Going to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving, I was expecting to have a
good time on the trip but come out of it with a little less money.
The first thing I did upon arriving at the Tropicana on Wednesday
was sit down to play some blackjack.
After losing 60 dollars in 15 minutes of five dollar blackjack
(a seemingly impossible feat), I realized that unless I stopped the
bleeding, I would be out of money by the time I went to sleep.
After then losing 40 dollars in five minutes playing craps, it
became imperative to find a sure moneymaker.
So I retreated to the sports book. Perusing the college
basketball board, I found my proverbial gold mine.
There, written on the wall like a beacon of light, was the
UCLA-Georgia Tech line.
UCLA by 2.
I thought it was a misprint. No way were the young Yellow
Jackets expected to keep it close with the experienced Bruins.
Georgia Tech had four freshmen in its rotation, two of them
starting. The Bruins, on the other hand, had five starters with
serious game-time experience.
It was the kind of line a disgruntled gambler dreams of.
Because I’m basically a coward, I only put 40 dollars on
it, but the game’s finish was as foregone a conclusion as me
losing all of my money by night’s end.
UCLA 88, Georgia Tech 73.
The No. 5 Bruins beat a Kentucky team the night before, despite
the fact that UCLA’s only sure scoring came from within three
feet of the hoop. The Bruins beat a BYU team earlier in the year,
despite the fact that the Cougars couldn’t miss from the
3-point line. UCLA had given no indication that it was
overrated.
So why the two-point line?
I can only assume that people (Vegas, the pollsters, Dick
Vitale, ESPN) are once again overestimating the loss of Jordan
Farmar.
Look, Farmar was a good player. He had a good floor presence and
he kept things under control.
But he was also a turnover machine and not so hot at shooting.
How much of that was his continuously sprained ankles and how much
of it was him, I don’t know.
All I know is that Darren Collison right now is better than
Farmar ever was. Collison is currently averaging 7.8 assists. This
is spectacular, considering that three of the four teams he’s
faced are acknowledged to be good. Last year, during the year that
propelled him to being a first-round pick in the NBA Draft, Farmar
averaged 5.1 assists to go along with 3.6 turnovers. Collison, by
comparison, is averaging just 2.5 turnovers.
He’s also averaging more points (14) than Farmar did.
The point here is that the Bruins do not miss Farmar, especially
not in early-season games. Yes, Farmar had some serious chutzpah
(to borrow a phrase an Irishman should never use) and was always
there to take (and sometimes make) the big shots.
But this was an early-season game in a season-opening tournament
in front of a neutral, calm crowd. No way were the Bruins going to
be missing their big-shot-taking, big-turnover-making former point
guard.
Two points was simply an awful line.
The Yellow Jackets came in as the No. 19 team in the nation, and
they played pretty well. But expecting them to hang with the
Bruins, a team that is likely even better than last year, when it
made a run to the NCAA Championship game, was simply foolish. Vegas
should be ashamed.
Las Vegas should also be ashamed for dealing David 15s
against the dealer’s 10 on every hand. E-mail him at
dwoods@media.ucla.edu.