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Crespi finally got good 40 minutes in the defense, they left Olympiacos at 63 points, after conceding 87 against Andorra. But, even then, their defense was much better in the second half-time, after they conceded 51 points in the first 20 minutes. Andorra are an uncomfortable team that shoots a lot and can be very dangerous on a good day. Crespi always ask their players to play defense, I'm convinced they'll be at their best today because they have 0-3 ratio and really need a win. Bilbao don't have problems with their defense, they had 151 points against Andorra with an overtime, they have three big unders on this margin, and last season, when both were critical defensively, the game ended 76-70. This Bilbao has nothing to do with that, Alonso knows how to match Kutxa, he defeated them with Bruesa last year 72-66. He'll focus everything on the defense here, from stopping Heurtel, to controlling rebounds. That's how they can match the critical Kutxa and I don't doubt that's how Alonso will set things. Details

Orlando are a team with lots of experienced players, but look who their main players are. Considering the first point guard Flynn is missing, Basile will get lots of minutes today. He's a legend of Italian basketball who's 39 years old and definitely won't run around a lot. Nicević will get lots of minutes, too. He's 34 year old, so it's clear Orlando will be the team with a small number of offenses. Their first two games ended at 145 and 143 with Flynn who likes to run. On the other side is Roma who will focus on defense with Dalmonte. Their games confirm that, 137 against Caserta and 141 against Venezia. The margin is definitely wrong, and you should expect a basketball played from positions with a small number of points. Details

Bologna and Caserta are two teams who currently can't boast with good offensive solutions. Bologna are an extremely young team and that is their biggest problem, while Caserta haven't found the right rhythm and shape to be on the real level. The defenses are another story because both teams have Americans who are bursting with athleticism and next to such players it's never easy to screw up. Caserta is especially showing off defensively, and they will be fully focused on it as they were last season. In the first two rounds they were under 70 points offensively, and they allowed their opponents somewhat more because of which they have two defeats. Those matches ended with 147 and 137 points, while Bologna remained at 143 with Orlando, and we shouldn't even consider the one with Sassari. Last season their mutual matches ended with 122 and 140 points, and I expect the same scenario today. Details

I think the difference between these two teams is somewhat bigger than the bookies see them. True, the Jaguars self-confidence is bigger after they've scored their first win of the season last Sunday, but Browns helped them with it by their numerous errors and unused situations. In the last six games it were all defeats, the Jags scored a 81-185 point difference, and in four out of those six games they allowed their opponents at least 33. Their offense is criminal and I believe the Dolphins won't have too much trouble, especially after an impressive game against the Bears. The away teams' offense is not the greatest of all, but there is enough quality for them to damage Jaguars. All in all, the Dolphins' win at least with a bit of advantage seems pretty clear to me. Details

Losing Stevan Ridley harmed the Patriots' offense pretty much because they don't have a good substitute for him. His role should be split between Jonas Gray and Brandon Bolden, while Shane Vereen will still be doing a bit of everything. Our hero isn't a regular running back who crushes into the heart of the offense with no compromise, but he feels more comfortable when he has a bit more space, usually after the catch. This season, he had a double-digit number of carries only once (7, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5, 11), and had over 43 yards (90) only against the Bengals, while in other games, he had 36, 40, 20, 26, 4, 43. The Bears' defense might not be an elite one, but I think they're good enough to leave Vereen under this margin, at least when it comes to the rushing yards. Details

Torun have both in the preseason and in this part of the championship so far shown that they are a real home team. They dealt against Anwil with ease in the first round, but a more significant victory was the +13 one against Rose, a team who are, quality-wise, next to Turow and Stelmet. Today they are again playing at home against Turow, and they will sure raise the atmosphere in the arena as well as motivate the home players. Turow are currently more occupied with Euroleague. The championship game showed that which they played on Monday against Kutni. They literary won in the last seconds of the game. Their defense was especially weak against the current champions. On Thursday they played a difficult match against Ferenbache and they wasted themselves in that one. We should add that the away team have some trouble with injuries. Dyleqicz returned only in the match against the Turks, backs Chylinski and Wisniewski didn't play and could also miss today's match, and Kostrzewski has been out for some time. Turow trampled Tarnobrzeg in the championship, but they are the weakest team in the league. They've won against Slupsk with +7 at home, and Kutno +2 at home. That same Slupsk were beaten by Torun with +30 in an away game in the last preparation meeting. Details

If the match between Trieste and Biella ended the way it should've last weekend, with Biella's win (Trieste were losing with 15 points of difference during half-time), today the margin would've been 4-5 points bigger. Trieste won thanks to an excellent game in the second half-time, but they were lucky that Biella's most dangerous player, Voskuil, was playing on one foot only and shot from the game with 3/14. Trieste were playing on the top half margin of their possibilities, with Tonuto's and Holloway's excellent parties. Verona have so far shown to be quite high in the league and they scored all four victories with no setbacks. They're more convincing at home, but away matches don't look bad either. We're not even counting the desperate Veroli against whom they've won with 23 points of difference. Agrigento, who may be stronger than Trieste, was beaten with +11. Some of the names in Verona's roster could with no trouble play more significant roles in the prime league surroundings. The biggest minus of this handicap I see in the following thing: Verona are defensively very strong, and Trieste won't be able to walk around as they did against Biella. Moreover, Verona's Monroe will stop Holloway under the hoop, and then it's all up to Tonuto for whom I doubt he'll be able to score 31 points as he did against Biella. Details

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I wanted to bet on Maxim Gonzalez yesterday, but the handicap was too high. I was still convinced in his win so I went for the sure bet. However, the Argentinian proved what I already knew in that match, he's the king of this level. He only had problems in the first match against Mina, not surprising because that was his first clay match after three months. From then to the finals, he didn't have any problems. He only gave one break-ball to Collarini, didn't lose serve at all against Trungelliti, and gave only one break-ball to Cachin yesterday. Alejandro is a bit more convincing than the last week, but the impression is on the Argentinian's side. Besides, Maximo has 3/3 in challenger finals this year, which isn't an accident. He's very experienced in situations like these, and this is the level where he created his name. He's coming back to the routine, and one thing that could be crucial is freshness. This is Maximo's first tournament after Shanghai, Alejandro's been playing week after week, and spent almost three hours on the court in the semifinal, while Maximo spent only a bit over an hour. I think Maximo is a big favorite for the title here. These are "his" tournaments, perfect for him and every time he passed the challenger quarterfinal, he took the title in the end. All three times this year. Details

So far, Bayern played two away matches in the Bundesliga. In Ludwigsburg they celebrated with +15, and in Hagen with +24. At home they weren't as good. In the last round they lost against Gottingen, and because of that I think that today we should be expecting an extremely motivated Bavarian line-up. The defeats, such as the ones against Gottingen, happen once in a couple of seasons. Bayern were completely out of the game, their defense didn't exist, and mentally they were in the Euroliga clash against Panathinaikos. They've won against the Greeks and shown how good they are when focused. Bremerhaven tied two home wins together, against Ludwigsburg and Frankfurt, although they were not easily scored, only to lose in the last round in the first quarter with 0-22. That team have a lot of offense problems if Bayern play their defense as they know, and it's hard to expect that coach Pesic won't persist on it. The home team will have additional problems. Also, the fact that the match won't be played in Bremerhaven's arena, but in Bremen (a much larger arena), there are probably some bad aspects to it. All in all, I expect Bayern to be at their highest motivation, and combined with the quality it is enough to win with a two-digit difference. It's hard to talk about any kind of fatigue because the Bavarians had three days to rest and prepare. They played against PAO on Thursday, while Bremerhaven played their last match on Wednesday. Details