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CSKA are a much better prepared team at this moment. A weak Bilbao almost defeated Philadelphia and CSKA are also able to do that today. They have several ex-NBA players or prospective NBA players and I believe they are underestimated here. This is the first game for Minnesota, their main players are not really in shape and I do not expect things to go smoothly. CSKA will probably try to impose their rhythm and will go for a very tight finish. I would not be surprised if they win, as Messina has great squad at his disposal this season.

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Pretty much everything has been said in the preview. Limoges have a great preseason behind them as they were left under this margin only once in ten games; it was against a defensively strong Dijon team where they were stopped at 73 points. They ended up at 77 against Roanne, while they scored at least 82 against every other team. Limoges' offense was the third least efficient in the league last season, but this is a new team, with a new coach who advocates an offensive style. On the opposite side, Antibes were quite efficient in the second division. As already mentioned in the preview, only Le Portel conceded a fraction more. A new coach is in charge, but he stated that he would keep the same style. He said that he likes to play basketball that makes fans happy, and I doubt that Antibes will change much compared to the way they played last season. Their preseason games support that claim, as they regularly allowed over 70 points, often over 80. The start to the season will bring anxiety, but considering both teams' styles, I expect an high-scoring game. Limoges are the favorites in my opinion, they have the better team and could be the dark horse in this championship, which is why I opted for the away team over, rather than total combined score. Details

If this game was scheduled in the mid-season or in the playoff there is no chance the bookmaker would give us this margin. In the last season's playoff the margin for Nymburk (on the away matches) was couple of point higher, even against much stronger teams. Usti didn't impress me with their lineup. Their players from the States will need a bit more time to adopt to european basketball and they will probably struggle in the first couple of matches. They have a new head-coach, and he will also need time to get to know his new team. On the other side, I think Nymburk is much stroneger than the last year. Simmons is one of the best players in the league and I think it would be extremely hard for the Usti's player to stop him. Nymburk started the season very early as they were preparing for the tournament in Vilnius. That should be their big advantage for today's match. The only reason against this bet is the fact that they have the very important away match in Kalev in the last round so they could slow down a bit in the second half. If the match was held in the second part of the season and if Nymburk were concentrated only on the domestic championship, this would be an 8/10 bet. There is a huge difference in quality between these two teams. Details

Orleans start their season with significant handicap. Pellin and Hill are important players and that is seen in the statements given by coach Herve. The preseason showed that Orleans are far from optimal form and that they could struggle at the start of the season. On the other hand, Chalon lost some of their most important players but they managed to acquire good new players and they will again be the team fighting for the very top of the league table. Their preseason was great and they ended it with a series of wins, and they are expect to continue their win streak into the season. The best weapon Chalon have is probably their game in the paint and Orleans will have trouble establishing domination under the rim and since they have problems with absences, Chalon have an advantage on guard positions too. They won against Orleans in their last five home games and I expect them to continue that series and to do so with a rather convincing win. Details

After two gaffes at the beginning of the play-offs in seasons past, Gravelines is this time more determined than ever to go to the very end. Although they changed their prime players, in the preparation games they've shown great skill and with nine consecutive wins they are starting the season in a good mood. What's most prominent is their great defense. They are hosting Roanne who are, next to Dijon, the toughest team of last season. The game style is the result of the fact that Luka Pavicevic is sitting on the bench, and this season no thing should be any different. Roanne have shown great offensive problems during the preparation period, and have very rarely scored more than 70 points against more serious teams. They are entering this away game with four consecutive defeats, but keep in mind that in three out of those four matches they didn't surpass 60 points. There has been a change at the point guard station - they've brought in Mark Lyons, who has proven himself on the university level, but now he has to confirm that quality among "the big boys". Besides that, Roanne was weakened in the frontcourt and because of all that I expect big offense issues in first matches. Details

Le Havre is far from their top form. In the preparation matches they would lose with a two-digit difference against the opponents who aren't from the top ranks. Behind Pau Orthez is a much better preparation period. Amongst others, they've won against Caja Laboral, and in the last match, without Thompson, they've eliminated Gravelines on only 65 points. The ones and the others had a couple of efficient games during preparations, but this is an entirely different thing. Both coaches are aware that these are the teams who will fight to stay in the league, and mutual games here have a true value. It is only the start of the season, and both teams have great expectations and we can expect maximum effort from both of them. Le Havre didn't impress me with anything. Hatcher confirmed in one of the preparation matches that he will be a solid back-up, but he will surely need time to get the hang of the game. Pau is the host team and the bad rate at away matches is the only thing driving me away from playing on a clean win from them. However, I expect a firm game and I have a hard time imagining Le Havre at 80 points or more. Details

Oostende shocked everybody with the win against Khimki yesterday, but it is unlikely they are capable for a surprise today. They were very unpredictable in the pre-season, and today they are facing a team much tougher than Khimki. Just like yesterday, Oostande will look to play at very fast pace. Khimki had 75 shots on basket and 23 free throws against them and, despite the fact that their key player performed bellow their level, they still managed to break the stated margin. Banvit was great offensively, Nymburku scored 87 points and I expect a similar performance from him today. With Khimki out of the picture, Banvitsport has a great chance to compete in the Euroleague... Details

Celje enters this game with imperative to win so we can expect serious approach from the beginning. St. Petersburg come with a burden of a big home defeat against Veszprem. Although Matic claims they didn't play bad the fact is that they lost with 13 goals margin and scored only 15 goals. Squad is almost the same as last season when they suffered smooth defeat in Velenje (22-35). This time it should be the same. Torgovanov told that his team could face problems coping with deep defense Celje use to play, as they are not accustomed to that style. Matic's goal is to play aggressively from the beginning in order to force Russians into as many turnovers as possible and to employ as many counter-attacks. Major disruption for Russians is number of injuries among key players. Beside away game in Poland against Kielce, St. Petersburg last season performances in away matches resulted in 4 defeats with 9 goals margin being the best resul t(Bjeringbro 22-31). In other 3 matches they were defeated by 13 and 14 goals margin. Against Celje they are facing yet another double-digit margin defeat . Home court has always been Celje's great advantage. Last season they defeated Kiel(31-28), Savenhof(31-25) and Constanta (24-19) a lot stronger opponents than St. Petersburg. In handicaps like this it is very important to keep the best level until the final whistle and with Matic dissatisfaction in Ribnica game I doubt that Celje will slow down even if game gets decided early on. Details

Barcelona fumbled in Skopje last week, and can be expected to play their very best from the first moment. They returned to the victorious path over the week with a decisive win over Ademar, who were given no chance at all. The halftime already saw +10 for Barca, so the Catalan team shifted to a lower gear and still managed to increase the lead. So far in the season they mostly entered the game furiously, allowing their opponents to catch their breath a bit in the second half, primarily on the offense. The amazing width of Pascual's roster however allows him to keep up the tempo throughout all 60 minutes, and today should not be an exception. I was in a dilemma between the full time and halftime handicap. Both bets have their advantages, as there is a danger of Barcelona easing off in the second half and Thun managing to cover the margin. On the other hand, this will be the third tough game the Swiss team will be playing in just a week, they are not used to such a difficult schedule and that might cost them in the end-game. Barcelona are a grinding machine, they catch their opponents in the grinder and destroy them with counterattacks. That fatigue that must be present is precisely the reason why I chose the full time handicap. The margin is pretty high, but Barcelona managed to win two +20 wins in the league as well, with Ademar buried at -14 this week, and regardless of all the issues in the club lately, I think they are still above Thun. The Swiss champion will be deprived of their play-maker Roman Caspar here, causing them more problems. An extra bonus for the bet is the single point Barcelona managed to bring from Skopje a week ago, and all things considered, I believe the Catalans will win with a +15 goals lead. Details

This margin is partly the result of the first round matches. Still, I think we will see something different today. The match is incredibly important, one of the key ones in a group like this and I don't think we will watch a very offensive game. Dinamo conceded 34 goals in Paris, 22 of which in the second half. They played defense really well in the first part and conceded only 12 goals thanks to the goalkeeper Pejanovic. They won against AEK 25-21 and Tatran 29-27 in the qualification tournament in Presov. Those matches were similar in importance to this one. They went over this margin only against Barcelona (28-30) in the six home matches last year. It was the last round match in the group stage, which made no difference. That Dinamo is a bit different that this one, but I don't think Denic can count on winning any points here is he concedes close to 30 goals. Vardar went through even bigger changes, but their back line is not as strong and that could cause problems. This margin is quite high I think, and I doubt the match will be decided on more than 55 goals. Details

Tomić is perhaps our biggest disappointment of the Championship. We saw very little from a player that was supposed to carry our center line, and considering the player he is supposed to be dueling with today, I doubt he will manage to surpass his limits. Marc Gasol is the best defensive player of the NBA, and has stopped much stronger and physically more dominant centers than Tomic. Ante is too soft in the duels, we could see that clearly both vs Ukraine and vs Lithuania. Gasol will move him away from the rim and deny him the easy shots, and Tomic was pretty bad from the semi-distance during this championship. He also has a very low percentage from the free throw line, another of his downsides. In the first game of the championship, Tomic scored only three points vs Spain, with 1/4 from the field and 1/2 from the free throw line. More passes should go to Saric today, as Spain is weaker on his position and I don't believe Tomic will score more than eight points. Details

PSG haven't had a good start to the season. They have signed a lot of new players and it will take a while for them to fit in so that the club can start playing the way the Qatari owners want them to. Dinart's absence is clearly affecting the team, even though Gojun and Vori will surely play better as the season goes on. The opening matches have brought about a number of problems on defense. In both league matches they conceded 29 goals, Chambery scored 28 against them in the Super Cup, and against the Montpellier team full of youth players they conceded 27 goals. Last season Dinamo Minsk got a reputation of being a tough opponent, but they have also seen a lot of changes during the summer. New head coach Denic prefers a high-tempo game and Dinamo Minsk should be even better on offense this season. In the group stage last year Minsk have stayed under this line when they scored 24 at the Blaugrana and when they went without a goal in the final ten minutes of an unimportant away game against Pick Szeged. They were also under this line in the Last 16 against Metalurg (23 and 22 goals), but everyone knows how Metalurg likes to play. The team from Paris have amazing potential on offense and they rely on it to win games. In their home matches last season they managed to hold their opponents under this line only four times (never under 22), and that was against defensively oriented Ivry and Cesson, weak side Billere and Montpellier in the game after which Karabatic was arrested. If PSG plays the way they are able to, this game should be over with quite a few minutes left on the clock. That should result in a higher tempo in the last minutes, which would go in favour with this pick. Details

The difference between Barcelona and the rest of the teams in the domestic competition this season is enormous. Several days ago, the coach of the second best team, Naturhouse, said that many teams would not work too hard against Barcelona, aware that they can get nothing from those games. Even last year, Barcelona were leagues above most of their opponents, and now with the arrival of Karabatic and Lazarov they have gained an extra dimension, and the first games showed that superiority. Naturhouse ended up at nine goals behind in the Supercup match, and Encantada were destroyed 41-21 at the opening of the season, in which Barcelona had a 16-2 initial lead. This away game is a lead-in for the Champions League, and its second half could be pedestrian, but during the first period, Barca should go full steam ahead. I think that Villa Aranda are unlikely to trail behind by less than five goals in the first half. Last season, Barca triumphed here with 31-19. Details

I think Serbia will have a tough time playing without injured Marković (unlikely to start) and Nedović. Spanish guards are likely to press hard, knowing very well that Serbia, alongside Croatia, leads the chart in turnovers of all the second round teams. Krstić is a crucial player in their young team, but he will be playing against Marc Gasol, the best defensive player of the NBA league who is surely able to stop him. Serbia will have the advantage of having more ceners, so the biggest threat to Spain could be Gasol getting to many personal fouls early in the game. Otherwise, Spain has the advantage in every other respect. Given the fact that Serbia is a defensive minded team that has injury problems with point guard, betting on under 68,5 points for Serbia seems like a very good choice. Both teams have a lot to play for and choose longer attacks if they fail to score immediately, therefore Serbia is unlikely to reach 70 points. In the last three matches Spain went over this margin, although their last match against Italy shouldn't be taken into consideration due to the surprising last period. Slovenia and Greece scored over 25 points in the last period. Serbia's young players won't have an easy job, there will definitely be some hands shaking and Spaniards will do everything to stop them from scoring. Gasol and the rest of the team allowed Croatia to score only 40 and Czechs 39 points. Poland should have scored under 50, Finland scored 56 and Georgia 59. In their pre-tournament matches, Spain allowed only France to score over this margin, but France play faster than Serbia will play today. Details

Krstic has had 16.3 points per game on this tournament and has gone over four times in six games that he played (he didn't play against Montenegro). However. he scored exactly 17 points in his last two games. He miss the training session yesterday and even though they media report that he is bound to play, he shouldn't get too much playing time. This is his last chance to rest and he will probably not spend more than 25 minutes on the court. Serbia are already in the quarter-finals and the only thing left to be answered is their final place. Considering the complex situation in group two, and the fact that even Spain can come out second, the question is whether first place is actually an advantage. The match from the preparations in which Krstic got only 10 points against France speaks in favor of this bet. Details

Barcelona already showed in the opening of the season how much offensive potential they have. They scored 40 points against a much stronger Naturhouse on a neutral field in the Supercup and won with nine points difference and they also shined on Super Globe in Qatar. The mighty team got another two top-class players Karabatic and Lazarov and I think that Barcelona will be even more aggressive this season. They are visited by the weak Ciudad Encantada which suffered two big loses in the past two seasons here (39-22 and 38-24). The difference in quality is even greater now and it is not probable they will pass. Except for the mentioned visiting losses Encantada lost against Barcelona in their home field with 9 and 10 points difference. If we count out the match against Atletico, Barcelona covered this margin on their home front last year in 10 out of 14 matches without Karabatic and Lazarov in the lineup. Details