By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Welcome to the new version of the annual – and de facto controversial – EuroLeague players rankings of Eurohoops which will be presented in a different format this season.
With the clock ticking after the Eurobasket and the Top100 posts becoming tedious, we decided to tighten things up hopefully without creating much more fuss than usual. As it turned out, getting from the Top100 to a Top50 makes things much more complicated since a lot of players who could make a case for being part of the top50, are left out. So we didn’t do it on purpose, it’s just the format.
That’s why this time around stats, and especially last season’s PIR (Performance Index Rating) are used more prominently to determine who will make the final cut in addition to the usual criteria.
So no player from last season’s Top25 in PIR was left out, but since this is not just a calculation of stats, don’t expect the pecking order to be identical and in some cases, PIR is just not enough.
After the initial version of the list, editors from the international, Turkish, Greek, and Spanish editions of Eurohoops were consulted and the list you are about to read is the final result.
Just for the record, rookies were not included since there wasn’t any kind of statistic measurement available for them and it’s not easy to compare apples to oranges. We did it in the past and we know. That’s why we are pretty sure that players like Carsen Edwards, Darius Thompson, Johnathan Motley, Ignas Brazdeikis, Isaac Bonga, and Semi Ojeleye will come back and haunt us. We have to live with this.
Like last year, a decision was taken to focus on and reward a player’s individual performances, especially if his contribution lifted his team to certain EuroLeague heights. However, this time we also took into consideration the legacy of each player to a greater extent.
A player of a team that is a title or Final Four contender automatically got a relative priority over another with possibly similar or equal, maybe even superior individual strengths. The higher the team’s projection for the upcoming season, the more boost a player got when it comes to his ranking and vice-versa. This is why you will find that there is an increased number of players from well-known powerhouses.
So to make things simple, the main criteria are the following:
1) The individual quality of each player in combination with the prospect he carries for 2022-2023, plus the role and playing time we anticipate he will get with his team.
2) The strength and the potential of the club the player belongs to and what he has already achieved in the league.
3) Stats and especially last season’s PIR.
50. Kyle Hines (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan)
The most successful US import of the modern EuroLeague era had to be the golden rule of this ranking. Actually, Kyle Hines was the 35th best player in the EuroLeague last season with an average of 11.8 PIR. This is one more indication of what he brings on the floor, even if it can’t measure his heart and the clutch factor.
49. Milos Teodosic (Virtus Bologna)
His return to EuroLeague is news by itself. He is not young anymore, but his game was always about his mind and skills, not his athleticism.
48. Darrun Hilliard (Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv)
His season was cut short by an injury last year, however, he remains an asset due to his shooting ability. And especially on a team like Maccabi, he will have the license to shoot the lights out.
47. Marko Guduric (Fenerbahce)
Like Fenerbahce, Guduric has a so-and-so season that was also reflected on a passable 9.8 PIR. But in theory, at least, he can do much more…
46. Chris Jones (Valencia)
He is not yet a household name, but he has the numbers, averaging 14,7 PIR per game with ASVEL and having the 16th spot on the total ranking last season.
45. Maodo Lo (ALBA Berlin)
He stole the show in Berlin after moving there from Munich and speaking of PIR, he averaged 14.8, good enough for a tie with Kostas Sloukas on the 14th spot of last season’s ranking over Jones. Not bad at all…
44. Marius Grigonis (Panathinaikos)
He is expected to be “the man” in Panathinaikos and while his last season was cut short with injuries in CSKA Moscow before the Russian teams were banned from the league, if he gets Zalgiris‘ levels of performance, Athens will be happy.
43. Luke Sikma (ALBA Berlin)
In an ideal world, a bigger club would have bet on Sikma and we should have seen him as a contender. However, he and ALBA are happy, and finally, he gets the respect he has earned with his consistency that gave him a 14.1 PIR last season (22nd best on the list).
42. Moustapha Fall (Olympiacos)
He solidified his reputation this season, he had the 27th-best PIR in the league (13.2) and he emerged as a true force in the paint.
41. Daniel Hackett (Virtus Bologna)
At 34 years of age, he has admirable maturity and leadership qualities. Having the experience from teams like Olympiacos and CSKA, he brings a lot to the table in the return of Virtus.
40. James Nunnally (Partizan)
A deadly shooter who created a deadly duo with Scottie Wilbekin in Maccabi and averaged a more than solid 15.1 PIR. Fun fact: Wilbekin had exactly the same PIR number.
39. Nemanja Nedovic (Crvena Zvezda)
He is 31 years old and we are all still wondering what would have happened if he was a bit more lucky and healthy. Despite that, he had a season to remember with Panathinaikos with a 13.2 PIR, making his move to Zvezda more than noteworthy.
38. Dzanan Musa (Real Madrid)
He is not a EuroLeague rookie, but he would probably like to forget his games in Anadolu Efes. Still, he was last season’s MVP in Liga Endesa and the level there is high enough for him to be ranked at this spot.
37. Nikola Kalinic (Barcelona)
The ultimate glue guy, he was pretty much on this spot in last season’s PIR ranking. To be exact he had the 37th best performance per average (11.7) keeping things interesting for Crvena Zvezda. With Barcelona, the bar is set much higher.
36. Sergio Rodriguez (Real Madrid)
With a 9.1 PIR on a loaded Milan team, he was not spectacular during the season. But he proved to everyone in the Legabasket finals that he still can make the difference as one of the top point guards in Europe.
35. Nicolas Laprovittola (Barcelona)
Speaking about point guards, you can’t deny the season that the Argentinian had and his influence on Barcelona’s game. And actually, he had a better PIR average than Chacho (9.8).
34. Brandon Davies (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan)
This is really tricky. By his standards, Davies despite a 10.3 PIR average had a mediocre season and it remains to be seen if the change of scenery will restore him. Still, he is that good.
33. Elie Okobo (Monaco)
He turned heads early in the season, he had injury woes after and he finished strong giving the Fench championship title to ASVEL and then moving to Monaco. Add to the mix a solid 13.5 PIR, good enough for the 23rd spot in last season’s EuroLeague efficiency ranking.
32. Thomas Walkup (Olympiacos)
If you look at the numbers, Walkup is pretty average with a 7.5 PIR. So what? If you look at the court and the influence he has in any game, you would understand that numbers can be deceiving in some cases.
31. Wade Baldwin (Maccabi Playtica Tel Aviv)
His numbers last year were amazing with a 15.5 PIR. But those numbers ultimately didn’t mean much with Baskonia missing the playoffs, even after the ban of the Russian teams. On the other hand, he is just 26 years old and the only way for him – and Maccabi – seems to be up.
30. John Brown (Monaco)
If we just used the PIR ranking, Brown would have been pretty much in the same position, since he was ranked 31st (12.5). However, there’s no other player with the exception of Tavares who can affect the game in Europe via defense to this level.
29. Mario Hezonja (Real Madrid)
Super Mario proved in UNICS – together with John Brown – that he can be a star on a winning team. He averaged an almost great 14,3 PIR (18th in the total ranking) and there are high expectations from him and Musa in Madrid.
28. Georgos Papagiannis (Panathinaikos)
How can a member of the second All-EuroLeague team drop that low? Well, by the numbers Papagiannis was a beast, averaging 10.3 ppg and 8.2 rpg for a 17.4 PIR. But those numbers were combined with one of the worst seasons ever for Panathinaikos…
27. Tibor Pleiss (Anadolu Efes)
This is a choice that was much debated internally. Pleiss had a solid season (11.4), his best with Efes, but what really pushed him to this position was his performance in the Final Four. When you have a 19-7 game in the final, that must count for something.
26. Vladimir Lucic (Bayern Munich)
With a 14.2 PIR, Lucic was 19th in PIR last season and one of the main reasons for Bayern’s run to the playoffs. Like Papagiannis, he was also part of the second EuroLeague team, but this season’s Bayern is once again a question mark.
25. Kevin Punter (Partizan)
The last time Kevin Punter played in the EuroLeague with Milan, he made it to the Final Four and lost the chance to play in the final by one shot. So he is that good.
24. Gabriel Deck (Real Madrid)
He needs no introduction and his short NBA adventure didn’t change his status in Europe. He will be a key for Madrid.
23. Ante Zizic (Anadolu Efes)
He was the 10th best player in the EuroLeague last year with a 15.5 PIR, led Maccabi to the playoffs and he is already the starting center of the back-to-back champions. At the end of the season, there’s a good chance that he will improve his stock.
22. Nick Calathes (Fenerbahce)
By his standards, his last season was average with 11.8 PIR. Still, he remained the top passer of the league with 6.4 assists per game, and the good news for Fenerbahce is that after the way he left Barcelona, he seems to have a chip on his shoulder.
21. Nicolo Melli (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan)
Very few players in Europe can combine the talents of Melli with leadership quality. He is once again expected to lead Milan, having last year a solid 13,4 PIR average despite an uncharacteristic 29,2% in threes.