This crazy round of the Euroleague

Who thought Baskonia will destroy Real in Madrid? By 20 points margin! Or Anadolu Efes will steal the win in Barcelona? Or PAO without their leader Nedovic will upset Olympiacos in Piraeus? But all of them were actually derbies, where both teams involved had a good chance to win. 

Many bettors took Olympiacos as sure, including a -5.5 handicap on the Reds. And I am sure money was lost on Barcelona and Madrid potential comeback. Why? Because people are thinking and making conformist bets. Mostly on the favourite. But hey, this Euroleague. Anybody can beat anybody, like in the NBA. If there is no Nedovic, Sant-Roos will take his protagonist role and contribute to the Panathinaikos win etcetera.

The only bet that I took and recommended on my Telegram channel was on Valencia Basket to win against CSKA. It was not that easy because the Spaniards had also some important missing like Joan Sastre, San Emeterio, Guillem Vives. But the absences for CSKA were by far more important: Will Clyburn, Nikola Milutinov and Shengelia Tornike, that are representing half of the team.

In the Euroleague, the underdog has a better chance than the odds, since the level is very tied and the rosters are deeper than in any other competition. Think about it when you have the instinct to invest your money on favourites at small odds. It’s a stupid way to make bets.

Image: EuroLeague