By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 18 teams.
Due to the unique circumstance of some teams playing more games than others because of the pandemic – not to mention some teams out-performing our wildest expectations – we are waiving our normal restriction limiting teams from moving more than six places from one month to the next.
Without further ado, here are the new rankings:
#18 LDLC ASVEL VILLEURBANNE
Previous ranking: 17 (-1)
Record: 0-3
At home: 0-1
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 70-78.3
In contrast to Zenit St Petersburg below, ASVEL sample so far is more than enough for them to be assessed. Maybe as they go forward and games become successive they will manage to improve in many areas, but until then, the last place in the standings and the power rankings is rightfully theirs.
#17 ALBA BERLIN
Previous ranking: 14 (-3)
Record: 1-3
At home: 0-2
Away: 1-1
Offense-Defense: 77.5-87.8
ALBA enjoyed playing basketball like few teams did last season but now the only enjoyment seems to be for their opponents. The only exception was the game against CSKA (88-93, Round 4), which, in order to win, they had to stretch above their standards. Their offense is only the 10th best and their defense is the worst by far. With 15.3 turnovers per game (third highest), they cannot hope for anything better.
#16 KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION
Previous ranking: 7 (-9)
Record: 1-5
At home: 1-3
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 76.8-83.2
Khimki had the misfortune of playing with an emergency roster in most games, waiting until Round 6 against Zvezda (83-77) to celebrate its first win. Contrary to what one might expect, it wasn’t Alexey Shved or Jonas Jerebko or Greg Monroe who led Khimki to that victory, but Errick McCollum, who just joined the team. With a full roster now, Rimas Kurtinaitis expects immediate improvement both in offense (fifth worst) and defense (second worst).
#15 CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS BELGRADE
Previous ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 2-3
At home: 2-1
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 77-78.4
The opening games have been bittersweet for Zvezda, which has both won and lost games that perhaps they weren’t expecting to win or lose. Last week’s defeat by Khimki dropped Zvezda below even. They could have won more if they were even marginally better on offense (sixth worst scoring, with the worst two-point shooting, 46.3%), where Jordan Loyd (top scorer with 22.6 points) is not always enough. Not that they don’t need some work in defense, too (ninth worst).
#14 MACCABI PLAYTIKA TEL AVIV
Previous ranking: 6 (-8)
Record: 2-4
At home: 1-2
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 78.3-80.2
Maccabi should be more concerned about themselves than about their opponents. With the exception of the recent defeat by Fenerbahce (65-75, Round 6), the previous three – which were consecutive – were all by 3 or 4 points. Until Ioannis Sfairopoulos and his players figure out how to close out their games more effectively, they’ll be low in the rankings. Any improvement in defense would be welcome (fourth worst defense, but second in steals with 7.8), while they can definitely do better in offense, too (eighth best).
#13 TD SYSTEMS BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ
Previous ranking: 12 (-1)
Record: 2-2
At home: 2-1
Away: 0-1
Offense-Defense: 74.3-71.3
The last 4 minutes in the Round 6 loss to Barcelona (71-72) said more about Baskonia than their results in all four games so far this season. They didn’t score (0-11 run) and their problems in offense (league-worst assist-to-turnover ratio, 0.98) were emphasized even more. Their defense, ranked second best (first in steals with 9.0), proves exactly to what extent the offense is a problem.