By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos are coming off the blunder in Turkey against the last team in the standings, Darussafaka, and Panathinaikos still have a fair distance to cover after their bad start in the competition. In any case, the new year – by the way, we wish everyone around the world a happy and healthy new year – gets under way with a big game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. Last week, we got 3 hits out of 4, with Zalgiris’s defeat in Spain depriving us of a perfect record.
Anadolu Efes – FC Bayern Munich 1 (-5.5) / @1.71
Efes are coming off two difficult away games that they lost relatively easily. Ataman’s team will react against Bayern at home and will get the win, the easy way or the hard way. We think that this will happen relatively easily with a point difference that will be close to double digits. This is why we are going to include in our choices the -5.5 of the handicap at a 1.71 payoff. The Turks have a better team, they’re more complete and in good form. They will most likely show up serious and determined to get back to winning ways and will not allow the Bavarians to believe they can win.
Real Madrid – Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Maccabi U 78.5 / @1.67
Maccabi are not as good away from home compared to how they perform in Israel. Against Real, things will not be easy for Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s team as they still have many dead intervals in their game. If it’s not an open game from early on, Maccabi will not reach 80 points too easily. The under 78.5 for the visitors is worth a little risk since Real may have a reputation of an attacking team, but this doesn’t mean that they are bad defensively, especially when they’re playing in Madrid.
Zalgiris Kaunas – CSKA Moscow 2 / @1.42
Compared to previous seasons, CSKA Moscow already have several defeats away from home in the first part of the regular season and are not looking very indestructible. Zalgiris fought hard in the game in Moscow and can be competitive in Lithuania. We’re expecting a game that will be decided in the details, but I don’t really trust the handicap on the home win as it’s rather low and with the fouling at the end we could lose the bet. The easy way or the hard way, Dimitris Itoudis’s team can walk away with the win as they have both more quality than Jasikevicius’s squad as well as the solutions to do so and get us paid.
Olympiacos – Panathinaikos OPAP 1 / @1.52
Olympiacos have already lost twice this season to Panathinaikos at the Olympic Sports Center Athens, so they will react on their home court. Blatt’s team has the upper hand not just because of the home court factor but also because of the fact that they are in better form. The coach replacement in Panathinaikos may have changed the team’s mentality as their footing is much more firm, but the injury problems are not over for the Greens. Papapetrou is back in action, but Langford and Pappas are having problems, with the latter trying to make it in time for the big game (even if he does make it, we don’t know how weakened the Greek’s body is going to be). It’s also worth taking a small risk on Olympiacos’s -3 at a 1.71 payoff.
Choices:
1. Anadolu Efes – Bayern Munich 1 (-5.5) / @1.71
2. Maccabi Tel Aviv U 78.5 / @1.67
3. Zalgiris – CSKA Moscow 2 / @1.42
4. Olympiacos – Panathinaikos 1 / @1.52