Every offseason in the NBA you will always about five names of future NBA stars, most of the time maybe one or two them become legit NBA superstars, but most of them don't really make the impact.

One of the names floating around this offseason that was said to be the next big thing in the NBA from overseas was Spain's flashy point guard Ricky Rubio.

Personally, after seeing his highlights I think he is Pistol Pete reborn with his passing ability, but lacks the scoring ability of Pistol. From what I am hearing though, NBA scouts have compared him to Steve Nash.

The problem with Rubio's situation now is that he has teams from overseas gunning for him and his Spanish squad still having him under contract with a buyout clause. Now the Minnesota Timberwolves have selected him in the NBA Draft, but his future with the club is still very much in doubt as he could possibly end up playing in Europe until he is 22.

Online football gambling has added a whole new twist to the world of bookies, spreads, and money lines, making it incredibly easy for sports fans and gamblers to enjoy their favorite hobbies. A few mouse clicks is all it takes to set up an account with an online gambling site and you’re ready to roll.

Not only is online gambling very convenient (and much safer than dealing with bookies in back allies or bars), but you often have a lot more options when it comes to available wagers, as online sites often tons of prop bets and other exotic wagers. All your standard betting options are there, as far as spreads, money lines, and run lines, as well as options to bet on halftime scores, who will score the first touchdown, and more. Most online sportsbooks offer lines on all major sports, so no matter what action you’re looking for, there’s usually a line on the game.

Many online sportsbooks also offer online casino and poker action, so poker fans can get their fix as well. Most sites offer buy-ins and games of all types, as well as poker freerolls to give your bankroll a nice little boost here and there. Lots of sports gamblers enjoy kicking back on the weekend, watching the games they’ve got action on while checking out poker blogs or even getting in a few hands themselves at the poker tables.

The best part about online football gambling is that many sites will also offer you a free money bonus just for signing up and betting, so you’re often ahead of the game before you make a single wager. You get the best of both worlds, as far as extra cash to get started with as well as the convenience of making all your wagers from home, with your winnings deposited instantly into your account the second the game is over.

We all know that Blake Griffin will most likely be on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers, but what happens after that? Where will Ricky Rubio and Hasheem Thabeet go?

Arguably the next best big man in the NBA Draft after Griffin is UConn's center Thabeet who played pretty well in the NCAA tourney recently. The Memphis Grizzles have the second pick after the Clippers, but do they really need Thabeet with Marc Gasol having such a good rookie season?

Well, if they move Gasol to the four and have Thabeet at center the Grizzles could eventually have a Lakers kind of feel to their frontcourt. Then again if the Grizzles decide to go with Spanish point guard Ricky Rubio, who is said to be young version of Steve Nash, there franchise could be stacked with talented guards.

Introduction to Rakeback



When online poker players play at an online poker site, they are paying a sort of rent or table tax called rake. If you play online poker, you need to know about rake in order to pick a site that lets you make more money when you win. You can do this by signing up with an online poker site through a rakeback affiliate.



What the Rake Is in Online Poker



Most games of chance follow a design that allows the House to win. This is how casinos stay in business and make their money. Even if one person has a lucky streak, other players will lose enough so that the House makes up for it. Online poker works differently, though. Online gaming sites do not need to worry about who wins or loses in games like Omaha and Texas hold’em because they will collect a percentage of the pot regardless of which player wins. This percentage is called the rake.



The Logic of Rake

All players contribute to rake, even if they don't win a pot. This is because each player who gets a hand has certain equity in each pot, and the rake reduces that equity. However, because only the winner collects each pot, other players are not expected to notice the rake. Meanwhile, the winner is usually happy with the 95 percent of the pot he or she has collected.



The Reality of Rake

The truth is that rake costs all players money and reduces the win rate. If there were no rake, good players would win more and less skilled players would lose less. Rakeback promotions can reduce the rake and let that win rate rise.

The Reality of Rakeback

Rakeback affiliates allow you to sign up with a new online poker site and get rake returned to you at the end of the month. You simply use the rakeback affiliate to sign up with the site for the indicated rakeback percentage. As you play on the site, your contributed rake is catalogued. At the end of the month, your percentage applies to the rake you have contributed and the result is refunded to your poker account.

There is no way that the UConn Huskies will not cover the four point spread over Michigan State in the Final Four on Saturday.

I can't believe that sports handicappers actually made this ridiculous spread after seeing the way the Huskies have just destroyed every team they have faced so far by enormous margins.

If you are going to bet on the Final Four this weekend you would be a fool not to bet on UConn covering the spread. It is almost like givnig away free money!

As of right now the Oklahoma Sooners are a one point favorite to beat the Syracuse Orangemen, but I think Syracuse will be the team out of these two to advance to the Elite Eight.

The Sooners do have arguably the best player in college basketball with forward Blake Griffin, but the Orangemen have the edge at the guard position with Jonny Flynn running the point.

No team has been hotter lately than the Orangemen. The UConn Huskies have been just destroying teams in the Big Dance in the first three rounds of the tourney, but Syracuse seems to be on a mission ever since beating the Huskies in the classic six overtime victory over UConn in the Big East tournament.

This game between the Sooners and Orangemen will be the most compelling and entertaining in the Sweet 16, but in the end I think it will be Syracuse playing in UNC in the next round, that is if they can past Gonzaga.

Everyone knew it was coming and now it is official, the Kentucky Wildcats have fired their basketball head coach Billy Gillispie after missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years.

With the Wildcats being a guarantee to be in the Big Dance every season for almost the last two decades, the first time they missed the cut you know heads were going to roll. The Wildcats weren't a bad team this season with scoring machine Jodie Meeks leading the way, but they they just weren't good enough to make the tourney this time around.

It only took two years, but that was enough for Kentucky to make the decision that Billy Gillispie is not the guy for them. That is the chance you take when you take the head coaching job at a successful school like Kentucky.

One name that keeps coming up as a replacement is Billy Donovan of the Florida Gators. He turned down the job when he was winning National championships in Florida, but now he might jump at the opportunity.

Although we still have the Sweet 16, Elite Eight and Final Four to go before the National Championship game in the Big Dance I think there will be no team left that can contend with the UConn Huskies.

No team in this tournament so far has been able to put away their first two opponents as convincingly as the Huskies. The first win over Chattanooga was by 56 points and the second over Texas A&M was by 26 points. Yes, North Carolina had similar numbers, but no where near as convincing in round two.

Before the tournament even began I said that UConn has the easisiet path to the Final Four out of all the number one seeds and so far I have been right. The only teams left standing in their way are Purdue and Missouri or Memphis. Not one of these teams, besides Memphis can play with the Huskies. Memphis even had trouble with 15 seed Cal State Northridge.

I think by the time they get to the Final Four, which they will do, they will face their first true challenge in Louisville or Kansas. If it is the Jayhawks, no problem, but if it is Pitino's boys then there is the game of the tournament in my opinion!

The Los Angeles Lakers are a great team and arguably the best team in the NBA right now, but will they cover a 13 point spread against the Golden State Warriors? No way.

The Lakers will be playing the Warriors in LA at the Staples Center, but Golden State is one of the few teams that the Lakers always have trouble playing against. Along with the Kings and Blazers the Warriors always seem to take the Lakers to the limit.

There is no team I would bet on to cover a 13 point spread in the NBA, in college basketball yeah sure, but in the NBA not a chance.

The Lakers are great, but if they win tonight it will only be by about ten points max.

There are few teams in the league this season that can beat LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers this season, especially in their house where the Los Angeles Lakers are the only team to beat them at the Q.

The Portland Trailblazers are young, up and coming team in the West which will be a great team in the near future, but beating LeBron and company at home where they have only lost one game this season? I don't think so.

Right now the spread is -10.5 in favor of the Cavs and that is being generous because I think this will be an absolute blowout. It isn't easy to bet on any team to win by ten or more points, but this game and spread is in the bag.