New ULEB Cup champion will be crowned and the right to play in next season's Euroleague won on Sunday when a pair of neighboring teams from Spain, DKV Joventut Badalona and Akasvayu Girona, meet in the title game at the Final Eight in Turin, Italy. The fact that Badalona and Girona are situated just an hour's drive apart in northeastern Spain and know each other so well will give the final an unusual twis - but not an unprecedented one. Teams from the same country have faced each other in continental finals before, but perhaps none of them were so close in proximity. How that familiarity affects Joventut and Akasvayu, who have played three previous games this season, will be key to the outcome on Sunday. Joventut won the first of those contests, the final of the preseasons Catalan League tournament, while the teams have traded big home wins in the Spanish League regular season.

 

Unfortunately I don't have time to wait when bookmakers will release odds for this game because of personal reasons but I will try to explore my point of view. For now only one bookmaker decided to release odds (www.parimatch.com) and they released 1.90-1.90 line with 149 points total and this is huge mistake IMHO. My estimations are different. I expected to see 1.40-2.70 line with -6 handicap and total around 163 points.

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.