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.