By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 18 teams.
#18 KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION
Previous ranking: 18 (-)
Record: 3-24
At home: 2-12
Away: 1-12
Offense-Defense: 78.5-90.8
Khimki Moscow Region surprised even themselves with their recent win over Real Madrid (78-77) in Moscow. It was the first one after 17 consecutive defeats and only their third in 27 games for the sixth-worst offense and the worst defense in the competition. They have seven more chances (they still have the game from Round 24 with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv) to avoid Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul’s negative record of five wins (in 30 games) in 2019.
#17 CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS BELGRADE
Previous ranking: 17 (-)
Record: 7-21
At home: 4-10
Away: 3-11
Offense-Defense: 73.7-79.3
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade has reached eight consecutive defeats and remains unmovable from 17th place in the rankings. It couldn’t have been any different for the team with the worst offense in the EuroLeague (ninth-best defense). The upcoming games against Khimki in Belgrade and Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in the Greek capital will determine whether it can become any different.
#16 ALBA BERLIN
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 10-18
At home: 5-9
Away: 5-9
Offense-Defense: 77.8-82.7
ALBA Berlin won two of the last three games (74-65 over Panathinaikos in Berlin and 81-100 over Khimki in Moscow), but before that the losses were many and consecutive and so they remain in the lower places of the rankings. In general, ALBA hasn’t climbed any higher than 12th place (Rounds 13-15). Not with the fifth-worst offense and the second-worst defense.
#15 PANATHINAIKOS OPAP ATHENS
Previous ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 9-17
At home: 6-7
Away: 3-10
Offense-Defense: 79.5-82.1
Panathinaikos is showing some improvement under Oded Kattash but without the corresponding results, since they count three consecutive defeats and are trapped between 15th and 16th place in the rankings. The fourth-worst defense in the competition does not allow for much more (ninth-best offense, without Nemanja Nedovic in the last four games). They still have to play games for Round 6 with Zenit St Petersburg and Round 25 away at CSKA Moscow.
#14 OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS
Previous ranking: 12 (-2)
Record: 12-16
At home: 5-9
Away: 7-7
Offense-Defense: 78.9-81
Olympiacos Piraeus just put an end to a streak of seven consecutive defeats, the longest they have suffered in the EuroLeague, which was enough to put them out of contention for qualification in the playoffs. They were in eighth place in Round 19 and now they’re in 13th with the seventh-worst offense and fifth-worst defense. The long absence of Kostas Papanikolaou proved to be irreplaceable, while they also just lost Hassan Martin to an injury.
#13 MACCABI PLAYTIKA TEL AVIV
Previous ranking: 10 (-3)
Record: 11-15
At home: 7-6
Away: 4-9
Offense-Defense: 77.3-80.1
Before beating Valencia Basket (84-72) in Tel Aviv, Maccabi had lost two games on the final possession in what has been a recurring scene throughout the season. Now, they have 10 losses by deficits of up to 4 points. In general, they could’ve done much better than 14th place, but they never escaped mediocrity (ninth-worst offense and ninth-best defense).
#12 LDLC ASVEL VILLEURBANNE
Previous ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 12-16
At home: 8-7
Away: 4-9
Offense-Defense: 77.3-80.1
With seven wins in the last ten games, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne has made an impression after a negative first round, while at the same time causing shifts in the rankings. Except for Zvezda (78-81), all of the teams ASVEL beat were from the top eight or were aiming to get in there. The smallest possible improvement in their offense (third-worst) and defense (eighth-worst) will allow them not to fall below 12th place again.
#11 VALENCIA BASKET
Previous ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 14-14
At home: 9-4
Away: 5-10
Offense-Defense: 82.2-82.5
Until Round 18, Valencia was one of only two teams (FC Barcelona was the other) that had never lost its place in the top eight. With six defeats in the following 10 games, they have now dropped down to 11th place in the rankings and far from those that lead to the playoffs. Things would be much better if they had found a balance between offense (third-best) and defense (third-worst).
#10 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS
Previous ranking: 7 (-3)
Record: 15-13
At home: 8-6
Away: 7-7
Offense-Defense: 77.4-76.8
Zalgiris Kaunas counts six defeats in the last 10 games and they continue sitting outside the top eight since Round 24. The next two games, against Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Turkey, will make it difficult for them to recover that lost ground. They remain consistently good in defense (fifth-best), but they’re unable to improve in offense (fourth-worst) and that has cost them.
#9 TD SYSTEMS BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ
Previous ranking: 14 (+5)
Record: 14-14
At home: 9-5
Away: 5-9
Offense-Defense: 79.6-76.6
The 1-5 at the beginning of 2021 set back TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in a big way, so much so that the 5-1 that followed was not enough for them to get as close to the top eight as they would have liked. Now their role is more as a regulator since the last six games will find them playing against four teams that are already in the positions that lead to the playoffs. The eighth-best offense does not fully reflect their philosophy as a team, but on the other hand the fourth-worst defense characterizes their game.
#8 ZENIT ST PETERSBURG
Previous ranking: 5 (-3)
Record: 16-11
At home: 7-5
Away: 9-6
Offense-Defense: 77.2-75.3
Zenit had even climbed to third place in the rankings (Round 21), but the last defeat by Madrid (71-75) in St Petersburg was the fifth since then and now they’ve dropped to eighth place. They have difficult and nless difficult games ahead until the end of the regular season and they can win back the lost positions, but that will take improvement on offense (second-worst against the second-best defense). They still have the game for Round 6 to play against Panathinaikos in St Petersburg, too.
#7 REAL MADRID
Previous ranking: 4 (-3)
Record: 17-11
At home: 9-4
Away: 8-7
Offense-Defense: 79.8-76.8
The many absences (Anthony Randolph, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Llull, Trey Thompkins) have cost Madrid and they now count six losses in the last 11 games, the most recent one being at the hands of last-placed Khimki (78-77) in Moscow. They are now out of the top four and in danger of losing more positions in the upcoming games against Barcelona and CSKA in Madrid. They’re called to pick up the slack, both in offense (seventh-best) and in defense (sixth-worst).
#6 FC BAYERN MUNICH
Previous ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 18-10
At home: 11-3
Away: 7-7
Offense-Defense: 79-77.4
FC Bayern Munich kicked off 2021 with three losses in the first four games but drastically changed the situation and now they count six wins in the last seven. They are now back in the top four. With the rest of the schedule coming against teams from places 1 to 11 in the rankings, Bayern will be forced to show an even better face on offense (eighth-worst) and defense (seventh-best).
#5 CKSA MOSCOW
Previous ranking: 3 (-2)
Record: 18-9
At home: 8-4
Away: 10-5
Offense-Defense: 83.1-80.1
CSKA just suffered their sixth defeat (100-70 by Efes) in the last ten games, while almost all of the four they won they did so at the end. The next two games, against Milan in Moscow and Madrid in Spain, will decide whether they will remain in the top four, where they’ve been consistently since Round 8. Their offense, the best in the competition, remains their strongest card (eighth-worst defense). They still have the game for Round 26 against Panathinaikos to play in Moscow.