FIBA WORLD CUP – Quarter-Finals
SERBIA v BRAZIL
In the first match of the day, Serbia will play against
Brazil. In Round of 16 game, Serbia detonated the bomb, shook off a
disappointing group stage to book their spot in the Quarter-Finals of the 2014
FIBA Basketball World Cup with a hard-fought 90-72 victory over
previously undefeated Greece. Bogdan Bogdanovic led the way for the Serbs
with 21 points as five players scored in double figures. Miroslav Raduljica
added 16, Milos Teodosic had 13, Nikola Kalinic stepped up big with all 12 of
his points coming in the first half and Nenad Krstic finished with 10. On the
other hand, Brazil beat Argentina at FIBA's flagship event for the first time
since 1967 as they knocked off their South American rivals 85-65 to
reach the Quarter-Finals of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Raulzinho Neto
led Brazil with 21 points, Marquinhos Vieira added 13 while the pair of
Leandrinho Barbosa and Tiago Splitter each finished with 10. Argentina bowed
out despite 18 points from Pablo Prigioni and 11 from Facundo Campazzo. Luis Scola
was held to just nine points. The game started as many expected with a
showdown of teams that really know one another. The lead was 36-33 for the
Brazilians at the break. They picked up their defensive intensity in the third
quarter and used a 15-3 run to start stretch their advantage to 48-39. A
three-pointer by Marquinhos made it 57-47 and Argentina trailed 57-49 after
three quarters. Brazil would not let up and did not allow Argentina to get
closer the rest of the game as they scored the first seven points of the fourth
quarter.
Probable line-ups
Serbia : Teodosic (10.8Pts, 4.3AS) – Markovic (4.0Pts,
3.0AS) – Bjelica(11.8Pts, 7.3Reb) – Kalinic(6.8Pts) – Raduljica(14.5Pts,
5.0Reb)
Brazil : Huertas(7.3Pts, 3.0AS) – Barbosa (13.0Pts) –
Garcia (7.7Pts) – Splitter (8.3Pts, 6.2Reb) – Nene(6.8Pts, 4.2Reb)
Key matchup: Leandro Barbosa vs. Bogdan Bodganovic.
These two teams are an interesting match-up for each other. Serbia has an
underrated frontcourt that has performed well in this tournament. Brazil is
full of NBA big men with Nene, Tiago Splitter, and Anderson Varejao.
But what could end up determining who wins this game is whether or not Barbosa
(or even Neto or Marcelinho Huertas) can keep up with the scoring of
Bogdanovic. Bogdanovic has lit up the competition in most of his team's six
games and will either need to be stopped (seems unlikely) or matched. One of
the perimeter players from Brazil has to step up in the scoring role.
If we compare these two teams by the group results, Brazil
deserve to qualify clearly. If we compare these two teams by the Round of 16
game, we look forward to this match maybe a bit different… Serbia started the
game against Greece as obvious underdogs for many basketball fans, but not
including me.. I expected a good teamwork from the Serbians, I could imagine a
victory, but honestly I could not concept a win with that huge margin.. Brazil
is looking confident for this quarter-final after strong performances in group
stage and after they demolished their archrival.
Today, I expect a tough battle, both teams are on fire, they
will make everything to win, we should see another tight game like Brazil's
81-73 victory over Serbia in group play. It's hard to predict the winner of
this game, for me in this match chances are 50-50, I'm going with the underdog
here, the pressure will be on South Americans... Handicap on Serbia has value,
for the bigger odd I will write a surprise here.. !! We can also try a few bets
on players:
- Bjelica over 11.5 points – 2.00 | ✖
- Raduljica – Points, rebounds & assists : under 20
– 1.85 | ✓
- Huertas over 7.5 points – 1.85 | ✖
- Serbia to win – 2.70 | ✓
- Total points(regular time) : 151–160 – 3.60 | ✖
FRANCE v SPAIN
In the second match of the day, France will play against
Spain. Spain is my favourite basketball national team since I was a child and I
started to play this beautiful game. I hope they will win this WC, but they
have a harder road to the Final, than USA. Usually, I don’t bet on my favourite
teams, but my task on this blog is to write previews and to give possibly
winner picks, so I will write a few lines..
France finished third in Group A behind Spain and Brazil
with a 3-2 record. They earned a Round of 16 match-up with Croatia in the
process. Croatia gave them fits in a pretty ugly, low-scoring game too. Neither
team shot well from 3-point range and both teams missed one-third of their free
throw attempts. France had just enough balance and passing in their attack to
lead them to the 69-64 victory over Croatia. Boris
Diaw only scored three points but managed five of the team's 15
assists. Nicolas Batum couldn't get going but still finished with 14
points. Thomas Huertel chipped in 10 points and four assists. And Evan
Fournier had 13 points, tying his highest output for the tournament.
By doing what they do -- dominating. Spain went unbeaten in
the top-heavy Group A and had the second highest point differential of the
tournament. That earned them a Round of 16 game against Senegal. While Senegal
has been a great story for the tournament, the end of the story came
against Spain's incredible basketball machine. They were surgical and unfair in
the way they picked apart Senegal's frontcourt. Marc Gasol shut
down Gorgui Dieng and the rest was just talent and system winning
out. Considering the limited minutes this deep rotation played, the boxscore
lines were impressive. Pau Gasol had 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting
(both misses coming from 3-point range), five rebounds, and three blocks in 24
minutes. Marc Gasol had nine points, six rebounds, four assists, and four
blocks in 25 minutes. Ricky Rubio had seven points, six assists, five
rebounds, and five steals in just 20 minutes. Serge Ibaka had 11
points, six rebounds, and three blocks in 17 minutes. Jose
Calderon had 11 points in 13 minutes and Felipe Reyes had 11 points in 12
minutes. Spain cruised to the 89-56 victory.
Probable line-ups
France : Heurtel (8.2Pts, 4.2AS) – Batum (10.0Pts,
3.2Reb) – Gelabale(6.7Pts) – Diaw(6.7Pts, 4.0Reb, 4.0AS) – Lauvergne (10.3Pts,
4.5Reb)
Spain : Rubio (5.7Pts, 4.8AS) – Navarro (10.0Pts,
2.7AS) – Rudy (9.0Pts, 2.5Reb, 2.5AS) – Pau Gasol (20.5Pts, 5.5Reb) – Marc
Gasol (11.3Pts, 6.7Reb)
Spain has incredibly good roster, the starters are World
Class players, they have great players on the bench too, for example, last
year’s Euroleague Sixth Man of the Year, Toronto Raptors all-time leader in
assists or Oklahoma City Thunder’s power forward, who was named in NBA
All-Defensive First Team last season. leader In the second match of the
day, France will play against Spain. Spain is my favourite basketball national
team since I was a child and I started to play this beautiful game. This game
will be the battle of the backcourts. Spain's backcourt is beyond deep. They
roll out six very capable, NBA-caliber guards with Jose Calderon, Sergio
Rodriguez, Ricky Rubio, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernandez, and Sergio Llull.
France is missing Tony Parker in this tournament and will need even
bigger efforts than we've seen out of Antoine Diot and Thomas Huertel. Nicolas
Batum will have to join them in being playmakers and scorers, and he'll have to
shut down Navarro as much as he can while also helping against the interior.
Spain will face a tough match-up here with France, but much like they handled
them in the second half of their 88-64 victory in group play, Spain should be
able to dominate key stretches of this game. We can try one of these bets :
- Lauvergne over 4.5 rebounds – 1.95 | ✓
- Fournier over 7.5 points – 2.00 | ✖
- Serge Ibaka over 6.5 rebounds – 1.85 | ✖
- Rudy Fernandez – Points, rebounds & assists : over 15 – 1.85 | ✖
- Total points (regular time) : 141–150 – 3.40 | ✖
- CRAZY BET, I must agree that is 100% luck, but the odd is good : First point scorer – Pau Gasol – 3.50 (Unibet) | ✖ - He had the opportunity, but he missed his shot !
