By Lefteris Moutis / moutis@eurohoops.net
These are our game picks for the week:
Panathinaikos are good defensively and especially at the Olympic Sports Center Athens, they can keep Efes at a low score. The Turks have several intervals when their performance levels drop and this might help us with the Under 75,5. A good option with regard to the player bets is Derrick Brown’s Over 9,5 (1,60) as he has been back for 2-3 weeks now and once again reminds us of the player we enjoyed in previous seasons. He will take shots and play close to 30 minutes, so the Over has a good chance of being verified.
Malaga – Valencia
Erick Green is offered with a pretty low line (14,5). Valencia have several absences in the their backcourt and the American will get more time and shots. If he’s on a good night, the Over can easily work out for us so it’s worth being included in our options for this clash.
Barcelona – CSKA Moscow
A player bet with some value is Sergio Rodriguez’s Over 12,5. CSKA’s Spanish point guard is in excellent form and in the difficult away games he usually steps up. He can make the Over even with a few shots on target since he usually scores 3-4 threes per game. In any case, he will take many shots, especially if he has a good start to the game, and he will play close to 25 minutes in Barcelona.
The Serbs have an excellent home court and as time passes they play better as a team, having gotten some very big wins. Zalgiris are perhaps the most in-from team in the EuroLeague, but at some point they have to lose. This might possibly happen in Belgrade. It’s worth taking a risk with a win for the Serbs at 1,62.
Olympiacos – Milan
Olympiacos are hosting Milan and they can win relatively easily, but the handicap of 8,5 points urges us to look at the player bets instead. Mindaugas Kuzminskas will make his debut for the Italian team and thanks to his quality there will be a reshuffling in terms of the shots that the big men take. Arturas Gudaitis lacks consistency and, despite his excellent field goal percentage, he takes on few attempts. So, the limit of 9,5 points at the Peace and Friendship Stadium seems relatively high, since Printezis and Milutinov will return and Olympiacos will have more solutions in defense. That being the case, we’re going with the Under at 1,75.
A win for Fenerbahce (1,20) can be our foundation on a combo bet. Obradovic’s team has already suffered several defeats at home and wants to get back to good performances and wins. Moreover, Baskonia are playing against Real Madrid on Wednesday (3/1) in the Spanish league just two days before their game in Istanbul, and this might play its part.
Choices:
Derrick Brown Over 9,5 / @1,60
Erick Green Over 14,5 / @1,55
Crvena Zvezda – Zalgiris 1 / @1,62
Arturas Gudaitis Under 9,5 points / @1,75
Sergio Rodriguez Over 12,5 / @1,65
Fenerbahce – Baskonia 1 / @1,20