betprepare.com

This Romanian selection is filled with young, inexperienced but also low quality players. The barely managed to beat Italy 23-22 in an away game, and are going against an even stronger defense than the Italian one today. If Slovakia can play something well, it is defense, with their quality goalies. Neither of the teams have top players in the outer positions, the Slovaks are also missing Daniel Valo, a very important right back, and as the game is very important, one cannot expect a goal-fest. Details

Usak Sportif are a new team in the league, and also one of the lower ranked teams that puts more focus on the defense than say Olin, Trabzon, Selcuk, Telekom... Mersin are their direct competitors, coming with extra motivation after winning the last round match against the currently worst defense of the league, that of Trabzon. The result Mersin scored is the reason for such a high margin today, but this is, in my opinion, unrealistic in this game. Mersin got sunk with a hundred points in the first round against Fener, which we should disregard as Fener are among the best teams in Europe. Then they lost a hot away game in Izmir 96-63 vs Karsiyaka who had an insane three pointer evening, and in the end won the game mentioned earlier vs Trabzon 97-87. I don't believe we will be seeing something similar today. This is an important game, and the away team's coach commented that his period, meaning November when they are playing teams of their own ranking, will decide their ranking this season. Therefore I expect them to be very motivated, as Mersin are not without their chances here. Details

The game they played last night behind closed doors had 56 goals scored in it, and today there will be more than 8000 people in Debrecen. The local arena is the second largest in Hungary, with the largest one in Budapest able to accommodate 12 thousand viewers. The tickets have long been sold out, the world champion is an attractive opponent, and there is no doubt we will see a fully competitive game on both sides. They played 3x20 minutes and the score reached 56 goals only due to the 13:10 in the last 20 minutes. If the 40 minutes of a preparatory match reached 17:16 for the Spaniards, then there can be no doubt that this game will be much more intense and motivating, especially for the Hungarians, whose offense vs a set up defense has not been much for years now. They played 22-28 vs this Spanish team in Spain at the World Championship, and won 20-18 vs Croatia at home. This may be a friendly game, but I'm not expecting hugs and kisses on both sides. The 8000+ crowd will not come to see ballet, you can be sure of that. Details

After the defeats against Banvit and Selcuk, Aliaga used Galata's fatigue and relaxed game last weekend to win, and today, they're facing another big club. But, the situation is drastically different, Aliaga lost their coach this week, and now an important national player is suspended. Fenerbahce are a machine without a mercy. Lead by Obradovic, who simply won't allow any mercy, and whoever he wants to use, will play maximum. There are no doubts about that. If Aliaga lost to Banvit with 12 difference, I don't see this one being under 15. Details

The Czech coach pointed out they haven't been scoring much considering they have Horak and Jirach in their lines, and also Sklenak who can pull for a faster game. This is a training match where they'll focus on the offense, and Serbia with Nenadic, Rnic, Ilic, and Vujin can be a match for that, in my opinion. Serbians went over the 52,5 margin in the last four games, and today, they're lead by the coach Celja for the first time. He prefers fast transitions, and with everything in mind, we'll take this margin. Details

Both teams are without their first goalies, Landin and Omeyer, so I don't expect things to prevail in that segment. What's obvious is that Onesta chose the wrong match to mix with the defense. While there are a lot of questionable performances, Denmark are a team who play well together, who have been together for a lot of years, and who are favorites today, in my opinion. Hansen and Sondergaard are definitely on the back positions, and also the wings that haven't changed for years. Mensah Larsen will probably take the middle back position, he's been in top shape in Aalborg. Wilbek called the three best pivots he has, Kiel's Toft Hansen, Noddesbo from Barcelona, and he's willing to wait Knudsen forever, in spite all of his injures. The French have only one right back, Nyokas, who hasn't been in a situation like this in the national team, as the first option, so we can expect to see Fernandez on the right side. Narcisse's shape is questionable, and Karabatic is constant. Abalo has been playing less and less lately, so Denmark seem a better team at the moment. Details

Maccabi have been tanking the national league, and getting criticisms every step of the way. Blatt's been trying to calm things down saying it's not important to win in October, but what's important is what will happen in April and May. There's some truth to that, but being defeated in the league can serve as an extra motive if nothing else, because Blatt's not been playing league games with the complete team. He rotated the players a lot, leaving important players on the stands. Maccabi are miserable in the defense without Devin Smith. Today, of course, they'll be complete again, even though Blatt's been mentioning some minor injuries that trouble him. I'm convinced we'll see them in their real state today, in the defense first of all, where they have to work a lot harder. They scored 15 three-pointers against Zvezda, and there was no need to play the defense. They scored a lot of points in the first part against Vitoria, and then played a lot better in the defense later on. Kuban won two games, but they're far from making anyone feel awe. They scored two points from the game in the second quarter against Zvezda, and turned the game over with three pointers by Jasaitis and Williams. Blatt's players won't allow something like that. Kuban scored 68 against Rytas, and 71 against Maccabi in the pre-season game. Since today a match with a lower number of points is expected, I don't think Kuban will get to 80... Details

One should take a closer look at Unicaja's game in which they scored lots of points and see that these are all teams a few levels below them, like Stelmet, Estudiantes or Cajasol. They played a 130-point game against Olympiacos and 144 against Valencia. They are hosting the wounded Galatasaray and if one thing is for certain, then it is that Ataman will not want to rush anywhere. Since Unicaja are without their best two shooters Urtasun and Toolson, it is not realistic to expect them to have a shooting spree as against, say Galatasaraya and Siena in Italy. This could be a 60-something: 60-something game and this margin is quite appealing. Details

The fact that Olimpija left many teams on some 60 points has nothing to do with today's game. Valencia are a machine and the least number of points they got was against Unicaja and Barcelona - 75 and 74, respectively. In all other games, they went well over 80 points and this team is expected to stay within the margins against Unicaja and Barcelona against a poor and thin Oimpija. In addition, Valencia scored 74 against Unicaja with only 14 points in the last quarter. Unicaja with Dragic, Suarez, Vasquez is a totally different dimension in terms of defense, than the team Pipan has. Valencia are hard to defend against, they have the width, they have the quality, they are organized, they have tall players that can shoot 3-pointers (Dubljevic, Aguilar) and widen the paint... This will go over 80! Details

This is where Greece's routine and experience with quality back court must come to fruition. The Dutch have many players in the 2nd Bundesliga, but their wings are their strongest positions that, with all due respect, do no make the difference. Greeks are strong on the wings, but their back players are much better than the Dutch ones. Vasilakis, Riganas and Alvanos on the right, Balomenos and Evangelidis from Post Schwerin on the left, Chalkidis and Tzoufras from Hildesheima as pivots, solid wings Tzimourtos and Papadopoulos...This team is made to fight for the first place and go into the play-offs, which is their primary goal, and this game is crucial for that. They've played against the Dutch many times, their last away game ended 30-30 and they won at home by 30-23. They know how to deal with them and I don't believe Netherlands can win this by 3 points. Details

The Bulgarias conceded 84 against Hapoel, and 85 against Hiki, with Russians being able to go over 90 if not for huge oscillations. Karsiyaka are 3-pointer machine run by Diebler and Dixon. They scored over 90 in many games, they got 80 against Asesoft last week, they dominated against Efes until the refs started to "take" things from them. At home they are much stronger due to great atmosphere in Izmir, the European competition is very important for them and the Bulgarians will have a tough time tonight, especially with the defense they have lately. Details

Zvezda are stronger on their home court and Szolnoki are better at home than away. They conceded 87 points against Cibona away and 71 against Zadar away, and Zadar were really terrible then. Last season, they conceded 96 and 103 against Zvezda, and the Zvezda of today is even stronger in offence as they gained a lot with Schilb, Jenkins and Blazic, even Marjanovic because now they control and dominated the rebounds and get lots of offensive rebounds. Considering that Hungarians have many problems playing against aggressive and strong defense (and this is what they're up against), they will concede lots of points from transitions and counters. The Hungarians will have a hard time defending penetration by Blazic, Nelson, and Jenkins and if this Zvezda conceded 88 against Radnicki and 84 against Maccabi in Israel, they should score 82 against Szolnoki. True, this is a different game than the ones mentioned and cannot be compared to the game in Israel, but there will be no margin for error here. Radonjic is not that kind of coach and the last thing Zvezda need ahead of the game against Panathinaikos is a blunder.They will keep things tight at the back, try to get points in the transition and break the game as soon as possible. Due to possible rotations in the second half, I recommend a smaller stake. Details

Taking a look at Karsyiaka's results, maybe this tip doesn't make much sense, but the circumstances and the matchup make me think this will be a game with a lower number of points. Efes lost two initial games, conceding 84 and 85 points against Galata and Fener, and if they lose a third one in a row, it won't be good. Nobody wants it, but in order to avoid it, they first and foremost have to stop the Karsyiaka's backcourt shot, since it's their biggest asset. Their frontcourt isn't that prominent, as much as the position three with Dixon, Diebler and some other players. I'm convinced Mahmuti will insist on it and require some extra effort from Planinic, Gordon, and Vasileiadis. He'll probably send Gordon to Dixon, and try to neutralize the Izmir's team main player. Efes, on the other hand, depend on the foreigners a lot, as do the Karsyiaka, and since the number of the foreigners on the court is limited in Turkey, both teams are weaker in the national competitions than they are in Europe. Efes showed they can play a good defense, leaving Milano with 67, and Strasbourg with 66 points. They had good defense matches in the Cup, just like Karsyiaka who had 142 points in the Banvit game. Since both teams kept a certain number of players from the last season, we point out that they played three matches last year, and none went over 140 points. Efes had Farmar then... Details

If HSV didn't have Domagoj Duvnjak, I'd take this bet with everything I have, but considering the qualities that that player has - he almost defeated Kiel single-handedly last season in the Champions league semifinals, I would play more carefully. HSV have a more expensive team, a wider bench and bigger names. But they don't have a better team, and I mean everything that goes with it - team spirit, playing as a team, the sense of togetherness, locker room atmosphere. Markovic and Dordic are awful defense players, Pfahl isn't on his 100%, and that means problems in defense. Fuchse have a better chemistry, a better defense... Hamburg had an 11 wins series, but you can see a drop in their last few games. They barely managed to win with 2 points difference against Aalborg, who play with kids and only two real back players. They've lost to Goppingen, and this game against Fuchse is a special one. This will be a real little war, and Fuchse should have kicked them out from the Champions league at the beginning of the season, but they didn't have Christopherson then. Sigurdsson is a bit better coach than Schwalb, and I don't doubt he'll prepare for the game better. Fucshe almost had wins against Lowen and Flensburg, but ended with unfortunate draws They'll make up for that bad luck today. Details

I cannot say with absolute certainty but I think Vujosevic is interested in today's game as I am in weather forecast for Kansas City. This is why: they played a high-pressure game against Nanterre two days ago and they had no margin for errors there, as their chances to progress in Euroleague are already at risk. They haven't had a decent preparation for today's game. Westermann played over 30 minutes, as did Milosavljevic, Lauvergne played 27, Kinsey 26, Gagic had cramps...This was really tiring and as they travel to Kiev next week for their game against Budivelnik, it is clear that Vujosevic has to rest his main players. Partizan won't tank the game, but they won't go with full force. They have no real replacement for Westermann and this is where problems will occur. If Macedonians weren't weakened I would put my money on their win, this way I will try an under 75.5 on Partizan. Partizan scored 64 and 68 in their two head-to-head games last season. Just remember what they looked like against Krka just a few days before the game against a much more important game against Barcelona. Krka's defense is much stronger that MZT's, no question about that, but points are hard to come by in Skopje and I am sure Partizan will have some difficulties. Details

I think that the bookmakers missed out on an important thing here. Real, like they are now, are killing the opponents with their defense. They conceded 61 point against Bilbao, 79 against Barcelona, 53 against Valladolid, 63 against Zalgiris, 72 against Laboral, and 58 against Bamberg. It doesn't matter if they lead with 10, 15, or 30 points difference, they don't relax on the defense, and they're grinding the whole match like that. None of those teams, with the exception of Valladolid, are worse than Murcia, who, in the last five seasons against Real, scored over 74 points only once. They were under 70 points in both matches last season, and I point that out because Real kept the same roster, and only enhanced the defense. Murcia scored 93 against Fuenlabrada, with 30 in the last quarter, and 69 against Gran Canaria in the away game. Murcia's defense can hardly measure with Real's, and we've just got to play this today. Details

Bilbao have played a great game at Sassari, even though the fluctuations are still visible. They lost at Fuenlabrada, they lost against Zaragoza at home, they struggled against Cedevita. Gran Canaria are a better team than all of them, and I honestly think they would beat Italians without much problem. And I think they will also beat Bilbao today as well. Forget the fact that the game is played in Bilbao, they already had an away game in Basque country and beat Laboral at the start of the season, and they beat Murcia later on. They can cope with Bilbao, they have enough options, they can guard Gabriel and they can take care of everything Bilbao throw at them and I believe they will remain undefeated after 3rd round. This Gran Canaria looks really convincing. Details

Valladolid are still rebuilding their team, players come and go every week, and it is hard to expect such a team to cope with Europe's best. Casajol almost beat Bruesa away in the first round. They had no chance against Unicaja, but Unicaja are in a world of their own right now, much like Casajol is miles above Valladolid. The axis of this team is the same as last year (Satoranski, Sastre, Williams) and so is coach Aito. Valladolid have everything new, and have no real alternative for their point guard, as the new player joined on Wednesday and Casajol simply have to win this one Details

Bruesa's defense this season is much better than the one last season, and they even left Joventut at 73 points in their home court then. Joventut had a great,offensively-minded point guard Alberto Olivero who is now in Gran Canaria. Right now, Joventut's offense is lead by a player who turned 20 last week, while Canadian point guard Cochran is injured. Sito Alonso will make his due Neto-Salgao to put the most pressure here. Joventut scored 80 against Barcelona but this was mostly due to Barcelona's lax start of the game. Bruesa are aware that they have to win at home and they will try to impose themselves from the start. They have left all their opponents under 80 points in the pre-season, Casajol scored 71 at the start, and I won't count the 87 points by Valencia since they are a few levels above them. Joventut is team on the same level as they are. Details

Kolding have played a few impressive games in the past 2 weeks. They disposed of their great rivals, such as Dunkerque or Wisla, through excellent defensive work. Today they are facing one of the relegation candidates, a team which they beat 31-25 in the pre-season. Boesen's return was announced, which means they can finally put three back players in the back court, and stop playing with 2 pivots. This will give their attacks more flow and faster ball movement, and Boesen will provide them with a constant threat for their opponents' goal. This game is played in the big arena in Copenhagen and not in the smaller one in Koldin, some 4,000 people are expected and I think Kolding are aware of what the audience needs. Nordsjaelland coach announced more running, and he his aware they have no chance going 6 on 6 which means we can expect a much faster game. Nordsjaelland have had 6 overs on the 51.5 margin in 8 league games, and they only remained on 50 and 49 goals against Ribe and Skive, respectively. I expect a slightly more efficient performance by Kolding for a change. Details