USA Basketball

With the Olympics right around the corner let’s take a look at some of the premier events and rivalries this year. As usual it will be basketball, athletics and swimming taking center stage with so many headlines around the world about Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and the USA men’s basketball squad.

The Olympic Committee could not have asked for any better scenario for these Olympic games that will be held in London, with drama and heartbreak written all over them. Let’s start off with running sensation and world record holder Usain Bolt. He has taken the world by storm after looking like a man running against young children at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He managed to beat his own world records and brought massive media attention to the sport of running by being a very flamboyant and attention seeking star athlete. Well four years later Bolt is far from a lock to win the 100m and 200m sprints after being beaten by fellow countryman Yohan Blake in both of those events at Jamaica’s Olympic Trials last week. At the same time the times posted by the runners were far off from the record breaking pace Bolt achieved at the ’08 games so if he gets his act together he is still the man to beat on the track. As it stand right now he is marked at (-133) to win the 100m race with Blake not too far behind at (+150). Their closest competitor in the eyes of book keepers is Tyson Gay who is a distant (+1200). Will be interesting to see if Bolt’s star diminishes this year at the hands of his training partner or was he just having fun at the trials and will bring his A game to the games?

Swimming is all about Phelps and Lochte being tied up in a bitter rivalry these days. After winning a record 8 gold medals at the 2008 games, Phelps has fallen off the map for some time. In the past 2 years he has been constantly beaten by Lochte in his premier events most recently at the US Olympic swimming trials earlier this month where Lochte (-181) edged out Phelps (+135) in the 400m IM by a few hundredths of seconds. Lochte established himself as a formidable swimming force and Phelps knows this, to give himself more chances at beating Larisa Latynina’s all-time medal count record which has stood since 1964 at 18 total medals he made the decision to only participate in 7 events at the Olympics despite qualifying for 8. Phelps total medal count stands at 16 right now.

Also making headlines is of course the USA men’s basketball roster which has been announces last weekend. After bearing injuries to Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh and Derrick Rose the Americans are still boasting a very talented and athletic squad. It is highlighted by LeBron, Kobe, Durant and Carmelo. This is also the first time that a single Olympic team had three NBA teammates on it with the additions of Russell Westbrook and James Harden. As always the US team (-625) is a heavy favorite but this squad is very different from the one that won the gold in Beijing. The lack of depth at the center makes this the “smallest” team the Americans sent to the Olympics in recent memory. Nevertheless they are confident on winning by taking advantage of the versatility of this squad. With LeBron, Durant and Carmelo being able to play all 5 positions and Tyson Chandler the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the year at the helm, the Americans are still a matchup nightmare for the rest of the world. The only other team that boasts almost as much talent as them is Spain (+600) with Serge Ibaka, the Gasol brothers and Rudy Fernandez coming to play. Ricky Rubio will be out of the competition due to injury. The team that will have the best value on them is Russia (+400) as they gave US team the most trouble at the world championships in 2010 so they are the dark horse in the tournament that could land you a big payoff.

At the end I personally would not bet against the Americans since this is most likely the last year NBA superstars will be allowed to play in the Olympics and the college kids will be participating in future competitions instead. I am sure this puts an extra chip on the shoulder for these stars to win the gold. Phelps should beat the total medal record held by Latynina but will it be with gold’s or is he going to be looking up at Lochte from the podium in some events? Bolt of course has much to prove to the world that he is still the world’s fastest man or his fame will take a sizeable hit for sure. Either way these games should prove to be one of the most entertaining in recent years and at the same time profitable ones for the bettors. London 2012, let the games begin!!!

Olympic Basketball Game Lines

Athletics Lines

Swimming Race Lines