few bills on the Rocks... 10% of my winnings on the Rockets championship bet will go to the tip jar...got to tithe baby ! DD
Here are the complete odds, as of today, sorted by strongest-to-weakest from http://www.bodoglife.com : <table border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0> <tr><td>San Antonio Spurs</td><td>7/2</td></tr> <tr><td>Boston Celtics</td><td>4/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Dallas Mavericks</td><td>4/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Phoenix Suns</td><td>9/2</td></tr> <tr><td>Houston Rockets</td><td>7/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Chicago Bulls</td><td>12/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Cleveland Cavaliers</td><td>12/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Detroit Pistons</td><td>12/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Miami Heat</td><td>12/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Utah Jazz</td><td>20/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Los Angeles Lakers</td><td>22/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Denver Nuggets</td><td>25/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Orlando Magic</td><td>30/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Golden State Warriors</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>New Jersey Nets</td><td>40/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Toronto Raptors</td><td>45/1</td></tr> <tr><td>New Orleans Hornets</td><td>70/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Portland Trailblazers</td><td>70/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Seattle Supersonics</td><td>70/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Washington Wizards</td><td>70/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Los Angeles Clippers</td><td>80/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Milwaukee Bucks </td><td>80/1</td></tr> <tr><td>New York Knicks</td><td>80/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Sacramento Kings</td><td>90/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Atlanta Hawks</td><td>100/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Charlotte Bobcats</td><td>100/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Indiana Pacers</td><td>100/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Memphis Grizzlies</td><td>100/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Minnesota Timberwolves</td><td>100/1</td></tr> <tr><td>Philadelphia 76ers</td><td>100/1</td></tr> </table>
The Suns had the momentum in the Spurs series, until Horry made Amare get off his chair. Odds of repeating as champions are not good for the Spurs. Its not like this Spurs team is an easy pick. I'm with the Vegas odds makers. 15:1 now, the odds change everyday. place your bets when the odds are high.
Teams whose odds are too high.... -Boston -Chi -Detroit (they all have big holes versus whoever comes from the West and none have a Lebron or Wade that could lead to a miracle 1 man show overcoming the better team) -Utah (no chance, overachieving team who got fortunate playoff matchups and was exposed versus SA) -LAL (the only reason they get even these kind of odds is because Kobe is a glamour superstar, nevermind he hasn't got his team out of the 1st round or his teams been anywhere near an elite team) I would put some $ on Hou, Denv, Phx & Mia at their odds, plus a little protection $ (but be OK with a small loss) on SA, Dall, & Clev.
on odds to win the East I like the Cavs and the Bulls at 9/2. To win it all gotta go with our Rockets at 7 -1 and the Spurs at 7/2 Balanced out with the Bulls at 12 and the Cavs at 12......I really like the Bulls to get out of the East....9/2 on Chicago is a sweet price as the Celts are sucking quite a bit of dead money IMO. Chicago(maybe the Cavs because of the King James factor) v Houston in the Finals with us partying downtown. All these are usually sucker bets but you never know.I was in Vegas after our first title and had some money in my pocket after doing my thing.The rumour was we were getting Pippen at the time....and we were banged up.(but of course Clyde came on board)..so plenty of upside right? Well,we were 15 -1 so I plunked down 400.Long story short I was sitting in the Summit watching our boys finish off Orlando and you know the money didn't really mean much.It was all about Houston Baby.When i went back up to collect I sent a self addressed money order home for half and played the rest.
CURRENT ODDS Hawks 100-1 Celtics 7-1 Bobcats 100-1 Bulls 13-1 Cavs 13-1 Mavs 9-2 Nuggets 20-1 Pistons 13-1 Warriors 40-1 ROCKETS 5-1 Pacers 100-1 Clips 100-1 Lakers 30-1 Grizz 100-1 Heat 18-1 Bucks 100-1 Wolves 100-1 Nets 40-1 Hornets 100-1 Knicks 100-1 Magic 25-1 Sixers 100-1 Suns 9-2 Blazers 100-1 Kings 100-1 Spurs 9-2 Sonics 100-1 Raptors 50-1 Jazz 25-1 Wizards 100-1 By the way i put a hundy spot on us to win back at 25-1
I like Chi chances OK to win the East. I just see little chance they can beat a team from the West. An East team will need a phenom star to beat a better overall WC team, neither Chi or Det has anyone I could see doing that (Lebron, Wade, KG on his last hurrah--possibly). Then again Detroit won (though Karl Malone's injury probably helped along with an imploding Lakers squad), Chi could make it and then Nash or Amare or Duncan or Manu or Parker or Dirk or Howard or Yao or Tmac or AI or Melo could go down--then they could beat the WC surviver. Still, OK to bet on Chi for the East, not OK for the title. Consider Denver is 25-1 to Chi 12-1, and sorry, the possibility it all comes together for the Nugs into a juggernuat, though remote, is better than Chi. Also how could anyone have Chi the same odds as Clev based on how either fared with Det and considering the growth potential in Lebron.
I definitely agree that the chances of an Eastern team taking out the Western Champs are remote to nil. Lebron is really a wildcard.If Gibson continues to play like he has,who knows?They could get to the Finals again but barring injury that's it.Not enough quality size. Chicago actually has some young,but talented bigs so if anyone can play with the West it's probably Chi....still I agree probably not going to happen. We both know how weak the East has been forever and how they've lacked the talented bigs to even begin to compete with the West.Detroit suprised me too,but like you said they caught a Lakers team that had injured/over the hill role players. On Chi v Denver,it's definitely a better price,but they have to navigate the minefield that is the west. Not just being a homer but still love the Rockets.I see us peaking at the right time and rolling into the playoffs with big MO.
If you are betting the rockets at 5-1 or even 7-1 you are getting severely ripped off. Here are Pinnacle's odds Odds To Win 2007-2008 NBA Title: Odds to win 2007-2008 NBA Title Thu 11/1 Odds to Win 2007-2008 NBA Title 06:00 AM 101 Atlanta Hawks +12500 102 Boston Celtics +1150 103 Charlotte Bobcats +20000 104 Chicago Bulls +1400 105 Cleveland Cavaliers +1500 106 Dallas Mavericks +500 107 Denver Nuggets +2847 108 Detroit Pistons +1418 109 Golden State Warriors +5000 110 Houston Rockets +1211 111 Indiana Pacers +25000 112 L.A. Clippers +25000 113 L.A. Lakers +5000 114 Memphis Grizzlies +20000 115 Miami Heat +2146 116 Milwaukee Bucks +10000 117 Minnesota T'Wolves +30000 118 New Jersey Nets +5000 119 New Orleans Hornets +10000 120 New York Knicks +12500 121 Orlando Magic +5000 122 Philadelphia 76ers +20000 123 Phoenix Suns +451 124 Portland Blazers +25000 125 Sacramento Kings +20000 126 San Antonio Spurs +470 127 Seattle Sonics +25000 128 Toronto Raptors +4598 129 Utah Jazz +2610 130 Washington Wizards +6500
Went by Sunset Station Casino today (buffet) and dropped a ten spot (yeah...I'm cheap) on the Rockets. Current odds are at 15-1...which is probably the best you'll be able to find in Vegas. Odds may change over the next several days with revised layouts due to final roster cuts. I picked up one of Station Casinos odds sheets and will scan it in tomorrow at work. BTW...opening odds for Boston were 125-1 and are currently 10-1.
