Romania – Czech Rep

Romania and Czech Republic will square off in the opening round of the Eurobasket 2017 Group C, a group which will be hosted by Romania.

The Romanians are taking part in the Eurobasket for the first time since 1987 and they probably wouldn`t have gotten here if they were not one of the hosts of the competition. Romania is regarded to be the worst team in the tournament as they have been a non factor in international basketball for a long time, and own a very poor roster based almost exclusively on players from the domestic club competition – many of them not even playing regular minutes (or playing only due to home grown restrictions), as foreign players are ruling the league.

The Czech Republic finished on an honorable 7th place at Eurobasket 2015 and will try to repeat the success this time around. The Czechs are expected to qualify from a group with Spain, Croatia, Montenegro, Hungary and Romania, but their hopes suffered a blow recently, as two of their three best players have been ruled out (Vesely – Fenerbahce, Balvin – Gran Canaria). Still, the visitors will be led by the WAS Wizards point guard Satoransky and shouldn`t have problems advancing to the next stage from the 3rd or 4th place.

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Romania has no business being at this tournament and they know it. Their star player, Moldoveanu, said he gave his team a 1% chance in this clash, but that the percentage increased a bit after news about Vesely and Balvin being out for the visitors.

The entire roster of the hosts is composed of domestic – based players with two exceptions, Cate (fringe / ‘B team’ player at CB Sevilla) and Vlad Moldoveanu (Demir, Turkey). The 29 year old Moldoveanu is a quality ‘stretch 4’ who at one time seemed like possible NBA material, he has experience in college in the USA, in the Euroleague and in the top leagues in Europe, but he is pretty much the only Romanian player who belongs at this level.

As opposed to Romania, the Czechs have an NBA player in Tomas Satoransky (Wizards), along with a good nucleus from the solid domestic team CEZ Nymburk, and a couple of other guys playing for mid level teams in Europe.

The Romanians have been very poor at International Level for a long time now, with the exception of an honorable attempt to qualify for Eurobasket 2015, where they knocked out Sweden, but lost a deciding game to Latvia. Unfortunately for them, that was the first and only time they showed they can compete in the last 20 years.

Romania was utterly embarrassed in the 4 preparation matches they played prior to Eurobasket 2017, losing to Greece by 58 points, to Ukraine by 34, to Lithuania by 33 and to Latvia by 30, results which reflect poor forma and are sure to affect their confidence.

Czech Republic isn`t a powerhouse in European Basketball, but they are a good, decent team and should be able to take care of Romania here. I believe the absences of Vesely and Balvin create value on the Czechs, as they do not need them to beat this Romanian team, but the news of them being out has shifted the odds.

A 12 point spread isn`t that hard to cover and I think Czech Republic will manage to win this by 15+ points. Romania are indeed the home team, but this could very well turn out to be a disadvantage – their inexperienced players might find it difficult to play at home at this level with all the fans and expectations, this is something they are not used to.

My tip on this clash will be Czech Republic to cover the 12 point (asian) handicap. Look for Satoransky to run the show against an inferior, out of form Romania side which will be under massive pressure at home. Prediction: Romania – Czech Republic 68 – 88.

Pick: Czech Republic -12
Odds: 1.99 @ 18Bet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.92
Event date: 1 September