A direct fight for a ULEB Cup final spot is set to take place in Turin, Italy, when DKV Joventut faces Galatasaray Cafe Crown in the first semifinal on Saturday. Joventut downed Pamesa Valencia 77-67 in a highly-anticipated quarterfinals showdown. Demond Mallet led Joventut with 16 points off the bench, Edu Hernandez-Sonseca added 14 while teen sensation Ricky Rubio had 12 points and a game-high 7 rebounds. Meanwhile, Galatasaray held off a wild rally to edge Besiktas Cola Turka 60-61 on a game-winning three-pointer by Cuneyt Erden. Above all, two of the best defensive teams in the competition are set to face each other.

Galatasaray runs its defense through a very athletic frontcourt featuring Chris Owens and Charles Gaines, who played for Joventut last season. Gaines knows its opponents really well and is ready to do what he does best - rebound at both ends and provide endless intensity. Owens, who also played in Spain against Joventut before, is also a intense player who never gives up. Both players will have a tough matchup against two of the best shotblockers in the Final Eight, Jerome Moiso and Hernandez-Sonseca. Meanwhile, Jan Jagla will try to become a mismatch due to his deep range, as he will try to open the court against players like Owens, Fatih Solak or Huseyin Besok, who will be ready to help his team despite not being 100%. Speaking on mismatches, Galatasaray can opt to play small with Britton Johnsen at power forward or try to use his speed and size at small forward. Joventut has the perfect matchup for him in Lubos Barton, a very similar player who rarely has a bad night in important games like this.

Above all, the most anticipated matchup will be between Joventut star guard Rudy Fernandez and Galatasaray scorer Robert Hite, who had 22 points against Besiktas. Joventut has its own defensive stoppers in Ferran Laviña, Pau Ribas and above all, Rubio, who will be set to face Dee Brown. Galatasaray is used to play with twin point guards, using Erden and Brown on court. Brown provides determination and athleticism while Erden not only is a reliable clutch player, but also offers creativity and unlimited range. Mallet and Rubio lead Joventut's take-no-prisioners defense, in which steals can come all over the place. Joventut made Pamesa go scoreless for 8 minutes on Thursday and knows that defense will be the key to the game. Meanwhile, Galatasaray needs to stop Fernandez and get its frontcourt involved, as well as getting as many second-chance opportunities with Owens and Gaines. Above all, European club basketball rarely gets better than this, as two intense teams hope to keep fighting for ULEB Cup glory.

Betting preview

Galatasaray in my opinion will need some miracle to win this game. Joventud is better on all positions and in all aspects of the game. But Turkish team are dangerous because if they found their game and catch some adrenalin than it could be very hard to stop them. But I can't see this scenario on neutral team against one of the best teams in Spain. But 12.5 handicap looks very solid because it's hard to save motivation on neutral ground when leading by 15+ points. After first game Joventud coach was not satisfied with his team concetration in second half and said: "We had very good things," said Garcia Reneses, "as our performance for the first half. But others are not. Sometimes, we started to go down, and normally if you play one hundred per cent, you can go down to ninety or eighty, but not forty . We not have been able to play at a level worthy in the second half, and fortunate that the Pamesa has not done a good third quarter. " If Joventud players will learn first game lesson it could be a very sad story for Galatasaray.

Prediction: Joventud is much better team and should dictate tempo and game rhytm. Turks should be able to stay close in first 4-5 minutes but than Joventud will overscore them and by using hard to break defense will build secure 15-17 pts lead. Than it all will depend on Joventud motivation and reaction to criticism. My prediction Joventud to win by 12-15 points but it is not enought for seriuos bet on Joventud handicap.

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