By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
With two different groups and 13 rounds to go, it’s time to rank again the 7DAYS EuroCup clubs, not only using their spots in the standings so far but also by taking a look at what they have done after the first five games of the season.
Different groups means also that sometimes you have to compare apples to oranges. That’s why Eurohoops has an unofficial rule of no more than a six-spot change in the rankings, positive or negative, depending on the results.
And in total, we have three teams making the full jump forward and one making a huge step backward. As the EuroCup jumps back into action, it’s time to take a look again at the contenders.
20. Dolomiti Energia Trento (0-5) –
There’s not much to add here compared to the first edition of the Power Rankings. Trento hasn’t had a win yet and has the worst point deficit (-68) compared to any team in the league.
19. Slask Wroclaw (0-5) -1
No win yet, so they lost one more spot, but pretty much they are in the same situation since the start of the season. However, it has to be noted that they lost their last three games by an average of 3.3 points, so they can hope for better days.
18. Veolia Towers Hamburg (2-3) -1
They started the season with a bang, beating Buducnost, but since then, they have only managed to beat Slask, so they need to do better.
17, U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2-3) -3
They are solid but simply put, there are better teams than them so far in the competition. Practically, what pushed them three spots behind is the defeat to Lietkabelis.
16. London Lions (2-3) -1
The Lions have two wins over Hamburg and Trento, so it’s clear they need to do more to improve.
15. Ratiopharm Ulm (2-3) -3
What applies to Cluj-Napoca applies also to them. They can do better, but the jury is not out yet on them, plus they lost to Lietkabelis.
14. 7Bet Lietkabelis Paneverzys (2-3) +2
They have the same record as Cluj-Napoca and Ulm, but they did beat them. So for the moment, they have to get at least some credit for that, jumping a solid two spots forward
13. Paris Basketball (3-2) +6
They have had an impressive start to the season and a positive record. So they deserve to get the biggest jump forward available according to our unofficial six-spot rule. The hard part for Paris will be to remain in this position.
12. Germani Brescia (2-3) -5
In theory, they should have performed better, but they have a negative record and that’s why they dropped out of the top eight. On paper, they are a better team than their record suggests so far.
11. Buducnost VOLI Podgorica (3-2) -1
Buducnost is pretty much where they started, pushed back one position due to losing to teams ranked much lower like Hamburg and London.
10. Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana (0-5) -6
Like Paris, which couldn’t jump further than six positions, Cedevita couldn’t drop further than six. So far they are underachieving, however, it has to be noted that out of their five defeats, four came from teams ranked in a better position than them.
9. Hapoel Tel Aviv (3-2) –
They haven’t made a step forward, or a step backward, so it’s obvious that they have room to improve. Still, two of their three wins came against newcomers London and Paris, and that creates a level of skepticism.
8. Prometey Slobozhanske (3-2) -2
They dropped two spots because a) there are teams with better results than them, and b) they lost by 34 to Brescia.
7. Bourg-en-Bresse (4-1) +6
They have had a solid season so far, making French basketball proud, and fully deserve the six-position jump. Oddly enough, their only defeat came at home, but against last season’s finalist Bursaspor.
6.Umana Reyer Venice (3-2) -1
They lost one spot because Promitheas pushed them back. Plus they lost at home to Bourg-En-Bresse and on the road to Cluj-Napoca, creating already a cautionary tale for other high-ambition teams traveling to Romania.
5. Promitheas Patras (4-1) +6
A great start, high-scoring basketball, and only one defeat, on the road by Buducnost. They are delivering and riding the wave so far.
4. Frutti Extra Bursaspor (3-2) -2
They have two defeats and lost two positions by dropping a game at home to Ulm and one on the road to Prometey. But they are also the only team that beat Bourg so far and also they prevailed at home over Joventut Badalona, the top team in these power rankings.
3. Turk Telekom Ankara (4-1) +5
After losing at home to Paris to start the season, they have four straight wins and are one of the hottest teams in the league. So jumping five spots forward seems only natural.
2. Gran Canaria (4-1) +1
They were defeated on the road by Promitheas, but still, they are delivering as expected and they gained a spot for that, having a better record than Bursaspor.
1. Joventut Badalona (4-1)
They remain the team to beat until proven otherwise, and even if Bursarpor did prevail over them, very few others are expected to do the same during the course of the season.