By Vangelis Papadimitriou/ info@eurohoops.net
The 2019-2020 Basketball Champions League has begun in the best possible way. Six rounds into the season, the numbers show that offenses have the first and final say.
More specifically, 12 out of the 32 teams are averaging 80+ points and one of them is actually scoring more than 90 per game. We’re talking about Hapoel Holon’s 92.5 average of 92.5 points.
Torun comes second with 89.0 points. The strange part is that Hapoel is third in Group A with 3-3 while Torun is last in the standings at a 1-5 record.
Let’s not forget that these two teams have clashed in the “hottest” game in the history of the competition. Holon won 122-105 on the road in a non-overtime game that marked the most productive game ever in the Basketball Champions League.
Those numbers show the tension that is dominating in basketball, globally: That offense is now the first and foremost thing that teams care about. Even though it’s early, a season comparison is enough to get the point. Here goes: Avtodor Saratov was the top offensive team in the Basketball Champions League maiden season (2016-2017) during the Group Stage, with an average of 85.0 points. These production rates handed the Russian team the ticket to the next stage just barely, with seven wins and an equal number of losses. In total, seven teams averaged more than 80.0 points.
In the 2017-2018 season, Pinar Karsiyaka and EWE Oldenburg “shared” the… award for the top offense with 85.1 points. Both teams advanced to the Top 16 with the Turkish team being ranked second (10-4) and the German one third (9-5). That season, 13 teams managed to score more than 80.0 points per game.
During the previous season, half the teams surpassed the 80.0 points the game and the… test. Hapoel Jerusalem was the best of them all with 90.3 points.
The top offenses in BCL per year (regular season)
| Season | Top offense | Teams with 80.0+ points |
2016/17 |
Avtodor(85.0 points) |
Banvit 80,7 Nymburk 80,2 Tenerife 81 Besiktas 84,1 Ludwigsburg 82,1 |
2017/18 |
Pinar Karsiyaka, EWE Oldenburg(85,1 points) |
Monaco 85 Dinamo Sassari 82,7 Hapoel Holon 82,8 Tenerife 82,5 Ludwigsburg 81,3 Neptunas 83,1 AEK 82 Bayreuth 81,7 Venezia 81,8 Nymburk 82,3 Nanterre 82 |
2018/19 |
Hapoel Jerusalem(90,3 points) |
Banvit 82 Avellino 82,8 Ventspils 81,5 Tenerife 83,1 Venezia 83,5 Nanterre 82,7 PAOK 80,5 Hapoel Holon 81.7 Bonn 80 AEK 80,9 Brose Bamberg 82,2 Antwerp 80 Virtus Bologna 85,9 Neptunas 83,2 Promitheas Patras 81,6 |
2019/20 |
Hapoel Holon(92,5 points) |
Torun 89 Hapoel Jerusalem 87,8 Sassari 87 Neptunas 85,3 San Pablo Burgos 86 Anwil 85 Rasta Vechta 83,2 Nymburk 82,8 Bonn 80 Brindisi 83,2 Turk Telekom 81,7 |