By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Welcome to the new version of the annual – and de facto controversial – EuroLeague players rankings of Eurohoops which will be presented in a different format this season.
With the clock ticking after the Eurobasket and the Top100 posts becoming tedious, we decided to tighten things up hopefully without creating much more fuss than usual. As it turned out, getting from the Top100 to a Top50 makes things much more complicated since a lot of players who could make a case for being part of the top50, are left out. So we didn’t do it on purpose, it’s just the format.
That’s why this time around stats, and especially last season’s PIR (Performance Index Rating) are used more prominently to determine who will make the final cut in addition to the usual criteria.
So no player from last season’s Top25 in PIR was left out, but since this is not just a calculation of stats, don’t expect the pecking order to be identical and in some cases, PIR is just not enough.
After the initial version of the list, editors from the international, Turkish, Greek, and Spanish editions of Eurohoops were consulted and the list you are about to read is the final result.
Just for the record, rookies were not included since there wasn’t any kind of statistic measurement available for them and it’s not easy to compare apples to oranges. We did it in the past and we know. That’s why we are pretty sure that players like Carsen Edwards, Darius Thompson, Johnathan Motley, Ignas Brazdeikis, Isaac Bonga, and Semi Ojeleye will come back and haunt us. We have to live with this.
Like last year, a decision was taken to focus on and reward a player’s individual performances, especially if his contribution lifted his team to certain EuroLeague heights. However, this time we also took into consideration the legacy of each player to a greater extent.
A player of a team that is a title or Final Four contender automatically got a relative priority over another with possibly similar or equal, maybe even superior individual strengths. The higher the team’s projection for the upcoming season, the more boost a player got when it comes to his ranking and vice-versa. This is why you will find that there is an increased number of players from well-known powerhouses.
So to make things simple, the main criteria are the following:
1) The individual quality of each player in combination with the prospect he carries for 2022-2023, plus the role and playing time we anticipate he will get with his team.
2) The strength and the potential of the club the player belongs to and what he has already achieved in the league.
3) Stats and especially last season’s PIR.
After the picks from 50 to 31, it’s time to present the Top 20 players for the 2022-23 season.
20. Jordan Loyd (Monaco)
By PIR, the 17th best player in the league (14.4). He was one of the main reasons for Zenit’s rise and he will have the chance to do even more damage with a loaded Monaco roster.
19. Scottie Wilbekin (Fenerbahce)
He couldn’t lead Maccabi to the promised land, but things will be different in Istanbul. His numbers are expected to fall since this roster will have more options and what will make or break his move to Turkey will be decided on the titles he will win with Fenerbahce.
18. Nando De Colo (ASVEL)
He had his ups and downs and his injury woes with Fenerbahce. He surprised everyone by choosing ASVEL. In theory, despite being 35 years old, in ASVEL’s roster, he can improve his last season’s 14.1 PIR which brought him to the 21st spot in the total ranking.
17. Guershon Yabusele (Real Madrid)
With a 13.5 PIR, he had a dominant role in Madrid’s front line last year. That’s not going to change and he is expected to continue from where he left last year.
16. Kostas Sloukas (Olympiacos)
An All-EuroLeague team member, the leader of Olympiacos, and by the numbers the 15th best player in the league (14.8 PIR) while shooting an admirable 41,8% in threes.
15. Toko Shengelia (Virtus Bologna)
After a crazy season and a crazy summer that included a freaky injury among other things, he will have to lead Virtus to old glories. His pedigree with Baskonia and CSKA proves that he can…
14. Lorenzo Brown (Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv)
The main reason he is not higher, especially after his amazing Eurobasket, is the fact that he will have to handle the pressure that goes hand-to-hand with a club like Maccabi. What can’t be denied is that he had an amazing season last year with UNICS with a 17.3 PIR average (9th best in the league).
13. Jan Vesely (Barcelona)
When Vesely was healthy last year, Fenerbahce was a different team. Unfortunately for them, he played in only 22 games with an 18.2 PIR average (4th best in the league). Barcelona got a bargain with him.
12. Kevin Pangos (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan)
His NBA tenure was short, and his return to Europe with CSKA never happened, so for sure Kevin Pangos is hungry for basketball and he was added to Milan with the goal of at least a Final Four return. If he is in Zenit form, that’s more than doable.
11. Cory Higgins (Barcelona)
This is a gamble. In theory, Higgins is All-EuroLeague team material by default. But is he healthy enough? If he is, then even putting him 11th might be low.
10. Shavon Shieds (EA7 Emporio Armani Milan)
He was the top offensive option of Milan last year, finishing the season as the 20th best player in the league according to PIR (14.2). He is the main scoring option for Milan and he must deliver.
9. Nemanja Bjelica (Fenerbahce)
The return of the “Professor” with a championship ring on his hand signals a new era in Istanbul which is linked with the glory days of Obradovic and company. And while this is more about his status as a player, he can also be a key figure for coach Itoudis’ plans on the court.
8. Tomas Satoransky (Barcelona)
After six solid years in the NBA, he returns to Barcelona to make things happen. It will not be easy, but he has the pedigree to do it.
7. Sasha Vezenkov (Olympiacos)
His rise was meteoric and despite a mediocre Final Four, he is the main reason for Olympiaco’s re-emergence. He averaged last season a 17.8 PIR, sixth-best in the league.
6. Will Clyburn (Anadolu Efes)
A former Final Four MVP joining the back-to-back champions. Clyburn on paper is the perfect missing piece for Anadolu Efes to make them untouchables.