Cavs officially name Scott head coach

Basketball Betting Lines

07/02/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers have officially named Byron Scott as the team's new head coach.

The announcement was made by general manager Chris Grant. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Earlier reports indicated it was a three-year contract.

Scott was recently in his sixth season with the Hornets and the final year of a two-year extension he signed in May of 2008 when he was let go nine games into the 2009-10 season. Scott compiled a record of 203-216 during his tenure in New Orleans.

"Byron's combination of high-level success and depth of experience, both as a head coach and as a player, is a tremendous asset for our organization. He is a strong leader with a proven track record of winning in both the regular season and the playoffs. We're confident Coach Scott will positively impact the strong culture we have put in place here in Cleveland over the past five years." Grant said. "We're very excited for Coach Scott to get started. His experience and leadership will be a critical element in our drive to achieve the franchises ultimate goal."

The Cavs fired Mike Brown after a second-round playoff loss to Boston. Brown spent the last five seasons with the Cavs and guided the team to a record of 272-138.

The Cavs were looking to make a splash with a big-name coach by trying to lure Tom Izzo to the NBA ranks, but Izzo opted to stay at Michigan State for what seems the duration of his career. Lakers assistant Brian Shaw also was a finalist to coach the Cavs, but withdrew his name from consideration Wednesday.

The Cavaliers face the possibility of a bigger change this summer should reigning two-time MVP LeBron James leave the team.

Before taking over in New Orleans, Scott guided the New Jersey Nets to a record of 149-139 with a pair of NBA Finals appearances in three-plus seasons. After leading the previously-moribund Nets to the league title series in the spring of 2002 and 2003, Scott was fired with a 22-20 mark midway through the 2003-04 campaign.

Scott was an assistant coach with Sacramento for two seasons after a 14-year playing career with the Lakers, Pacers and Grizzlies. He won three NBA titles during the late 1980s with the Lakers.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.