NBA and NHL Drafts along with the top Free Agents

 The NBA Draft took place on Wednesday and Thursday. While all 30 teams had an opportunity to improve their team by selecting someone based on need or best player available,there was no franchise changing player in the entire draft based on a prior body of work.Most of the conversation was centered around where Bronny James would go and at what spot. The Los Angeles Lakers pick Bronny in the 2nd round with the 55th pick. The comments about the pselection range to nepotism to prospect.The nepotism comments are no different than one's associated with Jack Buck,Jeremy Schapp or Wade Phillips. All of these men had famous fathers whose positions afforded them opportunities in fields where the parent was well respected.Lebron James is no exception. He just voiced his desire publicly on multiple ocassions. He is npw psrt of history for being part of the first father-son duo to play in the NBA at th. same time and for the same faranchise.

• Acording to CBS Sports,these are 7 teams that earned  high grades for the NBA Draft 2024.
• Atlanta Hawks
• Los Angeles Lakers
• San Antnio Spur
• Philadelphia 76ers
• Oklahoma City Thunder
• Memphis Grizzlies
• Portland TrailBlazers

The  NBA Free Ag period is about to start with several prominent players available. DeMar DeRozan,D'Angelo Russell,Isaiah Hartenstein,James Harden,Klay Thompson and Miles Bridges are in that group. The players whose names are being floated in trade talks are Jimmy Butler,Paul George, and Brandon Ingram. The New York Knicks made everyone take notice bywith the acquisition of Mikal Bridges and the resigning of OG Anunoby.

The NHL Draft takes place tonight in Las Vegas. This is the first televised event drom the Sphere. It will be shown on ESPN and the NHL Network. Check out the video for more.

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WNBA-Week Seven

 The Commisioners Cup was held this week in the USB Arena between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx. The Lynx won the contest by a score of 94 to 89.The Lynx's leading scorer was Bridget Carleton with23 points. Breann stewart led the Liberty with 23.Each player on the Lynx recieved  around $40,000 for being on the winning team. Napheesa Collier was named MVP.

The WNBA All Star Voting is taking place right now. So far,the leader in votes is A'ia Wilson with over 200,000 votes. Since Wilson and 11 other players have been selected to the USA Olympic Team,they are automatically All Stars.Voting by the fans closes on June 29th. To obtain one of the remaining roster spots,the fans votes will account for 50% ,with the media and the players accounting for 25% each.

 The teams will be designated as Team USA and Team WNBA. The 5 players I think should be on the team  are Jonquel Jones,Dijonai Carrington,Angel Reese,Caiylin Clark and Arike Ogunbowale. Reese and Clark should be in the game because they are having good seasons and would bring more attention to the contest. I envision Team USA as a 6.5 favorite over Team WNBA.

The hottest teams in the W right now are the Liberty,Lynx, the Phoenix Mercury and the Seattle Storm over their last 10 games. The coldest team is the Los Angeles Sparks who have lost 6 straight.and the Dallas Wing who are 1-9 in their last 10 games.

Here are my WNBA Weekend Selections!

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WNBA-Week Five

 The WNBA Commiserss Cup Championship is now set. The Nwq York Liberty will face the Minnesota Lynx.The game will be played in New York at the Barclays Center. The teams met earlier this year with the Lynx winning 84-67.Since the Liberty will be the favorite in this game. There is value in the Lynx and this should be a close game. As the contest approaches,I will dive in and analze it.

Week Five Marquee Match up featured a rematch between the Liberty and the Las Vegas Aces.These teams played for the WNBA Championship last year. The Liberty won the game on Saturday 90-82.Jonquel Jones led the way with 34 points and 8 rebounds. The good news for the Aces is Chelsea Gray was activated for the first time this season. While the All Star guard and member of the USA Womens Olympics team did not play,she is obviously close to returning to action.

The game today that will grab the most attention is the Chicago Sky against the Indina Fever. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese continue to be  must see TV. While the teams have won a total of 8 games between them. The focus on the two former college rivals supercedes their teams defencies. It almost equals  the rivalry between Hall of Fame NBA Players,Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. The hope is that as time goes on, the respect they will extend to each other for what they did to elevate the league will be acknowledged. 

After reading this post, you should download the WNBA App to get more information about the league and to vote for the WNBA All Star Team. Many of the players selected will also be on the Olympic Team.

Here are my WNBA Selections for this weekend.

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WNBA- Week Four

 The WNBA race for the Commissioners Cup is in full swing. The teams are vieing for the chance to play for $500,000. The teams will play the other 5 teams intheir respective conferences. The two leaders at the end will play for the in-season championship. The team with the bestrecord will have the home court advantage in a one game winner take all. If there is a tie in the record between the two leaders it will be it will be broken by the team having the higher overall winning percentage in all of the games after the divisional play is concluded.If there is still a tie,the next tie breaker isaverage point differential and then,head to head record.

On Saturday,the New York Liberty won a spot in the Commissioners Cup by defeating the Connecticutt Sun 82-75. This was the Sun first loss of the season. There is a battle in the Western Coference with the Seattle Storm currently 2-0 and the Phoenix Mercury and the Minnesota Lynx having 2-1 records.The Storm play the Lynx today at 7PM. The Lynx are at home and are favred by 2. The total is 161.5.

In news related to the WNBA, the US Womens Olympic Basketball Team was announced and Caitlin Clark did not make the team.The opinions came in on Twitter that she was snubbed while others felt her being left off was warranted. I pose the question of whose spot would she take from the guards selected? Clark will be on the 2028 team. This is not her time for an Olympic moment.

Las Vegas Aces CenterA'ja Wilson is on a double -double streak that includes becoming the first player in WNBA history to have a 35+points,11+reboundsand 6+ steal game against the Dallas Wings.Wilson has 7 double -doubles so far this season. 

Here are  my WNBA Selections for this weekend. Included in this video is the prognostication of the Indiana Fever defeating the Washington Mystics and the Liberty and Sun game going over the projected total.

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NBA Finals-10 Things you should know

 The NBA Finals start on Thursday,June 6th. The Boston Crltics will face the Dallas Mavericks. The Celtics have the homecourt advantage.The money line at BETMGM has the Celtics at -225 to win the series. The Mavericks have a price of +1180 to win the title.On ESPNBET,the first game has the Celtics favored by 6.5 with the price -110 per side. The total is 214.5 and the money line is Celtics -240.The money line for the Mavericks is +200.Here are the 10 things you need toknow before the series starts.

1).Kristaps Porzingis is expected to play.The Celtics center and former Mavericks star player has been sidelined since the beginningof the playoffs against the Miami Heat. While his return would add another weapon to the Celtics and and enable backup Al Hordford to return to the bench,the Celtics are 11-1without him in the line up.

2).Luka Doncic, star guard for the Mavericks is the first player in NBA History to lead his team in points,rebounds and assist going into the Finals. He has 12 triple doubles in the post season.

3).The Celtics have not lost a playoff game on the road during the playoffs. They are 6-0.

4).Kyrie Irving will have extra motivation ,playing against his former teamates. He played for Boston during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. Irving is averaging 22.8 points in the playoffs. 

5).Jaylen Brown was named the Eastern Conference Finals MVP. His clutch 3 point shot at the end of regulation forced overtime in Game One. He led the Celtics in scoring in two of the 4 games and played exceptional defense.

6).The money is on the Mavericks plus the points in Game One 61% of the money is on them. 

7).The money on the total has a consensus of it going over. The percentage is now at 74%.

8).Jayson Tatum has a tendency to not perform at a high level in the Finals. He averages 21.5 points in the Finals. He averaged 26 during the season. 

9).The Mavericks have won one NBA Title. The Celtics have won 17.

10).Expect both teams to play the starters heavy minutes and limit the rotaion. Expect more from the Mavs bench if Horford has to start for the Celtics.

Bet Smart and Responsibly! Follow me on Twitter during the Finals  @gamingguym.

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WNBA News: Week Three

 The Indiana Fever and the Chicago Sky squared off for the first time this season. Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese against each other for the first time in the WNBA. Add Aliyah Boston against Kamilla Cordoso for the first time since they were teamates on the 2022 South Carolina Gamecocks Womens Basketball team.Three of the top players from this year's rookie class and the number one overall pick from 2023. Now this was must see TV.

The Fever won the game 71-70. The  Sky was favred by 3 and the total was 162.5. The Fever covered and the game went under. This was the first game of the Commisioner Cup. This is a in game event that coveres a five game period. The team foem each cobference with th best record will play against each other for the cup. This concept adds more signifigance to the regulat season.

Afterwards,Angel Resse did not speak to the media. She played a decent game by only shooting 2-9 from the field with 8 points. She was outstanding on the boards with 13 rebounds. Clark shot 4-11 from the floor and finished with a solid line of eleven points,8 rebounds and 6 assists. 

Takeaways from the game.

Reese is ahead of Clark in terms of consistency. She cleans the glass every game. Clark idoes not make the clean looks that she gets and her scoring average suffers because of it. 

The WNBA did not help the Fever with scheduling. The Fever have played more games than anyone else and had only one practice so far. Most of their work is done through film sessions and shoot arounds.

Top teams in the WNBA are the Connecticutt Sun at 7-0,MNew York Liberty 6-2 and the Minnesota Lynx 5-2.

Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are starting a women's 3 on 3 baketball league in January 1025. It will consist of 6 teams with 5 players on each squad. The compensation for playing will be among the top in womens professional basketball. It also serves as an option to players traveling overseas to play during the WNBA off season. The rules will be released at a later date. I expect many of the top players to participate.

In case you missed my WNBA Selection for May 31th,I got you right now!

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WNBA - Week Two

 The WNBA is doing record numbers in attendance and television ratings. This is largely due to Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever. The Fever have played 7 games so far this season. While there record is 1-6,they have 5 losses to teams that were in the WNBA Finals and the Semifinals.  This has propeled the league to having chartered flights for all of the teams. There are now endorsement deals including Gatorade,CarMax and Wilson. Expansion is next with a franchise being awarded to Toronto and Golden State. Golden State will debut next year while Toronto will become the 14th team in the league in 2026.

The top teams so far are the Connecticutt Sun,Minnesota Lynx,Las Vegas Aces,New York Liberty and Dallas Wings.  

The marquee matchups this week are the Aces against the Lynx on Wednesday and the Wings versus the Sun on Saturday. The Aces game is on NBA TV and the Sun game is on ION.

The top scorers in the league are:

Kahleah Copper: Phoenix Mercury- 29.2

Arike Ogunbowale: Dallas Wings- 28.8

A'ja Wilson: Las Vegas Aces- 25.5

The leading rebounder is the Los Angeles Sparks,Dearica Hamby who is averaging 13.2 per game.

The league leaders in assist are:

Natasha Cloud: Mercury - 8.8

Alyssa Thomas :Sun & Jackie Young:Aces - 7.8

Caitlin Clark - 6.8 

Diana Taurasi,guard for the Mercury, leads the league in Three Pointers made with 19. Caitlin Clark is 2nd with 18.

Follow me for more WNBA! I plan ro tweet during the marquee games on Twitter. Look on my YouTube and TikTok for WNBA Weekend Selections.

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Resposible Gaming in 2024

Many of the top gaming operators are adding responsible gaming to their agendas.This is a different approach to a long standing issue. For decades,responsible gaming was looked at as an afterthought. The patrons,gamblers and bettors were pretty much on their own regarding the problems that irresponsible gaming presents. The warnings at the end of gamimg advertisements along with the pamplets at the pit podium were the extent of the operators involvement.

On March 24th,7 operators formed the Respocible Online Gaming Association.This is the firts time that companies will share information about customers excluded due to problem gambling.The 7 operators include FanDuel,DraftKings,Fanatics Betting,BetMGM,Hard Rock  Digital ,Penn Entertainment and Bet365. This group comprises of over 85% of the online wagering market.

How this association plans to work in terms of sharing information is still to be determined. They are still competitors, with two of them having the lion's share.There have been commercials and responsible gaming paraphernalia on apps to endorse the commitment.

There is more work to be done. Some operators have created  high level positions that will oversee the reponsible gaming aspects of the organization. There should be a concerted effort, not marketing to problem gamblers and to protect groups that have shown a higher propensity to engage in wagering. Since sports betting is socially acceptable now,operators should be mindful to insulate youths from becoming vulnerable customers.  

Here is my latest responsible gaming tip of the weeK.

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