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02/15/2007 -
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Adam Morrison headed to Las Vegas on Thursday to take part in All-Star weekend festivities as the second-leading rookie scorer in the NBA. He might be leading the league if not for those home games.
Morrison prefers playing on the road instead of dealing with the Charlotte Bobcats fans who expect big things from the No. 3 pick in last year's draft.
``It's a mental thing. I feel like everybody expects me to make everything,'' Morrison said of playing at home. ``The fans have been great, but some of the expectations and some of the stuff I hear when I'm going up and down the court at home, it feels like I'm on the road.''
The numbers back him up. Morrison, who scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting in Charlotte's 100-85 home win over Chicago on Wednesday, is averaging less than 11 points and shooting a little more than 33 percent in 26 home games. Morrison is averaging 14.3 points and shooting 41 percent in 26 road games.
``I think I put too much pressure on myself for what the fans are saying,'' Morrison said as he prepared to play in Friday's rookie-sophomore game.
Morrison isn't criticizing the fans, he just wants them to give him time to develop. And Morrison acknowledges he's hit the famous rookie wall in his first season going from playing 30-something games in college to the 82-game grind of the NBA.
``It's four games a week, with back-to-backs,'' Bobcats coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. ``That's tough on the veteran players, so that's been the problem. He's hit the wall a little bit.''
Morrison, who averaged a nation-best 28.1 points a game last season at Gonzaga, has struggled with inconsistency. He has 10 games of 20 or more points, but has reached that total only once in the past 22 games. Morrison has failed to reach double figures in five of his past six games.
Morrison, who started the season with the reputation of being a great shooter but suspect defender, hasn't consistently hit open jumpers. He's shooting only 31 percent from 3-point range.
So when Morrison isn't making shots, he can hurt Charlotte because of his defense. Opposing players have often gone right at Morrison, who has struggled keeping up with the players off the dribble.
Bickerstaff thinks Morrison, listed at 205 pounds, is being hurt by a lack of upper-body strength.
``We've got to get him in the weight room. He needs to do that,'' Bickerstaff said. ``He has the mental courage, but you've got to have something to back it up.''
Morrison vows to get stronger in the summer, and he remains confident he'll be able to become the consistent scorer the Bobcats counted on when they drafted him.
``It's been an up and down season for myself and the organization,'' Morrison said. ``I've got to perform better.''
Morrison's parents and other family members were scheduled to fly to Las Vegas to watch him play in Friday's rookie-sophomore game, where he'll be teammates with the NBA's top rookie scorer, Brandon Roy of Portland. He'll also play against his teammate Raymond Felton, who will play for the sophomore team.
But the best part about the game for Morrison: it's not in Charlotte.
``Yeah, I feel way more comfortable on the road,'' Morrison said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Blank looking for new revenue, not new QB, for Falcons
ATLANTA (AP) -Arthur Blank is looking for new revenue - and possibly a new stadium - for the Atlanta Falcons.Not a new starting quarterback.February marks the five-year anniversary of Blank's purchase of the team. ``There have been a lot of ups and
<< Torre to Bernie: We want you
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Joe Torre spoke to Bernie Williams and the message from the New York Yankees manager was clear: Come to spring training.Williams, feeling slighted by the only major league team he's played for, has thus far refused to accept a mino
<< NBA All-Star Game Results
2006-East 122, West 1202005-East 125, West 1152004-West 136, East 1322003-West 155, East 145, 2OT2002-West 135, East 1202001-East 111, West 1102000-West 137, East 1261999-No game.1998-East 135, West 1141997-East 132, West 1201996-East 129, West 1181
<< NBA All-Star Game MVPs
2006 - LeBron James, Cleveland2005 - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia2004 - Shaquille O'Neal, LA Lakers2003 - Kevin Garnett, Minnesota2002 - Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers2001 - Allen Iverson, Philadelphia2000 - Tim Duncan, San Antonio; and Shaquille O'Neal, LA
76ers playing only for draft picks and hope for the future >>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -The only thing fans want the Philadelphia 76ers to win these days is the draft lottery.The playoffs are far out of reach for the third-worst team in the NBA, so winning games won't do anything except lower the number of available
Zito unveils new delivery on first day with Giants >>
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -Barry Zito unveiled a different delivery on his first day with the San Francisco Giants, making at least one of his new coaches a little nervous.Pitching coach Dave Righetti went as far as to say the tweaks Zito made this win
Bonds finally signs contract >>
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -Barry Bonds finally signed his $15.8 million, one-year deal Thursday, ending more than two months of wrangling between the slugger and the San Francisco Giants over contract language.With both sides satisfied, Bonds is schedu
Doan says commitment to winning was key in decision to stay >>
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -If team captain Shane Doan finishes his new five-year, $22.5 million contract with the Phoenix Coyotes, he could be one of the few professional athletes to spend his entire career in the same organization.It's a franchise, th
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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