What Will Fill in the Gap for NBA Betting?

What will gamblers be wagering on instead of NBA games?  We know that the first two weeks of the regular season have been cancelled and that may just be the tip of the iceberg.  It could be a long time before NBA betting odds are on the board at the sportsbook so what will fill in the gap?

No Chance of Full NBA Season

NBA commissioner David Stern has already gone on record as saying that there is “no chance” of the league having a full 82 game schedule.  That means that gamblers are going to have to find other things to bet on. That likely won’t be a problem in October and November and it probably won’t be an issue in December either but if the NBA lockout stretches into the New Year then gamblers will have to look at other options.

Other Options

We know that fans and gambles who consistently follow the NBA will find other things to put money on.  It might be that they choose to bet more college basketball games or they might start to look more at hockey.  The major television networks also have to decide what to do.  ESPN and TNT are already making plans in case the NBA lockout drags out.  TNT has 52 regular-season games on their schedule but they don’t have the luxury of other sports like ESPN has. TNT has already lost six games in the first two weeks so look for a lot of movies to fill in the gap. ESPN is planning to do more college basketball games and they may also choose to add some college football in November.

College Hoops

There is absolutely no question that the big beneficiary of an NBA lockout is college basketball. All of the attention in basketball will be on the colleges and there will be more games than ever to choose from.

While there is no doubt that some people will miss the NBA, it is not like the NFL where fans demanded the lockout end.  The NBA doesn’t hold nearly the power that the NFL has and there is plenty of action in the winter months to keep NBA fans happy.

It’s time for NCAA basketball betting players to start filling out those brackets, and they’ll also be looking for the breakout stars of the Tournament as players look to bolster their standing among NBA scouts. Here are three players we think have a good chance to impress those at the next level, even if they already have had a great season.

Kemba Walker, Connecticut

Walker has done everything he could and more in his junior season with the Huskies, and the guard was named to the All-American team. UConn fans hope he didn’t fire all of his bullets during the Big East tournament, where he put the Huskies on his back to win five games in five days in the nation’s toughest conference If he can put together an effort like that over the next three weeks, Walker could end up in the lottery.

Jacob Pullen, Kansas State

Pullen was a preseason All-American before a terrible first half which included a suspension, and even Pullen admits he may have been playing selfishly in order to get the scouts to notice him. But the senior guard has put the Wildcats on his back over the second half of the season, dragging Kansas State to a fifth seed. He has the experience of last year’s Elite Eight run to draw from, and Pullen could be one of the stars of the Tournament.

Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State

The Aztecs aren’t on television much due to playing in the Mountain West, but Leonard, a

sophomore forward, could be a household name by the end of the Tournamen. Leonard is wildly athletic and could be the best rebounder in the country, and due to his age, he has a massive upside which may persuade some team to take a chance on him. Right now, Leonard is a mid-first round pick, but he could end up in the lottery with a big NCAA Tournament.

#9 MICHIGAN STATE SPARTANS @ #11 NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEALS -2

Tonight is arguably the best college basketball game of the season thus far.  As you are well aware, Michigan State (5-1 SU, 2-3 ATS) and North Carolina (6-1 SU, 2-4 ATS) faced each other in last season’s National Championship and UNC dominated them 89-72. However, UNC has lost Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, and Bobby Frasor. Those losses are tremendous, so you’re getting a very different UNC team. The team leaders for UNC this season are Deon Thompson, Ed Davis, and Marcus Ginyard, who are all having a great season so far. The biggest loss for MSU is Garron Suton, so MSU lacks a physical center to challenge Thompson and Davis in the paint. MSU still obviously has one of the most recognizable NCAA stars, guard Kalin Lucas, who averages 17.2 PPG.

Each team has 1 loss. Michigan State lost to Florida 77-74, which was caused by a whopping 23 turnovers. UNC’s sole loss was to a 7-0 Syracuse team by the score of 87-71. UNC was able to beat Ohio State at Madison Square Garden, a high caliber team by the score of 77-73.

I like North Carolina -2 in this one. If this game was played on a neutral court, I might consider taking MSU and although a lot of people think MSU is the “sexier” team to take, mainly because of Lucas, I expect UNC’s forwards to dominate this matchup, while their guards do just fine against Lucas. I think the loss of Sutton is the difference in this game, as MSU lacks a true center on defense to stop Deon Thompson and Ed Davis. I’m expecting a UNC win by 4-8 points. Tom Izzo is also 0-4 while playing in North Carolina.

Prediction: North Carolina 71 – Michigan State 66

Tonight’s Free Pick: NORTH CAROLINA -2 over Michigan State (Confidence: 2.5/5)

Michael Jordan put out a new commercial titled “Break to Build” featuring Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, Dwayne Wade, Derek Jeter, and others. It’s pretty incredible.

THE TRIPLE DOUBLE Readers, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve fixed the link to the RSS feed if you would like to add our RSS feed to your reader.

I also added quick links at the top of our the website so you can easily navigate to our network of sports-betting websites, THE PASS RUSH for the NFL and THE ONETIMER for the NHL.

Thanks for visiting!

A little Kobe Brynat, Lebron James, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Vince Carter, and Chris Douglas-Roberts all here!

We have 2 solid games for you tonight:

Clippers at Lakers (-11) for 1 unit.

Lakers 99 Clippers 92 L for 1.1 unit.

Houston (+9) at Portland for 1 unit.

Portland 96 Houston 87 PUSH

Good luck.

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