ACB players to follow

This is the perfect season to some players to start to bright. Players than last seasons had not decisive rolls in their teams and this they should be key for their teams. I wanted to mention some of them that I have already an opinion about them, there are also some interesting players new in ACB, but as I can’t watch them enough to have an opinion, I prefer to wait some months to give an opinion.

Saul Blanco (Alta Gestion Fuenlabrada)

Fuenlabrada has one of the most talented younger playing as small-guard. Saul has a perfect body to play basketball. He is able to run the court doing easy baskets in counters, but he is also improving a lot hit 3 pts shoot. In my opinion in 1-2 years, he will play in a big team. He had some troubles to get coach confidence in last seasons, that s why he could improve faster, but this season he should get a key role in his team and without Marko Tomas, he should be a fix regular playing most important minutes in the games.

Paolo Alfredo Quinteros (CAI Zaragoza)

I know this player isn’t young and probably most people already know him mainly from Argentina national team. But I think he will be one of the biggest surprises this season. He is the kind of person that all coaches would like to have in his team. He is currently playing as small guard but he has abilities to play also as play maker. I really can’t understand how any big team in Europe didn’t try to contract him because he should be an excellent player to have in the bench to give rest to stars. He will be in a big team next season without any doubt to me.

Juan Jose Triguero (Cajasol)

He was playing last season in Murcia confirming than he will be one of the best Spanish Centers in 1-2 years. Maybe he needs a bit more experience, and then he has to show than he is able to play in a big team. Anyway with his height with his long arms, he has all possibilities to be a great player. This season he will be one of the most important players in Cajasol, playing load of minutes and also getting responsibility in a medium-high team level.

Demon Mallet (DKV Joventut)

Mallet will be in my opinion the biggest surprise in the league. I know he had already an important position in his team last season. But after to watch him more than 10 times on TV, I think he should be playing in NBA. There are load of players much worse than him playing in NBA and sometimes playing as regulars. Mallet is able to do all than a basketball player has to do in the court. He is tremendous fast with the ball and he also has a wonderful 3 pts shoots. He doesn’t need even a block to have space to do a 3 pts shoot, because with his speed and change rhythm he can break all their defenders when he wants. Sometimes he doesn’t want to show all his potential because he has also many important players in the team, and he also likes to give assist. But he is even more impressive when he plays as small-guard with Ricky Rubio playing as play maker. I thought than last season any big European team would try to sing up him, but seems than they don’t believe in him because he sometimes has problems to defend opposite team playmaker. Anyway he will be yes or yes in a big European team soon.

Pau Ribas (DKV Joventut)

Pau Ribas will be an absolutely different role this season. Last season Aito couldn’t give him all the confidence and minutes than he deserved because had many good players in his position. Players like Barton or Rudy already leave the team and then his roll in the team is automatic upgraded. Maybe I see the biggest problem in the pressure than everybody has on him because they are trying to see him as Rudy replacement. And I should say that in this moment, he isn’t as talented as Rudy. Maybe he is also able to jump and to run, but he isn’t as good in one on one as Rudy. He should improve a lot this season and then he will see which it the top of this young and promising player.

Victor Claver (Pamesa Valencia)

Claver has all physic conditions to be a one of the possible Spanish next NBA players. I want to say that I was surprised with his no improves during last 2 years, but probably Pamesa isn’t the best teams for younger. Katsikaris doesn’t believe still in him as a key player and very rarely gives the minutes than he would need to improve. I m just guessing but if this same player would be in DKV Joventut and all the confidence from the coach and also with load of minutes to get more experience and improve small things than he has, we should be speaking about one of the most decisive players in Europe. In my personal opinion, he must play as small forward and never as a power forward where he less most of his abilities. This year is the most decisive in his career because there are many younger plenty of talent missed in the recent history in the league and most of them because his coach just didn’t believe in them.

ACB Super Cup Preview

Hello guys. This Friday and Saturday is the ACB Super cup. I would like to give my opinion about teams involved even if I can only watch them few times…

REGAL FC BARCELONA

Barcelona improved quite a lot his roster this summer with 2 world class players like Navarro and Andersen. They have also sign up good players to give some rest to regulars, like Barton or Sada and that s just what they need because in last season it was big difference btw regulars and bench players. Vazquez should be more important this season playing more minutes because he is the only pure center in the team. Barcelona finally could build a team to be fighting without problems for the ACB title.

DKV JOVENTUT

DKV Joventut has a big loss in the outside line because Rudy, his best player by far left the team to play NBA. Joventut did 3 interesting sing ups like Jasaitis or Wright. But again the team will depend a lot in younger improve. This must be the season for Pau Ribas explosion. He hadn’t not enough minutes to show quality because Rudy was nearly always in the court. But now without Barton and Rudy, his role in the team is in a clear upgrade. I should say than even if we couldn’t see the best version from Jasaitis in last season; I have the feeling that Badalona is the perfect place to start to see his real potential, when he will feel like a leader. With Ricky Rubio and Mallet the direction of the team will be his best line and very few teams have pair playmakers as good as this one.

TAU CERÁMICA

Tau has very similar level as last season in my opinion, despite them loss Planinic, probably one of the best plays makers in Europe; they have still an excellent roster. San Emeterio can replace Jasaitis without many problems. I m really curious to see McDonald level, I have ready in some friendlies reviews that he was playing really nice and he seemed quite thin compared to last season. He is a player to follow because he didn’t shot more than 15% of his real level last season in Vitoria.

CAI ZARAGOZA

Cai Zaragoza is a newcomer in ACB, but they have quite big history in the past. I should say that they were quite unlucky some years ago without promoting because they always lost in the most important games. They did some nice transfer adding, Larry Lewis, Sergio Perez, Roberto Guerra or Ruben Garces, all with great experience in the league than could help a lot for his fight to survive. And if we add their good players for the last season they have a not so bad team, in my opinion should be at least 2-4 teams worse than them. I only want to add one more thing, because if you are young and don’t remember, you can’t imagine how is the press in this kind of stadium like Zaragoza. Their supporters are really hungry from best Spanish basketball league and they will support his team along all 40 minutes in the court. I really think than Zaragoza should be a very hard court to get victories for most teams in the league.

Suggested Picks

CAI Zaragoza – DKV Joventut

I m probably too optimist with a newcomer, but I really think Zaragoza has enough level to put in problems Joventut in this match. Mainly because It s the first official game in the season and probably both teams wont come in his best level. Ricky Rubio absence could be important but watching how could be Mallet when gets confidence from his coach, wont be decisive in this game. I wont be anything here, but if I had to choose probably Zaragoza ML @3,97 in Pinnacle seems a bit high odd.

Tau Cerámica – Regal Barcelona

There is one big bad new for Tau in this match. Splitter won’t be available in the roster and he is one of the best 5 playing in Europe. Then we have to imagine how McDonald and Barac can cover his position. Probably according with that news and rating Barcelona a bit better than last season. There is no value in the current offers in bookies.

Ladbrokes Review

UK’s largest and most respected Bookmaker. Best in range of markets and many specials. Their high limits gets the attraction of big punters. Let’s take a look further with more details…

1. Bookmaker Details

Company Name : Ladbrokes Limited
Date established : 2000
Current License : United Kingdom
Languages : English, Spanish, German, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, Finnish, Thai, Traditional and Simplified Chinese.
Country restrictions : U.S. residents not accepted

2. Customer Support

Ladbrokes offer 24/7 multi lingual customer service. They offer 2 ways to contact their customer support, phone call or direct email. They usually solve all problems very fast and they answer emails in 1-2 hours usually. They don’t offer live chat option but even in phone call, they are able to attend you in several languages.

3. Website design (lay out)

One of the fastest and easier layouts. Your Betting selections going directly to your betting slip and you can find all the markets available very easy.

4. New account bonuses

Ladbrokes only offer a ₤10 free bet for new accounts. That s probably not the best incentive for possible new clients. But in my opinion if they only offer this is because they know his service is enough good and they don’t need to offer anything extra. It s true than most Ladbrokes clients aren’t rookies and they have registered just to complete his portfolio with best bookies to able each time to get the best odd.

5. Betting Information

Ladbrokes allows 2 ways to place bets, Online interactive or phone betting. And they currently offer 3 odds formats, Decimal (European style) and American (US style).
Bet365 currently accepts next currencies: AUD, CAD, CHF, DKK, EUR, GBP, NOK, HKD, JPY, NZD, SEK, SGD, THB and USD.

6. Disadvantages

Ladbrokes disadvantages are most usual with all European bookmarkers. But the main one if the medium-big margins in odds. That most times doesn’t all to their costumer to get best odds in the market. Also another weak point is the initial bonus to try to get one more incentive for new possible costumers.

7. Reliability

I think that just telling than Ladbrokes has license in UK is enough to imagine how serious is this company. But if you want to know my personal opinion and which I could find in several betting forums. They have one of the best ratings in all betting site with excellent rating deserved.

8. Odds quality (margins, commissions)

Ladbrokes doesn’t offer best margins over the net and that means that most times they wont offer best odd over the net. It s true than their odds in major soccer leagues are good but when you check some lower leagues, their commissions are abusive but at least they offer many lower leagues.

Ladbrokes Overall Rating : 7/10

Bet365 Review

One of the UK’s leading Bookmakers. One-wallet system, huge bonuses, great limits & odds. One of the best bookmakers! Let’s take a look further with more details…

1. Bookmaker Details

Company Name : Bet365 Limited
Date established : 1974
Current License : United Kingdom
Languages : English, Spanish, Italian, German, Greek, Polish, Romanian, Portuguese, Bulgarian, Norwegian, Chinese, Swedish and Danish.
Country restrictions : U.S. residents not accepted

2. Customer Support

Bet365 offer 24/7 multi lingual customer service. They also provide optimum ways to contact their service agents via live chat, e-mail, call back service, freephone, fax and regular posts.

3. Website design (lay out)

Really professional work. The layout is fantastic and simple together, with one-wallet system that makes everything easier. Very easy to create your bets, combos, etc. Betting selections are also designed excellent and very well organised.

4. New account bonuses

Bet365 currently offer a 100% cash bonus (up to $100). You have to deposit minimum $10 and maximum bonus available is $100. They offer great bonuses for new customers depending on the season, so check regularly!

5. Betting Information

Bet365 allows 2 ways to place bets, Online interactive or phone betting. And they currently offer 3 odds formats, Decimal (European style), Fraction (UK style) and American (US style).

Bet365 currently accepts next currencies: Austrian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Chinese RMB, Danish Krone, EURO, Hong Kong Dollar, Iceland Kroner, Japanese Yen, Malaysian Ringgit, Norwegian Kroner, Pounds Sterling, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Krona, Thailand Baht and US Dollar.

6. Disadvantages

Bet365 don’t have many disadvantages but we should search to find their weak points. I see 2 major disadvantages. First one is than Bet365 sometimes in several markets offer medium-big margins, that don’t let their costumer to get best odds offered over the net. This margin is usual comparing with most European bookmakers, but it s a bit high in my opinion.

Second disadvantage is even a bit more worried, because Bet365 seems than only likes loser accounts, when they noticed than any user is winning regularly in any sport, they usually limit then to ridiculous sizes, just inviting the costumer to leave his company. That probably sounds hard, but I think Bet365 doesn’t like long run winners in their customers. So they aren’t the best bookmarker if you are planning to win regularly.

7. Reliability

This is probably stronger point from Bet365. If we compare with others bookmakers and most of them have licenses in suspicious countries. Bet365 licensed in England and working more than 30 years without any major problem, that just can man than his reliability is out of any doubt.

8. Odds quality (margins, commissions)

Bet365 doesn’t offer best margins over the net and that means that most times they wont offer best odd over the net. It s true than their odds in major soccer leagues are good but when you check some lower leagues, their commissions are abusive but at least they offer many lower leagues.

Bet365 Overall Rating : 8/10

Unibet Review

Largest Swedish owned bookmakers in Europe. Experts at Scandinavian markets, redesigned site, solid bookmaker with a respectable name. Let’s take a look further with more details…

1. Bookmaker Details

Company Name : Unibet Ltd
Date established : 1997
Current License : Malta
Languages : Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish.
Country restrictions : U.S. residents not accepted

2. Customer Support

Unibet don’t offer live chat option currently. There is only possible to contact them by phone call or sending an email. Speaking about his email service I should say they aren’t as fast as many others bookies. But I also should say than they have some most popular questions and answer than help a lot especially to beginners. You can also send them an email in your own language.

3. Website design (lay out)

Probably one the best layouts in the industry. Great graphics, fast loading, and most important, everything is so easy to find and check. You can make your bets ultra fast, the same applies for your combos/systems etc. Really nice and enjoyable to browse.

4. New Account Bonuses

Unibet currently offer a 100% bonus capped at £20. The bonus and deposit must be rolled over 6x before it can be withdrawn.

5. Betting Information

Unibet currently only offer to watch decimal odds (European style). You can place the bet online interactive or also by phone.

Unibet accepts the following currencies: US Dollar, EURO, Pound Sterling, Norwegian Kroner, Danish Krone, Swedish Krona, Swiss Franc and Polish Zloty.

6. Disanvantages

Unibet doesn’t offer the best odds of the market because they have medium-high commission in their markets. I see as a major problem for experienced punters, It s than they don’t offer in most league Asian handicap so with just 1×2 in most leagues, their offer isn’t usually the best comparing with others better European bookmarkers.

I also think their limits are a bit small especially in lower leagues, when they are sometimes scared because they know than their odd makers aren’t as good to beat punters and they have to only offer ridiculous limits trying to don’t lose so much in their odd maker’s mistakes. It would be also nice if they can offer more specials in basketball, points players, rebounds, assists, etc … They only offer quite few where they are big competitions like Final Four in Euroleague.

7. Reliability

Unibet is based in Malta. They are one of the newest companies in the market and they are quite famous mainly in Nordic countries. I should say that they have an excellent reputation from the net and it s hard to find costumers than they had serious problems with them. In my opinion in a bookie that everybody should have in his bookmarker list to always be able to get the best odd as possible, because using only 1 bookmaker it s more difficult to get always the best odd.

8. Odds Quality (margins, commissions)

Unibet has average margins comparing with rest of top10 European bookies. They are famous by their low margins, because sometimes they even offer in basketball games @1,85 @1,85, that gives really few chances to the costumer to beat them. Experienced punters only use Unibet in special chances when they do a big mistake, because normally you very rarely will find the best odds there.

Unibet Rating : 8/10

Pinnacle Sports Review

Pinnacle Sports offers the Lowest margins and the highest limits in the business. This is the undisputed best sportsbook for the professional player. Let’s take a look further with more details…

1. Bookmaker Details

Company Name : Pinnacle Sports Worldwide
Date established : 1998
Current License : Netherlands Antilles Gaming Commission, Fully Licensed and Regulated  in Curacao.
Languages : English, Spanish, Italian, German, Norwegian, , Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Hebrew, Swedish and Thai .
Country restrictions : U.S. residents not accepted

2. Customer Support

This seems one of weakest points. Pinnacle Sports don’t offer live chat or phone support to its users, I can only assume that this is a money saving exercise. From my experience their email service support is very efficient and they are always very fast responding to emails.

3. Website design (lay out)

European based players may be find it a little bit strange if they already have experience with other european based sportsbooks, but it is a matter of time to get on it. The browsing is fast, and the betting selections menu is well organised.

4. New Account Bonuses

Pinnacle Sportsbook currently offer a 10% cash bonus (up to $500). This bonus offer is made for he following deposit types: cashier check, credit/debit card, InstaDebit, Moneybookers, Neteller, myCitadel or bank wire. If you have claimed this bonus before you can withdraw your deposit you have to rollover 3x in Sportsbook or 6x in Casino and you have to wait 30 days.

5. Betting Information

Pinnacle allows 2 ways to place bets, Online interactive (min. bet $1) or phone betting (min. bet $100). And they currently offer 2 odds formats, Decimal (European style) and American (US style).

Pinnacle Sports currently accepts the following currencies: Austrian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Danish Krone, EURO, Hong Kong Dollar, Japanese Yen, Malaysian Ringgit, New Zealand Dollar, Norwegian Kroner, Pounds Sterling, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Krona, Thailand Baht, Taiwan dollar and US Dollar.

6. Disadvantages

I see 2 major disadvantages; First one is than Pinnacle Sports currently don’t offer livebetting, that is quite bad new because many users like to place some bets in running. And second one is mainly about reduced limit of offers in many leagues. They mostly offer Asian handicaps, goal lines, and money line, but very rarely special bets according to card, minute to score, etc … This isn’t a big disadvantage but would be nice if they could offer more specials bets especially in European basketball.

7. Reliability

Pinnacle Sports is based in the Netherlands Antilles in Curacao. Over the years I have not found any bad testimonials regarding their services, this is quite strange because most betting forums are have plenty of bad stories about bookies. Pinnacle is one of the most reliable bookies that you will find on the internet.

8. Odds Quality (Margins,Commissions)

Pinnacle Sports has the lowest margins and commissions in comparison to others online bookmakers. They have the best offers in most important soccer leagues, Premier League, Spanish Primera, Bundesliga and Serie A with just 4% margin. In others leagues and sports their odds are also usually the best on market. If you want to get best odds over the internet, you must have Pinnacle Sports in your bookmaker list.

Overall Pinnacle Sports Rating : 9/10

BettingBasket NEW version!

Second part of BettingBasket.com project is here. After a quite busy summer, finally we could complete second version of the site. We wanted to offer some interesting content to our visitors, because we noticed in the last site version we only received visits to read tipsters picks and not the rest of the website. But now we will add more new content like videos, bookmarkers reviews, Betting news, etc … We would like also to try to finally make a bit hotter the forum. Last season wasn’t as bad mainly some sections like Euroleague, Greece or Spain. But we will try again than all members will feel comfortable and they can post their information, opinions, picks, all that they want, because is the best form to learn.

As many people noticed from tipsters who wanted to start the project with us, some of them had to leave for several reasons. Anyway during last season we could still found some interesting punters to cover their places and we are still open for new talents to contribute with us. I want also to say, that I m planning a big clean up after first 3-4 rounds in all European leagues. We will be stricter now with the activity and the quality of reviews and picks. We think than It s really better quality than quantity.

Finally I would like to say thanks to all tipsters, visitors and link exchange partners to believe in us and let s hope we can still offering them something interesting to have the biggest basketball betting community over the net. We are in the correct way and I think we only need to be cautious because results will come soon or later.

Best Regards.
Isaiah and Jaimeg.

Enjoy this new basketball season.

NBA Finals preview

And today starts the NBA final which will bring more emotion and higher ratings than the previous finals, as the title will be discussed between the teams that the public and the NBA most wished: Boston and Lakers. In this analysis the main question is to know who is the favorite to win the final and if they are the fair favorite. The Lakers are the favorites to win the champion ship and the oddmakers clearly reflect that: Lakers with an odd of 1.50 (-190) and Boston with 2.60 (+160). Also the experts put the Lakers as the favorites to win the final and recently I watched on ESPN 7 of 8 experts picking the Lakers to be the NBA champions this season.

The question I put in here is if this is a fair price for the series. Boston had to deal during the whole season (and this includes the playoffs) with the pressure to win, that the Big 3 were yet to win anything and they had to win, etc… Suddenly they stopped being favorites and this may actually favor the team. I remember Boston had the best record in the regular season with 66 wins (more 9 wins than the Lakers) and an impressive ATS record of 51-30-1, however, what really matters is what happened in the playoffs and that’s the main reason why the Lakers are the favorites today.

The Lakers come to this final having just played 15 games in the postseason, while Boston needed 20 games and two Game 7 series to advance into this final. However let’s not forget the opponents both teams had to face, also reflect the difficulty of the series. Lakers didn’t have problems against Denver and Utah, because both teams played in the same way of the Lakers, but without the quality of LA. On the other side, Boston faced Cleveland and Detroit, who playing at the same way of Boston, had way more experience in the postseason than the Celtics. The only important series for the Lakers were against the defending champions, the Spurs. But almost the whole series was decided on the Game 1, when the Spurs couldn’t take advantage of a 20 points lead already in the second half of the game.

So we will quickly see that we are in presence of two teams with very different styles: offense vs defense! The Lakers have the best offense in the postseason with 105.9 ppg and 47.8% FG with Kobe Bryant on-fire, but on the other side, Boston is the best defense with just 87.2 ppg allowed. The Lakers are 8-0 at home games in the postseason and Boston is 10-1, but we cannot forget the problems Boston had to win on the road, I remember the 0-6 away record they had in the first two series and this also explains why the Lakers are the favorites for this final, as cannot forget that in the final the order of the games is 2-3-2, so the Lakers will play three times at home in a row. However the momentum for Boston is quite good right now. Boston won two of three games they played at Detroit and in the last one, they were down by 60-70 at the end of the 3rd quarter, but they were able to comeback and to win the game and the series, so Boston will also come confident for this final.

Another important factor is that the Lakers for the first time won’t have home court advantage in this postseason and even though, this isn’t surely decisive, the truth is that the Lakers started their three series in this postseason taking the lead by 2-0! Unlike Boston, who saw this advantage being taken away after losing the Game 2 of their series against the Pistons at home. So, what will happen if the Lakers lose tonight? It will be the first time in this postseason that they will be in disadvantage in a series.

In the matchups a lot can be said about the positions where Boston and the Lakers may have an edge over the other team, but this advantage can easily disappear. Kobe will be unstoppable, Boston will try to limit him, but with the way he has been playing lately puts him on a different level above everybody else. On the other side, a lot has been said about Ray Allen and his bad moment, but that’s not exactly true as Ray Ray is coming from his two best games he has played in the postseason (Game 5 vs Detroit: 9-15 FG and 29 points and in the Game 6 he has made 6-12 FG and 27 points). Paul Pierce will have an edge in theory over Radmanovic, as the Celtics captain has been playing at a good level recently and let’s not forget he was defended by Lebron and Prince in the last two series, who surely are better defenders than Radmanovic can ever dream to be. The guards battle will be between Fisher (experience) and Rondo (youth). Fisher isn’t shooting well in this postseason, but his experience will be important, while Rondo has been alternating great performances with weak ones, but everytime he has played well, Boston won, so this duel will be extremely important. At last we have the frontcourt duel which has been receiving a lot of different opinions in the last week. Pau Gasol revolutioned the Lakers and Odom, even though he isn’t consistent, has clearly improved with Gasol on his side and he played very well in the series against the Spurs. On the other side, we have Boston with Garnett and Perkins who has been dominating the interior game in this playoffs and against very strong teams in the frontcourt, like Cleveland and Detroit. I remember Boston was the 4th team in the league in terms of rebound margin in the regular season with +3.0 rpg and already in this playoffs, the numbers are even more impressive, with +3.25 rpg, especially as they have played 13 of their 20 games in the postseason against Detroit and Cleveland. The interior game of the Lakers is more “finess” and the key in this series will be how the Lakers frontcourt will fit against the most powerful and aggressive frontcourt of Boston.

With all these factors, there are arguments for both teams to be champions, but to get the title, they will need to show these arguments in the field.