BETTING TIPS (XXIX) INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY GAMES: MONTENEGRO - BOSNIA

Montenegro - Bosnia and Herzegovina. Montenegro -1 (2,06) Stake 3. Pinnacle

Montenegro and Bosnia will clash this afternoon in Trento. Both teams, together with Italy and Finland, will be playing this friendly tournament till friday looking for Eurobasket 2013 Qualifiers. 

The Balkan team has begun a new age after last year´s failure. They headed for EuroBasket 2011 with high expectations and departed Lithuania having failed to live up to them. HC Dejan Radonjic left the team in October and was replaced by Luka Pavicevic.

Pavicevic, well-known by his great work in Alba Berlin, has bet on a fresher style in offense, trying to move the ball much better than last year. This change was tested last week in their two friendlies against Latvia. Played in Zlatibor, Montenegro trashed twice the baltic team (94-76) & (94-68). He has taken advantage of his new CGS “additions”. Either Taylor Rochestie or Brion Rush (both of them got Montenegrin citizenship this year) will speed up the tempo and add better shooting pct beyond the arc. 

In contrast to those interesting backcourt additions, neither Pekovic nor Vucevic are available for the team in this early stage of preparation. So it´s time for promising Bojan Dubljevic to lead Montenegro´s frontcourt together with Dragicevic and Bjelica. It will also be so interesting to watch talented youngster PG Nikola Ivanovic with the NT.

Bosnia and Herzegovina handed the national team reins to veteran tactician Aleksandar (Axa) Petrovic in February. The 52-year-old Croatian coach, the older brother of the late Drazen Petrovic, replaced Sabit Hadzic at the helm. 

Named 2010-11 Eurocup Coach of the Year with Cedevita Zagreb, Axa Petrovic will try to impose its run&gun offense with Bosnia NT. He made a big revolution in his roster not naming such experienced players as Bajramovic, Varda, Jazvin, Ikonic, Nesovic, Milosevic, Vasiljevic or Domercant.

Zack Wright (188-G-85), Josip Naletilic (195-G-89), Nihad Djedovic (196-F-90), Nemanja Mitrovic (195-G), Ante Masic (200-F-85), Dalibor Persic (193-G-85), Mirza Teletovic (206-F-85), Edin Bavcic (210-F/C-84), Elmedin Kikanovic (211-C-88), Nedzad Sinanovic (221-C-83), Jozo Brkic (211-F/C-86) and Armin Avdibegovic (188-PG-84) are the men that will represent Bosnia this summer.

Undoubtedly, Mirza Teletovic will be the go-to player, helped by Djedovic and Wright. The american CG who gained bosnian citizenship this year (recently signed by BC Spartak Saint Petersbourg), will make his debut with Bosnia NT and play a lot of minutes as PG Nemanja Gordic is sidelined. Sinanovic and Kikanovic will lead the frontcourt.

IMO, Montenegro has a deeper and more talented roster and should take the advantage of having  already played a couple of games to snatch a victory today.
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Montenegro 81-83 Bosnia -3 Units


Montenegro lost the game due to a horrible last quarter after enjoying a 11 point lead.

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 (XXIV) SPAIN VS ARGENTINA

Spain - Argentina. Under 156 points (1.96) Pinnacle. Stake 2.5
Spain - Argentina. Spain -7 (1.90) Pinnacle. Stake 2

Spain  and Argentina will be clashing in La Coruña in one hour. This is the first game in Europe for Argentina after arriving a couple of days ago and they will face USA Team in Barcelona on Sunday. Tough tests for Julio Lamas´squad after its good preparation in South America. Carlos Delfino will play his first game this summer with Argentina NT as he joined the team three days ago. Luis Scola is also expected to play tonight, but we´ll see if he´s fully fit after suffering a minor knee injury last week, against Brazil.

Neither Marc Gasol nor Sergio Rodríguez will play with Spain as they are recovering from  minor injuries. As it happenned against Australia, I expect both Serge Ibaka and Reyes playing more minutes, meaning more physical intensity in Spanish frontcourt. Spain must improve their deffensive performance and overpower their opponents in the paint. The big questions will take place on Spanish backcourt...Will Rudy and Navarro be able to stop Ginóbili and Nocioni? 

Taking for granted that both teams will give their best I expect a lower scoring line and Spain should step up tonight in both fields to win this game more comfortably than expected. 
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Spain 105-85 Argentina -0,7 Units


Crazy game since the beginning. Spain smashed Argentina in a stunning first half (61-36) and the game was completely broken. Poor deffensive effort in both sides so this game can´t be taken as a serious test regarding next week´s Olympic Games.

Picks	57
Won	39		68,42%
Lost	17		29,82%
Void	1		1,75%
Stake	211
Profit	96,695
Yield	45,83%
Av. Odd	1,933509

BETTING TIPS (XVIII): FRANCE VS BELARUS & SPAIN VS TUNISIA

These are my picks for tonight´s friendly games. I have to hurry and I won´t be able to explain them as I´d like...

France - Belarus. France -22.5 points (2.00) Pinnacle. Stake 3

After their disappointing loss against Belgium yesterday, where they were outrebounded, France must step up tonight. Parker will see more action and french frontcourt should overpower their rivals. They will face Belarus NT, which have arrived in France without their top Cs (Veremeenko & Parakhouski). They will rely in long-range shots of their backcourt players, specially, PGs Kudryavtsev and naturalized american CG Dante Stiggers.

Andrei Krivonos named this roster for this trip to France: Nikolai Alekseev, George Kondrusiewicz, Korshuk Denis, Alexander Kudryavtsev, Lashkevich Alexey, Nikita Meshcheryakov, Meshcheryakov Yegor, Alexander Pugstovar, Dante Stiggers, Alex Trostinetsky, Pavel Ulyanka & Charikov Sergey. 

Spain - Tunisia. Spain -28.5 points (1.85) Unibet. Stake 3

Spain will be hosting tonight Afrobasket 2011 Champions in Salamanca. After their two first games vs Great Britain and France, Scariolo´s squad will face an easier test against Tunisia. The north-african roster will not count with Salah Mejrim, its best center and player. Without his rebounding and intimidation skills in the paint, Tunisia will have poor weapons to stop both Gasol´s brothers and Ibaka. IMO Spain should smash Tunisia and the spread should be between 35-40 points.
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France 84-64 Belarus & Spain 95-56 Tunisia -0,45 Units

Picks	46
Won	31		67,39%
Lost	14		30,43%
Void	1		2,17%
Stake	172,5
Profit	76,425
Yield	44,30%
Av. Odd	1,928696