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Joke Vrankovic lost his best forward in Ankara. Ramel Bradley's injury has a significant influence on the team, and it must be obvious in their offense. The American who came will help on the defense more, and he's not a back player. Besides, he only joined the team and he can hardly be the key player today. Banvit have a good defense without a doubt, all you have to do to make sure is to take a look at their previous games. They conceded 72 points against UNICS on Tuesday, including a three pointer in the last second. The margin is set to 157,5, and the only match where Banvit went over that this season was in the first round of the Cup, when they defeated the offensive Trabzon 85-81. The last six have been under this margin. Telekom went over in both league matches, but Tofas was the away game, and Gaziantep at home, so these games are not the same as the one against Banvit. Details

We have an interesting tendency of rising margins in this game, and I definitely cannot agree with that. What's it about? Galata beat Aliaga in the Cup 80-63. Aliaga have gone under 150 points in all five official games. Randle will debut today, they have fired Thomas and despite the good stats from the American, I doubt he can make an impact on the league's worst attack. On the other hand, we have Galatasaray who are coming after a tiring game against Olympiacos. Coach Ataman lost Jawai, he played the entire third quarter with the same 5. His main players are tired and they have to go to Malaga on Thursday for a much more important game against Unicaja. This means that Ataman will make lots of rotations and Arroyo will not play much, and neither will some other players. This leads me to believe they will try to win this through defense, that is, in an under. Galata have gone over in the last four games, but these were the games against Siena, Efes, Besiktas and OIympiacos, and they have nothing to do with today's game. Details

Statistically speaking, Cesson have the second worst defense in the league. It's not realistic, though, because they played against Montpellier, PSG, Chambery and St. Raphael, the best teams in the league. PSG scored 41 goal against them, and that's what gives them such a bad image. However, their defense is not bad at all, and they proved it when they won against Montpellier, where they had a lot of counter-offense actions based on the good defense, and again against St. Raphael, and then again against Nimes, who they left with only 22 goals on their own court. Aix from this season and the last one, when they played with Karabatic, have nothing to do with each other. They have 26-25 in two home games against the offensive St. Raphael, and 27-30 against Chambery. This game is extremely important for them, because Dijon and Nimes started winning, and Aix are going to be in the middle of the relegation battle. I can't agree with the almost 60 goals margin for this game. Aix offense is pretty barren, and Cesson's defense will be able to control it, with goalie Genty defending in top shape lately, and not being under 16 saves in the last four games. Details

The season has just begun, and Scariolov's Laboral look like a crashed army. PAO lost against Rytas so they will be especially hyped, like they were in the league round after that defeat, where they left Panelefsiniakos on incredible 35 points. Laboral have lost against Real with 33 difference, and in such a match barely scored 72 points. Today they will be without some very important players such as Kelati, San Emeterio, and possibly without Hamilton. Since earlier they're missing Hanga and Mainoldi. They will hardly be able to do anything in a shape like this, and they can't score more than 70 points against the defensive Greeks. The offer is available at Marathon, Bwin, SportingBet... Details

The Paris locker room is rather disunited, PSG seem nothing like a real team. This is reflected in their results, and especially in their game. St. Raphael are a team who can beat any team in France on a good day, I am sure of that. If Barachet contributes another 10 minutes of top-quality handball today, although it will be questionable after a seven-month break, they will do even better. But even without him, they are capable of threatening the stars from Paris. This season, in the matches against stronger rivals, the Parisians gathered a defeat against Metalurg, a draw against Vardar, +1 against Chambery and Montpellier, a draw in Toulouse, +4 against Minsk... You can forget about the demolishing of Aix and Cesson. That has nothing to do with today's match, and you should make the most of this handicap. Details

They played a few days ago in the cup (35-29) and now we have an unrealistically high margin. These are two great defensive teams and this game ended with 64 goals as it was decided early. Holstebro will be fully motivated and pumped up today, and they have to rely on the defense because their first-team back player Michael Damgaard will be absent, due to red card suspension in the first round. This will be a lot tougher game and coach Jorgensen said that he wants to see his players fight for every ball. Holstebro have had only 1 game with over 56 goals in 8 rounds (away against Ribe 35-28), while GOG have four overs and four unders. Details

Montpellier will today miss Tejo more than Omeyer. This might sound weird, but it truly is so. Siffert was better at the goal in the season onset, and Tejo is impossible to replace adequately. Gaber might be a good player but he is not in the same class as Tejo. Chambery have a good choice for their front court, even greater than Montpelier I daresay. In the two matches against PSG they demonstrated quality, top notch handball. This is a match where no additional motivation is needed, and I think we will not see a one sided match as was the case in their previous games. Chambery can win this…

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Gentile is the crucial offense option of Milano, next to Langford, and it's clear he'll take a lot of balls. He scored 19 against Efes in Istanbul, even though they've lost with 20 points difference. He played 30 minutes. He played a lot less in the championship, and still went over the today's margin. These 11,5 are too low, and I think one of the best Italian Eurobasket players will go over it. Details

Bilbao are just too underestimated here, and I simply can't see why. Granted, Sassari are a tough side when playing at home, and their style of play is not that common in European competitions. However, if someone can match their fast paced rhythm, then it's teams from Spain. The ACB league has the highest tempo in Europe. Just last season in the Eurocup Sassari lost at home to Orleans and Zvezda, and beat a youthful Cajasol side by three points. Bilbao have had a bad start to the season, but they still found themselves in an excellent position at Fuenlabrada last weekend, only to throw away a 15 point lead in the last quarter. That certainly had an influence on these odds. The Italian side don't have a player that can defend against Mumbrú, and they don't have an answer for center Gabriel, who can even score 3-4 three pointers per game. The question is will the Italians find a way to deal with the energetic Hervelle, while in López and possibly even Grimau the Basque team have players that can cause problems for Dienere, who certainly won't score 18 points in a single quarter like he did last weekend against Cantu. If it wasn't for his contribution, it's hard to say if his team would have won that game. Details

Until the bookmakers decide to lift the margin up more significantly, we shouldn't back away from playing Lemgo's over. They force a fast game, with a fast center and a lot of running. That ended their first match against Minden 31-31, and since today they'll be getting back an important right back for the setup defense, then Lemgo will score their quota again. Minden have Doder, Bilbi, Svitlica... on the offense, enough players to follow the rhythm of the game. If they scored 30 against Hamburg in the away game last weekend, played 29-29 against Bergischer, 28-29 in a big local derby against Lubbecke, I don't see why this one wouldn't be a 60 goals margin. Details

Midtjylland have great back court with Holm on the left back and Gjessing, they also have many other good players and they dominate the second league. Their win over Aalborg in the Cup proves they already have what it takes to compete in the first league. They limited Danish champions to 25 goals and went trough and today they are hosting tired Mors, a team that played in Norway and are without their right back who suffered an injury. Home team are definitely at advantage in this game and I would not be surprised to see them in Final Four. Mors struggle with opponents that play tough defense, that is how they lost against Kodling, BSV and Holstebro and today they are facing another tough and solid defense. Details

Wisla are good, no question about it, and Manolo Cadenas is a top notch coach, possibly the best Spanish coach at the moment. I am still not sure that the Polish team knows what they will be up against in the game. KIF lost a single game this year, against Kiel, at home, where they stood a chance of taking a draw, they were 12 points in the lead in the first half, and they won against all big competitors in Denmark; Aalborg, Skjern, Holstebro and Bjerringbro. Karlsson is said to be back for today, and Bosen playing would not be a surprise as well. Their defensive line is complete, the same that gave no opportunities to Dunquerque in France. Hvidt is a great goalie and I am certain that Nenadic, Jurkiewitz Lijewski and Eklemovic will have big problems penetrating the 6-0 formation that features Boldsen, Laen and Jorgensen.The offered odds are unrealistic and I must bet on the Danes winning considering their score up to now. Details

Obradovic has turned Fener into a killing machine. They scored 100 against Mersin at the start of this season, then 102 in Kiev (61 in the second half). Their defense isn't at a top level, which is not surprising as they are missing important players (Onan and Karaman). They are hosting a team without the width that they have, but Efes can wreak havoc in offense. Savanovic is stronger than Bjelica, Planinic is better than McCalebb in certain aspects, and we can expect better performance from him than last week, when he wasn't his usual self. Both teams have usually gone over this margin, and I don't see this as a low-scoring event. Not with this Fener and the game they showed at the start. Details

Murcia have been an offense oriented team ever since Quintana took over. Even more so this season after the new signings joined this summer. They scored 93 points against Fuenlabrada in the start. They are usually doing good against Gran Canaria, they beat them here last season, and they scored 78, 91, and 76 points in their last three head to head matches respectively. I expect a good game today as well, Gran Canaria, (who scored 99 points against Laboral away in the first match), seem to be even better than last season, and coach Martinez tried to stick to the concept he established in the last seasons. He had to led Nelson and Toolson go, but replaced them with players if similar quality, and even managed to create a better team. I'll give Murcia more credit than the bookmakers, I'll try go over 72,5 for the visiting team, which is available with numerous bookmakers (Marathon, Bwin, SportingBet, and so on). Details

The previous matches they've both played at the beginning of the season point out to a lot of faults in the defense in both teams. Bilbao have at home conceded almost 90 against Zaragoza, then a little less than 80 against Cedevita, who aren't exactly an offensive force. Both matches were on 160 points. I won't even mention the clash against Real: Real is another dimension for Bilbao at this point. Fuenlabrada have an older team of five, with point guard Cabezas for whom defense isn't the strongest point, and there are other players here who prefer offense to defense (Feldeine, Panko). Since I see both teams at around 80 points, I think this margin should be followed. Last season, when both of the teams possessed bigger quality in the defense area, they played matches at 172 and 169 points. Details

Valencia scored 75 points against Barcelona last weekend and then 85 against Paris with a lot of careful management of the main players. Today they are playing their first home match and Lucic is back in the rotation. He looked great in preseason matches and with him Valencia were at neat 90 points. We will often see Perasovic's team at those numbers this season. They play an attractive basketball, have excellent shooters and can keep up that rhythm. Against Bruesa they will have a big advantage in the paint and in rebounds and when Valencia take advantage in rebounds, then it means a lot of running as well. Bruesa are extremely weak in the paint and they depend a lot on Doblas and already in the first round at home against Cajasol they had 10 rebounds less. Today they face an even more difficult task. Details

Bergischer are way underestimated here and I'm willing to believe they'll win this, rather than lose. They crushed Hamburg at home, and played a top game last week at Goppingen, and got a point. Today they'll try to attack Magdeburg's weaker defense, which has been affected by Landsberg, Onet and Rojewski not playing. The first two are pivots, and that means Jurecki will have to play a lot. Since they change offense-defense, mostly Wiegert, I'm sure Bergischer will be looking for their chance there. When it comes to running and the rhythm, they're the masters, coach Hinze insists on it. I absolutely believe they have a chance to get points. Details

In the four official matches this season, Aliaga Petkim didn't go over 64 points. Therefore, you cannot expect them to go over 75 today, in an important away match against the direct rival in the relegation battle. Selcuk might not be the best defensive team of the league, but we don't expect an offensive rhapsody today. Last week at Besiktas Selcuk conceded 81 point, while they left Besiktas on 14 in the first period. They didn't do their job with rebounds, they had an incredible 25 rebounds less, Besiktas scored a lot of three-pointers and with all that combined they were left on low 81. Aliaga won't score that much... Details

Cesson have shown two faces so far in the season, the playful and running in clashes against the teams that have a mighty offense. Against Chambery they played 30:30, they lost to PSG 41-27, and won against Montpellier 34-32. Against Nantes and Ivry we've seen matches under 50 goals, and those are defense teams. Today another offense-oriented team comes to Rennes, a team that with Morten Olsen plays very fast handball and my expectations go towards a match with 60 goals. Last season when St. Raphael was weaker, and Cesson with almost the same roster as today, it was 28-28 in Rennes, while Casson won the away match with 30-28. Details

Scariolo should never be trusted. The man destroyed Milano last season and the way he started off in Vitoria he could do the same thing there as well. They lost at home against Barcelona 25 and were losing about 15 points against Gran Canaria and then lost in overtime. Today they are facing a better team than Gran Canaria who left them with 71 and 62 points last season. These 62 were in the same arena where they play today and then Maccabi won in the Top 16 phase 66-62. The Israelis started the championship with a loss against Hapoel Holon but without their best defensive player Smith who will be in rotation this evening. I think they have a better team than Laboral and a far better coach and I wouldn't be surprised if they won. Ingles will be a great reinforcement for them, Smith will cover Nocioni, Rice can block both Hodge and Heurtel, Hickman is a better shot than Jelinek and Causuer... Maccabi are a better defensive team than Scariolo's Laboral so I will take the Spaniards under 79 points. Details