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Louisville head coach Rick Pitino to coach Puerto Rico National Team
2011-02-08
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino nfl football betting Online Bingo Play Slots Online in US NFL Odds announced on Monday 20 December that he accepted Puerto Rico’s offer to coach their National Team in next year’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in their bid to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
“It's a tall order and that's why I'm taking it,” said Pitino, who is the only men’s college basketball coach to have final four stints with three different teams. “If they were already in the Olympics, I wouldn't do it. Their backs are to the wall.”
Pitino confirmed that he talked with Puerto Rico’s basketball officials on Sunday 19 December, and he was impressed with their optimism, making him believe that the team would have a great chance to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. He also reiterated that coaching the Puerto Rico National Basketball is an honor for him.
“For me to step into a situation like that they'd have to have a tremendous desire to win because there's no compensation for me except love of the game,” Pitino said. “So I want to make sure their best players are really into it.”
Pitino also added that he would talk with potential national team members that are currently playing in the NBA like J.J Barea of the Dallas Mavericks, Carlos Arroyo of the Miami Heat, and Renaldo Balkman of the Denver Nuggets, who all threw their support to their new head coach.
“I want to see how much passion there is for winning because their backs are to the wall,” Pitino said. “They've got to finish in the top two, excluding the United States, to get into the Olympics against very good competition on foreign soil, so they'll have to be very competitive.”
In order to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, the Puerto Rico National squad will have to reach the finals of the FIBA Americas Qualifying Tournament, but it would be a tough task because they will be facing formidable teams like Brazil and Argentina, who are also both eyeing a spot in the London joust.
Despite the difficult task ahead of him and the Puerto Rican team, coach Pitino said that he is optimistic and he believes that the players will play for pride and glory in order to reach their goal next summer.
“For these guys, playing for the national team is the biggest thing in the country,” Pitino said. “They are very, very passionate about it and that was a major factor for me on my decision to take the job.”
If they would not finish on the top two in the FIBA Americas Qualifying tournament, Puerto Rico will still have a chance as long as they would finish on the top five of the FIBA Americas tourney to have a slot in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
The top four teams in the 2012 FIBA World Olympic Qualifying Tournament would qualify for the London Olympics, but if the Great Britain National Team will be given an automatic slot, only the top three teams will have a wildcard spot in the Olympics.
When asked how his decision will affect his coaching stint with Louisville, Pitino said that Louisville would actually benefit from it since he is planning to have joint practices.
“We're going to be able to play against the national team 2-3 times and play against NBA-type players,” Pitino said. “That's going to be great for our incoming freshmen.”
Although he knows that leading Puerto Rico to the Olympics will be a gigantic task, Pitino declared that he is up to the challenge and he vowed to give his best to help the team qualify for the Olympics for the first time since the 2004 Athens Olympics. Get into all the sports betting action at www.sportsbook.com the home of sports betting.
No. 5 Butler Bulldogs vs. No. 1 Syracuse Orange
2010-03-23
No. 5 Bulldogs will be playing the No. 1 seeded Orange this Thursday March 25, 2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah, tipoff will be 7:05 pm eastern time.
Syracuse
The Orange looked very good in their first games of the tournament. Syracuse destroyed Vermont by 23 points and in their next game they defeated Gonzaga by 22 points, something that should not have happened to a decent Gonzaga team. The MVP for the Orange men is Wes Johnson who did all the scoring, 31 points, 14 rebounds, and made 4 out of 6 three point shots. A close second to player of the game is Rautins who added an additional 24 points against the Zags. The Orange men held the Zags to 41.7 percent shooting and only gave up three 3 point shots out of the 21 shot attempts that were thrown up behind the arc by the Zags.
Syracuse averaged 81.6 points per game as well as 19.4 assists per game, second in the country, and shot at 51.7 percent. Don’t forget about their defense because they have only allowed 39.8 shooting percentage from opponents and have only let teams score an average of 66.5 points per game.
Butler
The Butler Bulldogs did not have quite an easy path as the Orange men had, but nonetheless they are in the same position playing for a spot in the Elite 8. In Butler’s first game they entered halftime losing, but turned it around to beat UTEP. In their second game of the weekend they faced a scrappy Murray State, which they had to dig deep to come out victorious. With Matt Howard on the bench in foul trouble for most of the game the Bulldogs had to go to a four guard lineup. Even though Butler won the game they need to address a couple issues before the play Syracuse, for example Murray State was 64.3 percent from the behind the arc.
The Butler Bulldogs averaged 69.8 points per game and also shot 45 percent from the floor, but were horrible at rebounding, ranking 285th in the nation on offensive boards. On defense the Bulldogs only allow their opponents an average of 59.8 points per game and 41.5 percent shooting.
Who and what to bet on?
At www.sportsbook.com the spread is currently in favor of Syracuse at 7.5 points. The Orange men are 4 and 1 against the spread in their last 5 tournament matchups, 5 and 1 against the spread in their last 6 neutral site games and 9 and 2 against the spread in their last 11 nonconference games. Butler on the other hand are 6 and 0 against the spread in their last 6 games as an underdog between 7 and 12.5 points, but they are also 2 and 8 against the spread in their last 10 neutral site games and 1 and 4 against the spread in their last 5 games while playing as underdogs at a neutral site.
Butler should have had an easy time with Murray State, granted they didn’t let them score a lot, but the game was still too close. When they play the Orange men this Thursday they will not be so lucky.
Syracuse -7.5