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Key facts for the game:
- Hungary is another one of the teams who have made considerable progress as a basketball nation these last few years. Headlined by Baskonia's Adam Hanga they have already recorded two comfortable wins to start their qualification campaign including an impressive win over Great Britain.
- FYROM is clearly on a declining phase. Ilievski has retired, Antic is missing while Travis Romeo has failed to make an impact so far. To make things worse Damjan Stojanovski has picked up an injury and will miss the rest of the campaign.

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Key facts for the game:
- Despite possessing more talent on individual level than their rivals, Germany has actually failed to convince both in their exhibition games as well as their opening two matches against inferior opposition barely escaping defeat in Austria. The team is in a transitional phase at the moment after the retirement of Nowitzki, seems confused and it's obvious that they need more time to find consistency.
- The Netherlands on the other hand, what they lack in quality they make up in team cohesion and solid defense and are out to prove that their impressive Eurobasket campaign last September was no fluke. Their improvement these last few years has been astonishing.

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Key facts for the game:
- Despite possessing more talent on individual level than their rivals, Germany has actually failed to convince both in their exhibition games as well as their opening two matches against inferior opposition barely escaping defeat in Austria. The team is in a transitional phase at the moment after the retirement of Nowitzki, seems confused and it's obvious that they need more time to find consistency.
- The Netherlands on the other hand, what they lack in quality they make up in team cohesion and solid defense and are out to prove that their impressive Eurobasket campaign last September was no fluke. Their improvement these last few years has been astonishing.

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Key facts for the game:
- There is absolutely no reason for such a discrepancy in the odds between France and Spain. These are two supremely talented teams that also had a similar slow start but got better as the tournament progressed. Still neither is playing at the level they are clearly capable of. It should be a balanced,close game that will go down to the wire.
- France lost the last game to Spain in overtime at the Eurobasket Semifinals at home so there should be an even bigger motivation to strike back.

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Key facts for the game:
- Croatia might have outdone themselves to secure an Olympic tournament spot but this is a team with plenty of glaring holes in their roster, most notably at the point guard and center positions while depth is also an issue.
- Spain will be present with almost all their stars in the tournament with the only exception of Marc Gasol but their quality and depth is phenomenal. Perhaps they lack in a true quality substitute for Pau Gasol at the center position but Croatia has no players capable of exploiting that and tiring Gasol out.

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Key facts for the game:
- Despite having NBA talent on their roster (Saric, Bogdanovic) Croatia lack on two crucial positions, center and especially point guard. Ukic who plays most of the time at point guard is past his best and is averaging just 3 points/game on 22% shooting (field goals) while Stipcevic doesn't enjoy any trust from coach Petrovic.
- Italy have a much more complete roster, a better coach in Messina and are playing at home in front of their fans in Turin.

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Key facts for the game:
- Turkey has been disappointing in all their warm-up games as well as their opening game against Canada. The absence of Ilyasova is huge while Dixon is in terrible form finishing with just one point yesterday. To pile on the misery, Osman suffered a distorsion and his presence is questionable today.
- Senegal gave Canada a tough game. What they lack in talent (with the exception of Hannah and N'dour) they make up for in athleticism and defensive intensity.

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Key facts for the game:
- Turkey has been disappointing in all their warm-up games as well as their opening game against Canada. The absence of Ilyasova is huge while Dixon is in terrible form finishing with just one point yesterday. To pile on the misery, Osman suffered a distorsion and his presence is questionable today.
- Senegal gave Canada a tough game. What they lack in talent (with the exception of Hannah and N'dour) they make up for in athleticism and defensive intensity.

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Key facts for the game:
- France appeared a little rusty in their opening game against the Philippines and the absence of Batum can't be an excuse. Nevertheless this France team is brimming with talent and experience and possess arguably the best roster outside of the U.S.A. while the presence of coach Collet at the bench ensures continuity.
- New Zealand surprised the Philippines to secure qualification to the next round but the difference in quality between France and New Zealand is simply enormous. Moreover it's worth mentioning that Abercrombie and the two Websters (Tai and Corey) all played over 30 minutes in yesterday's game.

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Key facts for the game:
- The Greece team appearing in this tournament is not same as in the past. In fact after the retirements of Spanoulis and Zisis and the last moment forfeit of Sloukas, there is a worringly thin backcourt. Moreover with the exception of Perperoglou the whole team seems to lack in 3point shooting and their efficiency in half court game situations remains to been seen.
- Mexico maybe missing their superstar Ayon but they still have the talent to be competitive (Stoll,Gutierrez) and this team has already had more games under their belt after competing in the Centrobasket 2016 in late June, so they should be ready.

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Key facts for the game:
- The handicap went up almost 3 points after the first game's shocking scoreline (82-57) which is actually not a fair reflection of the match. In fact Valencia was competitive for 3 quarters and it took a record breaking fourth quarter from Real in which they scored 35 points to reach the final result.
- Despite shooting with 39% from the arc during the season, Valencia went for 2/22 in Thursday's game 1 in Madrid. It will be difficult having such a horrid shooting night for a second time in a row, not with Real's anyway shaky defense.

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- Key facts for the game:
- Murcia are in great shape. They finished the regular season with 5 consecutive wins and gave Real a very competitive game 1 in Madrid before succumbing to a 107-103 loss.
- Palacio de Deportes in Murcia has been a fortress this season. The hosts have won 12 of the 17 games played at home while their biggest loss was by only an 8 point margin to Barcelona. Real Madrid managed to escape with a win but only after overtime.
Real Madrid will again be missing Rudy Fernandez.

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Key facts for the game:
- Olympiakos might be leading 2-1 in the series but Panathinaikos have actually been the better team so far. They lost game 2 by a buzzer beating 3-pointer by Spanoulis who probably committed travelling before shooting and game 3 after leading for most of the match and suffering an incredible blackout in the last 5 minutes.
- Coach Pedoulakis has transformed the Greens into a much more balanced team since he has taken over from Djordjevic despite receiving a surprisingly small contribution from Raduljica and Williams so far.
- Olympiakos will be playing for the rest of the series without key-man Printezis who has been their best player all season and is the only one on their roster capable of providing easy points in the paint with his high accuracy shots. He was shooting with a 64% excluding 3-pointers before going down with injury in the last game.

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Key facts for the game:
- What we mentioned last week is still valid today. AEK remains the team with the deeper bench and that has proven decisive in the first two games. Today it may be even more crucial with White and Waters suspended for Aris (Sakota and Papantoniou will miss the match for the visitors for the same reason).
- The game will be played without spectators as a protest from Aris for the officiating in the second game.

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Key facts for the game:
- What we mentioned last week is still valid today. AEK remains the team with the deeper bench and that has proven decisive in the first two games. Today it may be even more crucial with White and Waters suspended for Aris (Sakota and Papantoniou will miss the match for the visitors for the same reason).
- The game will be played without spectators as a protest from Aris for the officiating in the second game.

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Key facts for the game:
- Bench depth could be the key in this series. Aris has a weak supporting cast and will be again without Hagins while tonight will be playing their sixth match in the last two weeks after getting eliminated from Panathinaikos in 5 games. AEK had an entire week to regroup after the loss against Olympiakos and have anyway a much deeper bench than Aris.

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I will leave out any key facts for the Euroleague final and offer some thoughts instead. This is without a doubt the final everyone expected between the two best teams in Europe this season. On one side CSKA with arguably the two best guards in Euroleague in De Colo and Teodosic and by far the most efficient offense but a less than reliable defense (14th in efficiency rating) and without any true back-up center for Hynes and that's something to worry about. Fenerbahce on the other side is a much more balanced team efficient both in attack and defense. In the bench of Fenerbahce there is no need for introductions for the ''lord of the rings'' coach Obradovic who will go against his promising pupil Itoudis in what is surely an exciting story. All things considered, I just don't see CSKA as the big favourites here as to justify the odds that circulate and backing Fenerbahce to lift their first ever Euroleague title is the sensible choice.

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Key facts for the game:
- After going 2-0 Panathinaikos lost both matches in Thessaloniki but Calathes missed the third one with injury while Gist, Feldeine and Haynes missed the fourth due to disciplinary reasons. They are all expected to return for the crucial last game.
- Aris would have lost all games in Athens this season with double digits if it wasn't for some late looseness from Panathinaikos in game 1 but with so much at stake this won't be the case anymore.
- Αris will be playing again without their only true center Hagins while the short rotations and weak bench are expected to make a difference for the visitors who will be playing their fifth game in 10 days.

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Key facts for the game:
- Despite their disappointing Euroleague campaign, Real Madrid have won 6 straight and 13 of their last 14 games in the ACB.
- Malaga's inconsistency is well documented. Last week against Gran Canaria they shot almost 50% from the 3-point line, a rare feat for Malaga who are not among the best shooting teams in the league. It will be difficult repeating this kind of performance against Real Madrid.
- Markovic and Smith are still unavailable for Malaga while Real is injury free.

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Key facts for the game:
- Cantu have lost 5 of their last 6 games and are out of objectives after securing their place in Lega A so their season is practically over. Moreover they should be a little rusty after going 10 days without an official game.
- Varese are still motivated as they remain in playoff contention and they are in incredible form. They are on a 4 game winning streak and have won 7 of their last 9 matches.