Naturally, bookmakers too are into it and the early odds for the FIBA World Championship are up, including props on outright winner, group winners and even game one matches available at BallinEurope.com sponsor SportingBet.

Unfortunately, the SportingBet “2010 FIBA World Championship for Men Outright Winner” prop bet is merely that; no “each way” betting allowing punters to bet on the second-place finisher: a key wager in this tourney, should you be one of the teeming majority reckoning Team USA is the prospective runaway champion of this thing. The odds table looks like the following.

2010 FIBA World Championship for Men – Outright Winner
USA: 1/4
Spain: 13/2
Greece, Serbia: 20/1
Argentina, Brazil: 25/1
France, Turkey: 33/1
Lithuania: 40/1
Russia, Slovenia: 66/1
Croatia: 100/1
Germany: 150/1
Puerto Rico: 150/1
Australia: 200/1
Canada: 500/1
China, New Zealand: 1000/1
Angola: 1500/1
Iran: 2000/1
Cote d’Ivoire, Lebanon: 2500/1
Jordan, Tunisia: 5000/1

Now, is *any* team worth betting on from this lot? The tragic thing about this tourney even before it begins are the number of international names who’ve announced they won’t be competing, typically at the behest of NBA franchise managers and/or coaches.

Not to be playing for Team USA are Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony (a real loss there, praised as ‘Melo is for his natural FIBA-style play), Chris Bosh, Dwight Howard, Dwyane Wade and possibly even Kobe Bryant.

Good news for the world’s squads? Welllllllllllllllll, the absence list for FIBA’s other teams may be just as impressive: Count mainstays Pau Gasol (Spain), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Tony Parker, Rony Turiaf (France), Theo Papaloukas (Greece), Ramūnas Šiškauskas (Lithuania) and Andrew Bogut (Australia) as among the definite no-shows. Those with almost no to little probability of suiting up are Yao Ming (China), Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Kaman (Germany), and Sasha Vujacic (Slovenia – tough loss for them there. Not.)

Marc Gasol to fill big brother's Nikes

Dark horses? Despite Luis Scola’s protestation that “We can win without Manu,” BiE’s taking Argentina out of the mix anyway. Scola’s going to have to demonstrate some leadership skills on the floor before anyone should back this team sans its greatest player ever.

One should never count Serbia or Lithuania out of any international tournament, though the latter has appeared in some serious disarray in recent years. Serbia, on the other hand, stunned The Continent with a scintillating lot of fresh talent in Eurobasket 2009 to take the silver.

As the host, Turkey will surely get a boost; these guys impressed even with a decidedly subpar performance from Hedo Turkoglu. (Can’t they add Enes Kanter really fast and totally shock Team USA with a crushing performance on the offensive glass? Please?)

Team Spain is running with a European all-star team even without possibly the best big man in basketball right now: How do you like Pablo Aguilar, Carlos Cabezas, Victor Claver, Rudy Fernandez, Jorge Garbajosa, Marc Gasol, Sergio Llull, Raúl López, Alex Mumbrú, Juan Carlos Navarro, Felipe Reyes and Ricky Rubio?

And Greece is bringing a heckuva star-studded squad despite the lack of main man Papaloukas: Nick Calathes, Dimitris Diamantidis, Antonis Fotsis, Stratos Perperoglou, Vassilis Spanoulis, Kostas Tsartsaris, Ioannis Bourousis, Loukas Mavrokefalidis, Kostas Papanikolaou, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, Nikos Zisis, Kostas Vasiliadis, Kostas Kaimakoglou, Ian Vougioukas, Nikos Pappas, and Giorgos Printezis.

That's *Mister* Anderson to you: Varejão's bringing it to Turkey

For an outsider, BiE likes Brazil. With NBA-bound (surely) Tiago Splitter, Anderson Varejao, Marcelo Huertas and Rafael Ferreira just for starters, mark BiE’s words in saying Brazil will surprise in the 2010 FIBA World Championship with its best squad since the days of Oscar Schmidt.

BiE’s favorite dark horse? Team Russia. This team’s impressive performances in the 2008 Olympic Games and particularly the 2007 Eurobasket tournament show that this may simply be the best Russian squad ever – and it’s all about the defense. Behind Andrei Kirilenko and J.R. Holden, this squad could clamp down on the best of ‘em two years ago; add in Viktor Khryapa, the red-hot Euroleague 2009-10 defensive player of the year, plus perhaps the best American coach not employed in the NBA in David Blatt and BiE says you’ve got a contender – at least to win Group C with SportingBet’s nice 16/5 odds; but that’s an entry for a different time…

SportingBet is offering a few proposition bets on the 2010 FIBA World Championship, including outright winner betting on the tournament, group winners and the first round of individual matches. Click on the banner below or any of the logos above at right for more information. Good luck, everybody!

So onto the stories (and one videoclip)!

Alba Berlin: Fans twittering 24-hour bus ride
Talk about turning the proverbial lemons into lemonade; the folks at Alba Berlin basketball went into damage-control mode yesterday upon realizing that some 400 ticket-holders might be stranded in Deutschland rather than be able to attend the final four games in Vitoria.

So what happened? Not only did the front office manage to provide a swell bus for the most rabid of backers, not only will sponsors Caja Laboral provide free food for the group upon arrival, not only will Jordi Bertomeu be personally meeting with the German road warriors, but these devotees are so into the road trip as to be tweeting the experience. (Last update: about 2.15am CET.)

Meanwhile, a few devotees managed to haul their butts all the way to Munich in hopes of getting a flight to Spain there; good news for these hardy types, as Berlin fans were allowed onto reportedly literally the last flight out of Munich. One obsesser fan was even interviewed for German radio.

BiE thinks this whole Eyjafjallajoekull hullabaloo has proven one thing: Alba Berlin fans are in no way, shape or form lacking in devotion – hair-raising, life-shortening devotion, that is – for their team.

Valencia: That’s right, it’s Victor Claver
Well, there was no way BiE was going to get through this piece without at least one YouTube. And with Portland Trail Blazers fans desperate for any news and views on the lifer from Valencia, here’s a clip for you with a monster jam from the 2009-10 Rising Star Award winner (see below).

Bilbao Bizkaia Basket: Katsikaris just wants to make the final game, delineates strategy
Though Bilbao is on the cusp of its first-ever European championship title, coach Fotis Katsikaris is applying the old coaching cliché of just looking at these games one at a team. For Katsikaris, the goal is simply tonight’s game: “It would be a success to reach the final,” said the coach.

With a win, Bilbao Bizkaia would be automatically granted entry into the 2010-11 edition of Eurocup.

As for strategy, Katsikaris gives quite an extensive breakdown on the club’s official site; according to the coach, the crucial point for the Spanish side will be to “find solutions to open up the Alba defense,” which will require more patience and tenacious D from Bilbao.

Katsikaris: Find solutions! Find solutions, dammit!

However, there’s no way the Greek coach is about to give up the shoot-first-ask-questions-later offense of Bilbao: “We’ve shown we’re capable of controlling a game in any condition and they are not so used to playing a very high score. That’s why I say it’s important to be able, at any given time, be ready, break the match open [while avoiding the danger of losing] the concentration and rhythm of the game.”

Specifically, “[Julius] Jenkins is the key player in attack because he creates a lot of things, is a good shooter and can penetrate.”

Finally, Katsikaris emphasizes his not-so-secret weapon, i.e. the 13th man provided by the hometown crowd: “We’ll be at home – the ‘Black Tide’ in Vitoria shall be no less than 3,000 fans – and this will help us a lot [...] especially when we go through complications and problems, for we can overcome them.”

For Panellinios, Coach of the Year seeks to top award
(Euroleague) – Euroleague Basketball is pleased to announce that Ilias Zouros of Panellinios BC, who took his team from the qualifying round to the Eurocup Finals, has been chosen as the 2009-10 Eurocup Coach of the Year.

In his third season on the Panellinios bench, Zouros has led the club to new heights as it aims for a first continental crown at the Eurocup Finals in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain on April 17 and 18. Panellinios played a spirited season to become the only team without homecourt advantage to win its Quarterfinals series and reach the Finals.

Zouros’ task was made difficult by injuries that cost the team two players in the midst of the Last 16. In fact, not one Panellinios player started every Eurocup game this season and only five of them played in all 14 games leading up to the Finals.

However, Zouros got the most of every person on his roster, from Eurocup rookies to a former Euroleague champion, leading the team to a perfect home record despite not having a single player ranked among the top 10 in any major statistical category. Zouros is the second winner of the annual award, which was introduced last season. The previous recipient was Oktay Mahmuti, then the coach of Benetton Basket Treviso.

The Eurocup Coach of the Year is part of an expanded awards structure meant to enhance the recognition of the finest Eurocup players and coaches for their efforts throughout the season. Earlier this week, Victor Claver of Power Electronics Valencia was selected as the 2009-10 Eurocup Rising Star Trophy winner.

Euroleague Basketball and its in-house experts will also select players for the All-Eurocup first and second teams and the Eurocup MVP. The Eurocup Finals MVP award will go the best player at that event as voted by accredited journalists in attendance during the title game.

Zouros had Panellinios playing inspired basketball from the start this season. First, his team took care of business with a convincing road win at VEF Riga in the opening leg of the Eurocup Qualifying Round. Panellinios opened the Regular Season by routing another eventual quarterfinalist, Gran Canaria 2014, on the way to a 3-0 start.

After averaging an 18.7-point margin of victory in those games, Panellinios slipped and dropped two games on the road before bouncing back in the Regular Season finale to knock out SLUC Nancy and become the Group G winner.

Panellinios continued to protect its homecourt throughout the season. After a 3-1 start to the Last 16, Panellinios sealed its place in the next round with a week to go. A Last 16, Week 6 win over another semifinalist, Bizkaia Bilbao Basket, was not by a large enough margin to reach first place, but that would not matter as an 11-point win over Gran Canaria in the first leg of the Quarterfinals paved the way to Vitoria-Gasteiz for Zouros and his team.

Zouros, 44, started his coaching career at age 20 in the Panionios youth system, where he won several Greek League cadet and juniors titles. His next step was to join Peristeri’s coaching staff in 1993. He got his big break at Olympiacos in 2000 and guided the team to the Greek League finals and Euroleague quarterfinals in 2001.

Zouros then spent the first of several seasons away from his homeland, leading Sagesse Beirut to the Lebanese Cup and Asian Championship titles in 2004. Stints at Peristeri, Aris and Racing Paris followed before Zouros came to Panellinios in late 2007. The rest has looked like a match made in heaven as he helped turn Panellinios into a rising powerhouse in Greece.

Now after earning Eurocup Coach of the Year honors, Zouros will look to cement a magnificent season with two more wins and a piece of club history in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The line, the fearless prediction: Book likes Valencia, BiE likes…
The oddsmakers at Euroleague/BallinEurope Sponsor Sporting Bet have installed – stop BiE if you’ve heard this before – the two Spanish clubs as favorites to settle the 2009-10 Eurocup cup in an Iberian home; both Valencia and Bilbao are getting poor-investment odds of just about 1/1. The Sporting Bet table on the odds to hoist the ‘Cup looks like so:

Valencia 19/20
Bilbao 4/3
Panellinios 8/1
Alba Berlin 9/1

While imagining an Alba win amidst the Black Tide is difficult, BiE will fearlessly cover the Greek side against tournament favorites Valencia this evening: Here’s to thinking that brains win out over brawn, Claver is denied his open-floor opportunities, and that Panellinios overcomes its difficulties playing outside of Greece this year. At a whopping 16/5 against and a handicap of plus-8, i like those odds.

The BallinEurope fearless prediction, then: Bilbao over Panellinios in the final.

Valencia vs. Panellinios tips off at 6pm CET in Vitoria; Alba Berlin vs. Bizkaia Bilbao Basket starts at 8.45pm CET. The third-place game and final match are set for Sunday night at 6.15pm CET and 9pm CET, respectively. (Schedule dependent upon the temper tantrums of a certain Icelandic volcano, apparently.)

All games will be broadcast on TV network Eurosport 2 in 46 countries in Europe – gee, maybe it even be on in Hungary. In Germany, RBB Berlin has broadcasting rights, while network TET will be showing the matches in Ukraine.

Can Childress and Big Reds Machine sweep?

This one’s exactly what it says: A grab bag of clippings and clips regarding the eight teams squaring off in tonight’s Euroleague semifinals games. Enjoy the factoids, enjoy the games!

• If it’s March, tradition tends to demand that CSKA Moscow basketball augment its collection of trophies; 2010 is proving no exception. This month saw Viktor Khryapa capping (thus far) a career year with a Euroleague Player of the Month nod; two weeks ago, Khryapa was named Russia Cup MVP as Moscow took home the hardware in the final over Unics Kazan, though it has been said that “As expected, the slam-dunk contest held at the CSKA arena before the Russian Cup final completely overshadowed the [championship match] itself.”

What’s that? Dunk contest? Awesome! Though Spartak St. Petersburg’s James White (formerly of Fenerbahce Ulker and the San Antonio Spurs) took home the prize for achieving Jordan-like flight, CSKA’s Pops Mensah-Bonsu – surely the baddest dunker in all of Euroleague – was robbed early on; you’ll know it when you see all the 9s that should have been 10s. (And by the way, what’s up with Igor Tkachenko of Unics Kazan sporting that funky CCCP gear?)

• The secret to CSKA Moscow’s success against Caja Laboral Baskonia in games one and two of their playoff series? Russia-based RT.com, among others, opines that it’s all about “keeping Euroleague MVP Tiago Splitter quiet”: Splitter managed just 21 points on a combined 8-of-17 in the first two meetings and drew just a dismal 1-for-2 from the charity stripe in game two. For their sakes, let’s hope Splitter and Baskonia can show a little more against the Red Army and take care of some business, like they did against Valladolid last weekend’s in ACB play.

• Jan Jagla of Asseco Prokom remains optimistic despite his team’s 2-0 hole in their series against well-favored Olympiacos. Check out his nigh-poetic riff on homecourt advantage from his Euroleague blog post.

Homecourt advantage: to most people, that is just a basketball term, something that gets thrown around when people jockey for position and need extra motivation for another regular season game. But when you experience it, like we do as players, it is a huge obstacle that is hard to overcome. All season long, teams play to have homecourt advantage once the playoffs come around. We do not just play a regular season and then crown the champion, like in soccer. In basketball, the real season starts when the playoffs begin. Now, it is crunch time and the excitement builds exponentially.

What is homecourt advantage? My team, Asseco Prokom Gdynia, experienced it in the last two games in Piraeus against Olympiacos. Homecourt advantage is 15,000 roaring fans. It’s a bus forgetting to pick you up before the game at the hotel. It’s an atmosphere that pushes you to get that one extra loose ball. Homecourt advantage wins close games.

• The first whisperings about Josh Childress’ immediate future with Olympiacos are surfacing. According to this morning’s USA Today, Linas Kleiza’s favorite courtmate has made no decision one way or the other regarding his 2010-11 with the Reds or the Atlanta Hawks. Explain sportswriters Jeff Zillgitt and J. Michael Falgoust:

Childress can opt out of his contract with Olympiacos after this season but would be a restricted free agent with Atlanta. Or he can sign a qualifying offer from the Hawks for one year and become a free agent in 2011 or sign a longer deal with the Hawks if they offer one. Childress also can sign an offer sheet with another team, but Atlanta can match it. Or he can return to Greece for the final year of his contract.

He has until July 15 to let Olympiacos know his decision.

“It’s going to come down to getting information quickly and weighing my options and making a quick decision,” Childress said.

The 26-year-old said he wasn’t leaning either way. But hypothetically, “I’d be leaning towards finishing my contract here because I signed a three-year deal,” he said.

With the way the Hawks’ve been playing this season, surely a triumphant return to the ‘States has its appeal, but how torn might Childress be if Olympiacos takes, say, the Triple Crown this year? And if Childress does go home to roost, to which big-name NBAer will the Angelopoulos Brothers be looking to generate headlines? (BiE’s thinking maybe Manu Ginobili…?)

• One more time: The X Factor in the Maccabi Tel Aviv-Partizan Belgrade series, particularly as the scene shifts to Belgrade, are the Black-and-Whites’ fans. Click here for the Serbian perspective, here for Israeli trepidations, and the Russian sports journalist’s take says “Maccabi Tel Aviv received a huge reprieve the moment the game was transferred from Pionir Hall to Belgrade Arena.”

• Here’s an excellent profile piece on Maccabi’s D’Or Fischer, plus a bitchin’ (if from last year) clip with hard techno soundtrack; Fischer certainly leads the Israeli league in alley-oop jams. The only question is whether he’s tops in the Euroleague as well.

• The handicap on another monster Madrid-Barcelona confrontation? Pick ‘em. That’s right: You’ll be getting no points betting on either side. A half-point handicap (a.k.a. “Asian handicap”) is available at Euroleague/BallinEurope sponsor Sporting Bet, though; you know, if you want 4/5 odds that Barça wins by 0.5 points…

• Finally, here’s some (really) idle speculation that would be a nightmare for so many people on so many levels: Ricky Rubio to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Three of four pointspreads on tonight’s games, as provided by Euroleague/Ball in Europe sponsor Sporting Bet, are set at minus-8 or -9 to the homers and only Olympiacos is predicted for a double-digit win; that game also figures to be the barn-burner of the lot, with a 165.5 over/under. All lines and odds run below the break.

CSKA Moscow vs. Caja Laboral Baskonia
Handicap: CSKA minus 8
Over/under: 150.5

Olympiacos vs. Asseco Prokom
Handicap: Olympiacos minus 14
Over/under: 165.5

Sporting Bet has scads of lines, odds and prop betting on Euroleague basketball games, superleagues and Continental domestic leagues. Click on either the logos or banner at far right for more information. Good luck, all, and enjoy more playoff action!

Now, is anyone else surprised at some of the pointspreads posted (for the sake of this piece, as provided by Euroleague/Ball in Europe sponsor Sporting Bet)? Most eye-popping is the 17 points Partizan is getting in taking on the Spanish behemoth FC Barcelona in Espana; Partizan can finish first in the group, but only with a straight-up win at Barça or a Maroussi loss.

And Maroussi is, in fact, is one the weird end of another line. In the quest to shock Greek basketball by recording a more successful Euroleague season than defending champs and domestic rivals Panathinaikos, the littler club is a three-point underdog despite PAO having long since been eliminated. BiE wouldn’t be surprised to see the upset in Pana’s digs, or at least an OT loss.

More upset material: How about the BC Khimki-Olympiacos game, which has the Russian side favored by three over probably the second-best Euroleague team. Sure, Khimki’s playing for their continued existence in 2009-10 and surely have a big homecourt advantage; plus Olympiacos’ll be sitting their marquee players for much of the game. But BiE just can’t help thinking that, after a season characterized media-side by a squall of Barcelona-laden hype (hey, this writer admits his own complicity in the excitement), even the second-string Reds want to sweep the Top 16 to further fuel the scary swagger Olympiacos is building on this run.

A full listing of handicaps and over/under lines is listed below the break.

Panathinaikos vs. Maroussi BC
Handicap: Panathinaikos minus 3
Over/under: 151.5

Khimki Moscow region vs. Olympiacos
Handicap: BC Khimki minus 2
Over/under: 160.5

Asseco Prokom vs. Unicaja
Handicap: Prokom minus 5
Over/under: 159.5

Caja Laboral Baskonia vs. Cibona Zagreb
Handicap: Baskonia minus 10
Over/under: 155.5

FC Barcelona vs. Partizan Belgrade
Handicap: FC Barcelona minus 17
Over/under: 144.5

Real Madrid vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Handicap: Real Madrid minus 8
Over/under: 153.5

Montepaschi Siena vs. Efes Pilsen
Handicap: Montepaschi minus 9
Over/under: 156.5

Sporting Bet has many other lines, odds and proposition betting on Euroleague games and European domestic basketball leagues. Click on either the logos or banner at far right for more information. Lotsa luck, y’all!

The closest game on the schedule, according to Ball in Europe sponsor Bet 365, will feature Asseco Prokom trying to make up 10 points in Moscow against the heating-up CSKA side. While pundits were inspecting the likes of Orleans and Asvel Basket to act as Euroleague Cinderella for 2009-10, most were sleeping on Asseco and Maroussi, two teams suddenly looking great for surprise tournament bids. Figure upstart Asseco covers that 10 and that The Euroleague Fantasy Boss makes the correct decision on Qyntel Woods again.

While the 19.5 points Olympiacos is giving Cibona feels about right, but who can tell what’s going to happen with that 12.5-point ‘spread in the Unicaja-Zalgiris game? Zalgiris sports its third head coach this season for the game, despite Ramunas Butautas seemingly single-handedly guiding the Lithuanian squad to two wins in EL pool play and team’s 24-2 record outside of Euroleague. On the other hand, Darius Maskoliunas and Gvidonas Markevicius have been leading the team through practices this week; sounds good on in the immediate-term on the chemistry level, but will the question of “Who’s the Alpha Male?” interfere with the smooth sailing of this ship?

The lines and odds for tonight’s games, as provided by Bet 365 bookmakers follow below the break.

CSKA Moscow vs. Asseco Prokom
Handicap: CSKA Moscow minus 10
Over/under: 149.5

Olympiakos vs. Cibona Zagreb
Handicap: Olympiakos minus 19.5
Over/under: 155.5

Unicaja Malaga vs. Zalgiris Kaunas
Handicap: Unicaja minus 12.5
Over/under: 152.5

Bet 365 has numerous proposition bets, odds and lines on Euroleague games and other European professional basketball. Click on the Bet 365 logo or banner at right for more information.

The marquee matchup is clearly Maccabi Tel Aviv-Real Madrid, with the Sporting Bet pointspread set at a puny minus-1 for the homers – essentially a “pick ‘em” line. And as unbeatable as Partizan is once again proving to be in their home confines with the win over Barcelona, Maccabi is currently at 9-1 in Tel Aviv in 2009-10.

Elsewhere, we’ll find out if the gripes about Panathinaikos actually getting an extra home game on the schedule thanks to smaller neighbors Maroussi fortunately being placed alongside the Greens in Group E. Here’s to thinking that, if Maroussi covers that nine-point differential, it counts as a morale victory; the last meeting between the teams took place in November in PAO’s *true* homecourt and ended with a 90-73 Panathinaikos victory.

So for an upset, we’re looking to Baskonia. What the heck … yesterday was so wacky and all…

Pointspreads and over/under lines for tonight’s Euroleague games, as provided by Euroleague/Ball in Europe sponsor Sporting Bet, run below the break.

Cibona Zagreb vs. Caja Laboral Baskonia
Handicap: Cibona plus 5
Over/under: 149.5

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs. Real Madrid
Handicap: Maccabi minus 1
Over/under: 152.5

Maroussi vs. Panathinaikos
Handicap: Maroussi plus 9
Oer/under: 148.5

Sporting Bet is offering dozens of odds, proposition bets and lines on various games throughout Europe and Euroleague final results. For more information, please click on the banner or Sporting Bet logo at right. Good luck, everyone!

The feature matchup this evening, as far as oddmakers at Ball in Europe sponsor Bet 365 are concerned at least, would be Montepaschi at Istanbul. Efes Pilsen is one of three home underdogs tonight and, with the way this team appears to be rife with internal dissension, this line is no surprise. The Efes Pilsen meltdown is surely on the horizon and one is only surprised this handicap isn’t greater: Go MPS minus the points.

Surely to draw some viewers – if only for the possibility of seeing the circus – will be the Partizan-Barcelona match. Partizan head coach Dusko Vejosevic has promised that his team doesn’t “intend to go down without a fight” and that “We will try everything we can.” And Vejosevic reminds that “It’s never easy for anyone to play at Pionir.”

Be that as it may, here’s yet another scary stat on 2009-10 FC Barcelona: In the 29 wins the team has claimed since the ACB season tipped of, 22 of them were by double figures. And only one of Barça’s 11 Euroleague victories this season was in single figures when Zalgiris kept it to 77-70 in Lithuania way back in week three. As good as the Partizan faithful is, one wonders if the black-and-whites can keep it close; that line of nine is one requiring intestinal fortitude to wager on one way or the other…

Tonight’s pointspreads and over/under lines, as provided byBall in Europe sponsor Bet 365, are as follows.

Efes Pilsen vs. Montepaschi Siena
Handicap: Efes Pilsen plus 3.5
Over/under: 153.5

Olympiakos vs. Khimki Moscow region
Handicap: Olympiakos minus 12.5
Over/under: 156.5

Partizan Belgrade vs. Regal FC Barcelona
Handicap: Partizan plus 9
Over/under: 145.5

Unicaja Malaga vs. Asseco Prokom
Handicap: Unicaja minus 9.5
Over/under: 156.5

Zalgiris Kaunas vs. CSKA Moscow
Handicap: Zalgiris plus 6
Over/under: 143.5

Bet 365 has hundreds of proposition bets, lines and other odds on these games, European domestic league games and NBA games. For more information, click on the banners or logos at right. Good luck, everyone!

Among the lines offered at Euroleague/Ball in Europe sponsor Sporting Bet this week are some true who’da-thunk-it lines: Seriously, at the beginning of the season would you have reckoned Cibona would be plus-10.5 at Khimki or that Zalgiris would be a four-point underdog in going up against Asseco Prokom? In fact, that Zalgiris plus-4 is kinda tempting, as is that line of Olympiacos plus-3.5 at Baskonia.

Meanwhile, pity poor Maroussi BC, the team the sportsbook figures to be the latest corpse laid out by Barcelona, with a 83-63 drubbing predicted for the Greek team.

Pointspreads and over/under lines for tonight’s Euroleague games, as provided by Sporting Bet, follow the break.

BC Khimki vs. Cibona Zagreb
Handicap: Khimki minus 10.5
Over/under: 143.5

Asseco Prokom vs. Zalgiris Kaunas
Handicap: Prokom minus 4
Over/under: 149.5

Montepaschi Siena vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv
Handicap: Montepaschi minus 9
Over/under: 155.5

FC Barcelona vs. Maroussi BC
Handicap: Barcelona minus 20
Over/under: 147.5

Caja Laboral Baskonia vs. Olympiacos
Handicap: Baskonia minus 3.5
Over/under: 158.5

Sporting Bet is offering a bunch of other lines and odds on these games and leagues ‘round Europe. Click on either the logos or banner at right for more information. Good luck, all!

Similarly to the NBA situation going into 2009-10, the Euroleague field in October appeared to be a group of haves and have-nots with but a half-dozen favorites – Panathinaikos, FC Barcelona, Olympiacos, Real Madrid, CSKA Moscow and Montepaschi Siena – representing the former. This hasn’t changed, but after an eventful first round, the positioning at sportsbooks has shifted considerably.

Prior to Euroleague’s October tipoff, the top of the odds chart at Euroleague/Ball in Europe sponsor Sporting Bet looked like so:

Panathinaikos: 7/2
FC Barcelona: 4/1
Olympiacos: 9/2
Real Madrid: 9/2
CSKA Moscow: 17/2
Montepaschi Siena: 12/1

So who’s happiest today? Punters who took Barca, that’s who, and that goes double for those forward-looking enough to snatch up The Continent’s current top team in August. From August to October to today, Barcelona has seen the odds shrink from 6/1 to 4/1 to their current 2/1. And that number will only go lower. If you believe, cover them now.

Meanwhile, almost all other serious contenders are drawing longer odds as a result of Barcelona’s rise. A pair of notable exceptions do exist, however. Ever-elusive to gauge (what with a lack of huge name players and that wacky whole-is-greater-than-sum-of-parts thing they’ve got going on), Montepaschi has bounced from 10/1 to 12/1 at tipoff to just 8/1 today; it’ll be interesting to see what happens to that line – one way or the other – after that first Real Madrid game on February 11.

And who’s this sneaking into the “haves” category? Baskonia, now drawing the same odds as the previously inflated CSKA Moscow’s at 18/1; a reasonable draw into Group H shrunk this line to be sure, but so does the excellent patchwork game this seriously international roster has woven.

The full table of Euroleague 2009-10 outright winner odds offered by Sporting Bet follows.

FC Barcelona: 2/1
Panathinaikos: 7/2
Olympiacos: 11/2
Real Madrid: 11/2
Montepaschi Siena: 8/1
Caja Laboral Baskonia: 18/1
CSKA Moscow: 18/1
Maccabi Electra: 40/1
Unicaja: 50/1
BC Khimki: 80/1
Efes Pilsen: 125/1
Partizan Belgrade: 300/1
Cibona Zagreb: 500/1
Maroussi BC: 500/1
Zalgiris: 500/1
Asseco Prokom: 750/1

Sporting Bet has a number of bets and odds available for the Euroleague season and individual games. Please click on the logos or banner at right for more information. Good luck, everyone!