NBA owners, players still "miles apart"
Basketball Betting Lines
10/01/2011 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is still no resolution to the NBA's labor strife despite owners and players meeting Saturday for more than seven hours in an effort to resolve the long dispute.
The parties are expected to meet on Monday, however, because they are apparently "miles apart," according to union executive director Billy Hunter. NBA commissioner David Stern said the two sides will meet in small groups Monday and the larger groups would come back on Tuesday to continue negotiating.
"We're not near anything, but wherever that is, it's closer than we were before," Stern said. "We had a long, engaging and in some ways exhausting two days. We exchanged a lot of ideas, concepts, some may even call proposals, but we don't get hung up on that."
Union president Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Lakers said there were no "major economic discussions."
Instead, owners and players focused mostly on how to attack the salary cap.
"When want a system that's somewhat reflective of the system that currently is," Hunter said. "They obviously want a hard salary cap. They moved off the hard salary cap, but in the process they've coupled a lot of other things with it now that they think they're entitled to they should make things more competitive. That's where the conflict or disagreement is."
Hunter said the union is "not quite comfortable" as to the latest proposal of the NBA's owners.
On September 23, the league announced its decision to postpone training camps and cancel 43 preseason games. Camps were slated to open October 3 and preseason games were scheduled to begin six days later. All exhibition games from October 9 through October 15 have been canceled.
Coming into the weekend, Stern said he wanted to see significant progress in the talks. There was even a report that he would threaten the cancellation of the season to the players if that progress was not made.
"If we didn't think there was any hope, we wouldn't be scheduling the meetings," Stern said of Monday's and Tuesday's expected negotiations. "That's the best I would say right now."
The regular season is set to open November 1, provided there is a new collective bargaining agreement.
"Our desire would be to not cancel," Stern said. "We had been hopeful that this weekend would be a broader marker, but for reasons which we understand the players suggested we resume on Monday and we said 'fine.'"
Hunter added that owners still want players to receive 46 percent of basketball-related income in a new deal and not the 57 percent that was in the last labor agreement.
The NBA locked out its players on July 1 after the most recent labor deal between the two sides expired. Unlike the labor strife that caused NFL lockout, which long appeared to be solvable, the problems facing the NBA have led observers to warn about a prolonged dispute like the one that canceled the 2004-05 NHL season.
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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds
Will he or won't he? Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.
Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.
"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."
Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.
Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.
But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.
Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback. It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.
Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Baltimore Ravens 15-1
Buffalo Bills 50-1
Carolina Panthers 18-1
Chicago Bears 10-1
Cincinnati Bengals 15-1
Cleveland Browns 100-1
Dallas Cowboys 15-1
Denver Broncos 15-1
Detroit Lions 100-1
Green Bay Packers 50-1
Houston Texans 100-1
Indianapolis Colts 6-1
Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1
Kansas City Chiefs 30-1
Miami Dolphins 40-1
Minnesota Vikings 75-1
New England Patriots 10-1
New Orleans Saints 18-1
New York Giants 20-1
New York Jets 30-1
Oakland Raiders 100-1
Philadelphia Eagles 18-1
Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1
Saint Louis Rams 60-1
San Diego Chargers 6-1
San Francisco 49ers 75-1
Seattle Seahawks 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1
Tennessee Titans 40-1
Washington Redskins 50-1
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