With the cover on the line, Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky calmly sank two free throws. Obviously, the 7-footer had no clue what the second shot meant, but he put the money ball in the bank, the Badgers walked off with a 79-72 victory over North Carolina and underdog players were left with a worthless ticket and a ridiculous bad-beat story.
Basketball
It’s all about matchups at this point, and Kentucky has the edge mostly because of its size. Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson are 7-footers, Karl-Anthony Towns is 6-11 and Trey Lyles is 6-10. Wildcats coach John Calipari, like him or loathe him, has done a great job of putting it all together.
Everyone is entertained by the Cinderella stories. This was not one of them. Jahlil Okafor is too big and skilled, and the 6-foot-11-inch freshman slaughtered San Diego State in a game that played out as expected.
Underdogs covered the first six games Thursday in the NCAA Tournament. Three Big 12 Conference teams were knocked out by midafternoon, including Iowa State as a 14½-point favorite. This opening day of the tournament seemed to top them all.
If any one player epitomizes what the NCAA Tournament means to bettors and the sports books, it’s Mamadou Ndiaye, a 7-foot-6-inch, 300-pound mountain of a man for UC Irvine.
Las Vegas is the place to be this week and next week if you bet college basketball. It’s not all about next week, either. Many of the fans at the Thomas & Mack Center, MGM Grand Garden and Orleans Arena showed up with betting tickets.
Gonzaga coach Mark Few has been fishing for a Final Four appearance for 15 years. He has been waiting patiently. And now, in his 16th try, his most realistic shot to hook one has arrived.
The Chicago Bulls were a popular choice to win the NBA championship this season, but that all changed this week when star guard Derrick Rose suffered a torn medial meniscus that will require surgery. Chicago’s odds dropped from 8-1 to 20-1 at one Las Vegas sports book.
With his right arm in a sling, Kobe Bryant represents what’s wrong with the Los Angeles Lakers. He remains a big part of the team’s future although his best days are in the past.
A crazy theory recently was floated. The theory, turned into a question, is this: Did coach John Calipari collect so much talent this season that Kentucky might be good enough to beat a bad NBA team?
The Chicago Bulls are putting the most impressive team on the floor in the NBA Summer League, and it’s no secret to basketball bettors.
At some point, LeBron James is probably going back home to Cleveland, and not just for a summer vacation. The odds say he will follow his heart and return to play for the Cavaliers, sooner or later.
A sure thing is hard to find in sports betting and basketball scouting, although some players are guaranteed to be great. Jabari Parker is a next-best-thing player.
Instead of shooting for back-to-back championships, the San Antonio Spurs spent the entire season bouncing back, and their comeback Sunday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals was symbolic of it all.
No asterisk goes next to this result, and no excuses will come from the Miami Heat. Only one player pulled up lame and limped off with cramps, but it just happened to be LeBron James, the best player in the game.