Well, if you've even been half-awake during this EuroLeague season, you'd know that this isn't exactly a match of giants. We've got Panathinaikos BC, last season's champions, staring down Alba Berlin who, to put it gently, are more at home at the bottom of the standings - camped out at #18 last season to be precise.
Turning our gaze upon the players operating under the basket, it's evident that Panathinaikos BC carries some hefty weight. Lorenzo Brown with his all-round game - 12.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists last season - and Mathias Lessort who tallied an impressive 13.6 point and 6.0 rebound average. Then there's the ever-dependable Kendrick Nunn who was spurring them forward. His return of 15.4 points per game reminds us why confident money leans towards the Greeks.
On the contrary, Alba Berlin's gang of gamers, while respectable, don't imbue the same fear. Matt Thomas with his 10.1 point average and Louis Olinde with an 8.9-point return are nothing to scoff at, but it's like bringing a kitchen knife to a sword fight.
And historically, our friends in Berlin haven't had the best run against the Greeks; they've lost their last two games to Panathinaikos BC, making it seem like a bad déjà vu waiting to happen.
So, pitting last year's backboard squad against the cellar-dwellers, even a sleepwalking sloth could point to the likely pull-downers of the nets in this encounter. And not to mention, Panathinaikos BC's convincing wins in their recent games stacking up like a deck of cards against Alba Berlin's string of losses.
Albert’s Prediction: Panathinaikos BC by 14