Euroleague – Cibona vs Zalgiris

I had a pick that included Cibona 4 days ago,so everything that I have mentioned there,stands for this game also.Well almost everything,as coach Perasovic thinks that there may be some advantage against Zalgiris comparing to Zadar as Zalgiris likes to play with two real centers(Begic and Watson)and they are surely not as agile or capable in defending pick and pop,a play that Cibona likes to play with Vukusic,included as false PF with excellent perimeter shot.And I agree with that fact,Zadar s Boisa and T.Ruzic both can follow their player on the perimeter much better than these two from Lithuanian team.But that s that.Bagaric is still out,and it is really unfair to expect from Tomas that he puts up another heroic performance like he did two times in last three games.Perasovic will again be forced to play with four small,and if they are not going to shoot three pointers with high percentage they will found themselves in the problems.Teamplay still does not exist,as you need playmaker to make a play(just as the name suggests)and Cibona does not have a one(Graves is pure undersized shooter with limited options when attacking the rim,and Gordon is really hard to define but let s call him a combo guard that is neither able to set a play neither to shoot the ball properly.The players have not still received a salary and they are threatening with ultimatum after this one-they will get paid or they are not traveling to the NLB game vs Bosna at saturday,so the tensions are high between the board and the players.

Zalgiris is coming aware of all this problems that Cibona s having but they will have no intention underestimating their opponent.SG Pocius from the Duke university is the fresh face here that has pleasantly surprised everybody,Travis Watson is doing what he s expected to do-to grab the ball on both parts of the floor,and Begic is a dominant figure in the paint and not just a big body.Brown has all the credits and although he s lost that first step that he had few years ago,he s still a great player.Kalneitis is yet to mature but he s talented kid and Salenga is going to do his part.All in all,this is one deep team,talented team,a team with tremendous size and a team to respect.Their problem could be their speed so they have to slow the pace down and to decrease number of turnovers and fast break points in order to be competitive in this one.And I believe they will be able to do that,and that means at least close game till the end.The advantage is on Lithuanian side from my point of view so this hendi looks nice to me,Zalgiris+3.5 with mid stakes,GL!

Bet on Zalgiris +3.5 Points with Paddy Power @1.91

Preview by Tipster Jadran