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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.

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Key facts for the game: - Surprisingly the odds for an Aris win are still relatively high and the handicap is at only 3 points. Talent wise there is simply no comparison between the two teams. Despite losing Sanikidze to injury, Aris have brought in experienced big man Dragisevic to replace him while today is returning Jenkins too, so they will be at full strength for the match. Rethymno made an encouraging start against Kolossos last week but this a completely different level of competition they will be facing here.

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Key facts for the game: - Perasovic faces his former team as Efes meets Baskonia and he will certainly have some trick up his sleeve. Efes has built a formidable team with very few if any weaknesses and they also seemed to develop a pretty good chemistry this early in the season. Baskonia looked understandably inconsistent so far after bringing in 8 new faces in the off season including new head coach Sito Alonso and need more time to gel, while Beaubois still remains in the sidelines.

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Key facts for the game: - Zenit are a good team and have made a couple of astute transfer moves in the off season bringing in Markovic and Karasev but the bookies clearly underestimate Bayern's strength here. They possess an impressive squad depth that even some Euroleague teams would envy and have made a flying start to the season with 4 consecutive wins in the Bundesliga. I just can't see Zenit as the favourites here.

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Key facts for the game: - Two teams with a top-4 finish in mind entering the season. Reggiana is on a transitional phase after the departures of Kaukenas and Lavrinovic and have started the season with two defeats at the hands of Avellino and Caserta. Sassari have had a great off-season in the market (Odom, Savanovic, Carter) and were one of the first teams to complete their roster, so their preparation is on a good level as they demonstrated in their season opener to highly ambitious Varese. It's worth noting that the game will be played nearby at Bologna, not Reggio Emilia making the outcome even more uncertain.

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Key facts for the game: - Two teams with a top-4 finish in mind entering the season. Reggiana is on a transitional phase after the departures of Kaukenas and Lavrinovic and have started the season with two defeats at the hands of Avellino and Caserta. Sassari have had a great off-season in the market (Odom, Savanovic, Carter) and were one of the first teams to complete their roster, so their preparation is on a good level as they demonstrated in their season opener to highly ambitious Varese. It's worth noting that the game will be played nearby at Bologna, not Reggio Emilia making the outcome even more uncertain.

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Key facts for the game: - Lefkada constructed their roster in the last 2 weeks and haven't had the chance to play any warm up games before today's match. Still they have made some nice additions combining savvy veterans like Doblas and Tapoutos with young talented players like Wells and Basabe and they are guided by Charis Markopoulos, the son of PAOK's coach. Are they ready to go? Probably not but I have the feeling they won't as helpless as the odds suggest. Moreover PAOK are facing their own problems with injuries to Margaritis and Miljenovic.

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Key facts for the game: - Start of the season games are usually a high risk high reward affair. This game is the perfect example. Bilbao had a great debut on the road against Fuenlabrada while Estudiantes were disappointing at home losing easily to Betis. Nevertheless Bilbao looks weakened compared to last season's team. Coach Sito Alonso is gone along with Hannah, Todorovic and Bertans. Estudiantes have added some interesting pieces in Edwin Jackson, Jamar Wilson, Suton and Ali Traore and I reckon they are not as bad as their debut would suggest but probably need time to develop some chemistry. Besides ups and downs are to be expected this early in the season. In any case at these odds they are worth a try.

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Key facts for the game: - Avellino and Torino are two highly ambitious teams who have a playoff spot as a minimum goal this season. Both have kept their respective coaches (Sacripanti and Vitucci) but have changed their roster significantly with the addition of some quality players. Adonis Thomas, Cusin and Fesenko stand out for the hosts, Chris Wright and Washington for the visitors. Overall there is not a huge gap in talent between the two sides and obviously the level of preparation for both teams is still precarious making the outcome of the match even more uncertain.
- Fesenko is still unfit so he will probably not feature heavily tomorrow.

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Key facts for the game:
- Slovenia may be playing without Zoran Dragic and Jaka Blazic against Ukraine and have already qualified but that doesn't mean they will simply roll over here. First place is still to be decided and that equals a better ranking ahead of next year's Eurobasket draw so motivation surely won't be an issue. Besides they possess enough depth to cover for the absences of aforementioned players.