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FIBA World Championship Final
Greece - Spain Pau Gasol misses final with foot injury: "Tests have confirmed that the player suffers from a partial fracture of his fifth metatarsal in his left foot and will miss the final," said a statement from the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB)" Pau Gasol missing could be too much costly for Spain. He is very important player in the paint and he is scoring leader. A lot of combinations need him to be on the court. And this loss will force Spain to change their game plan. I expect that they will count on good shooting abilities and fast tempo basketball which is not suitable for Greeks. Also I want to warn you that loss of key player sometimes is a boost for a team. Especially in the first game without leader, in next games this will affect on team results but when we are talking about one game this should not be a real factor to lay Spain. They are great team with very good chemistry and I expect them to be VERY motivated and very strong unit in tomorrow game.
But there are some other factors why I think that Greece have more chances to become world champions. Spain don't have winners instinct. They were second in Europe 4 times in 1935, 1973, 1983, 1999 and 2003. There were in European championship semifinals 12 times but they never achieve a 1 place. Sure that was another team but before this tournament there a lot of pressure because of this. All were talking about their final game losing habit. And potentially this could be a factor in tomorrow game. Add to this Pau Gasol injury, and Navarro 4 points against Argentina. Sure they have Garbajosa and few other players who can take a leader role. But it would be really difficult without true leader.. Pau Gasol. I know that Navarro can score 30+ points in any game but I don't remember Navarro to be a key player in final games. Let's see what will happen tomorrow.. I hope Spain will play like a team and this could be their chance.. only one chance, and maybe the last one. Greece is a winners-team with killer instinct which is very important in such games. They really have all to compete well in tomorrow game. The only disadvantage why I not 99% sure about their win is that they can underestimate Spain without Gasol. And this could be a problem for them. But Yannakis is a great coach and he will be ready for this game and will find words to motivate his players for this game. I don't expect very easy win for Greece. I expect this game would be very close one, in the beginning Spain could make a run and take a small 5-6 points lead because of their chemistry and team play. But Greece is used to liquidate those points during a game. They never gave up and sooner or later they will take control over this game. And I hope that they will win it. Another bet I like in this match is Spain over 70. This summer they never scored less than 75 points, while their average is 90.0 points. In 17 games in a row they score more than 70 points. Yes, they are missing Gasol but that does not matter talking about their total. Without Gasol Spain will be forced to shoot more 3 pointers and penetrate basket from 3 point line. They should be very active in offense if they want to have a chance. And the most important thing that they really can do all what I said here. They have Navarro, Calderon, Garbajosa, Rodriguez and other players who can do this all. Maybe some of you think that Spain had problems in offense with Argentina but you should remember that in first 5 minutes they scored only 5 points, while in other 35 minutes they scored 70 points (2 pts per minute = 80 points per game). So as conclusion I want to warn you that Finals are games to watch, not to make money. But we are ill, we can't live without betting especially if we are planning to watch game on TV. And that's why sportsbooks business grow up :) Remember about this when you click on "Bet Now" button. Predicted score: Greece 79 - 73 Spain Pick: Greece ML @ 1.53 BWIN (medium-high confidence) Pick: Spain Over 70 @ 1.85 BWIN (medium-high confidence)
or
Pick: OVER 145.5 @ 1.85 (medium-high confidence)
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