Excitement, uncertainty, frenetic pace, adrenaline, a whole country pending… and sports betting, of course. These are the ingredients that the ACB Cup brings us one more year, a competition that always arouses unprecedented interest in me. It is a different competition, but it is not because it is a direct elimination format without more, but because it has set a precedent in this country. Yes yes, you read that correctly… The ACB Cup is an unparalleled event in Spanish sport! As I always tell my friends and everyone who asks me, I hope football copies the good work that basketball has in many aspects…
I explain. Have you ever discussed the eternal debate about how little emotion the Copa del Rey has had for years? (and with this reference I put aside any issue unrelated to the one at hand) If they left me the responsibility of organizing, I would undoubtedly give the ACB Cup as an example: The most anticipated sporting event of the year in Spanish basketball . A weekend of authentic madness in which all competition stops to make way for the eight best teams of the moment to play a trophy for life or death and in just three days. Three heart-stopping days in which there is more than one duel per day, with a city as the venue, in which eight hobbies are concentrated that put all the meat on the spit to cheer on their respective teams. All corners of the city ‘distilling’ sport, emotion, basketball… and sports betting.
There is nothing that can divert our attention from this great event that is about to begin. From the impossible baskets on Sergio Llull’s horn to the huge surprises of the ‘covered’ of the edition, going through the favorites who grit their teeth in bad times and bring out the best of their arsenal. And Tyrese Rice, and Bojan Dubljevic, and Shane Larkin, and Mccalebb… And yes, sports betting! What more can we ask for the best weekend to enjoy basketball?
The ‘easy’ thing is to bet on the favorite
A priori, Real Madrid is the great team to beat and top favorite to win this Copa del Rey basketball. It is not at all arrogance nor is it a cliché. Pablo Laso’s men are the current champions of the tournament, they are looking for their fourth consecutive Cup and have been present in six of the last seven finals that have been played. And they begin against the ‘Cinderella’ of this edition, MoraBanc Andorra, a rookie team in these competitions, although they have earned their presence in Vitoria-Gasteiz with all due merit.
Real Madrid is the team that scores the most in the Endesa League, with an average of 88.6 points per game; MoraBanc Andorra is third in this ranking, with an average of 84.7 points per game
We can therefore say that two of the best attacks in the Endesa League are facing each other in the quarterfinals. If they pass, the whites could live a very complicated clash against the host (and beast noire in Vitoria) Baskonia in the semifinals, and a hypothetical much-awaited final against Barça Lassa.
Let’s be honest… the best option in terms of quota-risk ratio is Madrid, which with a Luka Doncic fully revealed to the general public as the great star of the moment, a stratospheric Sergio Llull, the contributions in painting of men like Gustavo Ayón or the incombustible Felipe Reyes and an enviable bench fund, has practically the resources to solve any eventuality. There is no team that performs better than the whites in extreme situations, and for this reason the defending champion receives the lowest fee of all to win this Copa del Rey… although not insignificant: €2.50 per Euro wagered.