Euroleague Round 3, January 16, 2015

BASKETBALL - EUROLEAGUE

TOP16

http://www.fogadoportal.hu/kosarlabda/europa/euroliga/

ROUND 2 - GROUP E

PANATHINAIKOS - ZALGIRIS KAUNAS

* Dimitris Diamantidis is the all-time Euroleague leader in assists (1.052) and steals (397). He needs two points to overcome Gianluca Basile for 12th place in the scorers list. Diamantidis totals 2,161 career points against Basile’s 2,163.

* Paulius Jankunas ranks seventh in the all-time rebounding list. Jankunas pulled down 1,102 rebounds and needs 16 to overcome Mike Batiste.
* Robertas Javtokas is seventh in the all-time blocks list at 135. He could go past D’or Fischer (138) and Denis Marconato (140) soon.

Two former Euroleague winners meet again, as Zalgiris Kaunas looks for its first-ever road win against Panathinaikos Athens. Robertas Javtokas, who helped the Greens win the Euroleague title in 2007, leads a rock-solid Zalgiris frontcourt which combines veterans Paulius Jankunas and Darius Songaila with young talent Arturas Gudaitis. James Gist and Antonis Fotsis will their athleticism against Jankunas and Songaila, while Javtokas and Gudaitis face a test of strength against centers Esteban Batista and Loukas Mavrokefalidis. Of course, stopping Dimitris Diamantidis is the goal of Zalgiris playmakers Will Cherry, Vaidas Kariniauskas and Lukas Lekavicius. DeMarcus Nelson will try to use his athleticism against Zalgiris's point guards. Panathinaikos relies on streak shooters Janis Blums and A.J. Slaughter and young guns Nikos Pappas and Vladimir Jankovic to make the difference at both wings. Jankovic will not have it easy against James Anderson, a key matchup in this game. Pappas, Slaughter and Blums will test their perimeter scoring skills against Arturas Milaknis, Vytenis Lipkevicius and Edgaras Ulanovas, who can also be really dangerous in the low post.

Zalgiris has never beaten Panathinaikos on the road – 8 games, 8 losses and from my point of view today Panata is clearly the favourite of the game and I think they will win the game by 6-10 points - 4.50 (Bet365) | ✖

If you are thinking to bet on player total points, I recommend the great shooter of Panata : A.J. Slaughter. He is the best scorer of the team in Euroleague, followed by Uruguayan Center, Esteban Batista, but he will face strong opponents under the basket, so I think, if the home team will move the ball well and A.J. will be in a great mood, he can score over 12.5 points - 1.85 | ✖

CRVENA ZVEZDA - GALATASARAY

* Galatasaray has lost nine straight Euroleague road games going back to last season’s Top 16.

* Boban Marjanovic leads the 2014-15 Euroleague in average performance index rating (22.9 per game) and in rebounding (10.2 rpg.).

* Marjanovic has seven double doubles this season and eight in his last 13 Euroleague appearances.

* Marcus Williams ranks second in assists with 6.7 per game. Only Milos Teodosic of CSKA Moscow (7.6 apg.) ranks higher.

* Kerem Gonlum needs 3 more rebounds to catch Mike Batiste for fifth place on the Euroleague's career rebounding charts. He enters this week's game with 1,114 rebounds.

* Gonlum is 4 offensive rebounds away from becoming just the second player in competition history to 400. Real Madrid's Felipe Reyes is the Euroleague leader with 477 offensive boards entering the Top 16.

These teams face each other for the third time this season. Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul used an incredible three-point shot by Zoran Erceg to down Crvena Zvezda 110-103 in double overtime the last time they played. Galatasaray needs to stop Boban Marjanovic down low and relies on Patric Young, Aleks Maric and Kerem Gonlum to do so. Marjanovic will get plenty of help from Maik Zirbes and Luka Mitrovic, who must be ready for a critical matchup against Erceg. Galatasaray is deep at both wings, with Vladimir Micov, Justin Carter and Martynas Pocius. Micov will use his experience against up-and-coming forward Nikola Kalinic while Pocius needs to be a ready to run with Jaka Blazic. Nemanja Dangubic and Charles Jenkins give Zvezda coach Dejan Radonjic a lot of options to use against Micov and Pocius. The biggest battle, however, comes at point guard, as Marcus Williams faces Carlos Arroyo. Williams had a Euroleague all-time record 17 assists against Zvezda the last time around. Ender Arslan will help Arroyo control the game tempo against Williams and Branko Lazic.

Two typically home teams will play in this game : Crvena played really good basketball this season in front of their fans, while Galata is playing very good in front of their fans, but on road they had poor performances this season, BUT... despite this fact, I think the odds for this game 1.30 - 3.70 are unbalanced from my point of view. After a great regular season, Zvezda lost the first two games in top16 against top teams (Real, Maccabi). Maybe the statistics and H2H results are against me, but I expect a tougher encounter than the odds suggest, I'm sure the Turkish side will play a good game, maybe they can produce a huge surprise - 3.70 | ✓, so the handicap +11.5 - 1.43  | ✓; +10.5 - 1.51  | ✓; +9.5 - 1.58  | ✓; +8.5 - 1.70  | ✓; +7.5 - 1.82  | ✓; +6.5 - 1.94  | ✓on guests can be good options..  


ROUND 2 - GROUP F

FENERBAHCE - OLYMPIAKOS

In a a high-profile showdown, Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul hosts Olympiacos Piraeus in Group F. Fenerbahce relies on first-class shooters Andrew Goudelock and Bogdan Bogdanovic to make the difference at both wings. Fenerbahce Ulker head coach Zeljko Obradovic also looks to Nemanja Bjelica and Emir Preldzic to generate mismatches all over the place. Bjelica and Preldzic will not have it easy against hard-nosed defenders Tremmell Darden and Matt Lojeski. Meanwhile, Bogdanovic and Goudelock will have the key mission of guarding Kostas Sloukas and, above all, Vassilis Spanoulis, Olympiacos's undeniable leader. The point guard battle will be interesting, as Fenerbahce linked Nikos Zisis, who will try to control the game tempo against his Greek national team backup, Vangelis Mantzaris, and Oliver Lafayette. If available after missing Fenerbahce's last Euroleague game, Ricky Hickman will give the hosts athleticism and experience in the backcourt. Olympiacos need its very athletic, strong frontcourt, led by Othello Hunter, Georgios Printezis, Bryant Dunston and Brent Petway, to dominate the paint. Semih Erden, Luka Zoric and Oguz Savas must take the physical challenge while Jan Vesely faces a stellar matchup against Petway. Sparks will fly when those two and their teams face off Thursday!

"First of all, I have to say that it is a very important game for both teams. Fenerbahce Ulker is a very good team, with a very good coach. I believe that they are the favorite for this game since they are playing at home in front of their fans. We, on the other hand, have to be focused, do in court what we have prepared in practice and fight for 40 minutes." – Giannis Sfairopoulos, Olympiakos' coach 

I totally agree with this quote... Fenerbahce at home can't be underdog against either team in Euroleague. The atmosphere is incredible and their roster is very good this year and with a great coach, they can beat everybody in Istambul, but will be a tough match for sure. I don't recommend to bet 1X2 on this game, is an unpredictable match from my point of view, but I choosed a player from each team : 
Nemanja Bjelica, one of my favourite European players and one of the best power forwards (at least in Euroleague) is clearly a very important piece in Fener's game, but he scored under his total points line in both top16 game, so in this derby, maybe he will try to score more than 10.5 points - 1.85 | ✖

On the other hand, my favourite player of Olympiakos, super point guard, a legend : Vassilis Spanoulis, the leader of the greek team, a man who loves to score points... He averaged 17.5 points in this Euroleague Regular Season, but against Unicaja and Emporio he scored just 11, respectively 9 points. He and his team will have a tough game, but this huge player always shines in this kind of matches, so even if total points line is set high, I think he can score at least 16 points - 1.90  | ✓ in this stelar match !


LABORAL KUTXA - NIZHNY NOVGOROD

In a first in European competition, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria hosts Nizhny Novgorod. Star guard Taylor Rochestie, who briefly played for Laboral in the 2012-13 season, returns to Vitoria as Nizhny's floor general, sharing the point guard duties with Dmitry Khvostov. Mike James and Darius Adams stepped in recently and have allowed Laboral to increase its game tempo. Laboral has many weapons at both wings, such as veteran captain Fernando San Emeterio, three-point threat Davis Bertans, shooting guard Fabien Causeur and off-guard Ben Hansbrough. Bertans must spread the floor against another good shooter and much more physical player, Semen Antonov. San Emeterio and Causeur will not have it easy against Evgeny Baburin and Tarence Kinsey, who can take over games at either end of the floor. Stopping Artsion Parakhouski and Trey Thompkins around the baskets is mandatory for the hosts. Parakhouski and Vladimir Ivlev face a tough challenge against Mirza Begic and Colton Iverson. Thompkins must use his rebounding skills against two good athletes like Toko Shengelia and Kim Tillie. The pressure is on Laboral to take its first win or watch upstart Nizhny move ahead by two victories in the standings.

"Nizhny Novgorod is a difficult team to play against, they are tough in defense and have quality players for the offense like Rochestie. They have also big men who do well with rebounds. all in all, a solid team that will be difficult to beat. We must win this game, because it is at home and we are 0-2. If we lose this game we'll be struggling big time and it will make things just more difficult." - Fernando San Emeterio, Laboral Kutxa's player. 

Nizhny Novgorod started and will start as underdogs in every top16 game, but they showed until now that they can make big games, while Laboral Kutxa is coming after two lost games in Euroleague, so the pressure is bigger on their shoulders. Laboral is playing an offensive, run and gun basketball, especially at home... I expect a tough, but spectacular match with total points over these lines : 148.5 - 1.41  | ✓; 149.5 - 1.43  | ✓; 150.5 - 1.50  | ✓; 151.5 - 1.58  | ✓; 152.5 - 1.61  | ✓; 153.5 - 1.73  | ✓; 154.5 - 1.80  | ✓

UNICAJA MALAGA - EMPORIO ARMANI MILANO

* Caleb Green and Stefan Markovic will be missing this week's game.

Both Unicaja Malaga and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan teams are looking for their first Top 16 Group F win. Unicaja has to make the most out of its size advantage in the paint with Will Thomas at power forward, and two effective centers, Vladimir Golubovic and Fran Vazquez, who can score and block shots. Vazquez faces another great shot blocker, Shawn James, while Golubovic has a strong test against Samardo Samuels. Nicolo Melli and Linas Kleiza must try to open the floor against Green and Thomas at the '4' position. Milan will rely on Alessandro Gentile and David Moss to stop Unicaja's small forward duo of Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Carlos Suarez, who offer speed and aggressiveness, respectively. MarShon Brooks and Daniel Hackett must be ready to play good defense against sharp shooters Ryan Toolson and Kostas Vasileiadis, but the guests could bring Bruno Cerella off the bench due to his top-class defensive skills. Jayson Granger need to set the right game tempo against two very different point guards, Trent Meacham and Joe Ragland, in what will be one of the many tactical battles of this outstanding game.

Two struggling teams, I think Unicaja will win this game, but 1.28 for home win is not an interesting odd for me... I choosed one of the main important players for the hosts :   

Ryan Toolson (foto) - the best scorer of team in Regular Season (avg. 13Pts) scored just 5, respectively 8 points against Olympiakos & Efes. I think it's time for him to score some important buckets and lead Unicaja to win this match : over 11.5 points - 1.85   | ✓