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Lleida were marked as one of the teams that will reach the playoffs again this season. They had an approximately the same quality on the team like last year, with coach Prado still in charge. They then recorded three defeats. The one to Burgos last round was particually bad since Lleida went 0 for 14 in three pointers. They lot to Palma and Breogan before that, which means the schedule was rather tough at season start. The home team already met the top 5-6 teams in the league. Caceres, on the other hand, had much easier opponents. They managed to enforce their fast pace but I don't expect that to happen today. Lleida are capable of playing very good defense and their style does not suit the visitors, who will almost certainly be without coach Ten (the flu). I expect Lleida to to well, especially because it's a home game. 0-3 is not a realistic record for them. Details

It is clear in this game that, quality-wise, Gottingen are no match for Brose, especially weakened Gottingen who will once again be missing their only true play Perry, and a very important shooting guard/small forward Minard. Gottingen's rotation is with that quite reduced, and they will have a hard time following the pace which will be imposed by the away team. Key factor for this bet is Brose's motivation. I think that it shouldn't come into question after they underestimated Giessen last weekend and suffered an unexpected defeat. Then they lost to Unicaja in Euroleague. I expect Trinchieri to ask his players to give their maximum today, to redeem for the bad impression they left in Giessen. The home team have no centers and this is a chance for the players (Miller, Theis, Harris) who slipped up in the last games at Brose to prove themselves. Gottingen started the championship with a loss by 42 against Tubingen, and then they lost by 25 at home against Alba. Last weekend they defeated Mitteldeutcher, a team that haven't won this season and therefore not relevant. The roster width and quality are on the side of the away team, as well as motivation. Except for Brose's win with a handicap, another solid option is their team over, considering the home team's weak defense. Details

Crailsheim's defense was the worst in Bundesliga last season, and they won't be dominating with defense this season either. Pre-season already revealed some possible problems. For example, they conceded almost 90 points against not very strong Belgian team Pepinster, and then the same amount against Crvena Zvezda. They opened the season by conceding 89 against Telekom and over 90 against Brose. They left Alba at 80 in the last round, but the team from Berlin is more defensively oriented so lower numbers were expected. Today they have a clash against Ulm, who might be having a fearful start of the season, but they have changed their almost entire roster. Play Gunther stayed as well as coach Leibenath for whom offense and fast transition are most important. Merlins' softer approach should suit the away team who are looking better offensively with each game. It is no problem for Hagen to score more than 90 points, but on Wednesday they scored 87 against Venezia strong defense in the Eurocup. Last year they scored 88 and 86 against Crailsheim, and I see Ulm's today's match at similar numbers, because the home team are not the type of team to try to slow the pace down, they prefer faster basketball which also suits the away team. Details

This is the part of the season in which we should expect dominant Oostenende performances in the Belgian championship. The title defenders have no other obligations other than the home league. They're not playing in the Eurocup this season; they have become part of the FIBA Europa Cup which is up in two weeks and the focus is on the championship they opened up by being defeated by Brussels, and then they reacted. They beat Mons at home with +41, after that Willebroek away with +21. Their roster is complete, they have no injury issues, and today they're hosting Pepinster whom they've beaten in the last 10 head-to-heads. At home they were always convincing wins. Pepinster showed a problematic defense in the first two rounds, a quick style which will hardly pass against the hosts' aggressive defense. The problem is also the injury of their best player, wing center Williams. In the last round they couldn't do too much in Limburg, and I doubt they could resist Oostenende any better who scored 95 points against Mons, and 93 against Willebroek. They shouldn't have offensive problems against Pepinster's weak defense. Details

Hagen showed that nothing will change this season on their team. They will work on getting the pace as high as possible, on playing short attacks and relying on three-point shooting. That is only the logical choice without the proper centers. They were only just getting started against Mittledeutscher in the first game and then played Bayern at 179 points and Ulm at 170 last round. I think they will go over 170 again today because the opponents are Giessen. The visitors now play the game that is similar to Hagen's. That resulted in over 170 points in the Ulm game last round in regulation timem while they got Brose at over 160 last round (scored 81 to prove how good their offense can be). Hagen and Giessen met in preseason when Giessen won 97-86. Hagen played two offense-oriented teams in the championship (Bayern and Ulm) and went over this margin. They played a few very productive preseason games home as well (Göttingen 99:82, Avellino 108:92, Oostende 99:105) Details

When we look at the roster strength of the Polish First league teams, I would put Rosa right behind Stelmet. The team from Radom takes a step forward each season, they will play in the FIBA Europe Cup this season after they reached the championship semi-final last year. Led by coach Kaminski for several years now, they have the continuity, strong sponsor and great home court atmosphere. They improved the team this Summer as well with great individuals, they are not weaker than last year. But they did start the season with two defeats, but they clearly got scared by the possibility of winning against Stelmet in the Supercup, they lost three seconds before the end, and then over the weekend lost at solid Anwil in overtime and after they were in the lead by 19 in the third quarter. I believe they learned a lesson and that the same thing cannot happen to them for the third time, especially not at home. Slask completely changed their roster and coaching staff over the Summer. That was surprising because they achieved decent results last season. Pre-season was filled with oscillations, and they lost against not too impressive Tarnobrzeg in the first round. It is clear that they are missing Smith, their best pre-season player, and their only true center Sutton will also be absent today. They have seven players in rotation, a lot of foreigners that still don't play too well together, and pretty much only one Polish player who is at a higher level (Chanas) which is a problem, because in Poland you have to have at least two Polish players on the court at all times. In the last two seasons, Rosa earned convincing home wins over Slask (by 19 and by 18 points), even though the team from Wroclaw had a better team then. This season's Slask have the potential, but at this moment, with respect to team-play and defense, I don't see them at the same level as the home team. Details

Stelmet won the Polish championship title last year and that way qualified for Euroleague so. over the Summer, they acquired quality players like Ponitka, Bost, Reynolds, Borovnjak... Their roster is stronger than last year, and defense will be in the forefront under coach Filipovski. That was evident in the Supercup game in which they defeated Rosa in an away game, even though they haven't played all that great. Today they are facing Koszalin against whom they haven't lost at home in years, even though they won by 22 points at neutral court in the Cup, they won at home by 12, but Koszelin back then were much stronger than today. They put together their squad rather late, their best playmaker arrived at the end of pre-season so he basically hadn't played a single test game. Then injuries started to impact them. Small forward Kucharek is out perhaps for the whole season, and center Lukasiak suffered a major injury so they are down to two names in the paint. They acquired center Walker yesterday, but he will not be in the team today. Forward Mielczarek is also having problems, so is back Allen. They recently cancelled their appearance at a pre-season tournament because of injuries. Over the Summer they lost all of their key players from last season, it was clear in the pre-season that they are not good (defeats against second-league-team Stargrad, loss by 13 against Kutni, by 26 against Szczecin, by 15 against Trefl...). Dedek is a good coach, and when he sets the team up, Koszalin will probably fight for the play-off, but they are currently not complete or playing well as a team, they are much weaker than last season and I think they are no match for strengthened Stelmet today. Except for handicap, another solid option is team under for the away team. Details

When Okapi and Antwerp meet we can expect a fast-paced basketball since both teams prefer offense-oriented game. They have centers who stand just over 2 meters tall, which is why the fast style is no surprise. Okapi did not go over 160 in the first two rounds but Sporou are the best team in the league alongside Oostende, while Leuven still look for their game after all the changes on the team. That is why their games in preseason against teams similar to Antwerp finished with them scoring over 100 points most of the time, for example: Telekom 94:86, Göttingen 104:83. Antwep still have the same coach, just like the home team. Players might change under Vervaeck but style stays unchanged. They played a game at 170 points against Pepinster in the first round and then at 166 against Willebroek on Wednesday. All four of their games last season were efficient (both in Aalst finished at over 180 points). all things considered, I think the 160-margin should not be missed out on today. Details

Last year, Trefl played attractive basketball in which they didn't care much about defense. They didn't achieve any good results so they changed their coach and almost all players over the Summer. New coach Zoran Martic is a typical representative of the Slovenian school so he put defense to the fore. He himself says that his team is not very talented offensively, and that defense wins the games. A lot of their pre-season matches proved that. Of the 12 they played, they went over 150 points only in two of them. They lost 59-69 to Turow, defeated Polharma 70-57, Slask 76-67, lost to Rosa 69-70, and left below 120 points in both games against Koszalin. Their center Majok, who was an important offensive option for them, got injured. Asseco brought a new coach, Macedonian Tana Spasev (last year coach of Asseco's second team). The team still mostly consists of young domestic players, and their playing style in the pre-season was similar to last year's when they were led by Slovenian Dedek. So, they were mostly games dominated by defense, and they played majority of the games against Lithuanina teams (lost 68-69 to Neptunas, 61-70 to Siauliai..). The games between Trefl and Asseco are local derbies which usually result in firm and fighting basketball. Their last head-to-head match was an exception from that rule, but it is hard to compare Trefl's team this year with the last year's one. These two teams played eight head-to-head games since the start of 2013 and they went over today's margin only once. Details

I have a feeling that the bookies set the odds at Burgos games based on last year's achievements. Burgos sailed through the second division last season but weren't able to acquire a licence for the top league, which led to the dissolution of the club. Everyone but Meresche left so they had to start from scratch. They started the preseason late and only because the local amateur team Miraflores managed to find a sponsor and get permission to play the second division. hey will clearly need a lot more time. They lost to Barcelona B home in the first round and Barca finished as the 13th team in the third division last season. Coach Casadevall says that his problems is the fact his players don't' have the experience of playing in Spain. Besides, they have only 8 players to choose from today as two important backfield players got injured. Nacvarra, on the other hand, kept all the key players.They managed to reach playoffs last season and played well home. Coach Lamua stayed and acquired some good players, meaning Navarro don't seem any weaker than last season. They played Palma away in the first round and stayed close for the most part of the game. But the opponents are one of the top contenders for promotion. I don't think Navarra are the underdog today, especially because Burgos are hit by injuries and have to deal with all kind of other problems. Details

If this weren't Brose and coach Trinchieri, you could say this was a big margin. But, considering the home team's character and the coach's desire to make his team always give 100%, winning with the difference as big as possible, I think that the Bramberg team can easily go over. Brose beat Oldenburg by 21 in the Supercup, and then Braunschweig by 16 in the away match on Sunday, in a match where they didn't really impress anyone. Crailsheim beat Telekom at home. That was a match with no defenses. The Merlins aren't defensively powerful anyway, their game is based on fast transitions and the back shots. Telekom, still in a bad form since the preseason, allowed them to get wild offensively. Brose won't do the same mistake. The home team own the best defense of the league, they're physically more powerful than the guest on every position, and we can expect them to dominate the rebounds, turnovers and easy transition shots. Crailsheim looked okay in the preseason against the lower-league teams, but they couldn't do much against a team like Crvena Zvezda, and they lost by 20. The total handicap is a decent option, but playing the first half-time handicap looks even better. Brose got 17 points advantage by the halftime of the Supercup match against Oldenburg, and they were leading by 23 on Sunday against Braunschweig, in the first 20 minutes. That says it all when it comes to the way they start their matches. Details

Hagen beat Mitteldeutscher in the first round, even though they were losing by ten coming to the last quarter. MBC scored 70 till the last period, and then started missing incredibly, only 2 points in the last period, and Hagen scored from every position possible, 8 meters away and more. Hagen showed you can win a game with a back shot only, basically with two players in a good mood (Bell and Mann). But, they'll face a much harder challenge today. They lost to Bayern by 24 at home last season, conceded 98, and then conceded 124 in the away duel, losing by 45. The home team's game style definitely suits the Bavarians, especially the fact that they don't have a real center. Covington got injured, so they're using the young Klassen for the five, and he's far from good. MBC dominated the paint, Bayern will do the same. It's hard to imagine the home team guarding Bryant, Savanović and Thompson well. Add to that that Bayern look decent defensively, better than last year, Hagen's alibi game meets an obstacle too tough. The Bavarians have the width, they've got Rivers, Renfroe and Thompson, three reinforcements in a great form, and an offense powerful enough to use the opponent's weaknesses, first of all weak frontcourt game and soft defense. Details

After getting the German champion title last season, Brose reinforced the team this summer. Trinchieri brought players he knows well, who can meet all of his demands, and we know what style he grooms. Full intensity throughout the whole mach, aggressive defense. The Supercup match against Oldenburg showed it clearly. Brose could be even more powerful defensively this season than the last. Bayreuth changed all their key players this summer, all six foreigners left the team. The pre-season showed they'll need more time to create a compact team. The only German first-league team they played was Mitteldeutscher. Braunschweig lost both matches, scored 59 away and 62 at home. They lost to the German second-league teams, to the Dutch Den Bosch. They don't look as good as they did last year when they lead Brose to the overtime (66-66), and later they lost in Bamberg 55-77. Trinchieri won't give up on his typical tactic today, and I think the home team can deal with a firm and physically strong team. The option is Brose's win with a handicap, but even when Brose win convincingly, thy do it mostly with their defense, so I don't see Braunschweig going over 70 points. Details

All the key people from the last season stayed at Bayern, while some new acquisitions joined. They are the main contenders for the title, alongside Brose. Bayern can now count on Djedovic compared to the last tournament in Zadar. They have at least two good solutions at each positions, which cannot be said about Oldenburg. They are the team that lost most over the summer. Three of Oldenburg's key players from last season (Chubb, Ware, Jenkins) left. When it comes to the paint, Oldenburg lost Neumann while Qvale joined. But, it was obvious in preseason, especially in the Supercup game against Brose, that Oldenburg's solution at those positions aren't very good. On the other hand, there is no better team under the rim in Germany than Bayern. Oldenburg still cannot count on top point guard Machado, which means Kramer will have to step in. This Oldenburg's team is not as good as those from last seasons. Bayern, on the other hand, seems to be better than last season when they beat Oldenburg twice by point-difference over this margin Details

Brussels and Willebroek will play a test game a week before the start of the Belgian championship. Brussels kept all the top players from last year, as well as coach Crevecoeus. That means their style will stay pretty much the same. They are a team that pushes fast-paced, run-and-gun basketball. The other test games proved it. They played appealing games against the other Belgian teams. Brussels lost to defense-oriented Spirous 81-88, and played a 89-89 draw with Liege (the deal was that there will be no overtime). The game against Oostende finished at 161 points. Brussels forced Strasbourg to 167 points. Willebroek played only a small number of serious test games. The one with Paris recently finished close to 160 points, while they played the two games in Luxembourg well over 180 points. Goethals is still Willebroek's coach. His central figures will be 5-6 American and Belgian Geukens. Willebroek's style is quite similar to Brussels'. They have met 8 times so far in the Belgian league and never one stayed under 160. The first game finished at 162 points, the others at 187, 181, 181 and 169. Details

Extremely important game at the start of the day in group D. Win means advancement, defeat means elimination. Belgium can even be second, but they can also be last in the group. Ukraine surprised Latvia yesterday, but I doubt they will be able to do the same against Belgium who are defensively much better than the hosts. It is expected that they will impose their zone defense, that the backcourt line will put pressure on Ukraine's guards, especially Randle, who is supposedly not completely fit. They can do great work with Van Ross there. Ukraine usually struggle against defensively stronger teams, they stayed below this margin against Czech Republic and Lithuania at the European championship, against Slovenia and France in the preparation period... Belgium has based everything on defense for years under selector Casteels, and the same will be today. Ukraine don't have great offensive quality and I can't see them coming near 70 points. Details

Estonia are without real centers and do not have enough height or physical power in the paint. Opponents' centers scored most points in their preparation games (BiH- Kikanović 15, Stipanović 19, the Netherlands- Norel 12, the Philippines- Blatche 16p, Italija - Bargnani 15p, Georgia- Pačulia 16p).. With that in mind, it is expected that the Czechs will try and take advantage off Estonia's shortcomings under the rim. Vesely is the one who can do that best. His height and power are well above the opponents' front court and it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Estonia will be able to stop him. Vesely went over this margin in he last match against Spain and took 16 shots. He finished with 22 against Russia and 20 against Japan, the team that resembles Estonia quite a lot. Only the Greek centers limited him but they are a whole other level compared to Estonia's. I expect quite a few offensive rebounds for Vesely and some 30 minutes for him on the floor. Two years ago at Eurobasket he was averaging more than 17 points and has improved significantly since. Coach Gonzburg didn't invite Balvin to join the team, which makes Vesely the tallest Czech player. Regardless of that, I would not be surprised if he would play at positon 4 today since he feels best in that role. Details

Poland played against Latvia yesterday, and it ended over 160 points, so that's why the margin today is 150 between the Polish and the Slovenians. The Latvians imposed their rhythm, played run-and-gun, scored a lot of three-pointers. You could see that's not the type of the match where Poland can use their advantages. Slovenia are completely different to Latvia. They're much slower without Goran Dragić. They're here without a lot of big names, and no surprise that the coach Zdovc wants aggressiveness first of all, the real defensive approach beacuse he's got a working team at his disposal. It was obvious against the Australians and the New Zealanders when they stayed under this margin, and everyone knows that the Australians are forcing fast transitional game. The Polish have Gortat, and like they said, they prefer slower rhythm, a game of 5 on 5, where they can use their good centers. They performed decently defensively against the Czech, left them at 52 and 64 points. Details

Croatia is to play their first test game today but it won't be the same Croatia that will play the European Championship. Coach Perasovic did the basic preparation with 11 players, mostly from the Croatian league and those 11 are to play New Zealand today. The games after the first part of the preparation period that is mostly about physical fitness, are always tough. Perasovic says they did not prepare for the opponent as he wanted to choose players who will make it to the next stage of the preparation period. Today, he will not use Ukic, Simon, Saric and Zoric, who already joined the team. But Rudez, Romas Hezonja, Bogdanovic, Lafayette and Tomic will not play either. The odds set at Croatian win would be realistic if the Croatian coach had all those players at his disposal. Even so, New Zealand would still not be a harmless opponent since they've gone much further in their preparation. They are to play Australian in the qualifying games for the Olympics. New Zealand outplayed Britain with Webster's 32 points. Him and almost all the players who were at the last year's WC, other than Penny, are there. Webster, Vukona, Tait, Abercrombie, and Fotu are there today. New Zealand was very close to winning Turkey and Lithuania with them and they beat Ukraine and Finland. They are not a team to be underestimated. Details

When USA are playing, the first thought that comes to mind is great-looking basketball, where the offense dominates. I still don't think this final will go that way. It's the final match, and both sides will be fully engaged. Both the Russians and the Americans score a lot of points per match, but Russia got their numbers against teams like Egypt and Taipei, and the matches against tougher teams stayed at lower numbers. Russia concede 45 points per match, the Americans a bit over 50. USA only had one serious obstacle so far. They faced the Spaniards twice, and had offensive problems right away. They faced the Spaniards in the preparation period once, and their offensive game failed to dominate. And Spain aren't as good defensively as the Russians are. Besides, Spain don't have the center line as the home team do. USA's biggest strength is the paint game, but they're facing a team with quality and physical strength to fight them under the hoops evenly for the first time. Russia's back shots are under average, as well as their three-pointers, but the Americans aren't brilliant in the back positions, either. They scored 0/10 three-pointers yesterday. Their scorer Thomas got injured, and Durr and Samuelson didn't come to the WC, and those two were supposed to play the main roles according to the announcements. So, this margin is about the same as the Americans had in this WC so far, but USA didn't face a team this strong with the defense this good yet. Details