By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 18 teams.
#18 KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION
Previous ranking: 16 (-2)
Record: 2-11
At home: 1-6
Away: 1-5
Offense-Defense: 79.5-88.3
Even though Khimki Moscow Region are now complete, they became the first team to reach a double-digit number of defeats and are unable to break free from the bottom of the rankings. It’s going to be hard to change this situation if they don’t change their attitude on defense, of which theirs is the worst in the competition. How much worse would it be if they weren’t second in defensive rebounds? Until then, the seventh-best offense will be insufficient to make up for much.
#17 CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS BELGRADE
Previous ranking: 15 (-2)
Record: 4-9
At home: 2-4
Away: 2-5
Offense-Defense: 74.7-76.8
One (Jordan Loyd with 18.4 points, though with 29.4% in 3PT%) equals none for Zvezda, who have the fourth-worst offense in the competition (last in FG% with 43.5%). As long as consistency in scoring is missing from their game, so will the victories be missing, too. The sixth-best defense is not enough for anything more than four wins so far.
#16 LDLC ASVEL VILLEURBANNE
Previous ranking: 18 (+2)
Record: 3-9
At home: 2-3
Away: 1-6
Offense-Defense: 73.8-77.7
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne were shooting exceptionally well from the three-point line in some of their last games and they even managed to beat top-ranked Barcelona (80-68 with 61.9% in 3PT%) and took it to the next level against Panathinaikos (97-73 with 70.8% in 3PT%). Other than that, they have the second-worst offense (first in turnovers with 15.9), which takes away a lot from the eighth-best defense and is responsible for most of their nine defeats.
#15 PANATHINAIKOS OPAP ATHENS
Previous ranking: 12 (-3)
Record: 4-8
At home: 2-4
Away: 2-4
Offense-Defense: 78.3-83.9
Performances like the last one in the defeat by Zalgiris (69-81) are tending to become the norm for Panathinaikos, who still haven’t won consecutive games. They have one of the most mediocre offenses (last in FT% with 71.4%) and the second-worst defense (second to last in steals with 5.6), which explains a lot about their course so far.
#14 FENERBAHCE BEKO ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 6 (-8)
Record: 5-8
At home: 2-3
Away: 3-5
Offense-Defense: 73.1-78.9
Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul are in a really bad phase and not even the return of Nando De Colo was enough to turn the situation around. The defeat by ALBA (89-63) was the fifth in the last six games, four of which were with deficits that ranged from 18 to 42 points! They now have the league’s worst offense, while their defense is the eighth best, though in constant decline.
#13 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS
Previous ranking: 3 (-10)
Record: 6-7
At home: 1-5
Away: 5-2
Offense-Defense: 78.2-79.6
Zalgiris Kaunas had impressed everyone at the start of the season (5-1) but they didn’t keep it up. To be precise, they just put an end (69-81 @ Panathinaikos) to a streak that had reached six consecutive defeats, enough to drop them below .500. Their offense (eighth-worst) and defense (sixth-worst) could only follow this downward course.
#12 ALBA BERLIN
Previous ranking: 17 (+5)
Record: 5-7
At home: 3-4
Away: 2-3
Offense-Defense: 77.8-82.3
Even though they have the sixth-worst offense, ALBA’s game relies on it and that’s how they celebrated most of their recent wins (3-1 in the last games). Despite that, to continue getting positive results requires improvement in defense as well (third-worst with the lowest number of defensive rebounds with 20.8).
#11 MACCABI PLAYTIKA TEL AVIV
Previous ranking: 14 (+3)
Record: 5-8
At home: 3-3
Away: 2-5
Offense-Defense: 78.5-78.1
With its first consecutive wins, over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade (81-76) and Baskonia (63-67), Maccabi reached three in close games (up to two possessions). They had to lose another six prior to that in order to learn how. A possible improvement in offense (ninth best) and defense (ninth best) would give them more and possibly easier wins.
#10 TD SYSTEMS BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ
Previous ranking: 13 (+3)
Record: 6-6
At home: 4-4
Away: 2-2
Offense-Defense: 79-73.4
Baskonia have turned around their negative image at the start of the season (2-4) and with four wins in the last six games they have gone up to .500. Things could have been much better if they had also been able to improve their responses in close games. The last defeat by Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv (63-67) was the fourth with the point difference being two possessions. It’s too bad for the third-best defense (vs. eighth-best offense).
#9 AX ARMANI EXCHANGE MILAN
Previous ranking: 2 (-7)
Record: 7-5
At home: 4-2
Away: 3-3
Offense-Defense: 82.5-81.1
The ups and downs are still there in AX Armani Exchange Milan’s performance. Despite two defeats in the last three games, from which Sergio Rodriguez was absent, they are still almost consistently one of the teams of the top eight. The offense gets the biggest credit for this as the second-best in the EuroLeague (first in 3PT% with 41.3%), while on defense things are inversely proportional (fifth-worst).
#8 ANADOLU EFES ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 7 (-1)
Record: 7-6
At home: 2-4
Away: 5-2
Offense-Defense: 78.2-76.5
Shane Larkin has played in seven (4-3) of their 13 games, Krunoslav Simon didn’t play in the last two (1-1) and consistency remains an unknown word for Efes. The offense (seventh-worst with the second-lowest number of offensive rebounds with 7.8) and defense (fourth-best) are still at odds, and this is why they’re still marginally above .500.
#7 ZENIT ST PETERSBURG
Previous ranking: 9 (+2)
Record: 7-4
At home: 1-3
Away: 6-1
Offense-Defense: 74.3-71.8
Zenit just suffered their first defeat away from home (79-72 @ Madrid) and everything would be perfect if they didn’t have just as many wins at home. Even so, they’re ranked pretty high and they can go even higher if they improve their offense (second-worst overall and in 3PT%, with 34.2%). Until that happens, the defense will show the way as the best in the competition.
#6 VALENCIA BASKET
Previous ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 8-5
At home: 5-3
Away: 3-2
Offense-Defense: 81.9-81.2
The recent consecutive defeats by ALBA Berlin (92-100) and Zenit St Petersburg (72-85) – and at home, in fact – hurt Valencia Basket in terms of their place in the rankings, but they didn’t suffer a third one by Anadolu Efes Istanbul (76-74) and continue steadily in the top eight since the start of the season. Thank goodness for the third-best offense in the competition (second in FG% with 49.6%), which covers for the fourth-worst defense.
#5 OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS
Previous ranking: 11 (+6)
Record: 7-5
At home: 3-3
Away: 4-2
Offense-Defense: 77.3-77.3
Olympiacos Piraeus found themselves in a tough spot after the consecutive defeats by TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (76-90) and CSKA (80-61), but the last wins in Barcelona (88-96) and Belgrade (79-81) gave them a boost, both psychologically and in the rankings. A potential improvement in the fifth-worst offense (third-best in 2PT% with 57.4% but third-worst in 3PT% with 35.3%) will boost them even more. Otherwise, they’ll just have to continue to rely on their defense (seventh-best).
#4 FC BAYERN MUNICH
Previous ranking: 4 (-)
Record: 9-4
At home: 5-2
Away: 4-2
Offense-Defense: 79.7-76.5
Recent consecutive defeats to CSKA (81-89) and Panathinaikos OPAP Athens (83-76) were not enough to discourage FC Bayern Munich, who now have a new streak of consecutive wins and are immovable from the top four since the third round. The defense is doing most of the heavy lifting as the fourth-best (tied for first in steals with 8.0 per game), not that they’re lagging behind in offense (sixth-best).
#3 REAL MADRID
Previous ranking: 10 (+7)
Record: 8-5
At home: 6-1
Away: 2-4
Offense-Defense: 81.4-78.2
So what if they’re now playing without Facundo Campazzo? Real Madrid always had such a body of players that no gap can be left unfilled. Now, they’ve reached seven wins in the last eight games, most of them thanks to the fourth-best offense (sixth in FG% with 47.9%), while their defense is only ninth-best.
#2 FC BARCELONA
Previous ranking: 1 (-1)
Record: 10-3
At home: 6-1
Away: 4-2
Offense-Defense: 81.3-71.8
FC Barcelona have consistently been at the top of the rankings for the last seven rounds, but this kind of consistency is missing from their game. They’ve gotten easy and tough wins, but they’ve also suffered defeats that no one was expecting. That’s where the negative comments stop for one of the five teams averaging 80-plus points on offense (first in FG% with 51.5%) and the one with the second-best defense.
#1 CSKA MOSCOW
Previous ranking: 5 (+4)
Record: 10-3
At home: 5-1
Away: 5-2
Offense-Defense: 83.1-79.1
CSKA Moscow are the most in-form team in the EuroLeague right now, and their streak of eight consecutive wins is the proof of that. The offense is making the difference as the best in the competition and covers any mistakes by the seventh-worst defense. Imagine if they didn’t also have the second-lowest number of assists (14.3), although that’s the style of their game.