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Key facts for the game: - The odds on this one seem out of last year when the Valencia team was indeed most impressive leading the ACB for big part of the season. As I've explained in another Valencia pick though a month ago, this is simply not the same team and the results speak for themselves. They have the same 6-3 record as their rivals Bilbao while they have been inconsistent all season with injuries plaguing their roster so far. In fact both Dubljevic and Sastre will miss tomorrow's game while Sato and San Emeterio will play but will probably be limited. Bilbao have been quietly effective and flew under the radar so far while with Tabu back they are at full strength and cannot be underestimated.

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Key facts for the game: - The odds keep on rising for Barcelona from 1.60 on opening day to 2.20 at this moment and now is the time to get involved. Granted, Barcelona were playing in Istanbul just 48 hours ago and have suffered 3 consecutive losses in the Euroleague. Nevertheless not all is bad. They are still at the top of the table in La Liga with a 7-1 record and 5 straight wins and the injury list just got smaller with the return of both Doellman and Claver. As for Malaga they haven't exactly set the world alight with their performances. This is a team constructed on a tighter budget this season as they are not participating in the Euroleague and the talent level has dropped significantly as expected. Moreover Nedovic remains on the sidelines. Statistics wise Barcelona are clearly the superior team with a considerable margin both on defensive(73,6 to 78,5) and offensive(85,3 to 85,1) efficiency compared to Malaga. All things considered 2.20 is a great price for a Barcelona win.

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Key facts for the game: - Sassari have now suffered 5 consecutive defeats in all competitions and although admittedly a couple of them were very close competitive games judged by only the slightest of margins against strong opposition like Besiktas and Avelino, still something is clearly amiss in the Sardinian team. Cremona may sit at the bottom of the table but they have changed quite a lot lately waiving Omar Thomas and York and bringing in Harris and Carlino. The first signs were quite encouraging pushing champions Armani Milano very close to their first loss of the season. Sassari is a tough court to play for any opponent but I see no reason why the visitors won't be competitive tonight defending at least the handicap. Sassari's weariness may also be a factor here with successive games all November taking a toll on a roster practically only 8 players deep.

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Key facts for the game: - Looking at the standings with Tenerife at 2nd place (6-2 record) and Fuenlabrada at 16th (2-6 record) and with the hosts also superior in every possible statistical category, the result would seem a foregone conclusion. But is it so? Maybe not. Tenerife have a good team but are overachieving while Fuenlabrada started the season with great expectations considering their talented, deep roster but have disappointed so far. Looking at November's performances though from both teams it seems they are moving on opposite directions with Tenerife in slight decline and Fuenlabrada in clear progress. If this trend continues today the result might surprise a few people.

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Key facts for the game: - Looking at the standings with Tenerife at 2nd place (6-2 record) and Fuenlabrada at 16th (2-6 record) and with the hosts also superior in every possible statistical category, the result would seem a foregone conclusion. But is it so? Maybe not. Tenerife have a good team but are overachieving while Fuenlabrada started the season with great expectations considering their talented, deep roster but have disappointed so far. Looking at November's performances though from both teams it seems they are moving on opposite directions with Tenerife in slight decline and Fuenlabrada in clear progress. If this trend continues today the result might surprise a few people.

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Key facts for the game: - Murcia have stuggled to adjust playing both in the domestic league and Eurocup so far. In fact results have been wildly inconsistent comparing the two competitions. Impressive in the Eurocup and poor in La Liga where they have suffered 5 consecutive losses. Still this is a deep, talented roster and their results seem more a question of consistency than poor form. Sevilla have a couple of dangerous offensive weapons in Stojanovski and Nachbar and are shooting very well from deep but despite having an acceptable 3-4 record I'm just not convinced by this team. They have a decent starting five but a very weak bench and overall they seem a level below Murcia. The odds for a Murcia victory are more than fair here.

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Key facts for the game: - Difficult match to decipher. Trento possess one of the top defenses in the Serie A but are struggling offensively. Torino exactly the opposite. Both teams are coming from two straight losses. Torino have been disappointing at the start of the season although they have showed flashes of progress last week against Milano coming close to a big victory. Harvey and especially Wilson have impressed lately showing much more confidence. Trento on the other hand were atrocious in their previous match after winning 3 consecutive games in October. To sum up I had no intention getting involved at odds standing just under 3.00 but at 3.73 I had to reconsider.

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Key facts for the game: - Brindisi are gradually beginning to adapt to their new head coach's up-tempo style and the results are slowly getting better for Sacchetti's men. They have won two in a row and are looking for a third straight win against Brescia tonight. The newly-promoted visitors seem to be suffering from the hard impact with the Serie A. Still this is not by any means an inexperienced team as they can count on veterans such as Landry, Vitali and Moss. Their weak bench issue has been addressed after the signing of Burns who can play both at 4 and 5 adding a much needed versatile big man to their roster. Although they have a 1-5 record, I reckon Brescia have the potential to cause problems to many teams including Brindisi who are certainly not one of the top guns of Serie A. At 4.30 Brescia are worth the risk here.

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Key facts for the game: - Kymi and Trikala are two of the weakest teams in the greek league this season having also the same record (1-3). The odds have gone downhill since the signings of Adegboye and Kostov by Kymi, two admittedly savvy veterans with prior experience in the greek league who should bolster their weak backcourt. The question is if they alone can justify this kind of deviation in the odds. Probably not. Trikala have themselves recovered Lupovyy and Tsagarakis from injuries and are now at full strength. Kymi are playing at home and therefore have a significant advantage but they aren't by any means consistent or reliable.

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Key facts for the game: - What a difference a game can make! Just when Cantu was winning two in a row including a 90-69 hammering of Sassari and was beginning to produce the kind of performances everyone expected, they suffered a humiliating 96-53 defeat at the hands of Orlandina to get them back to square one. It's also the kind of defeat that may lead to some proudful reaction from the team. Reggiana may have a 4-1 record and are in good form but everything is not rosy. This is clearly not last year's team. The signings of James and Lesic have not proved astute moves so far and the team is based almost entirely on the trio of Aradori, Della Valle and Cervi. Most importantly they looked vulnerable even on their victories. It's worth noting that they won those 4 matches by a combined margin of just 20 points. To sum up it's difficult to predict what kind of game this will be. If we witness again last week's type of performance by Cantu they will clearly lose by an equally big margin but I'm counting on a big reaction from Kurtinaitis' men here and the odds are just too tempting to ignore.

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Key facts for the game: - The Atlanta Hawks are off to a 3-0 start as they took advantage of their soft early schedule but only time will tell if their new line-up with Howard and Schroder replacing Horford and Teague will prove equally functional and successful as their old one. The LA Lakers are on a transitional phase trying to adapt at life without Bryant. A lack of consistency and plenty of ups and downs are to be expected as they have a talented but very young roster and a promising new head coach in Luke Walton. Still the Lakers are an interesting team and will probably cause some upsets this season. Starting tonight maybe?

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Key facts for the game: - Encounter between two teams still searching for consistency at the start of the season. Pistoia have had their fair share of problems with Thornton's injury which lead to the arrival of veteran Crosariol and have just one victory to show out of their first 4 matches. To make things worse Antonutti lost most of midweek trainings and his presence is questionable tomorrow. Varese have a 2-2 record but the quality and depth of their roster is superior to that of Pistoia and sooner or later they should be able to express their true potential in the court. All things considered a game of uncertain outcome and picking Varese is the sensible choice given the odds.

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Key facts for the game: - A pair of teams that will probably chase a top-8 spot with Rethymno being no doubt the more established club of the two in the greek league, hence the odds. Nevertheless both have made an encouraging start of the season, relying mostly on a nucleus of american players and there is not such an enormous difference in strength between them. Great value for a Lavrio road win here.

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Key facts for the game: - A pair of teams that will probably chase a top-8 spot with Rethymno being no doubt the more established club of the two in the greek league, hence the odds. Nevertheless both have made an encouraging start of the season, relying mostly on a nucleus of american players and there is not such an enormous difference in strength between them. Great value for a Lavrio road win here.

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Key facts for the game: - Bamberg is a team with great chemistry, well coached by Andrea Trinchieri but I reckon their lack of star power and depth is going to hurt them in the long run. Panathinaikos have just hired ex Barcelona coach Javi Pasqual to replace Pedoulakis after an atrocious performance against Olympiakos in the greek league and since then have showed a completely different face giving CSKA a big scare in Moscow before succumbing to defeat in the end. Obviously everyone will be keen on impressing their new coach and even without injured Mike James, Panathinaikos simply have a more talented roster than Bamberg. At these odds it's worth backing Pasqual's team to start his reign with a win.

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Key facts for the game: - Orlandina must be one of the most underrated teams of the Lega A. This is partly explained by a roster comprised mostly of unknown young players but with a good talent level and potential like Stojanovic, Perl, Laquintana, Berzins and even Fitilpaldo who is barely 25 years old. Elements of experience are not absent though with the presence of veterans Diener, Nicevic and Delas. More importantly despite a tough schedule at the start of the season, Orlandina have been more than competitive and even though they lost Berzins to injury I reckon they can challenge this Trento team who aside an impressive road win in Venezia have not yet proven there is a huge gap in quality between these two teams.

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Key facts for the game: - Venezia's positive start of the season came to a halt after a surprising defeat at home to Trento but that doesn't change the fact that is a well-coached team with a good degree of chemistry having retained most of last year's roster, aiming for a top four finish in La Lega. Le Mans had a similarly good start only to suffer two consecutive defeats in their domestic league causing concern for their performances. Overall this should an open game to any result and there is good value for a Venezia win here.

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Key facts for the game: - Valencia retained most of last season's roster but lost arguably their best player in Hamilton while they replaced Shurna, Lucic and Stefansson with Will Thomas, Jankovic, Sastre and ultimately Kravtsov. Overall I'm not overly fond of the new additions and should be extremely difficult replicating last year's impressive campaign. Hapoel Jerusalem have again astonished with their off season acquisitions. Jerrells, Dyson, Kinsey, Peterson, Shawn Jones and Amare Stoudemire were put under contract while there is also a new head coach as established italian tactician Simone Pianigiani took over. Truth be told, the israeli team have usually underachieved on european competitions while the chemistry and defensive committment of all these stars is a question mark but the sheer firepower of Hapoel Jerusalem makes them a really dangerous opponent for any team.

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Key facts for the game: - As expected Cantu appeared worryingly unprepared in the first two matches of the season and the serious injury to Dowdell came to make things even worse. Waters was signed to replace him and should debut today. All is not bad of course. Kurtinaitis is a good coach and I'm convinced he will get it together sooner or later but this a team in need of games and time to start performing consistently. Pesaro could be one of the surprise teams of the Lega A. They have added some interesting pieces to their roster combining talent (Nkoko,Thornton,Jones) with experience (Zavackas, Jasaitis) and were super competitive in their first matches against tough opposition.

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Key facts for the game: - Brindisi lost their main point guard (Nik Moore) to injury this week and with Spanghero taking his place they shouldn't feel very comfortable. This is an ambitious but very inexperienced team and I reckon the game against Reggiana is going to prove very tough for them. The visitors managed to strike back against Sassari last week to record their first win of the season and I expect them to keep on the momentum for this match.