By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Last week Euroleague’s results was excellent for our betting column, as 4 out 5 tips were right. This time we will rely on the big derbies in Spain, the high-scoring teams (Sassari and Galatasaray) and Apollon Patron.
In one of the big Spanish derbies this weekend, Barcelona hosts Unicaja and it’s expected to win easily. The Catalans lost so many games in Liga Endesa by weaker teams and won all the big battles against Euroleague teams. Unicaja on the other hand is in excellent shape, more solid than ever, but hasn’t a deep roster and that will cost in Barcelona. We expect the hosts to beat Unicaja by more than 6,5 points.
One of the strongest tips of the weekend is maybe Valencia’s win at Bilbao. The visitors faced nine defeats in their last ten road games and the hosts have seven victories in their eight home games. However, Valencia comes from three huge wins and finally has found its rythm. On the other hand Bilbao also had some big wins lately, but it’s hard for the surprise team of the season to stay focused after the victory over Barcelona. So, we bet on Valencia.
Apollon is the only team in Greece that has only wins at home and only defeats on the road. But this is going to change. The victory at Kifisia for the Cup semifinal gave them confidence and this is expected to be their first win away from Patra. Panionios will play again without the injured star of the team and former NCAA champion Luke Hancock.
Galatasaray tries to bounce back in the last games but Ankara is strong at home. It’s hard to predict the result but it’s more than expected that both teams will score a lot. The line is high but Galatasaray and Ankara doesn’t rely on defense.
One more team that likes to play run ‘n’ gun is Dinamo Sassari, scoring at home 91,7 points per game in Legabasket. Vanoli has the same tendency also, so we will bet on the over. The line of 164,5 points doesn’t scare us.
The betting tips
Panionios-Apollon P. 2
@Pinnacle 2,20
Dinamo Sassari-Vanoli Over 164,5 points
@Coral 1,91
Ankara-Galatasaray Over 160 points
@Unibet 1,88
Bilbao-Valencia 2
@Bet365 2,00
Barcelona-Unicaja (+6,5) 1
@William Hill 1,85