Montenegro – New Zealand (1.52 x 2.67, betsafe)
One of the earlier matches of tomorrow's day, where both teams that lost their first matches in Group F will meet. The Montenegro team lost to Greece with a score of 60-85, while the New Zealand basketball players lost to Brazil in a high-scoring game with a score of 94-102. We will further review both teams separately and provide our predictions for this match.
Montenegro
The Montenegro team had no chance in their first group match against one of the strongest teams in the championship and suffered a crushing defeat. Not only are the Greeks a well-balanced, defensively strong, and experienced team, but they are also very unfavorable opponents for this Montenegro team.
Stopped Big Men
Montenegro has a very tall team with a strong front line that would be difficult for many teams to overcome, but the Greeks had their answers to this Montenegro weapon. Orlando “Magic” center N. Vucevic, who had the best season of his career, scored only 12 points in 23 minutes and shot poorly from the field – only 6 out of 14 shots were successful. The match also did not go well for another important front-line player, B. Dubljevic – the Montenegrin made only 2 out of 5 shots and was completely taken out of the game.
A completely different match awaits tomorrow, as unlike the Greek team, the New Zealand team has one of the weakest front lines in the entire championship, and the Oceania representatives will undoubtedly have many problems with Montenegro's front line.
Friendly Matches
The Montenegro team played only four friendly matches in this preparation cycle. They won only one, but the chosen opponents were really strong: they lost 72-80 to France, 77-85 to Argentina, 69-80 to Brazil, and in the last match, they defeated Poland with a score of 70-65. In all of them, the main team leaders were N. Vucevic, D. Needham, and B. Dubjlevic, whose greater contribution is expected in tomorrow's match.
New Zealand
Unlike Montenegro, the New Zealand team posed a serious challenge to the Brazilian team, which many experts consider the second-best team in the group. The New Zealanders played evenly with the Brazilians for two quarters but collapsed after the break and lost the third quarter by 16 points. The Brazilians did not play well, but there were too many gaps in New Zealand's defense for such an experienced team as Brazil not to take advantage of them.
The main team leaders in the first match were: C. Webster (19 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast), I. Fotu (17 pts, 5 reb), Shea Ili (16 pts, 3 reb, 6 ast). Although the team shot only 41% from the field, they scored as many as 94 points. This once again shows the fast and individually based basketball that the New Zealand team demonstrates.
73 field goal attempts, 29 free throws, and 15 turnovers – such “cosmic” numbers were seen in the protocol of New Zealand's first match. This style of play is suitable for challenging some weak defensive teams, but it is very likely that this style of play will not work tomorrow.
As mentioned earlier, the Montenegro team is one of the tallest and most physically capable teams, and their physicality and height will allow them to take good positions on defense and disrupt the New Zealanders. It is also hard to imagine who under the basket will be able to at least somewhat stop the impressive Montenegro front line, so the coach undoubtedly has a big headache in finding solutions for tomorrow's match.
Friendly Matches
As the marathon of friendly matches came to an end, New Zealand's game gradually improved. Although the New Zealand team won only 2 out of 7 friendly matches, the team can be praised for their progress and fight against really strong teams from Serbia, Italy, and France. The New Zealanders shared a win with Japan with scores of 89-99 and 104-87, lost to Canada with scores of 88-122 and 100-103, lost to France with a score of 81-95, lost to Serbia with a score of 78-88, and defeated Italy with a score of 88-82.
Match Prediction
Bookmakers consider the Montenegro team the favorite in tomorrow's match between Montenegro and New Zealand. Watching both teams' matches, it might seem that New Zealand resisted more fiercely and looked better, but thinking so would be a big mistake. Brazil is one of the most experienced teams in the championship, with many veterans, so for this young and energetic, fast-playing New Zealand team, the Brazilian team is quite a favorable opponent, while for Montenegro, the Greek team is a very unfavorable opponent, as the Greeks have all the answers to Montenegro's main weapons. Montenegro is more physical, taller, more tactical, and has more high-level experience, so a victory in this very important match to advance further is simply necessary. It is very likely that the Montenegro team will settle matters in 2-3 quarters and win by a double-digit margin. -4 with a 1.9 coefficient in our eyes is a very good choice from this match.
