By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Standings, current for and dynamics and the significance of results are among the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
16. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
Previous ranking: 12 (-4)
Record: 3-7
Home: 2-3
Away: 1-4
Offense-Defense: 75.1 points scored, 82.1 allowed
Even though Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade has the third-worst offense in the EuroLeague, it managed to beat Real Madrid by scoring 87 points in the Spanish capital. Despite this, it was Zvezda’s first win, not just on the road (1-4), but in some time (five consecutive defeats prior to this game), which is why its record is 3-7. At least, as of late, they have started to fight for their games (an 81-85 loss to Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz in Round 9), as opposed to what they were doing previously, even if the big defeats came against big opponents like CSKA Moscow (59-85) and Olympiacos Piraeus (85-59).
15. Unicaja Malaga
Previous ranking: 13 (-2)
Record: 3-7
Home: 2-3
Away: 1-4
Offense-Defense: 72.1 points scored, 80.2 allowed
After its latest defeat by Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens, 82-71, Unicaja Malaga has the second-worst record in the competition, but unfortunately for them, it gets worse: they also have the worst offense among all the teams and have lost with the biggest deficit too (-81 points). And this is why Unicaja is tied for last place –alongside four other teams – with seven defeats from 10 games. It must be said though that Unicaja might have deserved something better recently (83-85 to Zalgiris Kaunas, 80-89 to CSKA Moscow).
14. Valencia Basket
Previous ranking: 9 (-5)
Record: 3-7
Home: 2-2
Away: 1-5
Offense-Defense: 76.7 points scored, 78.2 allowed
Valencia Basket was unexpectedly hit with this contrast: after three wins in the first four rounds, it has the worst record in the competition with six consecutive defeats. The losses to by AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan (98-103 after two overtimes) and Brose Bamberg (83-82) hurt double because of the way they came about, while the rest could be considered expected (94-67 to CSKA, 89-71 to FC Barcelona Lassa, 64-72 to Olympiacos Piraeus; all of these between rounds 6 and 10). They share this number of defeats and the worst record in the competition with another four teams.
13. AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
Previous ranking: 14 (+1)
Record: 3-7
Home: 2-3
Away: 1-4
Offense-Defense: 79.5 points scored, 85.1 allowed
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan came back from a 17-point deficit against Valencia to win 98-102 after two overtimes and from an 11-point deficit against Bamberg for a 71-62 victory, but with just three wins in 10 games, Milan needs to make a big comeback in general. Its defense was and still is the worst in the competition, even though in the back-to-back defeats by Olympiacos (85-86) and Anadolu Efes Istanbul (73-68), it lost both games on offense (on Curtis Jerrells’s missed three-pointers in both cases).
12. Brose Bamberg
Previous ranking: 10 (-2)
Record: 5-5
Home: 3-2
Away: 2-3
Offense-Defense: 74.6 points scored, 79.4 allowed
Even when is uses its secondary arena (Arena Nurnberger Versicherung), Brose Bamberg is selling out tickets and pulling off comebacks. Unfortunately, the comeback from a 26-point deficit against Barcelona (84-81) and a 16-point deficit against Valencia (83-82) were their only wins between Rounds 6 and 10, but thankfully their overall record isn’t worse than a 50% success rate (5-5). One of these defeats (71-62 to Milan) came in the same way (from an 11-point lead), because when you live by the sword, you die by the sword.
11. Zalgiris Kaunas
Previous ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 5-5
Home: 2-2
Away: 3-3
Offense-Defense: 81.4 points scored, 82.3 allowed
Zalgiris’s defense is still one of the worst in the competition, mostly due to defeats like the one by Baskonia (77-97). The offense, on the other hand, is the fourth best and has helped it cover a lot of ground and celebrate wins like the ones against Milan (62-94), Unicaja (83-85 after overtime) and Efes (91-83). The tally from the last five games (3-2) places Zalgiris, marginally, in the top half of the standings (5-5).
10. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Previous ranking: 15 (+5)
Record: 3-7
Home: 1-4
Away: 2-3
Offense-Defense: 78.7 points scored, 82.2 allowed
Back-to-back wins over Barcelona (85-89) and Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv (72-92) brought Anadolu Efes Istanbul back to life after a 0-5 start before adding another victory to its record (73-68 over Milan), but that was only the first home win in a five games, a record that needs immediate improvement. The defeat by Panathinaikos (81-82) was the reason this improvement was once again delayed, as was the fact that the Efes defense remains one of the worst in the EuroLeague.
9. Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz
Previous ranking: 16 (+7)
Record: 4-6
Home: 2-2
Away: 2-4
Offense-Defense: 79.8 points scored, 79.8 allowed
Changing coaches also brought a change in Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz’s results, going from a 0-4 record under Pablo Prigioni to 4-2 under Pedro Martinez and 3-2 in the last five games. This toll would have been better if Khimki Moscow Region hadn’t won a close game (91-90), but wins like the ones against Madrid (105-75), Zalgiris (77-97) and Zvezda (81-85) covered a lot of ground. The run of three consecutive wins was interrupted by Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul (69-83) but that doesn’t take away from the fact that they are on an upward course.
8. FC Barcelona Lassa
Previous ranking: 8 (-)
Record: 4-6
Home: 4-2
Away: 0-4
Offense-Defense: 82.4 points scored, 77.4 allowed
The paradoxical thing about FC Barcelona Lassa is that when they win they do so by wide margins (89-71 over Valencia, 89-67 over Maccabi), but they can’t seem to get a win away from home (0-4), in contrast to the other 15 teams, who have at least one such win. In Moscow, they almost put an end to this streak, but the result was no different from the other times (92-78 to CSKA). With just two wins between Rounds 6 and 10, the overall record remains negative.
7. Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
Previous ranking: 6 (-1)
Record: 6-4
Home: 4-2
Away: 2-2
Offense-Defense: 78.0 points scored, 77.0 allowed
Consistency remains the biggest challenge for Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, which alternated three wins and two losses between Rounds 6 and 10. The win over Madrid (90-83) was followed by a heavy defeat at the hands of Efes (72-92) which came at home. Then Maccabi bested Khimki (69-77) in Russia, but was far from repeating this against Barcelona (89-67). And finally had little trouble against Zalgiris (81-74) to return to winning with a 6-4 mark.
6. Khimki Moscow Region
Previous ranking: 5 (-1)
Record: 6-4
Home: 5-1
Away: 1-3
Offense-Defense: 78.0 points scored, 80.1 allowed
So far, Mytishchi Arena has shown Khimki Moscow Region the way, but the fact that it is one of the four teams (CSKA, Maccabi and Barcelona are the others) that have played the most games at home (6) in the first 10 rounds has contributed to this. That’s the arena where Khimki celebrated its last win (82-73 over Brose), with which it put an end to a three-game losing streak (93-65 to Panathinaikos, 69-77 to Maccabi, 71-67 to Fenerbahce). Khimki is the only team with a winning record, but a negative point difference (-21 points).
5. Real Madrid
Previous ranking: 1 (-4)
Record: 5-5
Home: 3-2
Away: 2-3
Offense-Defense: 84.7 points scored, 80.6 allowed
Real Madrid’s defeats in the competition are now as many as its injured players (Sergio Llull, Jeffery Taylor, Anthony Randolph, Gustavo Ayon, Ognjen Kuzmic), and now it is rounding off the top eight instead of starring atop it. Whether these defeats came at the end of games – like the ones by Maccabi (90-83), Panathinaikos (82-80) and Zvezda (83-87), or by a wide margin – like Baskonia (105-75), each of the four defeats between Rounds 6 and 10 hurt the same. The win over Unicaja (89-57) wasn’t enough to soothe the pain.
4. Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul
Previous ranking: 3 (-1)
Record: 7-3
Home: 3-1
Away: 4-2
Offense-Defense: 79.9 points scored, 73.6 allowed
The loss to Olympiacos (83-90) might have come at home, but it was the only one Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul suffered in the last five rounds since they reacted like a championship team immediately afterwards, as confirmed by beating CSKA (93-95 in overtime) and its 3-0 record since. The win over Khimki (71-67) was the toughest in this period, but the result counts and Fener is still within striking distance from the top of the rankings. A big part of this is due to its defense, which has allowed the second-fewest points in the competition.
3. Olympiacos Piraeus
Previous ranking: 4 (+1)
Record: 8-2
Home: 4-1
Away: 4-1
Offense-Defense: 76.2 points scored, 71.6 allowed
The defeat by Panathinaikos (62-70) hurt Olympiacos Piraeus for many different reasons and it could’ve hurt them even more if it hadn’t been followed with four consecutive wins. The win over Fenerbahce (83-90 in overtime) was the turning point, as it put an end to the negative streak of two consecutive defeats and was followed by wins over Zvezda (85-59), Milan (85-86) and Valencia (64-72) for an 8-2 record and a share of first place. And all this without their natural leader, Vassilis Spanoulis, but with the best defense in the competition.