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The regular season of Basketball Champions League is over, with 16 teams entering the knock – out phase. Most of the powerhouses of the competition have made this phase, as well as some underdogs or clubs which have taken part in BCL for the first time. Before the first games in 5th of March, it would be interesting to examine how did teams perform in a few advanced team evaluation metrics.
Here’s every number that can make you understand the game even better, as registered before the start of the Round of 16, by “Statatlhon“.
Effective Field Goal Percentage
- Effective Field Goal Percentage is a statistic that adjusts field goal percentage to account for the fact that three-point field goals count for three points while field goals only count for two points. Therefore, teams that shoot quite well beyond the arc usually have a better EFG% than FG%.
- As it is evident on the relevant table, none of the 4 group winners tops this list. PAOK is having 45.2% in 3 – point field goals, and this has enabled the Greek side to win this category. It is also very interesting that all top – 4 teams in EFG% are from Group B.
- On the other hand, Opava can be found at the bottom of the list which probably confirms that it was one of the weakest teams of Basketball Champions League. Last year’s winner AEK Athens is below league average (50.61%).
Rebound Percentage
- Tenerife is the team that did the best job at grabbing rebounds, followed by Hapoel Jerusalem. Tenerife however didn’t have any player in the top – 25 rebounders, which could also indicate their great teamwork in that field.
- Fribourg’s Rebound Percentage might surprise a few people though, taking into consideration that the Swiss side won just 3 games. Nonetheless, they had two good rebounders in their squad, Babacar Toure (10.1 RPG) and Andre Williamson.
- Despite finishing 2nd in Group D, Besiktas had one of the poorest Rebound Percentage performances.
Assist Percentage
Every team needs players who can pass the ball pretty good and assist their teammates. Both Tenerife and Hapoel Jerusalem had an Assist Percentage greater than 20% (percentage of team possessions ending up to an assist). The other 3 teams that follow them however finished in 4th or 5th position in their groups, indicating that more assists do not necessarily lead to more wins.
Virtus Bologna is a great example, as it won Group D but had the 4th lowest Assist Percentage.
Steal Percentage
- Steals are an important element of the game and an indicator of the defensive awareness of a team. If numbers tell the truth, the following conclusion is very interesting: out of the top – 5 teams in Steal Percentage only Dijon was eliminated and amongst the 5 with the lowest Steal Percentage only Brose Bamberg qualified to next round.
- All those teams that were quite successful at stealing the ball also had some of the best defenses in Basketball Champions League (in terms of points against).
Last but not least, it should also be pointed out that Dijon, Virtus Bologna, AEK and Besiktas had the best STL/TO Ratio.