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.