{"id":7325,"date":"2010-09-10T14:00:51","date_gmt":"2010-09-10T19:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=7325"},"modified":"2010-09-10T00:26:16","modified_gmt":"2010-09-10T05:26:16","slug":"fiba-semifinals-betting-preview-predictions-odds-for-2-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/fiba-semifinals-betting-preview-predictions-odds-for-2-games-7325\/","title":{"rendered":"FIBA Semifinals Betting Preview: Predictions & Odds For 2 Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Team USA are currently 15 point favorites while Turkey is favored by 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>USA (7-0) \u00a0vs Lithuania\u00a0 (7-0) – WOW.\u00a0 Though I did say Lithuania was better than the 40\/1 odds against them to start this tournament, I cannot say that I anticipated them doing this.\u00a0 They just clobbered Argentina, who was a favorite to win this tournament in the eyes of many, and Linas Kleiza is the sole reason why.\u00a0 He showed years ago in Denver that he has the ability to shoot lights out and sometimes take over games coming off the bench, but in this FIBA tournament he has shined as a starter.\u00a0 Through 7 games he is averaging 19 ppg and also leading the Lithuanians in rebounds, as well.\u00a0 It is always strange how seemingly average NBA players take over these tournaments, and Linas has just been one of many to do it.<\/p>\n

Who on the US will take on covering Linas?\u00a0 Will the task fall on Durant\u2019s shoulders, hoping that his 6\u20199 frame can bother Klieza?\u00a0 Or will they go with the smaller and quicker Eric Gordon, who could possibly fight around the picks for Klieza more quickly?\u00a0 Either way, Linas Kleiza is a light\u2019s out shooter who can get very hot at a times.\u00a0 After watching Lithuania thrash the Argentine team, it would seem that they can give the US a real push.\u00a0 The US\u2019 entire offensive attack is predicated upon getting Kevin Durant easy iso opportunities and Lithuania doesn\u2019t really have anyone (does any team?) who can check Durant.\u00a0 I think, ultimately, this game will be decided on the shoulders of Kevin Durant and how far he is going to go to carry the US team.\u00a0 Billups will also have to do a good job of keeping the US in check emotionally if they come out and get off to a poor start.<\/p>\n

One thing that works in Lithuania\u2019s advantage is that they did a great job of keying in on Argentine forward Luis Scola.\u00a0 If they can manage to frustrate Durant by making it difficult for him to get the ball in his sweet spots, they have a shot at sneaking a victory.\u00a0 Lithuania has shown a propensity for putting up great offensive numbers, and if they can turn\u00a0 it on defensively, the US is in for a tough game.<\/p>\n

What I envision happening in this game is Lithuania battling tough for 3 and a half quarters, but losing their grip in the end while the US finishes strong.<\/p>\n

Prediction:\u00a0 US by 9<\/strong><\/p>\n

Serbia (6-1) \u2013 5 Game win streak vs Turkey (7-0) – Last game Turkey went out and punished Slovenia.\u00a0 In my opening round up article I mentioned that we\u2019d get a look at Ilyasova this tournament\u2026Ersan Ilyasova had a monster game with 19 points and 5 boards, while Hedo ran the offense, dishing out 7 assists to go with his 10 points.\u00a0 Turkey has looked comfortable all tournament and passed tests both against Slovenia and Greece.\u00a0 The rest of their schedule had been soft, but against both juggernauts, they came out and won.\u00a0 Serbia, meanwhile, Serbia notched impressive victories over both the Spanish team and the Argentine team.\u00a0 So they have shown that they have the ability to deliver knockout punches to good teams, too.\u00a0 This game is a total tossup, really.\u00a0 Despite the suspension following the brawl, Krstic has led the Serbians in scoring at 15 ppg.\u00a0 Omar Asik, Semih Erden, and Ilyasova will have their hands full with Krstic, who is a great shooter and can also bang inside against atypical competition in terms of what he faces in the NBA.<\/p>\n

If I had to pick a winner, I would go with Turkey, simply because while Turkey will have trouble with Krstic, Serbia will have even more trouble with Ilyasova, who is too quick for their bigs and is so adept around the basket.<\/p>\n

Prediction:\u00a0 Turkey by 2<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

USA (7-0) \u00a0vs Lithuania\u00a0 (7-0) – WOW.\u00a0 Though I did say Lithuania was better than the 40\/1 odds against them to start this tournament, I cannot say that I anticipated them doing this.\u00a0 They just clobbered Argentina, who was a favorite to win this tournament in the eyes of many, and Linas Kleiza is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40250,"featured_media":7344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,133],"tags":[105,2933,2931,2590,2893,2597,910,1193,2591,2932,1709,2594,2935],"class_list":["post-7325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-nba-handicapping","tag-chauncey-billups","tag-eric-gordon","tag-ersan-ilyasova","tag-fiba","tag-fiba-basketball","tag-fiba-world-championships-betting","tag-hedo-turkoglu","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lithuania","tag-nenad-krstic","tag-serbia","tag-turkey","tag-usa-basketball"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40250"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7325"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7345,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7325\/revisions\/7345"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}