Red Storm seek upset in Steel City

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. John's Red Storm are coming off a big-time win over a league opponent, and they will attempt to score a Big East upset on the road today against the ninth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers.

St. John's has recorded back-to-back wins to move to 12-8 overall and 3-4 in league play. After beating Syracuse last weekend, the Red Storm came up with a thrilling 71-68 triumph over nationally-ranked Notre Dame on Tuesday. Still, it has to be mentioned that the squad is just 1-3 in true road games.

Pittsburgh has won eight of its last nine games to move to 18-3 overall and 6-1 in conference action. The Panthers recorded a 67-51 decision over Cincinnati on Wednesday, and of the three losses the team has suffered this season, two have come in overtime. While St. John's has struggled on the road, Pitt is a stellar 12-1 at home.

St. John's owns a 33-16 lead in the all-time series with Pittsburgh, and the Red Storm won last season's meeting by a 55-50 final.

St. John's got a tremendous effort from Lamont Hamilton in the win over Notre Dame on Tuesday, as he scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead all players in both categories. Teammate Eugene Lawrence finished with 13 points and seven assists, but he did commit 10 of the team's 19 turnovers. The third and final double-digit scorer in the victory was Larry Wright, as he finished with 11 points. The Red Storm limited the Fighting Irish to 35.5 percent shooting from the floor, and the strong defense was clearly the key to the team's success. Hamilton is averaging 13.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg this season, and Avery Patterson checks in with 11.9 ppg. As for Anthony Mason, he is contributing 11.0 ppg. Lawrence has dished out 105 assists and also leads the club with 36 steals.

Pittsburgh is scoring 74.2 ppg this season on 49.7 percent shooting from the floor, including 40.8 percent from three-point range. Defensively, the Panthers are limiting foes to 62.0 ppg on 40.2 percent shooting while outrebounding team by six boards per outing. Aaron Gray continues to lead Pitt with 14.8 ppg and 10.2 rpg, and he has blocked 34 shots as well while shooting 57.9 percent from the field. Mike Cook is a steady contributor who adds 11.4 ppg to the lineup, and Antonio Graves checks in with 10.3 ppg. The Panthers have featured the same starting lineup in all 21 games, an obvious key to their success. Levance Fields scored 18 points to lead Pitt in the recent win over Cincinnati, while Ronald Ramon and Sam Young tallied 10 points each. The Panthers connected on 60.5 percent of their field goal attempts in that contest, including a 12-of-19 showing from three-point range.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.