By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Records, team dynamics and form as well as the significance of results were among the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
16. AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
Previous ranking: 13 (-3)
Record: 4-11
At home: 3-5
Away: 1-6
Offense-Defense: 76.9 ppg. – 81.5 allowed
Unfortunately for AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan, it turns out they can do worse than last season, since they cannot seem to get unstuck from the bottom positions in the rankings. With six defeats in the last seven games – their only win in this period being against Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz (92-85) – they cannot hope for much more as they also have the third-worst defense in the league. It’s telling that, since the start of the season, their best ranking has been 12th place, while, together with Anadolu Efes Istanbul, they share the most appearances in 16th place (4).
15. Valencia Basket
Previous ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 4-11
At home: 3-4
Away: 1-7
Offense-Defense: 74.5 ppg. – 77.2 allowed
Defeats were piling up and Valencia Basket seemed unable to react until the visit by Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens (67-63), when the losing streak stopped at 10. Those defeats were more than enough to take them from third place at one point (Round 4) to the bottom of the rankings, but how could it have been otherwise when they have the third-worse offense in the league? The difference of just 40 points for a team with 11 defeats in 15 rounds shows that several of those defeats were close games, but at the same time it shows that something is missing.
14. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Previous ranking: 10 (-4)
Record: 4-11
At home: 2-6
Away: 2-5
Offense-Defense: 76.3 ppg. – 80.6 allowed
Efes had to wait until Round 10 to get its first win at Sinan Erdem Dome and followed that up with four defeats in a row – at home and away – and a coaching switch (Ergin Ataman in Velimir Perasovic’s place) functioned as a reminder that nothing is going their way this season. Efes has the fifth-worst offense and defense and they have been occupying one of the bottom two positions in the rankings for a few weeks now, as their recent home win over Brose Bamberg (69-58) was only enough to take them from 16 up to 15.
13. FC Barcelona Lassa
Previous ranking: 8 (-5)
Record: 5-10
At home: 4-4
Away: 1-6
Offense-Defense: 80.7 ppg. – 78.9 allowed
The white flags are out early once again this season at FC Barcelona Lassa, but the away win – the first in seven games – over Khimki Moscow Region (65-79) has cooled things down for now. Because putting an end to the streak of five consecutive wins is fine, but it won’t make much of a difference if they don’t follow up on that. The fourth-best offense still gives them hope that they can do it, even though the resumption of the regular season in 2018 (at home against CSKA Moscow and away against Panathinaikos for starters) looks even more foreboding than their record away from home.