BETTING TIPS (XXVIII): LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT (DAY ONE)

These are my first picks for London 2012 Olympic Basketball Tournament. Stay Tuned !

Spain - China. Spain Total Points Over 85,5 (1,90) Unibet. Stake 2,5

Spain - China. Spain -19,5 (1,90) Unibet. Stake 2,5

Spain should win quite comfortably this game. It´s true that the first match in these competitions is weird and difficult but Scariolo´s squad should beat quite easily this chinese team. China is still missing Yao Ming and they just rely on their starting five (Wei-Yue-Wang-Yi Jianlian-Zhizhi Wang). IMO we´ll watch a fast game with Spain getting many easy baskets in transition.

Argentina - Lithuania. Under 164 points (1,94) Pinnacle. Stake 2,5

First game of the tournament for both teams that will clash after their big game on Turkey´s Worldcup semifinals. It´s true that none of them had shown good deffensive attitude in their roads to London. However I think it will be quite different in this game and I expect a lower scoring line than this. Lithuanian backcourt had been struggling beyond the arc and they will have to beat tough customers such as Ginobili, Delfino or Nocioni. In the paint it will be quite interesting to watch youngster Valanciunas facing lots of veterans as Scola, Gutiérrez or Leiva. We should watch a very physical game and the line should be around 158.

STAT BETS (Day One)

Nigeria - Tunisia: Al-Farouq Aminu Over 13,5 Points (1,85) Unibet. Stake 1

The young NBA SF-PF was one of the leaders of Nigeria NT, together with Ike Diogu, in Venezuela´s Olympic Qualifier. If he´s inspired he shouldn´t have any problems with tunisian deffenders. IMO the line should be around 16-17 points.

Brazil - Australia: Patty Mills Over 13,5 Points (1,85) Unibet. Stake 1

Mills have really felt the ball in Australia´s prep games. With excellent pct beyond the arc he will face Huertas and I think he´ll beat this scoring line.

Russia- Great Britain: Shved Over 10 Points (1,85) Unibet. Stake 1,5

Alexey Shved should destroy british PGS with his intense deffensive pressure and stealing skills. Probably without Mike Lenzley, either Nate Reinking or Andrew Lawrence won´t be able to stop him in open field so I expect many transitions and easy lay ups for the russian CG.

Spain - China: Marc Gasol        Under 14 points (1,85) Unibet. Stake 2

Spain - China: Juan C. Navarro Under 16 points (1,85) Unibet Stake 1


Marc Gasol has been sitting out with a shoulder injury for the last 10 days so if he finally plays against China he will see limited action. I think it´s the most valuable stat bet of the day.


Juan Carlos Navarro has been playing few minutes because of nagging foot and back injuries. I don´t think Coach Scariolo will risk at all so he won´t be playing more than 15-18 minutes.
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+0,925 Units Won.
Bitersweet day. The stat bets outcome was brilliant, though Aminu played such a bad game. Spain didn´t deffend well and a bad third quarter made impossible to win the spread bet against China. Lithuania was a total disaster and was trashed by Argentina since the very beginning. Frantic pace and crazy score.

Picks	77
Won	53		68,83%
Lost	23		29,87%
Void	1		1,30%
Stake	267
Profit	120,4
Yield	45,09%
Av. Odd	1,928052

BETTING TIPS (XXVII) INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY GAMES: LITHUANIA - ICELAND

Lithuania will play its last friendly game before the Olympics in front of its passionate fans in Vilnius. After being defeated by Russia on Sunday (101-79), Kemzura´s squad will host Iceland, such a weak opponent. 

I think we´ll see quite a comfortable win for the baltic side before heading to London. Lithuania should trash Iceland and get ready to face Argentina next Sunday.

Iceland's last EuroBasket Division B campaign was in 2009. Flash forward three years and the stakes are now considerably higher for Iceland. Starting 14 August, the national team is not embarking on a campaign to earn promotion, but to secure a place in the 24-team EuroBasket 2013. 

The Division A and B system is now defunct and everyone is given a fair chance of earning a ticket to the big stage. Such a great prize for Iceland NT that will have, once again, Jon Stefansson as the go-to player, just helped by Pavel Ermolinskij and the youngster Haukur Palsson.

Lithuania - Iceland. Lithuania -26,5 (1,83) Bet365. Stake 5

Lithuania - Iceland. Lithuania -14,5 HT (1,83) Bet365. Stake 3 (LIVEBETTING)

Lithuania - Iceland. Lithuania Over 94,5 points (1,86) Bet365. Stake 3 (LIVEBETTING)
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Lithuania 101-51 Iceland (47-31 HT) +9,22 Units


Lithuania easily cruise past Iceland since the very beginning. However they need to step up their offense and free throws percentage.

Picks	67
Won	47		70,15%
Lost	19		28,36%
Void	1		1,49%
Stake	245
Profit	117,625
Yield	48,01%
Av. Odd	1,93194

2012 FIBA OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT ANALYSIS: GROUPS A & B

GROUP A

GREECE  

The Greek squad , led by  Head Coach Ilias Zouros, arrives in Venezuela with high confidence after their preparatory games. Hellas NT is practically the same that played so well last year in Lithuania Eurobasket 2011. The biggest changes are the return of Vassilis Spanoulis and the absence of Kostas Koufos. With Spanoulis´ comeback, the Greek Backcourt is probably the strongest of the tournament:  PGS Zisis and Calathes together with such an emerging talent as Papanikolau and the danger of Kostas Vasileiadis beyond the arc.

Zouros will have lots of quality options at the PF: Fotsis-Kaimakoglou (who probably play many minutes at small forward) and Printezis, who has been onfire in the last Friendly Tournament played in Brazil this week. 

Maybe the ´weakest´ position for the Greeks will be in the frontcourt. Bouroussis and Mavroeidis are the only Big C´s with the absences of Koufos, Schortsianitis and Vougiukas.

Hellas is one of the main favourites and if their offense keeps on working as they have done in these previous weeks, they will get one of the Olympic spots.

JORDAN

Last year in Asiabasket 2011, Jordan managed to reach the final and get the silver medal. Courageous and commited team, they upsetted the Philippines in the semifinals working so hard on deffense.

However, the middle-east team will play this summer without its biggest star PG Rasheem Wright. The American-Jordanian won´t be available for Head Coach Tab Baldwin and the offense will just 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 as they are the weakest team in this Tournament.

PUERTO RICO

Puerto Rico NT will have a big test in this Caracas´Olympic Qualifying Tournament after its last week home defeat against Dominican Republic in Centrobasket 2012 (played in San Juan).

HC Flor Meléndez wants a ticket to London for his team, relying on their distinctive and attractive style of play. Run & Gun offense commanded by talented and electric PGS Juan José Barea and Carlos Arroyo.  Shooting Guards Huertas and Rosario will open the court to their big men and will be quite dangerous from downtown.

The offensive talents of Nathan Peavy  and Renaldo Balkman´s deffensive toughness are the main weapons in the PF.  In the paint, the experience of Daniel Santiago together with the quality of Ricky Sánchez make  Puerto Rico such a solid team if they are inspired and focused.

GROUP B

LITHUANIA

After an irregular and strange preparation, Lithuania NT arrives in Venezuela with a lot of questions and doubts around the team. HC Kestutis Kemzura has been trying with both successful WC 2010 and disappointing Euro2011 styles of play. The key problem for the Baltic Team is the lack of outsdating long range shooters (Seibutis, Gecevicius and Jasaitis in the back court and Lavrinovic´s brothers  and Motiejunas are sidelined).

Despite all absences, Lithuania should be among the favourites to qualify for London2012. With Kleiza,  Jasikevicius and Valanciunas as the key offensive references they´ll need more production from the bench. If they find their rhythm in offensive transitions and improve their defensive level they should have many options to be in the semifinals for the sixth consecutive time.

NIGERIA

Building a solid future for Nigeria NT. That´s HC Ayo Bakare´s goal for this tournament with the absence of his most important players (Udoka, Eze, Ere, Umeh). 

The roster that arrives in Caracas has lots of new faces regarding last year´s in Madagascar Afrobasket 2011. PG Tony Skin, SGS Obasohan and Oguchi will help NBA SF Al farouq Aminu in the offensive backcourt. The strength and power of Aminu, Diogu and Oyedeji will be their main weapons in the paint.

They were smashed by Brazil and Greece, last week, so they will try to upset Venezuela but I don’t´give them any options.

VENEZUELA

In my opinion, the hosts are going to be serious contenders in this competition and everybody in Caracas expects them to claim one of the Olympic berths. It won´t be easy at all, but Venezuela NT has shewn great commitment in the last two years and they are ready for this contest.

NBA PG Greivis Vásquez is the true offensive leader of the team. Together with him, SGS Cox, Cubillán, Sucre and Zamora complete a dangerous backcourt. In the paint, the experience and talent of Héctor "Pepito" Romero and Óscar Torres will be helped by the toughness of Gregory Echenique and Windi Graterol.

“Venezuelan basketball has advanced more in this year than in the last 20,” Greivis Vásquez said. They play as a team with passion and smartness, so give full credit to HC Eric Musselman.

If they win their first two games - and that’s a big if - the self-belief would grow and the fans would have the opportunity to give the team an extra push in the clashes to follow. It won´t be easy at all, but more than anything at this moment, perspective is needed for Venezuelan basketball.

COMPETITION FORMAT

The Olympic Qualifying Tournament basketball competition for men consists of a Preliminary Round, Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals. 

Preliminary Round 


The 12 participating teams will be divided into four groups (A,B,C & D) of three (3) teams each. Each team will play with the other two (2) teams in its own group. The two (2) highest ranked teams in each group will qualify for the Quarter-Finals. The 3th ranked teams in each group will be eliminated and will not play anymore.


Quarter-Finals 


The eight (8) teams qualified from the Preliminary Round will play the direct elimination as follows: 


A1 vs. B2 
B1 vs. A2  
C1 vs. D2  
D1 vs. C2  


The winners of the above games will qualify for the Semi-Finals. The losers will be eliminated and will not play anymore. 


Semi-Finals 


The winners of the Quarter-Finals will play for places 1-4.


The winners of these games will play in the Gold Medal Game and will qualify to London 2012 Olympic Games.


The losers will play in the Bronze Medal Game. The winner of this game will get the third and last spot to London 2012 Olympics.

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)

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. 

Basketball Betting Tips: Russia vs FYR of Macedonia

Apart from keeping you updated about all the news related to FIBA Basketball, one of our main issues will be producing valuables basketball picks.

As we reported yesterday, we´ll having this weekend some international preparation games in Lithuania. Russia and F.Y.R. Of Macedonia will be clashing this afternoon in Kaunas.

The great outsiders of EuroBasketball 2011 come back to Kauno Arena where they made history qualifying to the semifinals. They will meet Russia, as they did in the game for the bronze medal nine months ago (68-72 was the final score for David Blatt roster).

However, today the scenario will be completely different as Bo McCalebb, Pero Antic, Todor Gecevski and Vlado Ilievski wont be available for the new NT Head Coach, Marjan Lazovski. So Macedonia will have to play without the most important players of the team this weekend.

Russia, on the other hand, has travelled with all its 15 available players to Lithuania. I expect Macedonia will really struggle in this game and the russians will get an easy win.

Russia -11.5 (1.83) Stake 7 Bet365 
(Value Bet till -14.5 hcap as you can find in several bookies)


Russia won the game 80-61 after trailing (30-35) at the HT. There was a big change of attitude and they smashed the young FYR Of Macedonia squad.


+5.81 Units

International Preparation Games in Lithuania for World Olympic Qualifying Tournament

Lithuania, Greece, FYROM and Russia will clash this weekend in Kaunas and Klaipeda to get ready for World Olympic Qualifying Tournament, that will be played in Caracas, Venezuela, the first week of July.


This weekend games will be the first serious tests for the four european nations. They will all fight for the three final spots to London 2012 Olympics against tough contenders such as Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic or Angola.


Russia National Team has travelled to Lithuania, this afternoon, to play a couple of friendly games in Kaunas. David Blatt´s squad will face FYROM tomorrow and Greece on Saturday. The american head coach has taken fifteen men to Lithuania:


PG: Alexey Shved, Anton Ponkrashov, Dmitriy Khvostov, Maxim Grigoryev 
SG: Egor Vyaltsev, Vitaly Fridzon, Sergey Karasev, Eugeny Voronov
PF: Semen Antonov, Andrei Kirilenko, Sergey Monya, Viktor Khryapa
C: Timofey Mozgov, Alexander Kaun, Artem Yakovenko.


*As it was reported two days ago, Andrey Vorontsevich will be sidelined this summer.