Betting Tips (VIII) : Brazil vs Greece and New Zealand vs Nigeria

Brazil and Greece will clash tonight in Sao Carlos to determine the winner of Torneio Eletrobras. Both NTs have won comfortably their two games against two weak rivals as New Zealand and Nigeria. This game must be a valuable test for both head coaches.

Hellas NT, will start playing the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Venezuela  on Monday. They will be fighting for one of the last three tickets to London.  The Greek squad, led by HC Zouros, has completed a perfect preparation. After beating  Lithuania and FYROM in the Baltic country they have displayed all their offensive power in Brazil trashing New Zealand and Nigeria.

The Greek block is practically the same that made a great performance at Lithuania 2011 Eurobasket, without Dimitris Diamantidis. Despite the absence of the great PG, the Greeks played as a solid team based on serious defensive commitment and exploiting the quality of experienced players as Fotsis, Zisis and Bouroussis.

Tonight, Greece will face a Brazilian NT team that still has four weeks to work hard before the Olympics. Head Coach Ruben Magnano  has started working this week with the final block that will go to London. Despite not playing yet with Leandrinho Barbosa and Tiago Splitter, they have made  very interesting offensive performances.  

Magnano´s teams are always built from deffense to offense.  The power of Anderson Varejao and Nene in the paint should be the best of Brazilian weapons to stop Bouroussis and Vougioukas. In the backcourt we´ll see a nice battle between Huertas and Zisis and youngsters Benite and Papanikolau.  

I expect a low scoring game tonight with both teams working hard on deffense and playing long possessions. Zouros  will try to hide some of his best offensive plays for OQT in Venezuela. IMO the line is too high.

Brazil vs Greece. Under 150.5 points (1.97) Pinnacle Stake 2.5

(Value Bet till -149 points)

New Zealand and Nigeria play today their last friendly game before flying to Venezuela. Both teams have struggled a lot in this Torneio Eletrobras in Brazil. 

Nigeria isn´t playing with key offensive players as Ime Udoka and Michael Umeh. Together with these major absences, Derrick Obasohan has been sidelined in this Brazilian tournament. So, only Diogu is the only reliable attacking option for Coach Ayo Bakare.

On the other hand, The Tall Blacks, are missing as well Kirk Penney and Tom Abercrombie. Without these two key ballers, New Zealand NT struggle in offense as they can´t replace them.

I think we´ll see quite a physical and ugly game with both teams battling for an important win before OQT.

New Zealand vs Nigeria. Under 154 points (1.98) Pinnacle Stake 2.5
(Value Bet till -152 points)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brazil 78-71 Greece (Struggling at the end with a high scoring last Q)
New Zealand 66-74 Nigeria (Quite low scoring tempo and easy pick except last Q)


+4,875 units

Picks	10
Won	8		80,00%
Lost	2		20,00%
Void	0		0,00%
Stake	37,5
Profit	22,3
Yield	59,47%
Av. Odd	1,914

BC SPARTAK SAINT PETERSBURG SIGNS ANTHONY PJ TUCKER

BC Spartak Saint Petersburg has signed a 1 +1 deal with American Power Forward Anthony Tucker, also known as PJ Tucker. Tucker spent last season with German team Brose Baskets, BEKO BBL Champions.

Last season in 10 Euroleague games averaged 8.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. In BEKO BBL Tucker averaged 16.2 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1,4 assists becoming a key player to win German Bundesliga.

With experience in Hapoel Holon (MVP 2007-08), BC Donetsk, Aris and Montegranaro he will be a key addition to Jure Zdovc´s roster. Now Spartak will work hard to bring new sharp shooters to the backcourt.

Anthony Tucker (PJ Tucker)


Height: 198 cm
Weight: 102 kg
Position: Small Forward
Date of birth: 05/05/1985
Place of Birth: Ralif, North Carolina, USA
Nationality: United States
Career:


2011-2012 - BC "Brose Baskets" (Bamberg, Germany)
2010-2011 - BC "Aris" (Thessaloniki, Greece), BC "Montegranaro" (Montegranaro, Italy)
2009-2010 - BC "Donetsk" (Donetsk, Ukraine), BC "Bnei Hasharon" (Herzliya, Israel)
2008-2009 - BC "Donetsk" (Donetsk, Ukraine)
2007-2008 - BC "Hapoel Holon" (Holon, Israel)
2006-2007 - "Toronto Raptors" (Toronto, Canada)
2003-2006 - University of Texas Team


Achievements: German Champion 2012, Champion of Israel 2008, MVP Championship-2008 Israel.

Betting Tips (VII) Super 4 Tournament: Venezuela - Jordan

Tonight, begin two friendly tournaments before the Olympic 2012 Men Qualifiers (starting on Monday in Caracas). Both 4-Nation tournaments (played in Venezuela and Brazil from June 26th to June 28th) will be the last tests for Greece, Angola, Jordan, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Nigeria and New Zealand.


Israel Sarmiento´s Super 4 Tournament starts tonight in Puerto La Cruz. The hosts (Venezuela NT) will play against Jordan, Dominican Republic and Angola. Eric Musselman´s team came back to Venezuela, after  winning second place in the South American Basketball Championship, played in Argentina last week.


Óscar Torres and John Cox were not in the team that won the runner-up in Argentina, but they are expected to play tonight. Head Coach Eric Musselman will take the contest to evaluate them and other players as Jesús Urbina and Michael Flores.


"We are very excited to have back Oscar Torres. He was a leader for us last year and did a great job. Undoubtedly had to be part of this process, because we need it, "Musselman said.


Musselman named fifteen men for this Super 4 Tournament:


PGs & SGs: David Cubillán, Gregory Vargas, Greivis Vásquez, John Cox, Jhornan Zamora. 
SFs-PFs: Michael Flores, José Vargas, Óscar Torres, Francisco Centeno Jesús Urbina, Axiers Sucre,  Héctor Romero, José Bravo. 
Cs: Windi Graterol, Miguel Marriaga, Gregory Echenique.


Venezuela will play tonight against Jordan. The middle-east team will play this summer without PG Rasheem Wright. The American-Jordanian won´t be available for Head Coach Thomas Baldwin and the offense will pend on both experienced PG Osama Daghles and C Zaid Abbas. Jordanian style has always been quite slow with long possessions and they will truly miss Wright´s outstanding skills.   


Greivis Vásquez, José Vargas, Francisco Centeno and Héctor "Pepito" Romero will sit out tonight so I expect a low-scoring game tonight together with Jordanian poor offense and Musselman´s changes.


Venezuela – Jordan. Under 156 points (1.95). Pinnacle Stake 5
(Value Bet till -154 points)


Venezuela - Jordan. Venezuela -13.5 (1.95) Spread. Pinnacle Stake 1.5
(Value Bet till -15 spread)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Venezuela 81-42 Jordan +6.175 units

Despite Greivis Vásquez and "Pepito" Romero absences, Venezuela trashed Jordan. Very interesting deffensive performance of Eric Musselman´s roster against a very poor team. Quite comfortable picks.

Picks	8
Won	6		75,00%
Lost	2		25,00%
Void	0		0,00%
Stake	32,5
Profit	17,425
Yield	53,62%
Av. Odd	1,89875

The chances of Triumph Lyubertsy to play VTB United League 2012-2013, close to 100 percent

VTB United League keeps on innovating, developing and increasing the number of teams in its fourth regular season. Founded in 2008 and sponsored by VTB Bank it will feature a total of 20 teams next season. There will be a lot of expectations in 2012-13 VTB League as, for the first time, it will directly affect the distribution of the European Cup licenses.


2012/13 season will be particularly important from an organizational point of view as Russian PBL and VTB League will merge into this new tournament. Leaded by Sergei Ivanov and Andrey Shirokov,  VTB President and CEO,  they have got the support of the Euroleague. Thanks to their efforts in the future of the tournament,  the competition will move forward  to conquer new markets.


Triumph Lyubertsy , most likely, will be the nineteenth contender in next VTB League season. 
Now the question is which club will get the twentieth spot?


18 out of 20 participants of VTB United League, are already known: 


Russia: CSKA Moscow, Khimki, UNICS Kazan, Lokomotiv Kuban, Spartak Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnye Krylia, Enisey Krasnoyarsk.


Lithuania: Zalgiris Kaunas, Lietuvos Rytas.
Ukraine:  Azovmash Mariupol, Budivelnyk.
Latvia: VEF Riga.
Belarus: Minsk 2006.
Kazakhstan: BC Astana.
Poland:  Asecco Prokom.
Czech Republic: Basketball Nymburk.
Estonia: Kalev Kramo.


More than ten teams have requested for the two vacancies for next season. Which ones and how - directly or through qualifications - get into the tournament will be determined no later than mid-July. Meanwhile, league continues to receive and consider bids from all corners.


These are the main contenders for the two remaining spots:


Russia: Triumph Lyubertsy 
Ukraine: Donetsk, Dnipro and BC Kiev
Poland: Prokom Trefl Sopot and Zielona Gora
Lithuania: Siauliai and Neptunas
Sweden: Norrköping Dolphins.


It is almost impossible to predict which team will accompany Triumph as new members for next season. Apparently, as in previous seasons, the lucky club will be determined by qualifications and terms of a system which (along with a calendar of the main stage) will be approved by the Board of VTB League in July. That will be held  even after Turkish Airlines Euroleague Draw. 


In my opinion, BC Donetsk has many options to clinch twentieth voucher as it´s the most powerful team among the last contenders. However, LKL clubs (Siauliai and Neptunas) are working hard to get another spot in the competition.  For the following seasons, it would be quite interesting to see representatives of new countries as BC Armia of Tbilisi. The Georgian club is seriously improving  and growing as they shew this past season at FIBA Eurochallenge.


There are high expectactions in the future of this VTB United League Competition and these are the best news for Basketball fans in Europe.

EUROLEAGUE & EUROCUP TEAMS FOR NEXT SEASON

The Euroleague Commercial Assets Board met yesterday in Barcelona. The main order of business was to approve the teams that will play next season in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, which will feature a new Top 16 round expanded to 14 games, and in the Eurocup, where the qualifying round was eliminated and a single-game final reestablished. The board also analyzed a summary of last season's sporting and fiscal success before making plans to enhance fan enjoyment and security in the future.

TURKISH AIRLINES EUROLEAGUE 2012-2013

The board approved the awarding of a new two-year A License to Italy’s most successful basketball club ever, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, to replace one that became a wild card following the sports results over the past three seasons of another Italian team, Lottomatica Roma. 

Among the B-License teams are newcomers Besiktas JK Milangaz of Turkey, Elan Chalon-sur-Saone of France and Cedevita Zagreb of Croatia. 

A wild-card C License for Alba Berlin of Germany was approved by the board, taking into consideration the importance of the German market for Euroleague Basketball and its interest in developing the basketball business in that country. 

Wild cards were also given to Bennet Cantu of Italy and Unics Kazan of Russia for the Eight-Team Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds. 

The complete list of 24 teams that will participate in the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season is as follows: 

Anadolu Efes Istanbul	Turkey	Finalist
Asseco Prokom Gdynia	Poland	Champion
BC Khimki Moscow Region	Russia	Finalist
Besiktas JK Milangaz Istanbul	Turkey	Champion
Brose Baskets Bamberg	Germany	Champion
Caja Laboral Vitoria	Spain	Semifinalist
Cedevita Zagreb	Adriatic 1st Croatian	in Adriatic League
CSKA Moscow	Russia	Champion
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan	Italy	Finalist
Elan Chalon-sur-Saone	France	Champion
FC Barcelona Regal	Spain	Champion
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul	Turkey	Finalist
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius	Lithuania	Finalist
Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv	Israel	Champion
Montepaschi Siena	Italy	Champion
Olympiacos Piraeus	Greece	Champion
Panathinaikos Athens	Greece	Finalist
Partizan mt:s Belgrade	Adriatic 1st Serbian	in Adriatic League
Real Madrid	Spain	Finalist
Unicaja Malaga	Spain	9th in Regular Season
Union Olimpija Ljubljana	Adriatic 1st Slovenian	in Adriatic League
Zalgiris Kaunas	Lithuania	Champion
Alba Berlin (Wild Card)	Germany	Quarterfinalist
Winning team of Qualifying Round - -

Those teams participating in the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds are as follows: 

BC Donetsk Ukraine Champion Bennet Cantu (Wild Card) Italy Quarterfinalist CEZ Basketball Nymburk Czech Republic Champion Le Mans Sarthe Basket France Finalist PBC Lukoil Academic Bulgaria Champion Ratiopharm Ulm Germany Finalist Telenet BC Oostende Belgium Champion Unics Kazan (Wild Card) Russia 6th in Regular Season

The Qualifying Rounds winner advances to the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season while the other seven teams will play in the Eurocup Regular Season. 

EUROCUP 2012-2013

The competition changes in the 2012-13 Eurocup, returning to two-game home-and-away semifinals and a single-game final, were also approved by the board. Changes also included the elimination of the Qualifying Round phase of the competition, although the number of participating teams (32) remains the same. 


Those teams participating in the Eurocup Regular Season are as follows: 

Artland Dragons	Germany	Semifinalist
Azovmash Mariupol (Wild Card)	Ukraine	Finalist
Banco Di Sardegna Sassari	Italy	Semifinalist
Banvit BK Bandirma***	Turkey	Semifinalist
Belgacom Spirou Charleroi	Belgium	Finalist
Cholet Basket	France	Semifinalist
Crvena Zvezda Diva Belgrade**	Adriatic 10th	in Regular Season
EiffelTowers Den Bosch	Netherlands	Champion
Galatasaray Medical Park Istanbul	Turkey	Semifinalist
Gescrap Bilbao Basket	Spain	Quarterfinalist
Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem**	Israel	Semifinalist
KK Buducnost VOLI Podgorica	Adriatic 4th	After FinalFour
KK Cibona Zagreb**	Adriatic 7th	in Regular Season
Lagun Aro San Sebastian	Spain	Quarterfinalist
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar	Russia	3rd Place
Orleans	France	Semifinalist
Panionios On Telecoms Athens	Greece	3rd Place
Rudupis Prienai***	Lithuania	3rd Place
s.Oliver Baskets Wuerzburg	Germany	Semifinalist
Spartak St. Petersburg	Russia	6th after Playoffs
Trefl Sopot	Poland	Finalist
Triumph Lyubertsy	Russia	4th Place
Valencia Basket	Spain	Semifinalist
VAP Kolossos Rhodes	Greece	4th Place
VEF Riga	Latvia	Champion
+7 Teams from Euroleague	Qualifying	Rounds

** Wildcards coming after the renouncement of teams: Maccabi Ashdod, Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro and HKK Siroki WWin.

*** Wildcards coming due to the 2011-12 EuroChallenge champion and runner-up - Besiktas JK Milangaz Istanbul of Turkey, Elan Chalon-sur-Saone of France - qualifying for the 2012-13 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. 

Finally, the board looked ahead to the next Final Four at O2 in London, the 2012 Olympic Games basketball venue. Board members reasoned that London is a strategically important market for Euroleague Basketball, due to its commercial possibilities as well as the benefits of having the partnership with AEG grow. Euroleague Basketball directors have already held organizational meetings and are actively working on making the next edition of the Final Four better than previous editions. 

(via Euroleague.net)

Betting Tips (VI) Eurobasket Women 2013 QR: Spain - Germany

After last year´s disappointment, Spain Women Basketball NT is playing QR for Eurobasket 2013, that will be held in France. The QR is played on a Round Robin format. The first two teams in each group will qualify for next year contest.

Spain is playing in group D together with Bulgaria, Sweden, Germany and Romania. After the first two games, Spain Balance is 1-1 by winning the first against Bulgaria (64-48) and loosing the second, against Sweden (78-69).

Spanish NT has suffered important changes after last Eurobasket 2011. Head Coach José Ignacio Hernández left the team and was replaced by Lucas Mondelo (2011 Euroleague winner with Salamanca). However, the biggest changes are that quite important players as Sancho Lyttle, Silvia Domínguez, Alba Torrens are out for this QR for several reasons. So, as you can see, Spain is not so powerful as they were last years and young players (Vanessa Blé, Gastaminza, Pina, Ouviña) have been given the chance to grow up with the NT this summer.

This evening Spain will host Germany in Ávila. Quite a tough customer leadered by Breitreiner, Bar, Austmann and Richter. The german roster plays intense and physical basketball and they were quite a difficult team to beat last year in Poland. 

Big spanish centers have been injured this week: Montañana, Lima and Pascua have struggled but they will be playing tonight. IMO we´ll see a close game with two teams with great defensive skills and the spread is quite interesting for the Germans:

Spain - Germany. Germany +12.5 (1.98) Spread. Pinnacle Stake 3

(Value Bet till +11.5 spread)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Spain 66-39 Germany -3 Units


Feel so sorry and disappointed about this pick and about german offensive performance. They played rubbish and were overpowered in the last quarter... 

Picks	6
Won	4		66,67%
Lost	2		33,33%
Void	0		0,00%
Stake	26
Profit	11,25
Yield	43,27%
Av. Odd	1,881667

Betting Tips (V) Centrobasket 2012: Jamaica - Virgin Islands

Yesterday we placed a bet against Virgin Islands. The big issue concerning the caribbean team was that Cuthbert Victor (their best player by far) didn´t play and wasn´t even included in the roster. His absence resulted in quite an anarchic style of play against a very poor mexican performance. They were overpowered in the paint, committed too many turnovers, and attempted too many three pointer shots. 


Today, Virgin Islands will face Jamaica much more physical and skilled team than Mexico. Sam Vicent, Jamaican NT Head Coach, has brought a strong team to this Centrobasket, leadered by NBA player PF Samardo Samuels. Together with Samuels, a competitive group of ballers from downtown (Efejuku Rose, Patrick Ewing Jr, Akeem Scott and Dylan Dennis), and big centers as Jerome Jordan and the experienced Kimani Ffriend. Jamaica wants to play the semifinals this weekend so they must win this game comfortably. They are a much better team, and played an easy game yesterday against Costa Rica.  




Jamaica - Virgin Islands. Jamaica -14.5 (1.94) Spread. Pinnacle Stake 4
(Value Bet till -16.5 spread)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Jamaica 80-64 Virgin Islands (31-34 HT) +3.76 Units


Jamaica didn´t wake up until 3rd Quarter after playing really bad before HT. The Jamaican let Virgin Islands players grabbing 22 offensive boards so we struggled a lot to win the pick.




GLOBAL STATS

Picks 5     Won 4   80,00% Lost 1   20,00% Void 0   0,00% Stake 23     Profit 14,25     Yield 61,96%     Av. Odd 1,862

Betting Tips (IV) Centrobasket 2012: Mexico - Virgin Islands

2012 Centrobasket for Men, has started today in Puerto Rico. This tournament will last from Monday to Sunday and host 10 teams. Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, as usual, are the main candidates to win the tournament as they are working hard for the Olympic Qualifiers, that will be played in Caracas, in the beginning of July.


This evening we have to focus on Mexican National Team. There are lot of hopes in the uprising of mexican basketball after last year´s Panamerican Games held in Guadalajara. Together with that NT success, this season  Pioneros of Quintana Roo (with the spanish Pep Clarós as a Head Coach) have won FIBA América´s club championships. So this is a big chance for Mexican Basketball to become more popular in the country.


Clarós was appointed Mexican Head Coach, a couple of months ago, this is his first Big Championship with the NT, and named the following roster:


PGs & SGs: Pedro Meza, Paul Stoll, Omar Quintero, Orlando Méndez, Víctor Mariscal, Gabriel Girón, Carlos Toussaint.


SFs & PFs: Héctor Hernández, Jesús López, Gustavo Ayón.


Cs: Horacio Llamas, Adrián Zamora.


NBA PF, Gustavo Ayón will be the true Leader of the team. Together with expert players such as Víctor Mariscal, Horacio Llamas and Omar Quintero they will try to qualify for the semifinals despite the absence of the injured Chris Hernández. 


The mexicans will play tonight against US Virgin Islands. Quite a physical team led by PF Cuthbert Victor (talented and experienced ACB & BekoPBL player). If mexican long-range shooters are inspired and Ayón is unstoppable in the paint, Clarós´ roster should win this game comfortably.




Mexico - Virgin Islands. México -6.5 (1.86) Spread. Bet365 Stake 3
(Value Bet till -7 spread)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mexico 75-67 Virgin Islands +2.58 units


Horrible offensive performance of Mexican NT missing 19 FTs (23/42 55%) and getting in late troubles after taking control of the game since the beginning. After leading by 15 points, the mexican players started turning the ball and missing lots of easy shots and really struggled at the end with late Virgin Islands´ triples. 

Betting Tips (III) 2012 South American Basketball Championship: Venezuela - Chile

2012 South American Championship for Men, starts today in Argentina. This tournament will last from Monday to Friday. Both Argentina and Brazil NTs will use this tournament to start their preparation for the Olympics. However, Venezuela, the third title contender, will compete harder as they will be playing Olympic Qualifiers, at home, in a couple of weeks


Eric Musselman, Venezuela´s NT Head Coach, together with Brad Greenberg have named quite a powerful roster for this championship: Greivis Vásquez, Gregory Vargas, David Cubillan, José Vargas, Jhornan Zamora, Francisco Centeno, Héctor "Pepito" Romero,  Axiers Sucre, Windi Graterol, Gregory Echenique, Miguel Marriaga y José Bravo. 


Regarding that Óscar Torres and John Cox are recovering from some injuries, this is quite a competitive list. In previous friendly games, Venezuela managed to defeat Brazil and Argentina last week. The ´vinotinto´ team wants to play as good as they did at FIBA America´s Championship last year. Their goal is to qualify to the Olympics so they will give their best. Today, PG David Cubillan may not play as he got injured on friday against Brazil, but it will be a game-time decision.


Chilean Basketball, on the other hand, is still in the middle of nowhere. For this Championship they appointed Edgardo Vecchio as NT head coach, one month ago. This decision was quite controversial and we´ll see what happens with the attitude of some players and the inner future of the  team. Chile is coming to Argentina with an undersized roster that will struggle a lot.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Venezuela 86-61 Chile (45-27 HT) +5.1 Units


Venezuela -22.5 (Unibet) 1.85 Stake 6 
 (Value spread till -25)


It could also be so interesting for livebettting Venezuela´s 1stQ and HT Spreads.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Basketball Betting Tips: Lithuania vs Greece

Here we go again with another basketball pick related to International Friendly Games. Our main goal is developing valuable baskeball tips, apart from keeping you updated about all the news related to FIBA Basketball.

Lithuania and Greece will clash this afternoon in the baltic country, to close up a busy basketball weekend that started on Thursday in Kaunas, to get ready for the FIBA Olympic 2012 Qualifying Tournament.


Both teams played yesterday. FYR of Macedonia defeated Lithuania (74-78) with a late rally without Bo McCalebb, Pero Antic, Todor Gecevski and Vlado Ilievski. The hosts really struggled beyond the arc and couldn´t handle V. Stojanovski & Samardziski on deffense. Jasikevicius, Jankunas and Javtokas didn´t play for Lithuania. Kaukenas, Lavrinovic and Pocius are still playing with their teams so they will not be able till next week.


Greece, on the other hand, won Russia (66-63) in a very close game. Both coaches proposed a low-tempo game and deffense was quite important. The russians, as it happened on Thursday, turned the ball too many times and missed too many open shots. They have to improve a lot in offensive field. Yesterday´s victory should boost Greece as they played without Spanoulis, Zisis, Fotsis and Bourousis.


Today, Zisis, Fotsis and Bourousis wont be available again for Ilias Zouros as they will be playing the fifth game of the Italian Lega Final Series. Spanoulis will be a game time decision so big names out for Hellas that will focus again on deffense and rely on Papanikolau, Kaimakoglou and Printezis to attack the lithuanian hoop.


I expect a low scoring game with both teams trying to play long possessions. Too many important players aren´t available so now the big issues are working hard on deffensive and physical aspects before travelling to Venezuela for the Olympic Qualifiers (the first week of July).

Lithuania - Greece Under 144.5 points (1.83) Stake 3 Bet365 
(Value Bet till -143 points)


-3 Units


Greece defeated Lithuania 82-70. The second quarter was absolutely crazy (36-17 for the greeks) and broke the slow rhythm of the game. 

Eurocup 2012-2013, back to former ULEB Cup format

Euroleague Basketball and FIBA Europe have decided very important changes for the 2012-2013 Eurocup.

Both organizing bodies have agreed that the 2012-13 Eurocup will have some changes compared to recent editions. Following the Euroleague Commercial Assets (ECA) Shareholders Executive Board Meeting held on March 5 2012, the proposed competition system for the 2012-13 season that will require approval by the ECA Shareholders Meeting on July 5 2012 will include a single game final, home and away semi-finals, and will not include a Qualifying Round. 

In the last five seasons, the Eurocup champion has been decided in tournament format with either eight (Torino 2008 & 2009) or four teams (Vitoria 2010, Treviso 2011, Khimki 2012). 

Under the new proposal, the title would be decided in a single-game, one-day event, as it was between 2004 and 2007, when the Eurocup was known as the ULEB Cup.

The Eurocup Qualifying Rounds last season saw the winners of eight, home and away two-game series playing in the Regular Season. Now, a total of 25 teams will be qualified directly through the combined Euroleague + Eurocup table approved at the ECA Shareholders Meeting. An additional 7 teams will join the Eurocup Regular Season after competing in the Euroleague Qualifying Rounds, which feature eight teams. The Turkish Airlines Euroleague Qualifying Rounds winner advances to that competition’s regular season, while the other 7 teams take a place in the Eurocup Regular Season.

These modifications, which have been debated with FIBA Europe, and who have agreed to the change at their most recent Board Meeting on June 15 2012.

(via eurocupbasketball)

Argentina National Team: Julio Lamas Announces a List of Fifteen Men

Head Coach Julio Lamas released a list of 15 men for London´s 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament. Three of them wont be members of the last 12 that will fight for a medal in Great Britain:


PG: Pablo Prigioni, Nicolás Laprovittola, Facundo Campazzo.
SG: Manu Ginóbili, Paolo Quinteros, Carlos Delfino.
SF: Andrés Nocioni, Hernán "Pancho" Jasen, Marcos Mata.
PF: Luis Scola, Federico Kammerichs, Leo Gutiérrez, Leo Mainoldi.
C: Juampi Gutiérrez, Martín Leiva.


Campazzo and Laprovíttola (in PG positions); Quinteros - Mata (in Shooting Range Area) and Kammerichs - Mainoldi (Power Forwards) will compete for three spots in the final list.


Argentina NT announced also, the Road To London 2012 Preparation Games Tour. They will face teams as Uruguay, Brazil and Mexico before leaving the country. Later in Spain, Argentina will play against USA and Spain.


(via Germán Beder)