Blue Devils battle Red Storm in Madison Square Garden

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2009 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Duke Blue Devils will take a break from ACC action this evening, to take on the St. John's Red Storm in non-conference play from Madison Square Garden in the 2009 Aeropostale Classic.

Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils need a respite from their ACC grind, as they come into this contest having lost two straight games to rival North Carolina and Boston College, putting themselves in a precarious situation heading down the home stretch. With the most recent loss to the Eagles, Duke is now two games back in the loss column and tied with three other teams with a 7-4 league mark.

Norm Roberts' Red Storm have never been in the hunt in the Big East this season and enter this contest with a four-game slide,, the last of which was a 73-59 setback at nationally-ranked Marquette. With the loss to the Golden Eagles, St. John's has fallen to a mere 3-10 in the Big East.

This is the 11th straight season that these two teams have met. Duke has a 12-5 edge in the series all-time and has won five straight meetings and 12 of the last 14 overall.

It was a nip-and-tuck game all the way through, but in the end, the Blue Devils were unable to get up on the Eagles and finally succumbed by six points in Chestnut Hill. Sophomore Kyle Singler did his best to lead the team to victory, posting 25 points, on 8-of-17 shooting. Gerald Henderson poured in 20 points in support, while Lance Thomas chipped in with 12. However, Duke really struggled from long range (3-of-16), compared to BC (8-of-18). The Blue Devils have been much more efficient on the year, boasting of a +15.0 scoring margin. The team is netting 78.4 ppg, while limiting the opposition to just 63.4. Singler is regarded as one of the most versatile players in the country and currently leads Duke in scoring (16.4 ppg), rebounding (8.1 rpg) and steals (42). Henderson is another premier scorer at 15.4 ppg, followed by Jon Scheyer, who nets 13.1 ppg. All three have good range, combining for 111 of the team's 169 three-pointers to date.

The Red Storm shot the ball fairly well, converting 44.9 percent from the floor, but shot themselves in the foot, with 24 costly turnovers that turned into 24 points for the Golden Eagles. It also didn't help that Marquette was able to shoot over 50 percent from the floor and dominate St. John's in the paint, outscoring the Red Storm down low, 34-18. The loss spoiled a superb performance by guard Paris Horne, who finished with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists. No other player notched double-digits in the loss, although D.J. Kennedy just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds. The team, which is averaging 66.8 ppg and allowing the same, relies heavily on Horne and Kennedy. Horne is shooting .479 from the field and paces the team with 15.0 ppg. Kennedy adds 12.6 ppg and is the top rebounder at 6.8 caroms per game.

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Betting Football

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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.