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Ulm's problems are well known - they can't count on their top player Gunther, without whose help Ulm lost the first round game home to Oldenburg. But, they managed to make it right by win in Frankfurt on Sunday. Their game is bound to get better as the season advances because they have 8 new players on the team. Since they have to do 4 rounds in only 10 days, we should not expect any great developments in their game just yet. Ulm lost the head-to-head preseason meeting with Braunschweig 76-77. The opponent had the chance for a more convincing win in that game. Braunschweig lost the season opener in Trier, but the win over Brose only two days later proved that the defeat in Trier was nothing but a bad day. Braunschweig did well in preseason, better than Ulm anyway. I don't think Ulm are good enough to win by 10 or more points today. Details

Graz were regarded as the weakest team in the Austrian Bundesliga even before the start of the season and two opening rounds only went to prove it. They've done the season opener in Oberwart quite well (and lost regardless), but the meeting home against Gussingen that followed in the second round saw them lose by staggering 78 points. It is a team that could not even beat one of Slovenia's top league clubs home. They will need time to get organized because they got together quite late, and struggle with some absences. Swans Gmunden are, next to Kapfenberg and Gussing, top candidates for the title. Following the opening win over Arkadia away by 18 points, they left Oberwart just as many points behind in the last round. The last win could have been even more convincing since they dominated throughout the game. Oberwart beat Graz by 11 points. It's obvious that the visiting team are better, but they say they won't be underestimating the opponent today. Expecting anything but a new defeat for Graz today would not be normal. Details

Frankfurt won all their preseason matches and allowed their opponent an average of 61 points. Then they hosted Hagen on Friday and played a high scoring match, but Hagen are a run and gun team who simply force you to play quickly, so that match is not a proper benchmark. Led by Herbert, Frankfurt base their game on defense and will clearly look to win against Ulm in that way. In the past four seasons, Ulm never played over this margin in Frankfurt. Last year they scored 67, prior to that 62, 64, and 67, and there is no doubt Ulm was a much better and offensively potent team last year. They have many new faces now, numerous quality players left them, and their starting point guard Günther is injured. It will take them a while to tune up. In a recent preparation matches Ulm scored 74 against Tübingen, 58 at Bayreuth, and 64 points at Würzburg. Details

Serbia were very close to beating Turkey and getting through to semi finals last night. They gave their best, but lost 61-62 in the end. Coach Maljkovic was very disappointed, as were all of her players after that game. She said the defeat stings, and that they didn't even think about fighting for position 5-8. She also said she doesn't know what to do about her team's mental state. They match yeterday was exhausting, especially the key players. They play in the earliest slot today, and their key players might not be in for the whole match. China didn't stand a chance against Spain, who seem to be the best team next to the US. Their starting five players spent more time on the bench than on the court in that game. They are certainly not as tired as Serbian players, and they almost beat Serbia in the group stage. I'm sure China will play as if this were the key match. Details

Spirou's coach admits he didn't have enough time with his team and that this match is happening two soon. They've changed almost the entire team, including the coach, and simply cannot be at their best at the start of the season. Their first choice point guard is not fit enough. Oostende didn't change almost anything. They lost Thompson but replaced him with equally good Prince, who was the MVP in Poland last year. The Euroleague qualifying round forced them to get ready for the best performances very early in the season. They lost to ASVEL, but beat Antwerp 103-62 in the Belgian Supercup. They are currently doing better than the opponent and betting on their win definitely has value. Details

The bookmakers give Anwil the role of the favorite only because Torun weren't in the top league last season. But the home team are nothing like they were last year. New signings have joined over the summer, and the preseason only proved how much they helped the team. Torun won 8 out of the 12 preseason games, one of them against Anwil. It was 96-70 for Torun two weeks ago. That doesn't mean we're in for another one-sided win, but Torun's wins over Roso away and Slupska by 30 points last week prove they are good. Besides, their coach has been at Anwil the last two seasons. He will want his team to do their absolute best. Anwil have changed the roster completely, and the new coach says he will need more time to get the team working. Torun and Anwil's match is a regional derby that is expected to gather a lot of fan attention for the home team, whom I believe to be significantly underestimated here. Details

Ulm couldn't have gotten a tougher opponent at the beginning of the championship. The home team lost almost all the seeds this summer, there are eight new players and it's clear they'll need some time to start playing the right way. The biggest problem is that they can't count on the main point guard, and the best player that stayed, Pera Gunther, which can't be made up for. The pre-season matches showed it. They lost convincingly against Bayreuth and Tubingen recently, barely defeated the second league Wurzburg... Oldenburg, on the other hand, have basically had the same roster for the last few seasons, and in this early phase of the season, they definitely work better as a team than the home team do. They only replaced their point guard this summer, Joyce left, but Tywain McKee came from UNICS, and he's perhaps even better than Joyce. Last year, they defeated Ulm in both duels, they looked decent in the pre-season, too. The starting five McKee-Kramer-Paulding-Aleksandrov-Chubb are one of the best in the league, and there's Jenkins, their best scorer who'll come in from the bench. Details

Yesterday I went with under in the match between Spain and Czech Republic. The Spanish were impressive, allowing the Czech just 43 points in a 110 point match. If that was an important match, then this one between Canada and Czech Republic is even more, as it marks the start of the knockout stage, and there's no more room for error. Canada lost 59-63 against France last night, but they rested some of their best players and none of them played more than 20 minutes, as if they were saving themselves for today. During the preparation period the Czechs beat Canada at home, 55-52, in a very close finish, and we can expect something along those lines today as well. The Canadian team are definitely not on par with Spain, especially not on offense, but their game is not based on elegant basketball but on solid defense, which is exactly what I expect against Czech Republic. Details

Brazil and Japan are good teams, but this will be the first real test for the Spaniards. They face the Czech Republic now in a game that is quite important for both of the teams. The winners will advance straight to the quarter finals, while the loser has to do play off round tomorrow to get in the draw together with the mighty Americans. Spain are, defense-wise, one of the top European teams. They limited Brazil to 56 points, Japan to 50. They took advantage of the lack of organization at the opponents. The Czechs are much better in that respect. In their final test with the US, 117 points were scored. They went over this margin only against Serbia. Spain went over it only against Serbia and Belarus. The Spaniards said it's not important what the game is like, the win is all that matters. They believe defense is the key. Details

I predicted Americans to have over 90.5 points against China yesterday. It didn't happen, USA scored 87, but when you look at that match, over points could have been expected. The Americans had 89 field goal shots, and broke the record of the world championships. It was a real run and gun game, and obviously the bit of nervousness at the beginning of the game took its toll. Now the ice is broken, and their opponents, the Serbians, also like fast game, a bit atypical for European women basketball. Yesterday, they scored over 100 points against Angola, had over 70 shots and a big number of free throws. In the pre-season, they played over 170 points against the Czech, and almost 150 against Spain... Details

Even though unders are more common for women's basketball, the first day of this WC will give us a match that is in stark contrast with that. USA and China like fast basketball, take lots of shots and have great counters. Of course, the Americans do a much better job at that and should be able to win this by a convincing margin and this game should not be too tight. USA have recently beaten China in preparations by 99-75. The Americans had almost 80 field goal attempts, twice as many rebounds and the Chinese obviously suited them. USA later played a 150-point game against a very defensive France. China are a young team that has nothing to lose tonight and will not try to base their performance on defense as it's just not their style. Details

Brazil didn't win the American Championship last year but they had a weakened squad there. They arrived to Turkey with a stronger squad, reinforced by one of the best centers in the world De Souza and they are not to be taken lightly. Brazil have built their recognizable style over the past few years, focused on defense and physical performance. They mostly stayed under this margin during prep games, even against Australia, while Canada and Turkey base their performances on defense as it is. The Czechs are similar to Turkey and Canada. It's enough to look at their prep games. They went under 128 points in 6 games against Japan, and the same thing happened against Korea, Canada, Belarus, Turkey and once against Serbia. During preparations, they played a 117-point game against USA, scoring only 40-something points in the process. Czechs might be without their main center Kulichova who got injured against USA and this would be a major handicap for them at the start of this tournament as she's their first attacking option. Details

The margin seems to be set low, but it's really not for these two teams. This is the derby of the first day of the WC, and a game that will decide the top team in the group, which will be given a direct pass to the quarter final. The stakes are therefore high. Turkey have beat Canada in the preparation period 51-33, Belarus 57-40, lost to Spain 51-55, beat Brasil 66-48, Czech Republic 61-54. They lost at Eurobasket to France 49-57 last year. France are very similar to Turkey with regards to physical strength and defense. They didn't have as many unders as Turkey in the preparation period, but their opponents were not defense-oriented like European teams. France can't count on a very important power forward Miyem, who was one of the most efficient players in the preparation period matches. That is certainly a handicap for Turkey's offense. Details

Mozambique are, apart from Angola, definitely the weakest team on this tournament. It's enough to look at their pre-season games. They scored 36 against Australia and lost by over 50 points, Japan B beat them by 40+ and real Japan by 85-34. The Czechs didn't allow more than 45 points in 2 games. The only team against whom they went over this margin was Serbia, and that was a game in which Serbia didn't play any defense at all. Canada are a team with no attacking talent that bases its game on aggression and strong defense as has been the case for years. During preparations, they beat Australia, limiting them to 55 points, then lost against Turkey by 33-51, they limited Serbia to 54 points, Korea to 56, Czech Republic to 55, as well as Cuba. The three-point range has been moved from 6.6 m to 6.75 which will be an even bigger problem for the Africans who will struggle to go over 40 points today. Details

Klosterneuburg`s coach has clearly said that he wants to see a fast-paced basketball from his team. It is no surprise considering the style his team has been playing. It`s a run and gun basketball without too much defensive efforts. For instance, they allowed 95 points against the Czech second-division team Brunn and lost by 17 points, and they allowed 81 against another second-division team Zlin but they scored 91. They beat Handlova by 89-73. They allowed 90 against defensively minded Frankfurt, 88 against Pardubice. They lost their last prep game against Laško, allowing 100 points in the process. It is clear they will have to work on their defense and they will struggle against potential absences. Three crucial players are doubtful and Seilern is definitely out. That is good news for Kapfenberg who have already won the Cup. They scored 77 points against Güssing on Sunday and Güssing are the reigning champions and have a much better defense than Klostenbrug. In this game, the Bulls had more than 70 field goal attempts and were close to 80 points despite their poor three-point efforts. The style of the away team will suit them as they have powerful Americans who are great in transition. We should factor in the new rule for this season that the attack after an offensive rebound is no longer 24 seconds but 14 seconds (just like after the last free throw), which will certainly increase overs this season. Details

Regardless of this being a game for 3rd place, both Serbia and Spain don't want to leave this tournament without a medal, and will do anything to get the bronze one. Theses are both teams that displayed very good defense here on the WC, with Serbia's opponents averaging 62, and Spain's 58.2. Of course, one must deduct the Emirates match there, but that match also significantly boosted their offense numbers. Spain remained at very low scores against all serious teams. Against Australia yesterday we saw 134, vs France was at 138, Argentina 121, Italy 114, Porto Rico 132… Serbia vs Canada played at 135, vs Argentina 117. Against USA they went significantly above this margin, but those were still Americans. Don't forget both these teams played in the final of the cadets EC last year, with almost the same rosters. The Spanish won in extra time after regular time ended 55-55. Details

The Italians and the Argentinians faced each other twice in the WC in Italy preparations. The home team won the first match 62-57, the second was won by the Argentinians 60-55. Both teams left a good impression in the defense on the WC. The Italians concede 57.7 points per match, and the Argentinians 59.7, and they score a bit less than 69. The matches Italy played end with 134 total per match, including those against Japan, China, and UAE who play offensively, or don't really play defense. Against teams with game style similar to Argentina's, Italy played 51-58 against Porto Rico, and they defeated Spain 64-50. The Argentinians defeated Greece 65-54 yesterday, and lost to Spain 57-64, and Serbia 57-60. Neither of the teams' back shot looks convincing, and we can expect defenses to dominate today. Details

This margin is basically just a reflection of the average points in USA's matches in this championship. I think that still cannot be a true benchmark, as the Americans played just one serious match here so far, against Greece, and scored 83 points in that game, allowing 73. Later they played against Angola, scoring 99, 124 against the Philippines, 122 against Japan, and 113 against China yesterday. It's common knowledge that Philippines and Japan don't play much in terms of defense and are now battling for 13-16th place ranking, while the Chinese also play run-and-gun basketball. Last year in the final of the American Cadets Championship USA beat Argentina in a match where the total points were 142, and in the semifinal against Porto Rico the total was 157. Serbia are much stronger on defense than any of those teams. Here they've so far limited Canada to 64 points, Emirates to 31, Argentina to 57, and relaxed against Egypt and China, allowing over 60 points. Serbia's selector announced a warlike match throughout the 40 minutes, and that they will not get scared of USA like other teams, even saying they might go all the way. That was probably an overly optimistic statement, but if the Greeks gave USA trouble and dulled their offense to such an extent, there is no reason a defensively even better Serbia wont do the same. Details

Puerto Rico proved their quality by winning first place in the group C where they defeated Spain and Italy. The same Spain defeated Egypt by +50 before the WC. The Egyptians lost to Argentina on this tournament, too, by 35. The Portoricans and the Argentinians are about the same quality. The evened out match before the WC on Troyes tournament showed it best. Yesterday, Puerto Rico had a light training against the UAE. They defeated them by 57, could have by +100 if they needed because they already secured their first place. The Egyptians lost to China by 26, and got really tired physically. Egypt don't have real centers, only one player is taller than 190cm, and the Puerto Rico's biggest strength is in the paint game. Besides, the African team don't have a convincing defense, their the second worst rebounders, and that's a great chance for the Islanders. I think the difference in quality will bring over 30 points difference here. Details

After a match between UAE and Italy, it's obvious why UAE got away better than they expected, and they lost with 89 points difference. Their team don't have the knowledge or the athletic abilities to play serious basketball. It seems like they're just learning how to play, and still didn't figure out all the basics. The Italians weren't aggressive, there was no need. UAE are mostly 16 year olds, some 15 year olds, with no experience in competitions like these, and maybe nobody worked with them seriously, either. The Spaniards lost to the decent Porto Rico, so they won't lack motivation now. When it comes to quality, Spain are better than Italy. They're European cadet champions, in full lineup, and they always go all the way. In preparation period, they defeated Egypt 111-59, +52 points, and Egypt are a bit better than UAE. They also crushed Lebanon 113-28, that's +85 difference, and the same Lebanon defeated UAE. Even though this margin is huge, the difference in quality is huge as well, and if they lost to the Italians yesterday by about 90, there's no reason why they wouldn't do the same against the Spaniards. Details