Originally Posted by
Vreston
Unfortunately I couldn't come online for Friday's Euroleague games, but today I have something.
Spain ACB
UCAM Murcia - CAI Zaragoza
Pick: CAI Zaragoza +4.5 @ 1.90 - Loss (76-62)
Murcia is in 16th place in the league (out of 18) and is fighting to stay in the league. I haven't seen anything special about this team. That's probably one of the reasons they are in this position. They have problems on offense with lots of "dead" minutes. They try to put more pressure on defense though. They have the third worst offense in the league. On the other hand, Zaragoza has kept the scores really close with much better teams such as Barcelona (they lost by 1 point), Caja Laboral, Lagun Aro etc. They also want a spot in the play offs so they should be motivated to cash in this year's effort.
Barcelona - Valencia
Pick: Valencia +10.5 @ 1.90 - Won (76-72)
Barcelona is the the favorite of course. They have not been that convincing lately though especially in Spain. Barcelona will be in Constantinople for the Euroleague Final 4 after winning the ticket earlier this week. They seem to be having problems with offensive consistency during their games. They have a very good defense which may well be one of the best in Europe. They are not playing the same basketball as last year that's for sure though. They haven't been winning games with big differences like they used to either. Those who have taken Barcelona ATS this year have gotten burned quite often (me included...).
Valencia, on the other hand, has been a team on the rise. They've gotten better with their new coach. They want to make up for lost points. They have a good team with good players and I'm betting they will start to roll. They also advanced to the Final 4 (of the Eurocup though).
I'm going to take Valencia plus the points today and hope that Barcelona doesn't suddenly wake up and roll over Valencia.