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The bookmakers are underestimating Gaziantep here. They are the tournament hosts and they played an even match against Karsiyak. They even had a chance to secure the draw but they failed to score in their last attempt. They lost the match 75-72 in the end. Borovnjak and Stevic are looking very good for them this year. These two players are their big advantage, especially as they spent the last season together in Poland so they are working great with each other. Akpinar is also a good player and his role today will be even more important as he will be in charge of stopping Trabzon's Cooley. Trabzon were 16 points behind by the half-time against Banvit yesterday, but they managed to get back in the match in the second half. They have a lot of foreign players in the team and the domestic players they use in the rotation are really not that good. Their roster was clearly made for competing in the European competitions, not the domestic league. Trabzon won against Gaziantep (93-88) in the pre-season match and today I expect a very even match. I think the home team is a lot better than the odds are suggesting. Burrel is Gazientep's point guard today nad Trabzon's El-Amin isn't that much better than him. Penney is Trabzon's best shooter and veteran Erdogan is Gazientep's response for him. The home team has the advantage on the wings and also in the paint as Borovnjak and Stevic are very tall players and their communication is excellent. They also have a much steadier hand than Trabzon's duo Kay Peker and Kulcebas. Details

The quality of Banvit's offense was clearly visible last week in Vilnius, at the Euroleague qualifiers. Attacking will not be a problem for this team, as with Rowlan, Mejia, Simmons, Prepelic and others they have a powerful offense. Some uncertainty remains due to the rule on the mandatory presence of two Turkish players in national league games. Trabzon on the other hand are a new team in the league, but they have Kirk Penney, one of the best scorers in Europe during the past seasons, and their point guard is El-Amin. Those two will be a problem even for the best defenses of the Turkish league. Of course, there is more to Trabzon than just those two players, as they have other good players as well, such as Cooley, Katelyanas, home player Peker... My point is that I expect them to play faster basketball with a lot of points, and that is why I'm going with a 151.5 margin. Details

Although the games Nimes play don't end up with many goals, with the exception of the first round 35-33 defeat to St. Raphaël, the fact remains they play very fast handball, with many fast breaks and lots of shots on goal. Last week they played 27-27 vs Tremblay without their important right back Waeghe, then 29-25 vs St. Raphaël without their first left back Saurina. Toulouse improved their defense compared to last season, but they are still not a defense-oriented team, can score a lot vs anyone, and I'm expecting a 55 goal game today. The play-style of both teams is such that this simply must play out. Details

Cesson do not have a wide roster, so every absence is difficult to make up for. They have been playing without their first middle back Suty ever since the season started, another important back Celica is out for today, and Romain Briffe is in question as well. They lost their last round home game vs PSG 41-28, with Celica scoring 6, and then barely managed to beat Ivry (25-24) in the League Cup. Nantes are in full strength, key backs Entrerrios and Maqueda have returned, they have a better team and their motive is unquestionable, even more so since they lost both their games vs this opponent last year. Details

Dijon are newcomers to the league, and they have lost their opening three matches. So they will treat today's game as a cup final. They now have two home games in a row against relegation battle rivals, and they will be extremely motivated and aggressive today. In the first few rounds they have shown that they play well on defense, unlike on offense. They conceded 25 at Sélestat in their opening match, and then limited Montpellier to 26 at home. Not only that, but they didn't concede a single goal for the last 12 minutes of that game. Aix have won 21-20 against Ivry and 26-25 against St. Raphaël, a team with a lot of good offensive players. They have a good goalkeeping duo and they know how to play good defense. Since Nikola Karabatic left they are no longer that good in offense, and since this is expected to be a scrappy game, this under has a lot of value. Details

Last season they achieved scores of 37-31 and 36-28. In both cases the hosts were victorious. I'm pointing out last season's matches because Lübbecke have basically the same line-up, while Hannover changed it only a bit. They've kept the same coach and the same game philosophy. Lübbecke have shown great offensive periods in last meetings, although their defense is not as strong as coach Beuchler would like it to be, and Hannover are offensively very powerful. Details

In the general rehearsal prior to the start of the championship Zadar have scored 53 points against Siroki who are currently a weaker team than the Hungarians. Szolnoki have already established themselves as a respectable team in the second part of last season who were able to beat strong visiting teams. They've kept the coach (Asceric) who came in the middle of last season, they've kept the game backbone and strengthened it additionally, so this year they'll prove to be a challenge. Zadar is, according to my opinion, the prime favorite to be knocked out of the league, they have convincingly the weakest line-up. The team has been assembled at the eleventh hour, which is a consequence of great financial issues. It was unknown for a long time who will be the head coach. At the end the line-up was somehow assembled with Marko Car, Dijan, the British representative Lawrence, Sobin and Kraljevic from Split, next to Ivanov, Batur and Ramljak who stayed. All in all, a very modest team who currently aren't warmed up one bit, and have a very unconvincing game. The Hungarians have to win, they are currently a better team, and a great option with Croatian bookmakers is Zadar with under 77.5. Details

Bergischer have lost at a home game against Melsungen, and then scored a draw of 29-29 in an away game against Minden. Today I expect another efficient and uncertain match, though I also think that Balingen are clearly underestimated. They are a good team who suffered too many injuries at the start of the season. Last week they put up a good resistance against Hamburg, they played for the first time as the whole line-up and I think that they can reach their points today. The outer line Schilinger - Strobel - Häfner is nothing weaker than the host's with Breggren and Szilagy. Balingen have the better pivot, and I would dare say their wings are better as well. I repeat, I believe they are underestimated, and clearly the better team in this match. Details

Lovcen have shown very little so far. They lost at Partizan, who are basically made up of junior players, and they were knocked out of Europe after two losses in Israel. Now they are going to play without one of their best players Markovic, who has gone to Kuwait for a while. On the other hand, Tatran beat Vardar away, crushed Vojvodina at home, and they certainly won't miss a chance to record another convincing win. This has the markings of at least a 10 goal margin win for the Slovakian team, who are precisely that much better than the club from Cetinje. Details

Lemgo play good and attractive handball and they have more points in the first seven rounds than anyone predicted. But, prior to this match a distinction between places where they won points and where they did not win points has to be made. They lost at home against Göppingen and Melsungen, two teams that can play tough 6-0 defense and be physically dominant, the same as Minden, a team they had a draw against on the road. In Magdeburg and Wetzlar they used injury problems their opponents had and they won against Gummersbach at home 28-27 despite losing for 55 minutes. Today they are hosting a team that is hungry to achieve good result and that has a negative streak here and Flensburg have not won in Lemgo in the last four seasons. I am fairly sure that streak ends tonight, Flensburg will dominate with strong defense which is their by far strongest suit this year with goalkeepers Andersson and Rasmussn and they will use Lemgo's bad defensive transition and win the points. I also expect them to win with over 2 goals difference. Details

Real managed to keep almost their entire roster during the summer, they changed only two big men and they acquired better players - Bourousis and Mejri, everything else stayed the same. So, the fact they had not had the chance to practice together a lot due to the Eurobasket will not be a problem, this is a team of players that know each other and they won against Bilbao last season by 20 and 14 point. And that Bilbao was much better that they are now. The Basks have a new coach, they lost some of their important players such as center Hamilton, guard/forward Vasileiadis, play Zisis and power forward Moerman. They have many new players, some of them played at the Eurobasket (Mumbru, Hervelle, Gabriel) and their best player Mumbru said this game comes to them at the completely wrong time. I think they have no chance today. Details

Mors have recorded their first win after coach Paulsen's return, having scored three goals more than Ribe at home. Then - without Paulsen at the helm, as he was still negotiating his contract - they lost to Kolding 29-23 on the road, but put up a good fight, getting to 26-23. They are back home today, there will be a live TV nationwide broadcast, and the atmosphere is always electric in their venue. Paulsen is now fully in charge of the team, he worked with them this week, and they have no major injuries to speak of. Unlike BSV, who are decimated. Their top player Kjelling is out due to elbow surgery, key defensive players Jakobsen and Madsen are also out, as well as wing Kierkegaard, while first-choice goalie Green is back after a little finger fracture. BSV have two away wins, by three goals at Ribe and by six at Ringsted. They also have three defeats, to Kolding and Holstebro at home and at Aalborg away. Everything points to more trouble for BSV, and I don't believe they will win this one convincingly. Details

Dijon is the league's rookie. In the first three rounds, they lost three times, and on three half-times, they were losing 16-13 to Montpellier at home, and in Chambery 21-17. Before today's match, the coach said that he has been focused only on the weekend match against Aix the whole week. They will play to the maximum against them, because they desperately need the points and they simply must not lose at home. Because of that, their first goalkeeper Stojinovic and right back Parent were left at home to rest. The League Cup is not of big importance, so they are just going to do this one. Montpellier were recently in the lead 26-19 on their court, before being left without a goal in the last 12 minutes. Today's match will something completely different. Montpellier's coach Canayer demands seriousness from the very start, stressing how none of the players were constant from the beginning, in each game. He announced the first line up, that will most probably open the match, and plenty of rotation and playing with young players, like Gutfreund on right back or Grebille on the left one, can be expected further into the match. On Sunday, PSG will host Montpellier, so Canayer will probably have that in his mind as well. So, the half-time handicap of -3.5 will be taken, instead of the final 7.5. In two this season's home games, Montpellier at half-time had the lead of 16-12 against Nantes, and 21-12 against Aix. Details

The team that won the match against PSG is completely different from the Metalurg team we will see on the court today against Borik. Cervar left 8 of his important players in Skopje, and young prospects will have their chance to play today. Borac is not a tough opponent for anyone, but they are stronger than they were in the last rounds. Their bank account suspension if finally over and their goalkeeper, important winger and the best player are back in the team. This Borac is not that much weaker than the very young Metalurg team and I don't think the difference between them will be greater than 10 goals in the end. This handicap is a very smart bet.
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The season in Turkey opens today. They're Cup competition system is unique in Europe. Four teams play in each of the four groups, and two advance to the Final Eight tournament. Today's two matches are played in Edirne. They hardly kept their head above the water last season, they changed the whole team, and most importantly, the defense oriented coach Tastimur left. He was replaced by Cem Akdag, who has a reputation of cherishing fast basketball in Turkey, with a lot of transitions and running. He's brought a great point guard Washington, who often scored up to 80 or 90 points per match last year in La Manse. They play home today for the fans that are great and love basketball. Edirne has a population of about 140,000, and it used to be the capital of the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, newly promoted Torku Selcuk is a club from Konya, the city with a population of one million. Money is not an issue for them, they brought great signings - DeVries who scored around 20 points on average last season in ACB League, Curtis Millage, NBA player Williams, and another American Troy Gillenwater. All of them can keep up with a faster pace. I expect the game at 150, maybe even more points, so the offered margin should be followed. The offer can be found with Bet 365, Bwin and so on. Details

I've explained in the preview where could Fuchse's advantage lie. Here I will point out just a few important facts. Flensburg's current performances are not very encouraging. There's a lot of struggle and poor play against an organized defense. They beat Goppingen with a bit of luck and referee help, they were trailing behind Lubbecke 16-13 at halftime, turned the score around in the second period, even though it was close at 22-22 near the end. Lubbecke also played without their best player (Vukovic). They suffered a clear defeat at Lowen, lost again to Magdeburg, the same Magdeburg that Fuchse destroyed on the road (the final 25-23 score doesn't reveal the true picture). Flensburg had trouble at home even against Aalborg, who were decimated by injuries. Fuchse have been preparing for this derby for 10 days, while Flensburg had two Champions League games in that period. The away team's backcourt lineup is currently more cohesive, better and more diverse. Flensburg are thin in the left back position and this is clearly felt in their games. Last year's Flensburg was a stronger team and there is no need to comment on Fuchse's two disasters of that period. Here we can expect a lot more resistance from them, a contest of equal opponents... Details

"It's hard to play vs a team that plays the whole team with seven players on the offense and two pivots", said the Hannover captain after their game with Balingen. The Balingen coach Rolf Brack is famous for his tactical solutions, often playing without a goalie, especially in games vs stronger opponents.Before the Balingen-Emsdetten game he stated he will not be playing those options vs a team that is on par with them and where he expects a victory. And so it was. Today we should once again expect a chase and looking for goals with an extra player on the offense, but an offensive defense as well. Hamburg with Duvnjak will not have any problems with that. HSV are on a streak of five games in which they scored 33 or more goals in each. They are incredibly powerful on the offense, especially now that Pfahl has returned, and not the left back Hens is ready to play as well. At the same time, their defense might have some trouble without Dominikovic and Nillson. This was a 35-31 win for HSV last year. Of the strong teams they met this season, Balingen played Hannover for 63, Magdeburg for 69, Füchse for 58 and Löwen for 52 goals, keeping in mind that they played Löwen without several important injured players, who are ready for the game today (Schlinger, Liniger...). I expect this to end with over 60 goals, and it should be covered with an appropriate bet... Details

Kiel haven't played against a better defense this season. Jorgensen, Laen, Boldsen and goalkeeper Hvidt are the best thing Europe has to offer now, even when we know that they're all more than 30 years old. But it's a respect worthy defense. In the preparation part thy left Kiel, who were without Fillip Jicha, on 19 goals. Of course, it's unrealistic to expect the same today, but it's also not realistic that Kiel score 32 goals and KIF concede about 20 goals per average. Nobody from the top Danish teams scored over 25 goals against them. With all this, Kieln also have injury problems. Jicha injured his thumb against Meslungen, Palmarsson is still not a 100%, Lauge missed matches because of his shoulder, Jallouz is completely out, far from intergrating and adapting to his first German season. Kolding are trying to slow their tempo down as much as possible, because they're changing a lot of defense-offense players. Details

In the first two rounds against Dunkerque and St. Raphael Tremblay scored 55 and 56 goals. Nimes sccored 68 against St. Raphael, while losing against Cesson at home, 27-22, with an important information about 20 defenses by Nimes goalkeeper Idrissi and 19 by Cesson's goalkeeper Genty. The match ended with 49 goals with 39 saves by the goalkeeper duo. So it wasn't a slow match, witnessed by 91 shots by both teams combined. Today's margin looks too low to me and I think we're gonna be seeing a much faster handball than the bookmakrs anticipate. Tremblay over 26.5 would be a great option, but the complete over as well Details

Nexe and Vojvodina do not differ in quality, and the odds set here are ridiculous. Nexe are a young team they have had many important changes and they are not so much better than the Serbian champions for odds to be 1.10 (although they have risen up to now). The Vojvodina coach is in dire straits, the desperately need a good result and I would not be surprised if they won this. They have a good goalie, an excellent back player, a quality defense and are a defensive team, above all. If they manage to force the game to go their way and slow down Nexe, they might get points here. This handicap needs to be played. Details