By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of each team’s results were the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
16. AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 6-14
At home: 4-7
Away: 2-7
Offense-Defense: 81,8-86,6
Milan can brag about their offense (third best with 81,8 points) but unfortunately that’s as good as it gets for them. Their defense (the worst with 86,6 points) does not allow for something more, and this was obvious in the last defeat to Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv (102-111). At least Milan’s preceding consecutive wins over Unicaja Malaga (101-87) and Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz (82-83) helped them get unstuck from the last place in the standings, where they’ve found themselves five times.
15. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Previous ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 5-15
At home: 3-7
Away: 2-8
Offense-Defense: 77,9-84
When the sixth-worst offense (77,9 points) meets the second-worst defense (84 points), there can be no result other than Efes’s current course. Consecutive defeats against CSKA Moscow (110-79), Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul (84-89) and Real Madrid (87-68) have pegged them in last place and their presence in the playoffs last season is already a distant memory. Zoran Dragic (9,8 points, 2 rebounds, 2,8 assists, 0,7 steals, 1,4 turnovers) emerging as the MVP of Round 17 in a 104-95 win over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade was the best thing they’ve shown lately.
14. Brose Bamberg
Previous ranking: 12 (-2)
Record: 7-13
At home: 5-5
Away: 2-8
Offense-Defense: 74,3-80,1
Brose are is going through their worst patch in this season’s competition and seven losses in the last eight rounds confirm the verdict. The win over Zalgiris Kaunas (93-86) was not followed up on (81-66 at FC Barcelona Lassa, 81-72 at CSKA) and they were left even further behind in the qualification battle for the playoffs. How could it have been otherwise when they have the worst offense (74,3 points) and the seventh-worst defense, conceding 80+ points per game?
13. Valencia Basket
Previous ranking: 15 (+2)
Record: 7-13
At home: 5-5
Away: 2-8
Offense-Defense: 77,1-79,8
Valencia reacted to their streak of 10 consecutive defeats with four wins in the next six games, but the damage had already been done and the recent rise has had little impact on their ranking. In their last win – at home, since away they share the second-worst record (2-8) – over Khimki Moscow Region (85-83) they once again scored well above their average, however their offense remains one of the worst (third worst with 77,1 points) and is not sufficient to give them an even greater push. And, to top it off, they also lost Sam Van Rossom (6,8 points, 1,9 rebounds, 4,3 assists, 0,3 steals, 1,8 turnovers) with an injury.
12. Unicaja Malaga
Previous ranking: 7 (-5)
Record: 8-12
At home: 5-5
Away: 3-7
Offense-Defense: 78-81,6
Winning and losing streaks succeed one another for Unicaja, and the only kind of consistency they’ve had recently is their presence in 10th place for seven consecutive rounds. The win over Madrid (80-75) was the only one in January (83-85 against Valencia, 79-77 at Zalgiris, 101-87 at Milan, 83-85 against Baskonia) and things cannot change as long as their defense is the fourth-worst (allowing 81,6 points) and their point difference (-3,6 points) the fifth-worst.
11. FC Barcelona Lassa
Previous ranking: 13 (+2)
Record: 7-13
At home: 6-4
Away: 1-9
Offense-Defense: 80,5-78,7
Barcelona started the new year with a win over CSKA (85-72) but suffered three defeats in the next four games, all away (84-75 at Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens, 81-76 at Valencia, 86-82 at Fenerbahce), for a league-low overall record of 1-9 away from home. They are still unable to combine what they want to do with what they can do and the top eight remains out of reach. The offense is doing better that the defense (their +1,8 points difference is the fifth-best among all teams) but wins and losses count most…
10. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
Previous ranking: 11 (+1)
Record: 8-12
At home: 5-5
Away: 3-7
Offense-Defense: 77,7-81,9
The last win over Olympiacos Piraeus (89-78) was the fourth against a top-eight team for Zvezda, but with just eight total wins, they can only watch the battle for a spot in the playoffs from a distance. The fourth-worst offense (77,7 points) combined with the fourth-worst defense (81,9 points) make anything better look wishful, at best. Despite this, with the return of James Feldeine (12,2 points, 1,9 rebounds, 2,9 assists, 1,2 steals, 1,2 turnovers) and Pero Antic (7,4 points, 3,5 rebounds, 1,1 assists, 0,9 steals, 0,7 turnovers), their level of danger will be high for opponents.
9. Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz
Previous ranking: 8 (-1)
Record: 9-11
At home: 5-4
Away: 4-7
Offense-Defense: 81-80
Baskonia are still the biggest threat for the last teams of the top eight, but with four defeats in the last six rounds – one of them at the hands of then last-placed Milan and at home, 82-83 – they are stuck in ninth place, having fallen two victories behind the playoffs spots since Round 11. The win over Olympiacos (86-54) was the only one against teams in the top four (79-74 at Fenerbahce, 75-73 at Madrid) in January, but at least they will start February with one more (83-85 at Malaga) that is representative of their competitive character. They have sixth-best offense with 81 points scored, but the eighth-worst defense with 80 points allowed.
8. Khimki Moscow Region
Previous ranking: 10 (+2)
Record: 11-9
At home: 7-3
Away: 4-6
Offense-Defense: 77,8-78,3
Khimki is one of four teams that has’t been outside of the top eight at any point and with wins like the last two over Zvezda (70-79) and Olympiacos (82-65), they are constantly pushing for more, but defeats like the one in Valencia (85-83) keep blocking their way. The presence of the competition’s top scorer, Alexey Shved (22,1 points, 2,5 rebounds, 4,5 assists, 1,4 steals, 3,1 turnovers), is not enough to improve the fifth-worst offense (77,8 points), but at least their defense (fourth-best with 78,3 points) can function as a counterweight.