Louisville head coach Rick Pitino to coach Puerto Rico National Team
2021-02-08
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino 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 here the home of sports betting.
UCLA BRUINS (3-2, 3-1 ATS) at KANSAS JAYHAWKS (6-0, 3-1 ATS) Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series
2021-12-02
using Kansas -16.5
Two legendary Football Live Betting Odds Online Bingo Rooms Play Bingo US programs, one dynamic college basketball setting, history, tradition. That is about all that undefeated Kansas (6-0) and UCLA (3-2) will have in common when they take the court Thursday night in Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks bring a nation-best, 64-game home winning streak into play, and the Bruins will be about as welcome in Lawrence as LeBron James will be welcome Thursday night in Cleveland.
Kansas has been clicking on all cylinders, and they have yet to add top recruit Josh Selby to the rotation. The NCAA ruled recently that Selby can play beginning on December 18. So far without Selby, Kansas is shooting a Division I best 57.8% from the field. Their average margin of victory (35.3 PPG) is also tops in the nation. As a team, they are averaging 22 assists per game. The Morris brothers have been outstanding so far. Marcus Morris leads the team in scoring at 19 PPG, while brother Markieff is averaging 12.3 PPG and a team-high 9.5 RPG. Tyshawn Taylor has been stellar so far at the point, averaging a team high 7.2 APG to complement his 9.2 PPG.
After a 3-0 start, Ben Howland’s Bruins lost in the semifinals and then the consolation game of the Preseason NIT Championship in Madison Square Garden. Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson leads the Bruins in points and rebounds (17.6 PPG, 10.4 RPG), and totaled 30 points and 23 rebounds in the two losses in New York City. Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt (14.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG) are both sophomores, and headline a young Bruins club that does not have a single senior on the team. The poise and discipline of this UCLA team will be sorely tested on Kansas’ home floor. The Bruins have totaled 84 assists and 81 turnovers this season. The combination of a young team that doesn’t protect the basketball, playing in a hostile road environment against an experienced team that has won 64 straight on its home floor and loves to pressure the ball looks like a bad combination for the baby bears. Normally when Kansas and UCLA play, that smell in the air is tradition. Thursday night in Lawrence, that won’t be tradition you’re whiffing, but more like the smell of a young team getting smoked.
69% of action is betting that the Jayhawks will cover the big spread against the Bruins.
KANSAS is 20-5 ATS (+14.5 Units) when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 80%) over the last 3 seasons. The average score was KANSAS 80.3, OPPONENT 63.6 - (Rating = 3*).
NCAA Sellout?
2021-06-25
In the years to come we will all look back on this era as a time of change. A time when we inaugurated our first black president, a period that saw our economy turn upside down, and an entire nation affected…even the NCAA, and NCAA betting
The media has been in a frenzy over the expansion of the Pac-10 conference and the possibility of a completely dismantled Big 12. On Thursday, Commissioner Larry Scott announced the dawning of a new day for the Pac-10, as Colorado’s president graciously accepted the invitation to join the ten other West Coast schools. This news may come as a shock from a geographical standpoint. But UCLA head football coach Rick Neuheisel thinks that Colorado will be a perfect fit, “From a proximity standpoint, its closer to Los Angeles than Seattle is,” he said, NCAA betting is not so sure.
Nice one Rick, but the difference is not that great, only about 100 miles, especially considering that the distance from LA to Seattle is over a 900 mile long journey. Make no mistake that Larry Scott is getting his kicks in Denver dollar signs. Why else would anyone want to alter a conference that has been at the pinnacle of college athletic success for the past 30 years? The addition of Colorado is the first to take place since the addition of the two Arizona schools in 1978.
Mama always said, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. As if the expansion of the NCAA tournament wasn’t bad enough? No, yet again college sports fans everywhere will fall victim to the power of the almighty dollar, their opinions ignored and their input invalid.
Is their no sense of tradition, no sense of pride? I for one, admire Texas’ determination to preserve what is left of the Big-12, as they denied their invitation into the Pac-10 late Wednesday. The Big 12 is back, and the Texas rivalries intact, for now. But the additional departure of Nebraska to the Big 10 leaves the conference with ten teams, which would make playing a conference championship game impossible due to NCAA regulations that require a minimum of twelve teams to be present. This will only add to the mess and controversy that surrounds the BCS each year.
To me it seems like a lot of nonsense for nothing. The Pac-10 and Big 12 have acquired two middle of the road teams at best. Colorado adds no competitive value to either football or basketball, and both of those teams will face a challenge as mountainous as the Flat Irons in the near future, as they face a Pac-10 that will be revamped with even more talent for the upcoming 2011 and 2012 seasons. Perhaps now is the time to take advantage of the proximity to LA, and start recruiting some transfers from USC.
As for the Big 10, Nebraska has been a bottom tier team in the Big 12 in recent years, and that will not change. Their addition will hardly be noticeable. As a matter of fact, I thought Nebraska was already in the Big 10.
In all seriousness, this has been much ado over nothing; except for the Denver TV market that Larry Scott finally got his hands on. When it’s all said and done, when you are dealing with cash, you usually get change. Where do you do your NCAA betting? Head over to www.here where everybody bets.