Football Betting

Ninth-ranked Jayhawks leave Titans feeling queasy

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12/29/2006 - Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mario Chalmers scored 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, as the ninth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks bested the Detroit Titans, 63-43, at Allen Fieldhouse.

Brandon Rush added nine points and five rebounds while Russell Robinson netted seven for the Jayhawks (11-2), who have won five in a row.

Brandon Cotton donated 20 points and Ryvon Covile had seven points and 10 boards for the Titans (3-9), who have lost five of their last six games.

Kansas jumped out to a 16-3 lead, including three from Chalmers, Robinson and Sherron Collins, as Detroit missed 10 of its first 11 shots from the floor.

Chalmers' three-point play with two ticks remaining on the first-half clock gave the Jayhawks a 26-16 lead at the half.

Rush's jumper made the score 36-23, but the Titans responded with a 15-5 run, including seven points from Cotton, narrowing the gap to 41-37 with under nine minutes to play.

Kansas then countered with an 11-3 spurt, capped by Chalmers dunk, extending the margin to 52-40.

Covile's three-point play cut the deficit to nine, 52-43, but that was as close as Detroit would get.

The game was delayed early in the second half when Titans' assistant coach Garland Mance vomited court side. The floor was cleaned up as Mance left for the locker room.

Game Notes

Kansas shot 46 percent from the floor, while Detroit connected on 30 percent of its shots from the field, including 5-of-21 from long distance...Kansas welcomes Rhode Island on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Titans next play at UW-Green Bay on Tuesday...The Jayhawks won the rebounding battle 36-32...Kansas' reserves outscored the Titans' bench 14-3...Collins finished with seven points and five assists.

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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.