By Dimitris Minaretzis / info@eurohoops.net
Like we said above, not everyone can go to the playoffs. Or, to put it somewhat differently, some places are considered “reserved” by teams like CSKA and Fenerbahce.
When a season gets under way, though, you make some bets about who will make the playoffs and you think that you will see certain teams in the postseason based on their rosters, history and dynamics. Barcelona, Maccabi, Armani Milan and Efes were four of those 16, and they all failed and disappointed…
Barcelona: Second season in misery
Once they were a team that would always make the playoffs no matter what, the most consistent team – along with Olympiacos – for a long time. But now it’s been two seasons since their last qualification.
Not by coincidence, everything started going downhill after Xavi Pascual left. We believe that the Spanish coach had set the foundations, the system and the tactics to take the team as high as they could go and we saw that it was not easy for the team to be weaned off those eight years he was on Barca’s bench. Also, perhaps the fact that Barca relied so heavily on Juan Carlos Navarro, who hasn’t been able to deliver for the last two or three seasons, is also a factor. That was going to happen, inevitably. Shouldn’t they have planned ahead?
Neither Georgios Bartzokas last season, nor Sito Alonso this season, were able to reverse the situation. Barca was once again disappointing as they managed to get only 11 wins (two of them against Olympiacos), were inconsistent and lacked cohesion. One time you’d see them crushing teams like Olympiacos and Panathinaikos and the other losing in silly ways by giving away points left and right.
The bad thing about Barcelona is that they have made a lot of investments, they have been scattering euros left and right, without any results. At least in Europe.
Maccabi Tel Aviv: At least they… fought
This title was not meant as a compliment. In recent years – in fact, after winning the EuroLeague in 2014 – the Israeli team has been having a miserable time, now reaching the third season without making the playoffs.
Until Round 26 they were holding the ticket in their hands, but Baskonia’s counterattack found them powerless and unable to stay in the fight for qualification to the end. In fact, considering they had three wins more than eighth-placed Khimki, you’d think Maccabi was never a contender, but that would be only half true.
But isn’t it the result that counts? Maccabi failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third time in a row, so their season is deemed a failure, and any effort to reinforce the team and change the philosophy of the roster and the bench was wasted.
Olimpia Milano: They defied the predictions
Looking at Milan’s roster at the beginning of the season you assumed that, if nothing else, they would be contenders for a ticket to the playoffs, where they haven’t been since 2014. That’s when they hosted the Final Four but were knocked out despite having the home court advantage by the subsequent European champions, Maccabi.
It’s not just that they didn’t make the playoffs, they finished second to last. Porca miseria…
Not even the experienced Simone Pianigiani was able to create a strong squad. It was a team with too many scorers, sudden ups and downs and an inability to mark effectively, and almost at no point throughout the season were they able to seem threatening and, in the end, only got ten wins. They defeated Baskonia twice and Khimki once, and there were no other wins against teams from the top eight, or top six, to be precise. Proving how uncompetitive they were this season is that simple…
Anadolu Efes: From the playoffs to the… last place
Anadolu Efes presented a downgraded, rather weakened roster in the summer but, to be fair, we weren’t expecting them to finish in last place with just seven wins to their credit. So, even if we accept that they had fewer chances of making the playoffs – like they did last season – this is still a colossal disaster.
Let’s not forget that last season’s squad not only reached the EuroLeague playoffs, they almost knocked Olympiacos out of the competition despite not having the home court advantage. They had a 2-1 lead but buckled under the class and quality of Vassilis Spanoulis and his teammates, who found their way out of the tunnel and went all the way to the final.
Efes had some glaring deficiencies, especially in the creative part and in defense (the worst), the serious injuries of some of their key players (Derrick Brown, Zoran Dragic) cost them dearly, and they had no depth in their roster as well as a total lack of any notable Turkish players.
Changing coaches (Ataman in Perasovic’s place) didn’t help a whole lot in Europe but only in the domestic league, and they’re hoping to close out the season with a success in Turkey.