Italy vs Dominican Republic: Analysis and Prediction – Italy will play against Dominican Republic in the FIBA World Cup second round.
Italy vs Dominican Republic Odds
Italy vs Dominican Republic (1/2): 1.39 / 3.01
Asian Handicap (-6.5 / +6.5): 1.92 / 1.84
Total Over/Under (169.5): 1.87 / 1.87
*Odds are active at the time the article is published
Italy Team News
In the first round, Italy outplayed Angola more difficult than expected. They won by 81:67, and the opponent was close until the middle of the fourth quarter. The fortunate circumstance for the “Azzurri” is that they can hardly repeat such a poor shooting edition as on Friday.
Simone Fontecchio, Achille Polonara, Marco Spissu and Luigi Datome shot 3/18 for three points combined. Many of those shots were open looks, but they were not accurate. However, Italy achieved the first triumph and now they want to secure a spot in the next round with a victory against the Dominican Republic. In addition to better percentages in shooting from distance, Nicolo Melli and Giampaolo Ricci need to step up, primarily in defense.
The reason for such a thing lies in the fact that Italy will play against Karl-Anthony Towns. In order to defeat the Dominican Republic, it is necessary to slow down their best player in any way. 1 on 1 it will be almost impossible, but with a team effort, they can achieve a positive result.
Dominican Republic Team News
For some it was expected, for some it wasn’t, but the Dominican Republic had a lot of trouble against the Philippines in the opening round. They won by 87:81, and the outcome might have been different if Jordan Clarkson wasn’t fouled-out three and a half minutes before the end.
Throughout the game, the Dominican Republic played in confusion. They missed 11 free throws, as well as a large number of completely open three-pointers. When you’re playing in front of 35,000 opposing fans, you can understand why that was the case. Towns played good game by his standards. Apart from a couple of unreasonable shots, he looked to use all his physical advantages and that will be his task on Sunday as well. Victor Liz showed how much he means to the national team, and now Angel Delgado and Jean Montero are expected to contribute even more.
This game can bring a historic result to the Dominican Republic. If they win, they would take a crucial step towards a place in the quarterfinals. In order to get there, it is necessary for them to leave behind Italy or Serbia, and they will have their first attempt now. One triumph from those two matches means everything.
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Italy vs Dominican Republic H2H
Italy triumphed in the Olympic Games qualifiers two years ago by 79:59, but then the Dominican Republic played with a much different roster than today.
Absences and Injuries
Danilo Gallinari, Nico Mannion, Daniel Hackett and Marco Belinelli are some of the active players who are not playing for Italy at the World Cup. Al Horford and Chris Duarte are not on the Dominican Republic roster.
Italy vs Dominican Republic Prediction
It is surprising to see that the bookmakers favor Italy so much. Towns will be by far the best individual on the floor, and the Dominican Republic backcourt is definitely not weaker than the one coach Gianmarco Pozzecco has. Not only they will cover the handicap, but Towns and his teammates have a realistic chance to win.
Tip-off Time: Sunday, 27.08.2023, 10:00 CET
Prediction: Dominican Republic +7
Odds: 1.77
Sportsbook: 22Bet
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