International Hoops

[Dr.T]

Syria vs. China
under 18 Asia men's basketball
4am EDT (August 21, 2012)
Syria +51.5 (bet365)

China plays Syria on Tuesday and then faces undefeated South Korea on Wednesday in the under 18 tournament in Mongolia. I expect them to look ahead to that matchup and be happy to win against Syria by 40 to 45 points. Syria is 2-2 and stayed within 79-62 against South Korea. They lost 91-72 to Lebanon but outrebounded them 48-32. Syria was just 1/15 shooting 3's in this game.

China has been beating teams badly as they are able to outrebound them easily such as 60-14 in the opener vs. Hong Kong. They got 36 points/17 rebounds from Wang Zhelin in the last game. They also get points from Gao Shang, who sat out the Japan blowout. China can score inside and they like to shoot 3's. They were 15/29 vs. Japan.

Syria does have some talent with Atle, Trub, Obesi, Hashim and Shahin. They should be able to rebound well enough to not allow easy second shots and to keep the pace slower than the Chinese like. These two played in the 2010 under 18 tournament and Syria only lost by 34 (of course, they had different players.)

The over/under is set at 181.5 but China did play some games that ended with 170 and 173 points scored. All we need is a 110-65 game. China will be happy with a win and Syria +51.5 wins our wager. Good luck if you play it!

Syria +51.5

 

[Dr.T]

Syria vs. China
under 18 Asia men's basketball
4am EDT (August 21, 2012)
Syria +51.5 (bet365)

China plays Syria on Tuesday and then faces undefeated South Korea on Wednesday in the under 18 tournament in Mongolia. I expect them to look ahead to that matchup and be happy to win against Syria by 40 to 45 points. Syria is 2-2 and stayed within 79-62 against South Korea. They lost 91-72 to Lebanon but outrebounded them 48-32. Syria was just 1/15 shooting 3's in this game.

China has been beating teams badly as they are able to outrebound them easily such as 60-14 in the opener vs. Hong Kong. They got 36 points/17 rebounds from Wang Zhelin in the last game. They also get points from Gao Shang, who sat out the Japan blowout. China can score inside and they like to shoot 3's. They were 15/29 vs. Japan.

Syria does have some talent with Atle, Trub, Obesi, Hashim and Shahin. They should be able to rebound well enough to not allow easy second shots and to keep the pace slower than the Chinese like. These two played in the 2010 under 18 tournament and Syria only lost by 34 (of course, they had different players.)

The over/under is set at 181.5 but China did play some games that ended with 170 and 173 points scored. All we need is a 110-65 game. China will be happy with a win and Syria +51.5 wins our wager. Good luck if you play it!

Syria +51.5

Easy winner as Syria stays within 30 points. Final: 101-71.

 

[Dr.T]

USA vs. Mali
women's under 17
4am eastern (August 22, 2012)
Mali +65 (tonybet)

This will be an early start for these two teams as the USA is 4-0 while Mali is 0-4. Both are playing their 5th game in 6 days and off on Friday. When I first saw the schedule I looked at this game as being a possible play on the underdog as the USA would wrap up their group and be ready for the medal rounds. I estimated a line of +66.

The USA played South Korea in the opener and it was 131-89 as the Koreans made 3's in a fast paced game with full court presses. The next few games were lower scoring. The USA won their four games by 42, 39, 40 and 30 points. They haven't scored over 28 in a quarter since the opener.

Mali is bad. They are poor free throw shooters as they made 5/13, 3/19, 14/23 and 8/23 in losses by 36, 40, 15 and 35. Maiga loves to shoot 3's. They also have Fomba, Konare, Ketia and Diallo on the team.

The USA should use all 12 players. Their crowds have been small as listed at about 320 so it should be low attendance in the first game on Wednesday. The USA doesn't shoot many 3's and have some talented players like Diamond Deshields, Rebecca Greenwell, Linnae Harper and Mercedes "Rolls Royce" Russell. James, Washington, Davis, Turner, McCall and Olerah will see minutes too.

Obviously, I won't be shocked to see a big blowout. The (Asian under 18) Iran men's team did win by 71 and the USA women's team could too. But I think the USA will be happy to win by 50 to 60 and move on to the next game. There is no dunking for easy scores and they don't try many 3's. And maybe Maiga can make a few 3's. GL!

Mali +65

 

[Dr.T]

Bahrain vs. Philippines
Wednesday (August 22, 2012)
Bahrain +29.5 (bet365)
4/10

The Philippines are off an upset win over Taiwan/Chinese Taipei. They are getting solid play from Pingoy, Alexandro and Borleon. They are now 4-1 overall with their only loss being a blowout to Iran by 21 points. They did beat Saudi Arabia by 42 in their opener. The other wins were by 14 over Kazakstan and by 26 over Indonesia.

Bahrain is 2-3 and their only bad loss was to Taiwan by 33 (94-61). They only lost to Iran by 11. They did play close games with Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Naser Muhammed, Bualley, Sayed, Melad and Shukrulla are key players for Bahrain.

I think the Philippines have a letdown after a big win over Taiwan. They were 8.5 point underdogs and won. I hope to see Bahrain play well enough to keep it close and they proved that against Iran. Bahrain has had some bad quarters in some games and that does concern me.

My guess is the Philippines win 87-70. They are happy with a victory and we are happy with a Bahrain +29.5 cover.

Bahrain +29.5

 

[varkeyboy]

OMG. Did Mali just get beat 98-28. WTF..........70 pts?? Geez....that's pretty embarrassing.

 

[Dr.T]

USA vs. Mali
women's under 17
4am eastern (August 22, 2012)
Mali +65 (tonybet)

This will be an early start for these two teams as the USA is 4-0 while Mali is 0-4. Both are playing their 5th game in 6 days and off on Friday. When I first saw the schedule I looked at this game as being a possible play on the underdog as the USA would wrap up their group and be ready for the medal rounds. I estimated a line of +66.

The USA played South Korea in the opener and it was 131-89 as the Koreans made 3's in a fast paced game with full court presses. The next few games were lower scoring. The USA won their four games by 42, 39, 40 and 30 points. They haven't scored over 28 in a quarter since the opener.

Mali is bad. They are poor free throw shooters as they made 5/13, 3/19, 14/23 and 8/23 in losses by 36, 40, 15 and 35. Maiga loves to shoot 3's. They also have Fomba, Konare, Ketia and Diallo on the team.

The USA should use all 12 players. Their crowds have been small as listed at about 320 so it should be low attendance in the first game on Wednesday. The USA doesn't shoot many 3's and have some talented players like Diamond Deshields, Rebecca Greenwell, Linnae Harper and Mercedes "Rolls Royce" Russell. James, Washington, Davis, Turner, McCall and Olerah will see minutes too.

Obviously, I won't be shocked to see a big blowout. The (Asian under 18) Iran men's team did win by 71 and the USA women's team could too. But I think the USA will be happy to win by 50 to 60 and move on to the next game. There is no dunking for easy scores and they don't try many 3's. And maybe Maiga can make a few 3's. GL!

Mali +65

Yes, Mali set a record for worst loss in under 17 women's basketball as they lost by 70 points. +65 ends up losing.

Mal- means bad.
Malaria
Malpractice
Malware
Mali

 

[Dr.T]

Bahrain vs. Philippines
Wednesday (August 22, 2012)
Bahrain +29.5 (bet365)
4/10

The Philippines are off an upset win over Taiwan/Chinese Taipei. They are getting solid play from Pingoy, Alexandro and Borleon. They are now 4-1 overall with their only loss being a blowout to Iran by 21 points. They did beat Saudi Arabia by 42 in their opener. The other wins were by 14 over Kazakstan and by 26 over Indonesia.

Bahrain is 2-3 and their only bad loss was to Taiwan by 33 (94-61). They only lost to Iran by 11. They did play close games with Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. Naser Muhammed, Bualley, Sayed, Melad and Shukrulla are key players for Bahrain.

I think the Philippines have a letdown after a big win over Taiwan. They were 8.5 point underdogs and won. I hope to see Bahrain play well enough to keep it close and they proved that against Iran. Bahrain has had some bad quarters in some games and that does concern me.

My guess is the Philippines win 87-70. They are happy with a victory and we are happy with a Bahrain +29.5 cover.

Bahrain +29.5

+29.5 is a winner. It did drop down to +27.5. Bahrain led by double digits at the half and was blown out in the second half as it ends 99-72 (lost by 27.)

 

[Dr.T]

Saudi Arabia vs. China
Friday (August 24, 2012)
under 180.5 (bet365)

China is a 49.5 point favorite and has played two games that went over 200 points, against Hong Kong (opener with fresh legs) and Japan (total was set at 165.5 and ended with 211 points.) The others were in the 170's. Here are the other totals:

Syria 172
Lebanon 170
India 173
Korea 176 (before overtime)

Saudi Arabia played one game that ended with 123 points and the others were in the 140's. They faced the Philippines, Iran and Taiwan. They have some decent rebounders (Nassir Abdojalas, Mohammed) but they don't make many 3's to help this total get above 180.

I am hoping that China will be happy with a 108-64 type of win and then move on to the semifinals with Iran, Taiwan and the South Korea/Philippines winner. Both teams are off on Thursday and should be well rested. Saudi Arabia is not real deep and should get blown out. Wang Zhelin and Gao Shang should score at will but save some for the next round. Both played plenty of minutes in the overtime win on Wednesday. I won't be shocked with an over but like our chances for it to stay under this high total. GL!

under 180.5

 

[Dr.T]

USA vs. Australia
women's under 17
Friday afternoon (August 24, 2012)
over 138.5

This game will be a quarterfinal game on Friday. In their opener the USA beat South Korea by 131-89 as the underdog was pressing and made some 3's early in the game. The rest of the USA games have been lower scoring but the USA has reached 86, 83, 80 and 98 points in those games. The USA has played in the weaker group with Mali, Canada, Italy and Belgium.

When they played Australia in an exhibition game it was 103-58 (161 points). Australia doesn't shoot many 3's and are just an average team. They did beat Japan on Wednesday by 100-66 as the Japanese games ended with plenty of points (166, 162, 158, 126 and 163). I think the USA will go all out and use their depth in this game. The USA is led by Diamond Deshields, Russell, Greenwell, Harper, etc. Even the backups are solid. The USA opponents have shot poorly but have taken 72, 79 and 74 field goal attempts (South Korea took many more but did score 89 and I'm not counting Mali).

I don't see why we can't get an 82-58 type of game and reach 140 points. However, this is a women's game and it could get UGLY, with misses layups, broken fingernails and teams scoring just 5 points in a quarter. The USA will set the pace and hopefully, the Aussies can make a few baskets.

over 138.5

 

[Dr.T]

Saudi Arabia vs. China
Friday (August 24, 2012)
under 180.5 (bet365)

China is a 49.5 point favorite and has played two games that went over 200 points, against Hong Kong (opener with fresh legs) and Japan (total was set at 165.5 and ended with 211 points.) The others were in the 170's. Here are the other totals:

Syria 172
Lebanon 170
India 173
Korea 176 (before overtime)

Saudi Arabia played one game that ended with 123 points and the others were in the 140's. They faced the Philippines, Iran and Taiwan. They have some decent rebounders (Nassir Abdojalas, Mohammed) but they don't make many 3's to help this total get above 180.

I am hoping that China will be happy with a 108-64 type of win and then move on to the semifinals with Iran, Taiwan and the South Korea/Philippines winner. Both teams are off on Thursday and should be well rested. Saudi Arabia is not real deep and should get blown out. Wang Zhelin and Gao Shang should score at will but save some for the next round. Both played plenty of minutes in the overtime win on Wednesday. I won't be shocked with an over but like our chances for it to stay under this high total. GL!

under 180.5

Game went under by 71 points.

Final score: 76-33

 

[Dr.T]

Saudi Arabia vs. Chinese Taipei
Saturday morning (August 25, 2012)
Saudi Arabia +40.5 (bet 365)

Chinese Taipei/Taiwan just lost 68-67 to Japan as 9.5 point favorites. They had beaten Japan easily by 91-69 earlier in the week. Now they have to play Saudi Arabia AGAIN. Instead of playing in the semifinals on Saturday they are trying to finish 5th. Looks like a classic letdown position.

Saudi Arabia did lose by 41 points just a few days ago to them. They only shot 15/50 and 1-13 3-pointers. They were outrebounded 41-32 which is respectable.

Saudi Arabia is now 2-5 in the comeptition so far. Their two wins were by 11 and 6 points. One loss was by 3 to Bahrain but here are their other losses:

lost by 43 to Philippines
lost by 32 to Iran
lost by 41 to Chinese Taipei
lost by 43 to China

Saudi Arabia has seen their opponent before and should be motivated to play better. They are led by Abojalas, Mohammed and Waheed Faqihi. Taipei is led by Shih-En Fang who had 18 points/17 rb in their last game.

I am thinking that this game will mean more to Saudi Arabia and they should be able to stay within 40 points. Their worst loss was by 43. The underdog has played some low scoring games so I don't think they will give up a lot of points which gives them a better chance to keep it under 40. GL!

Saudi Arabia +40.5

 

[varkeyboy]

If anyone would like to follow along, here's a link for a score update:

http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/20495/05/97/07/30vuX6ZN3OTo/


LET'S DO THIS DR. T!!!

 

[Dr.T]

USA vs. Australia
women's under 17
Friday afternoon (August 24, 2012)
over 138.5

This game will be a quarterfinal game on Friday. In their opener the USA beat South Korea by 131-89 as the underdog was pressing and made some 3's early in the game. The rest of the USA games have been lower scoring but the USA has reached 86, 83, 80 and 98 points in those games. The USA has played in the weaker group with Mali, Canada, Italy and Belgium.

When they played Australia in an exhibition game it was 103-58 (161 points). Australia doesn't shoot many 3's and are just an average team. They did beat Japan on Wednesday by 100-66 as the Japanese games ended with plenty of points (166, 162, 158, 126 and 163). I think the USA will go all out and use their depth in this game. The USA is led by Diamond Deshields, Russell, Greenwell, Harper, etc. Even the backups are solid. The USA opponents have shot poorly but have taken 72, 79 and 74 field goal attempts (South Korea took many more but did score 89 and I'm not counting Mali).

I don't see why we can't get an 82-58 type of game and reach 140 points. However, this is a women's game and it could get UGLY, with misses layups, broken fingernails and teams scoring just 5 points in a quarter. The USA will set the pace and hopefully, the Aussies can make a few baskets.

over 138.5

Easy winner at 89-68 (157 points).

 

[Dr.T]

Saudi Arabia vs. Chinese Taipei
Saturday morning (August 25, 2012)
Saudi Arabia +40.5 (bet 365)

Chinese Taipei/Taiwan just lost 68-67 to Japan as 9.5 point favorites. They had beaten Japan easily by 91-69 earlier in the week. Now they have to play Saudi Arabia AGAIN. Instead of playing in the semifinals on Saturday they are trying to finish 5th. Looks like a classic letdown position.

Saudi Arabia did lose by 41 points just a few days ago to them. They only shot 15/50 and 1-13 3-pointers. They were outrebounded 41-32 which is respectable.

Saudi Arabia is now 2-5 in the comeptition so far. Their two wins were by 11 and 6 points. One loss was by 3 to Bahrain but here are their other losses:

lost by 43 to Philippines
lost by 32 to Iran
lost by 41 to Chinese Taipei
lost by 43 to China

Saudi Arabia has seen their opponent before and should be motivated to play better. They are led by Abojalas, Mohammed and Waheed Faqihi. Taipei is led by Shih-En Fang who had 18 points/17 rb in their last game.

I am thinking that this game will mean more to Saudi Arabia and they should be able to stay within 40 points. Their worst loss was by 43. The underdog has played some low scoring games so I don't think they will give up a lot of points which gives them a better chance to keep it under 40. GL!

Saudi Arabia +40.5

Winner as the final score is 77-38. Saudi Arabia stays within 39.

 

[Dr.T]

USA vs. Canada
under 17
1pm eastern (Saturday)
pick: Canada +36.5

These two played earlier in the week and the USA won by 39 points but in that game Canada was able to outrebound them 52-51. USA led by 20 after 3 periods and outscored them 28-9 in the 4th quarter. It was a closer game than the final score showed. The USA seems to start slow and then adjust and win easily. Canada lost their first two games but they have won their last 4. They beat the host team Netherlands yesterday by 56-55. They outrebounded them 42-39 and have won the battle of the boards in every game.

Canada is a big team that will rebound and try to slow it down. Canada did beat the USA in under 19 action last year and Diamond Deshields had this quote:

Do you think it was tough to adjust to today's pace after the fast-pace game yesterday against South Korea?
"It was an adjustment. After the game last night, I had told everyone how Canada is going to slow us down, because the loss we took last year in the U19 World Championship was to Canada, and that's exactly what they did, they slowed us down. So, I was ready for it. That first quarter, we were still trying to make that adjustment, and I think we did a good job."

The championship game will be played on Sunday and be between the USA and Japan/Spain. I hope to see the USA look past Canada since they already beat them badly, and win this game by less than 35 points.

The USA team is deep and athletic with Greenwell, Russell, Harper, Washington, Davis, Turner, etc. Canada struggles to make 3's and shoot FT's and is led by Kia Nurse, Colley, Potter, Wolfram, Grant-Allen and Caron-Gordon.

The USA did beat Mali badly but the other two recent wins were by 30 over Belgium and by 21 over Australia. I won't be shocked by a big USA win but think we have a good shot getting +36.5 points.

Canada +36.5

 

[hilltop]

I enjoy reading your write ups and analysis and respect your capping. GLTU

 

[Dr.T]

I enjoy reading your write ups and analysis and respect your capping. GLTU

Thanks, I wish I could win them all.

 

[Dr.T]

Saudi Arabia vs. Lebanon
Sunday (August 26, 2012)
over 128.5 (bet365)

These two teams play Sunday for 7th place. It will be their last game so I expect them to go all out. When Saudi Arabia played good teams the scores ended up low. They played Taiwan twice (scoring 41 and 38) and only made it to 33 with China but they lost those games by big margins.

When Saudi Arabia played average teams comparable to themselves they were able to keep the score close and keep up with their opponent:

Indonesia 73-67 (140)
Bahrain 72-75 (147)
Kahzakastan 76-65 (141)

Their game with Iran was 86-54 (140) and the Philippines 95-52 (147) were games where they scored in the low 50's while their opponent won by 30+.

Nassir Abojalas is a solid scorer for them and Waheed Faqihi scored 21 vs. Indonesia. This team really struggled in their last game as they only made 8/45 shots, 2/10 from 3's and 16/33 FT's. Now they get to play a team like Lebanon, who is better than them but not a team like China, Taiwan, Iran or the Philippines.

Lebanon's first game ended with 126 points in a 65-61 game with India. Here are the others:

Hong Kong 183 (scored 113 points!)
China 170
Syria 163
So Korea 158
Japan 176
Iran 131 (only scored 47 in a blowout against a good team like Iran)
Philippines 149

After facing Iran and the Philippines, Lebanon will be happy to see Saudi Arabia. Lebanon is favored by 11.5. They are led by Wael Arakji as he has scored 33, 28 and 21 in three of the games. Jimmy Salem, Ali Mehzer, Gerard Hadidian, Nemer, Chamoun and Choueiry have had some solid scoring games.

These teams should be happy to face each other and get a chance to score some points. I think we see at least a 70-60 score with a game in the 130's. Hopefully, we get many more!

Saudi Arabia/Lebanon
over 128.5

 

[Dr.T]

Saudi Arabia vs. Lebanon
Sunday (August 26, 2012)
over 128.5 (bet365)

These two teams play Sunday for 7th place. It will be their last game so I expect them to go all out. When Saudi Arabia played good teams the scores ended up low. They played Taiwan twice (scoring 41 and 38) and only made it to 33 with China but they lost those games by big margins.

When Saudi Arabia played average teams comparable to themselves they were able to keep the score close and keep up with their opponent:

Indonesia 73-67 (140)
Bahrain 72-75 (147)
Kahzakastan 76-65 (141)

Their game with Iran was 86-54 (140) and the Philippines 95-52 (147) were games where they scored in the low 50's while their opponent won by 30+.

Nassir Abojalas is a solid scorer for them and Waheed Faqihi scored 21 vs. Indonesia. This team really struggled in their last game as they only made 8/45 shots, 2/10 from 3's and 16/33 FT's. Now they get to play a team like Lebanon, who is better than them but not a team like China, Taiwan, Iran or the Philippines.

Lebanon's first game ended with 126 points in a 65-61 game with India. Here are the others:

Hong Kong 183 (scored 113 points!)
China 170
Syria 163
So Korea 158
Japan 176
Iran 131 (only scored 47 in a blowout against a good team like Iran)
Philippines 149

After facing Iran and the Philippines, Lebanon will be happy to see Saudi Arabia. Lebanon is favored by 11.5. They are led by Wael Arakji as he has scored 33, 28 and 21 in three of the games. Jimmy Salem, Ali Mehzer, Gerard Hadidian, Nemer, Chamoun and Choueiry have had some solid scoring games.

These teams should be happy to face each other and get a chance to score some points. I think we see at least a 70-60 score with a game in the 130's. Hopefully, we get many more!

Saudi Arabia/Lebanon
over 128.5

Wow, this may have been my favorite play in 20 years of sports handicapping. We were able to get the maximum bet possible on this game at 128.5. Then, the line shot up to 136.5.

Final score:

89-78 (167 points!)

 

[Dr.T]

Spain vs. USA
women under 17
10am Sunday
over 140.5

The gold medal game is set for Sunday morning. The USA starts slowly and then plays catch up. Their last two games ended with 143 with Canada (the teams combined to shoot 4/30 from the 3-point line) and 157 with Australia. The USA was 31-93 and 32-94 from the field in these games. They also played a fast paced game with South Korea that ended 131-89 (220 points). Spain was sandbagging and tried to avoid the USA until the finals.

Spain played Japan twice. They lost 83-79 (162) and won 91-62 (153). Spain did play some ugly (low scoring) games against other teams like Italy, Netherlands, Brazil and Turkey. The USA played low scoring games with Italy, Mali and Belgium. Spain has Romero, Quevedo, Lizarazn, Pujol and Rodriguez who can score. Can they put up some points vs. the United States of America?

I thought the over/under should be 147.5 in this game so we get value at 140.5. Hopefully, both teams can make some 3's and free throws. It will be a fast paced game with plenty of opportunities for points. Look for Diamond Deshields to lead the way.

All we need is an 81-61 game to get an over. GL!

over 140.5