By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
The second leg of the regular season and the new year began in the EuroLeague with back-to-back double-action weeks, and just as the nights of Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were filled with basketball, so were the standings filled with continuous changes, unless you’re Real Madrid. The rest of the teams did not avoid them and the same happened in the fourth edition of the Power Rankings by Eurohoops.
Status, form, and the importance of results were the criteria for ranking the 18 teams.
Note: No team can move up or down more than six places from any previous edition of the Power Rankings.
#18 LDLC ASVEL VILLEURBANNE
Previous ranking: 17 (-1)
Record: 4-17
Home: 2-10
Away: 2-7
Offense-Defense: 79.3-87.6
When a team has already three different coaches in the same (half) season, definitely something is not right. Unfortunately for the French club, those changes are not enough to turn around their on-the-floor product and their position in the rankings.
#17 ALBA BERLIN
Previous ranking: 18 (+1)
Record: 4-17
Home: 3-7
Away: 1-10
Offense-Defense: 75.9-84.3
ALBA Berlin has had other seasons being this low in the rankings, however, they were at least productive on the offensive end. This is not the case anymore. Meanwhile, they welcomed back Martin Hermansson from Valencia and said goodbye to Marcus Eriksson.
#16 FC BAYERN MUNICH
Previous ranking: 13 (-3)
Record: 8-13
Home: 6-3
Away: 2-10
Offense-Defense: 79-82.7
With four consecutive defeats, Bayern is running the longest active losing streak in the league. However, this is not a shock considering their course in the season so far. The last time they were in 10th position or higher was back in Round 4.
#15 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS
Previous ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 7-14
Home: 3-6
Away: 4-8
Offense-Defense: 78.5-81.6
The time when Zalgiris Kaunas was considered a dark horse for the postseason, or at least the Play-In Showdown, is a distant memory (R1-R6). Things got so bad that it was even necessary to change the coach, with Andrea Trinchieri replacing Kazis Maksvytis. They have a 2-2 record since then.
#14 EA7 EMPORIO ARMANI MILAN
Previous ranking: 15 (-1)
Record: 9-12
Home: 7-5
Away: 2-7
Offense-Defense: 78-76.4
Just when Milan is starting to show that they can recover, a defeat like the last one by Crvena Zvezda (62-76) comes along to push the Italians back to square one. At least they have four serious excuses: Nikola Mirotic, Savon Shields, Maodo Lo, and Billy Barron are still missing. The return of Shabazz Napier is not enough, at least not yet.
#13 ANADOLU EFES ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 7 (-6)
Record: 8-13
Home: 6-3
Away: 2-10
Offense-Defense: 84.3-88.6
Efes‘ victory over Virtus Bologna (99-75) would have been much more precious if the former back-to-back champion weren’t coming from seven consecutive defeats. There’s hope for better days, having most of their injured members back.
#12 VALENCIA BASKET
Previous ranking: 11 (-1)
Record: 10-11
Home: 7-5
Away: 3-6
Offense-Defense: 76.6-77
They lost Victor Claver to injury, acquired Kevin Pangos, released Martin Hermanson and brought in Justin Anderson. Among so many new faces, Valencia also revealed its ugly side. Three straight losses have pushed them, at least for the moment, marginally out of the postseason.
#11 CRVENA ZVEZDA MERIDIANBET BELGRADE
Previous ranking: 16 (+5)
Record: 9-12
Home: 6-3
Away: 3-9
Offense-Defense: 81.6-80
The Serbs are eager to take a step forward, but luck is not on their side. Even last week’s win in Milan left them with a bittersweet taste since both Nemanja Nedovic and Milos Teodosic were injured. That’s why Javonte Smart was added. It remains to be seen if he can help right away.
#10 OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS
Previous ranking: 5 (-5)
Record: 11-10
Home: 7-4
Away: 4-6
Offense-Defense: 77-74.8
Finally, the injured players are back, however, Olympiacos has not yet become last season’s Olympiacos or at least a comparable version. Back-to-back losses to Barcelona (76-78) and Baskonia (80-69) dropped them to a 0-6 record against Spanish teams and lower in the standings.
#9 BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ
Previous ranking: 9 (-)
Record: 11-10
Home: 6-5
Away: 5-5
Offense-Defense: 81.9-82.3
Baskonia is no longer winning like in the first days of Dusko Ivanovic’s return to the team, but remains a contender for a place in the playoffs. There is no other team with more balanced and, ultimately, uneven home and away performances.
#8 AS MONACO
Previous ranking: 4 (-4)
Record: 11-10
Home: 6-3
Away: 5-7
Offense-Defense: 80.7-80.3
Monaco seems to be on the decline, as evidenced by three defeats in their last four games, all against teams with pretty much the same aspirations. Plus they have also to deal with an internal issue with Eli Okobo.
#7 PARTIZAN MOZZART BET BELGRADE
Previous ranking: 6 (-1)
Record: 11-10
Home: 8-2
Away: 3-8
Offense-Defense: 84.5-84.1
Partizan was heading for its fifth loss in the last six games but bounced back most spectacularly: A comeback from -24 down against Maccabi Tel Aviv. They needed it, especially with the game coming up on the road against Panathinaikos.
#6 PANATHINAIKOS AKTOR ATHENS
Previous ranking: 12 (+6)
Record: 13-8
Home: 8-3
Away: 5-5
Offense-Defense: 82-78.4
Panathinaikos is currently the hottest team in the Euroleague. It’s not just the three consecutive wins, it’s also the way they were achieved, especially at home. Ioannis Papapetrou finally returns to action this week, while the team lost Aleksander Balcerowski due to appendicitis while releasing Kyle Guy.
Previous ranking: 8 (+3)
Record: 12-9
Home: 8-4
Away: 4-5
Offense-Defense: 86.2-87.2
They lost to Partizan despite leading by 24 (!), however, Maccabi still has a 7-4 record in Belgrade as a home team. They have eight road games left, however, they are at full strength and they seem able to get the job done.
#4 FENERBAHCE BEKO ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 10 (+6)
Record: 13-8
Home: 10-1
Away: 3-7
Offense-Defense: 84.3-81.3
Fenerbahce is 7-1 under Sarunas Jasikevicius. Six of those games were at home, where they have just a single defeat and 10 wins. So road games remain a question mark, especially after losing Nigel Hayes-Davies for a month.
#3 VIRTUS SEGAFREDO BOLOGNA
Previous ranking: 3 (-)
Record: 14-7
Home: 9-1
Away: 5-6
Offense-Defense: 82-81.5
Despite the first back-to-back defeats of the season, which dropped them to third place, the dream continues for Virtus. They lost Ognjen Dobric for a while and Devontae Cacok for the rest of the year, but they have Jordan Mickey back and hired Ante Zizic and Rihards Lomazs to help.
#2 FC BARCELONA
Previous ranking: 2 (-)
Record: 15-6
Home: 11-1
Away: 4-5
Offense-Defense: 83.4-79
Home strength leads Barcelona with or without Nico Laprovittola and Alex Abrines, among others. They have never fallen below third place and they have climbed back up to second spot.
#1 REAL MADRID
Previous ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 19-2
Home: 10-0
Away: 9-2
Offense-Defense: 89.7-77.8
Real Madrid remains the team to beat. They got a win even after four overtimes against Efes, they seem to be ready to withstand injuries (Gabby Deck, Eddie Tavares, Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernandez), and they still have a four-win advantage over the second place.