Zalgiris Kaunas - Baskonia

Recently, during the regular season, I had faith in the strength of Barcelona and I still believe in the capabilities of the Spanish club. Monaco has a lot of problems and although the skill of their basketball players allowed them to reach where the team is now, it is difficult to trust in Monaco. Knowing all the difficulties Monaco is facing, Barcelona seems significantly stronger and seeing how inconsistently Monaco can play, I believe that the third time will not be a lie for the Spanish club this season.

Barcelona's backup sniper Brizuela, when Punteris doesn't score points, the coach gives a chance to Dario and as history shows, he succeeds playing against Monaco. In two years, he has played in eight matches, and in six of them he scored double-digit point totals. Today, with his 15 point line, there is a 9% chance that he will pass, but practice shows that it happens every third match.

You simply cannot pass by the fact that behind it lies a reduced points total, with its current average being 9.1 points, but giving only 6.5, which means it is a value bet. Knowing that in this season, Monaco has lost - 25 points, and in the previous one - 27, and in rare cases does not lose two-digit totals, the reason for this is the weak defense from the French side, specifically from James, who plays for 30+ minutes and does not want to watch the game from the bench due to the points he has accumulated.

Even though Monaco lost against PAO, anyone who watched the game could see that the team simply did not perform well. One Ecobo played some tragic games, but still managed to keep up with the Greeks. The support from their small arena at home certainly added to their performance. Monaco has talent and there's no need to talk about their short rotation, as they have enough players for each game. Nedovic and Tarpey trained with the team. Barca didn't impress, their lineup is not ambitious and relies on veterans. Clyburn made a promise at the beginning, without him they could have lost against Zvezda.

Although Monaco lost against PAO, anyone who watched the game could see that the playing was just not there. Eko, for one, played some tragically bad games and yet still managed to hold his ground against the Greeks. At home in their small arena, the support was definitely a contributing factor. Monaco has talent, there's no need to talk about a short rotation as these are individual games with enough players on the team. Nedovic and Tarpey trained with the team. Barca doesn't impress, their lineup certainly isn't ambitious and is dependent on veterans. Clyburn swore at the beginning, if not for him, they could have lost against Zvezda. Monaco should play at a good pace and maintain it, as Barca under Pascual is strategically stronger in positional basketball. Both games this season were quite productive.

I hope for a breakthrough, there is no longer a place to save. Sale Maza, friendly visits, that's favorable to cross. Barca should want to speed up the pace, as Monaco might get tired at some point. Monaco is unpredictable, James and Okobo can unexpectedly score.

The Monaco team looked very weak against Pao, with such a game they had little chance against Barcelona, they may not even be able to protect their own walls, of course their own team may have been surprised to go to Greece and win against Pao, but I think that the coach factor in such moments plays a big role. An inexperienced coach may struggle to prepare the team for such an important match. In this case, I believe that Barcelona is a clear favorite with such a coach and their players are more motivated than the Monaco players.