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WORLD BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS SET FOR LAUNCH AFTER A THRILLING ROUND OF TUNE-UPS – FANS WONDER WHAT TO EXPECT!
NEW YORK, NY – The World Basketball Championships are set for lift-off after a thrilling round of pre-tourney action. Team USA has looked strong and shows no signs of slowing, even after a recent game that went to the wire. With speculation and hype reaching a fever pitch, the largest most successful sportsbook on the web, BetUS.com posted odds on the upcoming tourney.
Analysts at BetUS.com posted the following odds on The World Basketball Championship:
To Win
Angola 1500/1
Argentina 22/1
Australia 150/1
Brazil 25/1
Canada 250/1
China 750/1
Croatia 80/1
France 70/1
Germany 150/1
Greece 10/1
Iran 1500/1
Ivory Coast 2500/1
Jordan 5000/1
Lebanon 1500/1
Lithuania 50/1
New Zealand 1000/1
Puerto Rico 125/1
Russia 60/1
Serbia 16/1
Slovenia 65/1
Spain 5/2
Tunisia 5000/1
Turkey 25/1
USA 1/2
Possible Final Matchup
USA v Greece 5/2
USA v Spain 5/1
USA v Serbia 6/1
USA v Argentina 7/1
Spain v Greece 10/1
Spain v Serbia 15/1
Spain v Argentina 20/1
USA v Turkey 25/1
USA v Brazil 28/1
USA v Slovenia 28/1
USA v Lithuania 30/1
Spain v Turkey 30/1
USA v France 40/1
Greece v Argentina 40/1
Greece v Serbia 40/1
USA v Russia 60/1
Greece v Lithuania 60/1
Spain v Brazil 80/1
August 24th, 2010 9:36:16 PM UTC | Posted in Basketball, BetUS, Futures by admin | No Comments
After barely surviving the previous tune-up game over Lithuania (really? Lithuania? Come on…), the US needed to ride Kevin Durant’s 25 point performance to overcome the Spanish Squad. The Spaniards, led by Juan Carlos Navarro’s 20 points, rallied to a 1 point lead with a mere 27 seconds left, but a few lucky breaks and some clutch free throws by Derrick Rose put Spain away for an 86-85 win for the US team.
Yes, Spain is the defending world champs from 2006 and have some pretty solid talent on the roster, but am I alone in feeling that the US kind of phones it in when the World’s come around every 4 years? I guess I just find it odd that when we can absolutely dominate in the Olympics, winning all but 4 gold medals since 1936, yet we have won only 3 gold medals in all the WBC tournaments, the last being in 1994 and in ’54 and ’86 previously. (Freaking Yugoslavia has the most medals) I understand that guys don’t want to rest or risk injury and that obviously the payday isn’t in international play but in the NBA. But come on, this is the international stage! Why not dominate when you know you easily could? Our team is led by Durant, one of the best in the league, but where is the rest of the premiere American talent?
Why can’t the new Heat trio make the trip to Madrid and show people what they’ve got? They certainly pulled it together in Beijing. But alas, they’re too busy dancing on stage in Miami and planning more 1 hour ESPN specials to announce things. On that note, where are the guys that played in the Olympics? Chris Paul? Kobe? ‘Melo? I know this tournament doesn’t capture the attention of the American audience the way the Olympics do, and I guess that deep down, logically, I can actually understand (begrudgingly) why these guys sit out. They want a secure pay day, they’re tired, who really cares?, etc etc. But I guess what’s fueling this rant is the fact that I cannot conceivably understand how, if you know for a fact you’ve got the team to own the rest of the world in competition, you wouldn’t do it. Steph Curry is an up and comer, Odom is a good support guy (sometimes), but if I were the big boys, I’d watch these guys get their feet wet until they struggled, but I’d have myself in a situation where I could step in and make sure business always got done, and done well.
If not just for the fact that you know the rest of the world wants this more than America does, why not take it just because you can, to reassert your dominance? (okay, thats a prick move, but it’s what I would do). These guys are extremely competitive, they possess a winning drive above normal humans, yet they sit this out and watch the team struggle rather than step in and show the world how its done. That is beyond me.
I’m sure many out there will say I’m off base and have no idea what I’m talking about; that the young guys need the international experience, that they’ve earned their spot, and that the older or more talented celebrity players can’t risk the competition. And I’d be inclined to agree with you on every logical level. But it is the illogical part, the desire to win and show the world that you’re the best; that desire and drive and ego that overruns logic, that seems to be missing. Like I said earlier, we almost lost to LITHUANIA! Doesn’t that seem a little weird considering the all consuming sports obsession this country has?
In short, if we could win, and we can, why don’t we?
August 23rd, 2010 12:50:57 AM UTC | Posted in Basketball, Sports by TheCaptain | 1 Comment
Following the testing of Spicebets, the beta version prediction is on Spain to win the world cup. But why Spain?
The answer rely on the performance during the world cup: even if with a management change (del Bosque toke the team after the European title) the European Champions kept the style of play: huge ball possession, a network of passes, solid defence and Villa as striker leader. Torres didn’t impress during this cup and del Bosque had to send him on the bench against Germany.
Vicente del Bosque is a coach who makes a rule, no major changes to his team’s formation. He usually maintains a good starting lineup, which has his full confidence, irrespective of their opponents. Therefore, it surprised a bit that the Spanish national coach decided before the historic semi-final match against the strong Germany for a change and renunce to Fernando Torres for Pedro.
This had not even expected to Pedro. “Yes, I was surprised but also very happy when I found out in the team meeting that I was in the starting eleven. Nervously, I was not, even if the tension was high and the importance of this game very was a good size. But when you stand on the square, you can’t feel all the tension anymore, because you only are concentrated on the game, “said the striker from Barcelona.
Del Bosque had taken indeed the right decision when he gave the 22-year olds his confidence. Pedro justified its use in an impressive manner: his quickness, his shooting ability and especially his determination not hesitate to shoot on goal brought a Pedro recognition and praise.
Plenty of stars on the field and on the bench for Spain, that’s why they should overcome a Netherlands that suffers against solid teams.
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About the author: Ranma is passionate football fan and writes reviews for betagora.com
July 10th, 2010 5:35:12 AM UTC | Posted in International by ranma | No Comments
Some call him ‘Piquebauer’ and there is actually stuff that speaks for the intelligence chief of the Spanish national team with the great Franz Beckenbauer compare. With his 192 centimeters Piqué is the determining figure in the defense of Spain and FC Barcelona, where he has already delivered a number of outstanding games. Piqué is only 23 years old and still has a number of achievements to accomplish before it can be reflected in the Olympus of the football gods, one of the Beckenbauer long ago.
Currently, he is making history with the Spanish national team: for the first time since 1950, the last round of four teams in a FIFA World Cup can see the name of Spain. But even after the victory against Paraguay in the quarter, the spanish players left with very serious faces the square.”We are all still very tense, because it was a very hard game. We will celebrate the success, if we have returned to the hotel,” Pique said
“Paraguay made our life very difficult. We dominated the game in my opinion and achieved, despite the missed penalty, the winning goal” concluded the defender.
After the Spaniards have survived the severe test, they need to concentrate on looking forward. Now it is important to focus on a historic semi-final duel. There, you meet an opponent with a big name: Germany.
Germany have a great team with great players. It will be very difficult to stop them, because they run a lot. They are of course also very motivated because of their clear victory against England and Argentina. Spain are also in very good shape and have shown how strong we are in defense as they have collected over the last two games no goals.
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About the author: Ranma is passionate football fan and writes reviews for betagora.com
July 6th, 2010 12:09:42 PM UTC | Posted in International by ranma | No Comments
Spain has a loaded squad and FIFA’s 2nd ranked team has the best odds to win the World Cup this summer. They are not in a tough group, but not the easiest in Group H along with Switzerland, Chile, and Honduras.
One of the leading sportsbooks has Spain at +400 to win the World Cup and at -400 to win Group H.
The Spanish have always been seen as a team that could not win the big one, but that changed when they won the European Championships in 2008. Their best showing at the World Cup was a 4th place finish and that was in 1950. Spain is the only team that has ever carried FIFA’s #1 ranking that has not won the World Cup.
The only team that may give Spain trouble in group play is Chile with the solid offense they have. The Chileans are the only other team in the group that is ranked in the top 20 in the world. Spain is stacked and they were one of only 5 teams that went undefeated in the European World Cup qualification process.
Spain has one of the best offenses in the world led by the world-class players of Andres Iniesta, Xavi, David Villa, David Silva, and Fernando Torres. Torres is coming off a knee surgery, but should be ready by the time the World Cup begins. The Spanish play a very fluid game and they are great at passing and controlling the ball. However, since they use movement so much they struggle against teams that challenge them often on the ball and play a very physical style. They will push forward on the attack often so they will have to be wary of the counter attack. G Iker Casillas of Real Madrid is the anchor of the defense and he is one of the most underrated goalies in the world.
Spain’s last match against Chile may be the mo0st important one, as there is a good chance that the winner of that match will win Group H.
Spain has the talent to capture their first World Cup, but they have to play well on the world’s biggest stage, which they have not been able to do in the past.
June 6th, 2010 1:49:57 AM UTC | Posted in Futures, International, Soccer, Sports, Sports Betting by Jason Green | No Comments
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