With EuroBasket 2017 just a couple of days away, we break down the latest odds on who is set to win it all
The rosters are filing in thick and fast. Spain announced, Serbia announced (no Nedovic or Kalinic), Czech Republic has announced, Great Britain announced but then had to make a change due to injury. In short, everybody’s announcing and that’s leading to some shifts in the odds heading into the big one.
The big surprise is Serbia which is holding firm despite the recent withdrawals. With Nemanja Nedovic pulling out, the point guard situation is wafer thin. Despite that, Serbia remains second favourite to win it all at 11/2.
Spain’s grasp on the favourites tag has remained firm throughout the summer, only being strengthened since Greece lost Giannis Antetokounmpo. The reigning champions are not odds on yet, which is a little surprising even in a field this large, but they are more than worth their tag as 7/4 favourites. 5 on 5, they have the best options but a couple of teams can live with them. It’s when you go to the bench that you see how Spain are built to ruin teams.
Naturally those looking for value are going to need to be canny when it comes to where they bet because the value varies. It’s a good idea to pick one from this list for value as that’s where the most movement is likely to happen and in a 24 team tournament you want the odds to move a lot.
The value side is really important when it comes to looking at the knockout rounds and the sexy pick, by some distance, is Latvia at 50/1. I don’t see Kristaps Porzingis and his buddies winning it all but they are good enough to reach the medal rounds and have to be favoured to reach the quarter finals by smart bettors. With that in mind, look at Latvia as an option you can take early and lay when they reach the latter stages of the competition.
Some normality is aslo coming to the sides that have been overly favoured by the market although still not enough to make them of use right now to bettors. Turkey have moved out to 20/1, having been 16/1 at best only a few days ago, while Russia stand at a still insufficiently generous 100/1. Turkey really need to move out to 66/1 before they look useful, and that’s going to take an early loss to happen. Russia however look poised to drop to 150/1 which would make them a good value play to lay as the rounds progress.
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