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Mbah a Moute headed to World Cup in offseasonBasketball Betting Lines05/05/2010 - MILWAUKEE (AP) -As the Milwaukee Bucks' defensive stopper, Luc Richard Mbah a Mwhen he spends so many of his nights trying to contain the other team's best player. That's about to change. Despite his disappointment after Milwaukee was ousted in the playoffs by Atlanta, the prospect of attending the World Cup in South Africa next month has Mbah a Moute smiling like a little boy and bragging about the Cameroon national team's chance to advance. ``I've never been, so this will be my first time,'' he said. ``You can see how excited I am.'' While many NBA players want to get as far away from the sports world as they can in the offseason - Bucks veteran Jerry Stackhouse said he planned to ``find some salt water'' as soon as possible - Mbah a Moute can't wait to root like a fan for his home country's team on African soil. ``Oh, man. Soccer is like religion in Africa,'' he said. ``So for them to have the World Cup on their own continent is something big, huge. People just are thrilled. Everybody's excited about it. And you have a lot of good African teams now, so everybody's excited about African teams to go far into the tournament. It'll be fun to be there in that atmosphere.'' Growing up in Cameroon, Mbah a Moute spent most of his childhood playing soccer before taking up basketball. Switching sports eventually brought him to the U.S., first at a high school in Florida, then to UCLA, and finally to the Bucks as a second-round pick in the 2008 draft. He has become one of the NBA's leading defensive specialists. But Mbah a Moute never lost his love for soccer. ``I played soccer until I was 14, before I started playing basketball,'' he said. ``I'm always a fan, that's my first love. I stay true to it, and I'm always going to love it.'' His Twitter page is filled with just as many thoughts about his favorite soccer team - Spanish league powerhouse Barcelona - as it is about basketball. In a recent interview with a local sports radio station, he talked about soccer instead of basketball. Now Mbah a Moute will spend June following Cameroon's Indomitable Lions while trying to catch a few other teams, perhaps the U.S., England and Brazil, along the way. And sounding every bit like a fan, Mbah a Moute insists Cameroon is going all the way. ``I'm thinking we're going to the final, so I might be there all the way until the final,'' he said, smiling. Cameroon features several players with high-profile European experience, including Samuel Eto'o, a star striker for Inter Milan, and steady midfielder Alex Song, who plays for Arsenal. Conventional wisdom says Ivory Coast or Ghana are the most likely African teams to make a long run in the World Cup this year, but Mbah a Moute believes Cameroon is being overlooked. ``Cameroon is ranked higher than all those other teams, Ivory Coast and Ghana and whoever else,'' he said. ``They have good teams, too. That's why everybody's pretty much excited about African teams and what they're going to do in the tournament.'' His trip to Africa won't be all soccer-related; he'll also host a youth basketball camp. Then he'll spend the rest of the summer working on his own game, trying to develop his offensive skills while continuing to embrace his role as a defensive specialist. ``One of my goals is hopefully to be Defensive Player of the Year one day in my career,'' he said. ``In order to do that, you've got to take on the best. That's what you've got to do. I've got to continue to work on my game, you've got to try to watch as much tape (as possible) to kind of know those guys, see what they're doing. Because guys develop, guys get better. Kevin Durant's not going to be the same player next year, so I've got to try to be a better player as well.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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Estoril, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Roger Federer was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the clay-court Estoril Open, a French Open tune-up. The top-seeded/world No. 1 superstar Federer cruised past G
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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55. Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M. Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early. Memphis vs. Ohio State To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards |
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