How Aware of the Spread are Players?

[PierceAndPierce]

Two part question.

1) How aware of the point spread are players who are actively participating in the game?

The second question, the more important question, is:
2) Does that knowledge influence how they play?

For example, say Allen Iverson knows the Sixers are a 7 point dog against the spurs. There's a minute left in the game, and the Sixers are down by 11. Probably not enough time to tie / win the game, but enough time to make an effort towards covering. So in that situation, would, say, Allen Iverson [Or any other hypothetical NBA player in this situation], think "Well, I'm going to do my best so that my team covers the spread."

In other words, I guess what I'm asking is whether or not players make a conscious effort to cover.

[reachrevolver]

I think on a day to day basis, an NBA basketball player probably doesn't know/doesn't care about the spread on any game unless he has an interest in gambling.. I'm pretty sure though that football players are aware of the spread and use it as motivation if they feel they are being disrespected by the linesmakers.

[rjp]

It's more likely the player doesn't want to get blown out.

The NBA is crazy in that a lot of points can be scored quickly, so most teams play the foul game at the end of games to get an unlikely win.

[canada_dry]

Hopefully it is frowned upon to discuss "spreads" or try to cover. They should be playing to win every night. Playing their best at all times. As a team, who cares if you are 9-1 against the spread, but 0 in 10 in the win column.

But I do wonder how much bs goes on behind the scenes that we don't know about.

How many players ease up/play harder knowing people/friends/associates have bet for or against them.

To think sports is 100% on the up-and-up is naive. A team for example that will def. miss the play offs could easily make sure they don't cover so that the owner of the club/manager/affiliates can all prosper by wagering with the favourite.

Losing by 10 or losing by 14, is still a loss. But if the spread is 10.5, then there is a big difference.

Also, how many players give the heads up to friends etc.. that their club isn't doing so hot. Getting inside info could guarantee a profit at the end of the year.

[wiper]

i'd like to think they wouldn't know/care, but i know that if i were a pro player, as much as i like sports, i know every single time, so i'll assume that most do, especially in football...

i'm pretty sure i remember a story about a college coach who used the point spread as motivation in the pre-game speech...

'they think you're 20 POINT UNDERDOGS!!'

and again, if it's me, i'm just big enough of a dick to try and backdoor cover that 9 point spread in basketball...

announcer: why is he taking it that strong to the hoop with 6 seconds left in a 10 point game??

[Dan82]

ehhh, you know its illegal for players/team personnel to wager on their games right?

[youtalkfunny]

This topic comes up a lot among the sportsbook regulars in Las Vegas. I'm surprised that I've never seen it mentioned here until now.

Most gamblers are convinced that every player knows the line on the game they are playing. This is usually said by people who think the only reason the games are played is to bet on them.

I once told a player that it's silly to think that all the players know the line at all times. He replied, "You don't think Michael Jordan knows the spread?"

I conceded that Jordan probably checks the numbers. Barkley probably did, as well. You could probably name a handful of others. Rick Tocchet? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

In all cases, I can't imagine any of them would do anything differently on the court because of a pointspread. All those guys mentioned want to win. The money they gamble is chump change compared to the money they earn playing, and cannot possibly serve as a motivation for anything.

And I really doubt that a competitor like Iverson would find any consolation in covering a 7-point spread. It's still losing, and nobody likes to lose.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of players HATE IT that the games they are playing in are being wagered on. They don't like the idea of being "poker chips" in somebody else's game. You can rest assured that these players don't know or care what the spread is.

[dankhank]

college football coaches know what the spread is

(so do the alumni)

[wiper]

[ QUOTE ]
ehhh, you know its illegal for players/team personnel to wager on their games right?

[/ QUOTE ]

i'm not talking about betting on my team, i'm talking about that if i were a player, i'd know the lines, and just about everything else about the game, because i'm a sports nut, read the newspaper every day, and i definitely would know what the line and over/under would be..

michael jordan and charles barkley DEFINITELY knew what the lines were for big games, and probably all of the games they played in..

[iggymcfly]

I think football players usually have some idea, especially in the NFL. Like when Indy was a 1 point underdog to Dallas, I figured that would be enough to motivate them and maybe change the actual outcome of the game.

For NBA players though, I really doubt they know the day-to-day lines. They're flying all over the country, trying to play good basketball, and trying to get some R&R time too. No way do they check the paper every day, and be like "ooh, we're a 6.5 point dog against Phoenix".

A lot of commentators don't even know (see Herbstreit's comments during the BC/Miami game), and it's pretty much their job to have some idea.