Euroleague picks of the day (wednesday)

Written by Alleks

Wednesday, 31 October 2007

vs

Zalgiris vs Prokom Trefl Sopot

predicted score

86 : 79

Game preview

Two teams looking to bounce back from Week 1 losses meet in Kaunas, Lithuania on Wednesday when Zalgiris hosts Prokom Trefl Sopot in Group A. Zalgiris went down 81-75 at Virtus VidiVici Bologna, while Prokom stuck around early but couldn't hold on against CSKA Moscow and lost 69-88 in the traditional Euroleague Opening Game. The game is a homecoming for two of Prokom's players, forward Tomas Masiulis and shooter Donatas Slanina. Masiulis was a member of Zalgiris's 1999 Euroleague championship team, together with current Zalgiris center Eureljus Zukauskas. Slanina spent three seasons with Zalgiris between 1999 and 2002. The Lithuanian champs spent a lot of time gearing up for the start of the season and it showed last week, as point guard DeJuan Collins and center Zukauskas formed an exciting passing tandem. Zalgiris also excelled on defense with 17 steals. But poor three-point and free-throw shooting combined with 21 turnovers were too much to overcome. Prokom also struggled from downtown in its defeat. The teams have similar makeups, with athletic backcourts and big frontcourts. For the hosts, Collins looks like a triple-double threat, who can impact the game in numerous ways. He teams with Marcus Brown, who can regain the title of the Euroleague alltime leading scorer with 16 points in this game, and Marko Popovic to form a dynamic trio. Prokom features Travis Best, Dejuan Wagner and Chritsos Harissis in its guard rotation. Forwards Dainius Salenga, Paulius Jankunas, Jonas Maciulis and Goran Jurak will all be called upon in turn to help guard super scorer Milan Gurovic, who is ably aided by Filip Dylewicz. In the paint, veterans Zukauskas and Tanoka Beard await Prokom's Tomas Van den Spiegel and Ruben Wolkowysky. A key issue for Zalgiris will be finding the right player to matchup with Gurovic, whose combination of size and shooting make him nearly impossible to stop. Jankunas seems a natural candidate for the job: if he succeeds, the game takes on a whole new twist. Meanwhile, Zalgiris will rely heavily on the Collins as a fire-starter, and if any of the Prokom guards can limit his effectiveness, Zalgiris head coach Rimantas Grigas would need alternatives. Although it is only the second game of the season, these two veteran-laden teams know how much of an effect a 0-2 start could have to the season, which promises to make this encounter an intense one that no basketball fan should miss.

GRIGAS, RIMANTAS (Zalgiris Kaunas head coach)

Our opponents hves strong players at every position. Travis Best is perfectly backed up by Christos Harissis and they both are dangerous point guard. At shooting guard, they have Donatas Slanina and Dajuan Wagner, who, in my opinion, is a fantastic player. Van den Spiegel is great addition, too, as he can be factor on both ends of the floor. With Milan Gurovic, who can shoot lights out, this team is very hard to beat. But we can do it."

Tomas Pacesas (Prokom Trefl coach)

"Wagner will play today. He was in USA where he did medical observation and we happy that he came back to us on time"

Betting review

Both teams have great talents in offense and I expekt this game winner to be decided in offense. Zalgiris is very high scoring team when they play at home and with such long bench they should be capable to avoid up and downs they had last season. Also I want to say that Zalgiris is not so strong in defense especially against teams with individually strong players like Gurovic, Wagner, Best also Slanina is really hot in last few games. Zalgiris is also have many offensive weapons this year with Popovic, Brown, Masiulius, Salenga, Beard this teams looks unstopable in offense especially at home. Sure teams like CSKA or PAO will find a way to stop Zalgiris offense but not Prokom with so many games when they allowed opponents to score over 80 points.

160.5 over/under is more or less correct line looking into first Euroleague week line, but I expect teams to score a bit more. My own line is a bit higher, I would give 84.5-79 points line and I see more chances of Zalgiris to win this game because they have deeper bench and plays at home where they always very strong team. Prokom still looking for their team game while Zalgiris showed good game in Italy last week but did not find a way to win that game like always in away matches.

All in one I expect Zalgiris to win in high scoring match by 5-8 points.