Australian basketball is back. And it will be extremely interesting how the season unfolds considering all the post season drama. No Sydney team, and the length of quarters reduced from 12 minutes to 10. This should have an interesting effect on totals betting. Logic tells you that the total scores of teams should reduce by 16.6%, however the pre season tournament showed that this is not the case for a number of different reasons.
Last year the average score per game was 193.9 points. Pre season the average score was 172. IF we are to reduce the average 193.9 by 40/48 then we get 161.6 which is less than the 172.
The reason could be because the better players will get more percentage game time on the court. Also, players might be more prone to create fouls which stop the clock.
For my predictions, I’m going to use this 172 as a constant average to start off with, which means a reduction in points by 11.3%. Also of course I will take careful note on the what odds, if at all, the bookmakers price the totals up.
Still the free NBL predictions are available here, and the season starts Thursday!