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.