76ers still alive for lottery

Basketball Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - All it takes is a dollar and a dream for a select few to strike it rich in the lottery.

But in order for the Philadelphia 76ers to start raking in the loot, they have to bag the rest of the 2006-07 season and start evaluating talent for June's NBA Draft. Philly has its own lottery pick this summer and a pair of first- round selections acquired from Denver for Allen Iverson.

The second half of the campaign gets started on Wednesday for the Sixers, who will wrap up a series of seven straight games at home versus the division- rival New York Knicks. Mo Cheeks' squad entered the All-Star break with three straight losses and a 2-4 record on the homestand, and sits 12 games off the lead in the Atlantic standings.

Philadelphia is just 9-15 at the Wachovia Center this season and will play six more games there following a brief two-game road trip to Charlotte and Milwaukee. After the quick swing the Sixers will host Sacramento, Phoenix, Memphis, New Jersey, Seattle and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cheeks had this team playing better basketball before the current slide, but now must realize it's time to start cutting into the time of his regulars for a chance to see who will make next year's roster. It seems like an easy solution, especially with three draft picks on the horizon.

It's unclear whether guards Andre Miller, Kevin Ollie or Louis Williams will be around next season. And who knows if forward Kyle Korver, center Samuel Dalembert or forward Shavlik Randolph will be back either? Randolph is still recovering from left ankle surgery.

Instead of guard/forward Andre Iguodala averaging 40:12 minutes per game, Cheeks should shave about six to eight minutes off his star's average. There's no sense to have Iguodala bust his rump every night just to sit at home come playoff time. Rookie forward Rodney Carney, who averages 17:18 mpg this season, would be even more dangerous if he was recording 25 to 28 minutes per contest.

Veteran forward Joe Smith does not have to be on the court for 23:18 a night for Philly, and Korver doesn't score enough to average 31:11 per contest. Dalembert posts 30:06 a night and has been streaky over the past few games.

On the injury front, forward/center Steven Hunter will not require surgery on the dislocated pinkie finger on his left hand. Hunter suffered the injury during the first quarter of a loss against the Mavericks on February 11, but returned to the game. Hunter does not make or break this team, but to have a player his size (7-0, 240 pounds) on the hardwood is beneficial for the inside game. Hunter has missed just one contest because of the finger.

The Sixers have their work cut out for them over the next few months, and are currently the third-worst team in the NBA behind Boston (13-38) and Memphis (14-40). The Celtics and Grizzlies are not going to pile up wins in the near future and Philadelphia should follow suit.

On a brighter note, last week the 76ers unveiled their new second road uniforms against Washington. The red jerseys bring back memories of the Dr. J, Charles Barkley and Hersey Hawkins era, and have the old-school PHILA script across the chest.

Philadelphia should go back to its retro-style uniforms soon.

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Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting

So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.

Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?

If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)

Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).

In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.

Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.

The Bubble Breakdown
CONFERENCE LOCKS SHOULD BE INS AT-LARGES TAKEN
(assuming no auto bid outlier)
ACC Betting Odds 6 0 5
Big East Betting Odds 5 0 4
Big Ten Betting Odds 2 2 3
Big 12 Betting Odds 3 0 2
Pac-10 Betting Odds 5 1 5
SEC Betting Odds 4 0 3
MVC Betting Odds 1 1 1
MWC Betting Odds 2 1 2
TOTAL 28 5 25

As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.

(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)

If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.

Atlantic Coast Conference

Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech

The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.

 

Work left to do:

Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.

Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).

Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.

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