BETTING TIPS (XV): FIBA OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: SEMI-FINALS PICKS

These are my picks for the semi-finals. Sorry about the delay. Stay tuned to @TradingBaskets for more Live Betting Picks !

Nigeria - Russia. Russia -8 HT (1.90) Unibet Stake 3

(LIVE BETTING PICK) Nigeria - Russia. Russia -3,5 HT (1.90) Bet365 Stake 5 
(Bet placed at the beginning of the 2ndQ with 26-26 and FTS for Nigeria)

Nigeria - Russia. Russia -13,5 (1.95) Pinnacle Stake 3

Nigeria - Russia. Russia Total Points: Over 81 (1.90) Unibet Stake 3

After upsetting Greece yesterday in a stunning second half, Nigeria faces Russia. By no means, Russia will repeat Greek mistakes and they should smash Nigeria tonight. Too much for them playing back-to-back games vs Lithuania, Greece and Russia.


Coach Blatt will insist on deffensive intensity from the very beginning so I expect quite a comfortable win today. If Nigeria is overpowered before HT, we would have a high scoring game and I think Russia will get lots of easy baskets and we must place that bet.

Lithuania - Dominican Republic. Lithuania -4 HT (1.90) Unibet Stake 4

Lithuania - Dominican Republic. Lithuania -6,5 (1.96) Pinnacle Stake 5

Lithuania played quite a serious game yesterday against Puerto Rico. Neither Barea nor Arroyo were able to lead Puerto Rico´s offense. Lithuanian backcourt´s deffensive performance was really good and that was key  for getting through the semi-finals together with smart ball movement in offense.


Dominican Republic, on the other hand, got an incredible victory against FYR Macedonia after trailing by 20 points (37-17). Caribbean´s streetball came to life at the end of the second half with Francisco García´s stunning performance. They finally got a comfortable win against FYROM, which lacked of energy and had all its frontcourt in foul-troubles since the beginning of the third quarter. Only Bo McCalebb and Ilievski looked as good as last  year but it wasn´t enough against Dominican power.


I expect the same positive lithuanian attitude tonight. They are much more experienced and will cause many problems in deffense to the caribean backcourt. I think, as well, that Jonas Valanciunas will play a great game after his disappointing performance yesterday and will stop Martínez and Horford. 
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15,3 Units Won Today!

Russia and Lithuania qualified for London 2012 Olympics after beating Nigeria and Dominican Republic.



Russia won Nigeria (85-77) but couldn´t give us the FT Hcap Spread as they got relaxed too much in the second half and made a horrible deffensive performance.

Lithuania smashed Dominican Republic (109-83) since the beginning of the 2nd Quarter. Calipari decided to rest his key players in the second half for tomorrow´s big Olympic Qualifying Spot against Nigeria. 

Picks	39
Won	27		69,23%
Lost	11		28,21%
Void	1		2,56%
Stake	150,5
Profit	74,15
Yield	49,27%
Av. Odd	1,924615

BETTING TIPS (XIV): FIBA OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: QUARTER FINALS PICKS

Two Victories away from Glory! That´s the distance to London 2012 Olympic Games for the last eight contenders in Venezuela´s Qualifying Tournament. Welcome to the Knock Out Stage!

Russia vs Angola. Russia -10.5 HT (1.90) Unibet Stake 2

Russia vs Angola. Over 143.5 points (1.98) Pinnacle Stake 3

Russia vs Angola. Over 72 points 1st Half (1.90) Unibet Stake 2

Russia faces Angola expecting to win comfortably and trying to close the game before HT. I expect the best Russian defensive pressure stealing many balls and running the court since the very beginning of the game. Russian size and physical strength (though wihout injured Mozgov) will be key against low-sized Angola´s frontcourt. 

Which Angola performance we´ll see? The amazing one vs FYROM or the rubbish show against New Zealand? I think they´ll try to improve their long range shooting and play fast offensive transitions to get "easy" baskets. I think we´ll have a higher score than expected as Russia will break the game soon and Angola won´t be able to deffend properly.

Greece vs Nigeria. Greece -15 (1.97) Pinnacle Stake 4

Greece vs Nigeria. Greece -7.5 HT (1.86) Bet365 Stake 3

LIVEBETTING PICK Greece -3.5 HT (1.83) Bet365 Stake 5

As we predicted on Sunday, the Greek squad, led by  Head Coach Ilias Zouros, have come to Caracas with high confidence after their succesful preparation. Hellas offensive performances have been brilliant against Jordan and Puerto Rico. They are shooting the ball incredibly well from downtown, outrebounding every team and moving the ball to perfection. Olympiakos´Big Three: Vassilis Spanoulis, Papanikolau and Printezis, together with Bouroussis are On Fire. 

Nobody thought this young Nigerian NT would get through the Quarter Finals but Lithuania tanked yesterday and helped them to win and qualify to this KO round. Despite Ayo Bakare´s team improvement they didn´t deserve this big prize, but they got it anyway. Based on the inspiration of Aminu, Skin and Obasohan they will try to be in the game as long as possible. I don´t think that will happen as Greece will start strong and don´t allow them to score any easy hoops. Greece should smash them if they keep on playing as they have done these weeks.

FYR Macedonia vs Dominican Republic Over 152.5 points (1.95) Pinnacle Stake 4

This should be the closest game of the QF series. Both teams will try to make history getting through the semifinals. McCalebb will lead FYROM hopes, one more time, and he should control the tempo of the game. Neither Coronado nor Fortuna will be able to stop him so I expect a fast and open game with a lot of possessions and long-range shots. On the other hand, Dominican Republic´s frontcourt will dominate the paint with Horford & Martínez. Both centers should overpower Macedonian centers in the paint but they will struggle, as well, defending Pero Antic´s open shots. 

The offensive production of some players as Francisco García (who should be stepping up his numbers in this game) & Eulis Báez, in the Dominican side, and Vlado Ilievski and Stojanovski´s brothers, in the Balkan side, would make this game a high-scoring one if they are inspired beyond the arc. IMO, the line will be closer or over to 160 points.

Lithuania - Puerto Rico Under 169 points (2.00) Pinnacle Stake 4

IMO Quite A High Line for a Quarter Final´s K.O. Game.

Both Lithuania and Puerto Rico NT have performed very good offensive games in this Tournament. Specially both frontcourts have been quite dominant and effective, thanks to the excellent direction of PGS Sarunas Jasikevicius and JJ Barea. 

However, both defensive performances have been horrible allowing lots of open shots and easy baskets. Today, in a Do or Die Situation, I Do Think that we´ll see a much better Lithuanian deffensive play. They will be more aggressive and should physically overpower their opponents. It will be a very interesting game to test Jonas Valanciunas´ skills vs experienced Santiago and PJ Ramos while in the backcourt battle, Jasikevicius could slow down the tempo of the game to stop Arroyo&Barea frantic style. 

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+13,27 Units Won Today !

Things happened as we expected except Nigeria´s stunning win against Greece in the second half. I don´t know if I´ll be able to post something for tomorrow´s semifinals. I will try, I swear :) Stay Tuned to @TradingBaskets

Picks	33
Won	22		66,67%
Lost	10		30,30%
Void	1		3,03%
Stake	127,5
Profit	58,85
Yield	46,16%
Av. Odd	1,925758

BETTING TIPS (X): FIBA OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: DAY TWO

These are my first picks for the second day of the tournament. I will try to add some extra tips later. Stay Tuned!

Dominican Republic vs South Korea. Dominican Republic -21.5 (1.94) Pinnacle Stake 5

(Value bet Under -24 points)

Dominican Republic vs South Korea. Dominican Republic -12 HT (1.90) Unibet Stake 3

(Value bet Under -13.5 points)

Dominican Republic wants to get a ticket to London. They should be the Underdog of the tournament. Coached by John Calipari, they shew two weeks ago in Puerto Rico´s Centrobasket that they are absolutely ready for this challenge.

With a fast and attractive style of play, the Dominicans have a great starting five. The electric PG Manuel Fortuna together with SG Juan Coronado will help talented NBA SF Francisco García from downtown.  Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks PF, and Jack Michael Martínez are the big names in one of the most powerful frontcourts of the tournament with Josh Asselin and Eulis Báez coming from the bench. 

Korea, on the other hand, arrived in Caracas thinking about the future with the big absences of experienced and talented PG Yang Dong-Geun, SG Moon Tae-Jong (aka Jarod Stevenson), F Cho Sung Min and PF Kim Joo-Sung. 

As we saw yesterday, the asian team relies just on long range shots and being agresive in deffensive pressure to compensate their lack of physical power. Sandrin and Sek-eun Oh will be again their best offensive weapons.


HT LIVE BETTING PICKS (UPDATED)


After the horrible First Half I´ve Decided to place the following bet:

Dominican Republic vs South Korea. Dominican Republic -6.5  (2.00) Unibet Stake 8

With 45-52 in the 3rdQ I also have taken this bet:


Dominican Republic vs South Korea. Dominican Republic -2.5  (2.00) Unibet Stake 10

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FYR Of Macedonia vs New Zealand. FYR Of Macedonia -11,5 (1.96) Pinnacle Stake 8

(Value Bet till -13.5)

FYR Of Macedonia vs New Zealand. FYR Of Macedonia HT -6 (1.90) Unibet Stake 4

(Value Bet till -7)

After being surprised yesterday by Angola, FYROM has a do-or-die situation this evening against New Zealand. They woke up so late and were absolutely beaten in every field in the first half. Today , I am sure that they will be the same aggresive team in deffense that made history in last Eurobasket 2011.

Again, Bo McCalebb is the lighthouse of the Balkan team. One of the best PG in FIBA Basketball leads the offense helped by Vlado Ilievski and Stojanovski´s brothers beyond the arc. In the frontcourt, one more time, the versatility of PF Pero Antic together with the big centers Gecevski and Samardziski are the hearts of the team.

Hard times for the Tall Blacks as SG Kirk Penney and PF Thomas Abercrombie won´t be available for this tournament. HC Vucinic will be without two of his most important players so New Zealand will struggle a lot in offense. New Zealand will fight and try not to be trashed by their rivals but they are so far away of being dangerous at all.

Lindsay Tait will be the most important player in offensive terms while Vukona and Casey Frank will add their experience and physical strength. In the paint, big Cs, Pledger and Lou should give something better for the team as they did in previous tournaments.
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Dominican Republic 95-85 South Korea (+10 Units thanks to LIVEBETTING PICKS)
FYR Of Macedonia 84-62 New Zealand    (+11,28 Units)


21,28 Units Won Today


Thanks To Livebetting Picks we got quite a good profit today. Dominican Republic played a horrible first half and didn´t deffend at all. After HT they improved a lot in their offense but it wasn´t enough to smash a very tough Korean team.

FYR Of Macedonia played quite solid and controlled the game since the beginning. No problems at all for McCalebb and his mates. Quite comfortable picks!

Picks	22
Won	15		68,18%
Lost	7		31,82%
Void	0		0,00%
Stake	88,5
Profit	43,88
Yield	49,58%
Av. Odd	1,927273

BETTING TIPS (IX) 2012 FIBA OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: DAY ONE, SIX PICKS

For the first day of the tournament I won´t write too much as you can find all the important info on these previous posts. If I find more interesting picks tomorrow I will write about them on twitter. So these are my tips:

Russia vs South Korea. Russia -25.5 (1.90) Unibet Stake 2.5

(Value Bet till -27)

Russia vs South Korea. Russia -13.5 HT (1.90) Unibet Stake 2.5

(Value Bet till -14.5)

First game of the tournament in Caracas. The strongest team against the weakest team. Russia should trash Korea. It´s the best game for David Blatt´s roster to begin and get used to the "Poliedro´s" conditions.

Greece vs Jordan. Greece -15.5 HT (1.90) Unibet Stake 2

(Value Bet till -16)

Again a lot of differences between these two teams. I have chosen the HT handicap because the greeks have played quite aggresively in the first two quarters of every preparatory games. The FT handicap is a bit dangerous to me, as Greece could start thinking in their game against Puerto Rico and relax a little bit.

Angola vs FYR Of Macedonia. FYR Of Macedonia -7,5 (1.94) Pinnacle Stake 1.5

(Value Bet till -8.5)

Angola vs FYR Of Macedonia. Under 148 points (1.94) Pinnacle Stake 1.5

(Value bet Under 147 points)

It should be the most difficult game of the day. Angola will fight and try to slow the tempo to stop Bo McCalebb´s production. FYROM should take advantage of their big men in the paint and if Angola is not inspired beyond the arc they will struggle in offense.

Venezuela vs Nigeria. Venezuela -10 (1.97) Pinnacle Stake 3
(Value Bet till -12)


Venezuela could feel the pressure in the first game but I think they are quite ready for this clash. They will give their best to get their first win and they should win comfortably if Vásquez imposes his rhythm and they control the boards.

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+0,3 Units after a disappointing day. 

Nobody expected Angola´s massive performance in the first half. Macedonia woke up too late and they couldn´t even win the game. Venezuela, on the other hand, didn´t play as they had been doing the last weeks. Neither Romero nor Torres were able to help Vásquez in the offensive field. Missing many open shots and not controlling the tempo...

Picks	16
Won	11		68,75%
Lost	5		31,25%
Void	0		0,00%
Stake	50,5
Profit	22,6
Yield	44,75%
Av. Odd	1,91875

2012 FIBA OLYMPIC QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT: GROUPS C & D

GROUP C

RUSSIA

Russian NT is the team to beat in the tournament.  Despite their usual offensive shortcomings, they are the most solid team and shouldn´t have any problem to qualify for the London 2012 Olympics. David Blatt keeps the block of players that got the bronze medal in Lithuanian Eurobasket 2011. Vorontsevich and Bykov are sidelined but C Sasha Kaun comes back to help the team in the paint.  

AK 47 Kirilenko and Sergey Monya are the best pair of Forwards in the tournament. In the frontcourt, the power and strength of Kaun, Mozgov and Khryapa will be a key factor in every game. In PG, Shved and Fridzon will lead the team and will have to play many minutes as Khostov and Ponkrashov, aren´t in the same level.  Let´s see if the newcomers Voronov, Karasev and Grigoryev can be helpful  from the bench.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Dominican Republic wants to get a ticket to London. Together with Venezuela, they should be among the underdogs of the tournament. Coached by John Calipari, they have shown last week in Puerto Rico´s Centrobasket that they are absolutely ready for this challenge.

With a fast and attractive style of play, the Dominicans have a great starting five. The electric PG Manuel Fortuna together with SG Juan Coronado will help talented NBA SF Francisco García from downtown.  Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks PF, and Jack Michael Martínez are the big names in one of the most powerful frontcourts of the tournament with Josh Asselin and Eulis Báez coming from the bench. 

If the Caribbean team increases it´s deffensive attitude, be careful with them as they have a lot of weapons to get into the semifinals.

KOREA

After winning the bronze medal in last year´s Asiabasket 2011, Korea NT arrives in Caracas thinking about the future with the big absences of experienced and talented PG Yang Dong-Geun, SG Moon Tae-Jong (aka Jarod Stevenson), F Cho Sung Min and PF Kim Joo-Sung.

In addition to all these important sidelined players, Sang Beom Lee, Korean HC, will have the serious doubt of Sek-eun Oh (the young talented C), with physical problems.  The Korean team will try to play fast, with many long range shots and being aggressive in deffense to compensate their lack of physical power. SG Lee Seung-Jun will be the only offensive reference from downtown.

GROUP D

FYR OF MACEDONIA

No longer underdogs, FYROM will play its first Official Tournament out of Europe after their big achievement last year in Lithuania Eurobasket. Few months ago, Marjan Lazovski became new Head Coach replacing Marin Dokuzovski. That won´t bring any important changes as Lazovski has been working with FYROM´s NT since 2006.

Again, Bo McCalebb will be the lighthouse of the Balkan team. One of the best PG in FIBA Basketball will lead the offense helped by Vlado Ilievski and Stojanovski´s brothers beyond the arc. In the frontcourt, one more time, the versatility of PF Pero Antic together with the big centers Gecevski and Samardziski will be the heart of the team.

They have been quite irregular in the preparatory games as Bo McCalebb arrived late due to the Italian Serie A Final Series.  However, they´ll give their best to get into the semifinals and we know that impossible means nothing to them.

NEW ZEALAND

Hard times for the Tall Blacks as SG Kirk Penney and PF Thomas Abercrombie won´t be available for this tournament. HC Vucinic will be without two of his most important players so New Zealand will struggle a lot in offense. New Zealand will fight and try not to be trashed by their rivals but they are so far away of being dangerous at all.

Lindsay Tait will be the most important player in offensive terms while Vukona and Casey Frank will add their experience and physical strength. In the paint, bic Cs, Pledger and Lou should give something better for the team as they did in previous tournaments.

ANGOLA

After being defeated by Tunisia in the last Afrobasket 2011 final, Angola NT will need a miraculous performance to qualify for London 2012 Olympics. With the scorer Armando Costa in the PG, the Angolan offensive game will mainly pend on the couple of Forwards formed by Carlos Morais and Joaquim Gomes. In the frontcourt, the experienced Eduardo Mingas should help Paulo and promising big Cs Moreira and Joaquim.

Angola NT is a limited height team, prone to disciplinary problems. However, they have always been tough customers for any opponent. Dangerous in the offensive rebounding, beware if they are inspired beyond the arc.

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