Pistons welcome Hornets to The Palace

Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of also-rans get together tonight at The Palace of Auburn Hills, where the Detroit Pistons will host the New Orleans Hornets.

The Hornets have lost four in a row and 13 of their last 14 games, including Thursday's 93-81 setback in San Antonio. Carl Landry netted 17 points and Greivis Vasquez added 16 for the Hornets, losers of five straight on the road and owners of a 2-8 record away from the Big Easy.

"The guys we were counting on to step up tonight just didn't have it," Hornets head coach Monty Williams said.

Marco Belinelli had 11 points off the bench in a losing cause. New Orleans, which is last in the Southwest Division, played well in defeat and shot 44.6 percent from the field. Jarrett Jack missed the game with a balky knee and should be back in the lineup tonight. He has scored in double figures in 11 straight contests and is averaging 15.8 points and 6.8 assists this season.

After visiting the Pistons, New Orleans will return home for a four-game residency versus the Kings, Bulls, Blazers and Jazz.

Detroit is last in the Central Division and was able to snap a seven-game losing streak with Friday's 88-80 victory versus Milwaukee.

Rookie Brandon Knight had a career-high 26 points, while Greg Monroe added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who were coming off an 0-4 road trip and got 13 points and nine rebounds from Tayshaun Prince. Jason Maxiell pulled down 12 boards in a winning effort.

"We played for a full 48 minutes tonight," said Monroe. "Everybody that was in the game played hard. Everybody played with energy."

The Pistons improved to 4-8 at home this season and haven't won back-to-back games since Dec. 31-Jan. 2.

Prior to the game, the Pistons announced that forward Charlie Villanueva will miss at least a few weeks due to continued soreness and discomfort in his right ankle. After visiting with multiple foot and ankle orthopedic surgeons, Villanueva was diagnosed with a resolving posterior tibial tenosynovitis with small talotibal spurs. It was recommended that the ankle be partially immobilized. He will be re-evaluated in a few weeks.

After hosting the Hornets tonight, Detroit will visit New Jersey before returning home for a three-game residency versus the Nets, Wizards and Spurs.

The Pistons and Hornets split a home-and-home series a year ago, with each team holding serve as the host. New Orleans has won four of the past six meetings between the teams, but has lost six of eight visits to The Palace.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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