By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague with a hand from Synergy Sports Technology dropped its Round 8 Stats Review featuring the spot-up stars and Mike James’ isolation game. The double-overtime thriller between Panathinaikos OPAP and ALBA Berlin was picked out as the high-gravity matchup of EuroLeague Regular Season Round 8.
Per EuroLeague: “Six teams with 6-2 records have staked a share of first place after eight rounds of the regular season. Here’s a review of the key statistics in the competitive Turkish Airlines EuroLeague landscape.
High-Gravity Matchup
There was no shortage of exciting matchups in Round 8, both on paper and in terms of history. With the Spanish derby, a 2016 Finals rematch, and a half-dozen games between teams on near-equal footing in the standings, the slate was loaded. Even so, one game stood out in a variety of ways as ALBA Berlin scored its second win of the season over Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in a double-overtime thriller at OAKA.
From a tracking perspective, this game had a lot going on. It featured 11 dunks – well ahead of the EuroLeague average of 6.2 per game. It included a 39-point performance from Ioannis Papapetrou over 48 minutes, 53 seconds, which was the fourth highest playing time total in EuroLeague history. It also saw ALBA play 32 possessions of zone defense – often in the form of a box-and-one to deny Nick Calathes the ball – after they had played zone for only one possession all season until then.
Over 50 minutes, ALBA Berlin created just 18 points out of the pick-and-roll, not far off its season average of 19.1 pick-and-roll points per game, which ranks as by far the lowest mark in modern history. In contrast, ALBA’s forwards contributed 17 points posting up, which is among the highest single-game marks in recent years and more than double its season average. Ultimately, it was ALBA’s ability to find unconventional ways to make things happen at both ends that helped secure the 105-106 road victory.
Spot-Up Stars
In that game, Ioannis Papapetrou scored 14 points on spot-up shots within Panathinaikos’s half-court offense. Although it’s among the most efficient of EuroLeague plays, producing 1.03 points per possession, spot-ups are scarce for many teams. Papapetrou’s 14 points eclipsed the season average for two teams. Spot-up scoring is often based more on what kind of shots a team can create – or, in the case of Papapetrou, what a defense is conceding – than it does on any individual’s shot-making.
Read the rest of the Round 8 Stats Review on EuroLeague.net.