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).