By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
The first five games of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague have been played and Eurohoops presents the first power rankings since the start of the season, evaluating the current state of all the teams!
The power rankings after one-sixth of the regular season have several variations compared to before the first jump ball in mid-October. Eurohoops presents in detail every team’s dynamics, the overall record, at home and away, as well as each team’s averages in offense and defense. The criteria are based on the current status of all teams as compared to the expectations of each, surprise defeats and upset wins.
1. CSKA Moscow
Previous ranking: 1 (unchanged)
Record: 5-0
At home: 2-0
Away: 3-0
Offense-Defense: 92,4-80,6
The EuroLeague champions started the season in an emphatic manner, showing that the rest of the challengers are going to have to put up one hell of a fight in order to dethrone them. They are now the EuroLeague’s only undefeated team, they have the best offense in the competition, and their away wins over Olympiacos Piraeus and Anadolu Efes Istanbul prove that they have a very tough character and versatility to their game. The leading duo of Milos Teodosic and Nando De Colo is making the difference once again!
2. Real Madrid
Previous ranking: 3 (+1)
Record: 4-1
At home: 2-1
Away: 2-0
Offense-Defense: 90-81,8
Real Madrid has suffered only one defeat in the first five games and that one was at home to Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz. The madrileños, however, have achieved some great victories so far – away against Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, and at home against Olympiacos – and with the inherently offensive game that they adopt they have the best team performance index rating in the tournament! Sergio Llull is without a doubt the team’s leader and the one who decides games.
3. Fenerbahce Istanbul
Previous ranking: 2 (-1)
Record: 4-1
At home: 2-1
Away: 2-0
Offense-Defense: 79,6-74,8
Fenerbahce suffered their first defeat this season on the fifth game day, at home to Unics Kazan. In fact, this was the first time that Zeljko Obradovic‘s team lost on their home court after 23 consecutive wins and it might cost them as the season carries on. Bogdan Bogdanovic’s injury has reduced Obradovic‘s options, especially in the backcourt, but the Turkish team has a high degree of chemistry for getting over such hurdles, as their away win in Barcelona at the end proved.
4. Olympiacos Piraeus
Previous ranking: 5 (+1)
Record: 3-2
At home: 2-1
Away: 1-1
Offense-Defense: 83,2-80,2
Olympiacos achieved as many wins as they had intended from the start of the season, in fact playing some impressive basketball in the three games against Efes, Milan, and Baskonia, being the team with the most points from fastbreaks. The defeats, away against Madrid and at home to CSKA, were expected and normal. The red-and-whites are the best team in rebounding and the one that forces its opponents into the worst shooting accuracy.
5. FC Barcelona Lassa
Previous ranking: 4 (-1)
Record: 3-2
At home: 1-1
Away: 2-1
Offense-Defense: 72,6-71
Barcelona had a bad start to the season with the difficult win over Unics and the defeats by Fenerbahce Istanbul and Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, but its imposing win over Maccabi in Tel Aviv reduced the damage. All this time head coach Georgios Bartzokas has been struggling to fill the void of injured players since Shane Lawal, Pau Ribas, Juan Carlos Navarro, Petteri Koponen and Justin Doellman have been out for shorter or longer periods of time. The “blaugrana” have by far the best defense in the EuroLeague and they force their opponents to have the lowest average performance index ratings per game!
6. Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens
Previous ranking: 6 (-)
Record: 3-2
At home: 2-0
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 79,6-78
Panathinaikos became the first team this season to go ahead with replacing their coach. Argyris Pedoulakis coached on the opening night against Zalgiris Kaunas, the assistant Georgios Vovoras in Moscow against CSKA, and now it is Xavi Pascual. The Greens are in the process of transitioning into the new era, but they have kept their home court intact, they got a win in Bamberg, and they are within the targets they’ve set. The absolute leader is Nick Calathes, who got close to a triple-double in Bamberg. He is the team’s best passer and rebounder, and its second-best scorer.
7. Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz
Previous ranking: 11 (+4)
Record: 3-2
At home: 1-1
Away: 2-1
Offense-Defense: 81,8-81,4
Baskonia jumped ahead a few positions, yielding a better result than what was expected before the start of the season. They outdid themselves by getting the big away win over Madrid and are treading on familiar and successful territory by bringing more players to the forefront all the time, rookies in the EuroLeague. Shane Larkin and Johannes Voigtmann are making the difference, together with guys who’ve been in the competition a bit longer, such as Andrea Bargnani, Adam Hanga, Tornike Shengelia and Jaka Blazic.
8. Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul
Previous ranking: 7 (-1)
Record: 3-2
At home: 0-2
Away: 3-0
Offense-Defense: 81,8-80,4
In the first five games, Darussafaka didn’t face any team that has appeared in at least one Final Four in the last 15 years. And they achieved this paradox: they won all their away games and lost all the home ones! The Turkish team’s games are not suited for fans with heart conditions, since three of them were decided by a margin of less than 3 points and the others by a margin of 5 and 7 points. David Blatt has many quality players and four of them have double-digit averages: Brad Wanamaker, Scottie Wilbekin, James Anderson and Adrien Moerman. However, they still need to improve their chemistry.
Previous ranking: 12 (+3)
Record: 2-3
At home: 2-1
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 83,6-83,4
Bamberg has a 2-3 record, but they very well could have been at 4-1 or even 5-0. They lost to Fenerbahce because Nicolo Melli missed a shot in the end, and to Panathinaikos because Darius Miller missed at the expiration. All the German team’s games have been decided on details and the home wins over Milan and Unics can provide the necessary impetus for what follows. They are the third-most accurate team in three-point shooting and make the third-fewest turnovers.
10. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Previous ranking: 8 (-2)
Record: 2-3
At home: 1-1
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 82,4-86
Efes had a bad start to the season with a 0-3 record, but found balance with wins in Istanbul on Darussafaka’s home court and at home over Panathinaikos. The Turkish team is not really behind schedule, however, since they were defeated by Baskonia and Olympiacos away, and by CSKA at home. Velimir Perasovic has created a team that gets several points from pressing on rival guards and taking advantage of their turnovers, and scores more than any other team after offensive rebounds.
11. Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv
Previous ranking: 10 (-1)
Record: 2-3
At home: 1-2
Away: 1-1
Offense-Defense: 86,6-86,6
Maccabi changed their coach after only the second game. Erez Edelstein handed over the team with a 0-2 record (defeats by Milan and Madrid) to Rami Hadar, and he won two games in a row until the home loss to Barcelona. The Israeli team has the fourth-best offense and the third-worst defense in the competition. Maccabi features Andrew Goudelock, Devin Smith and Sonny Weems as the big protagonists, all of them with averages higher than 15 points per game!
12. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
Previous ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 2-3
At home: 1-1
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 90,6-95
Milan had an ideal start by getting two important wins (at home over Maccabi and away against Darussafaka) that were decided at the last second. However, the Italian team lost their next three games (easily to Olympiacos and Madrid, then to Bamberg in overtime). Milan is not relying solely on Alessandro Gentile anymore, but has a variety of contributors, with Ricky Hickman, Rakim Sanders, Milan Macvan and Krunoslav Simon all owning double-digit scoring averages. However, the Italians need to improve their dedication on defense.
13. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade
Previous ranking: 15 (+2)
Record: 2-3
At home: 1-2
Away: 1-1
Offense-Defense: 70,6-72,2
Zvezda are extremely competitive again this season and they already have two wins, the biggest being at home against Barcelona. The Serbs already have two defeats in Belgrade, but how many more teams are going to manage a win over Barcelona. Head coach Dejan Radonjic has created once again a low-rhythm team that relies more on the game close to the basket, but they are also the best in the EuroLeague at scoring off opponents’ turnovers. The roster is not long, but natives Marko Guduric, Ognjen Kuzmic, Stefan Jovic and Marko Simonovic are making the difference.
14. Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul
Previous ranking: 9 (-5)
Record: 0-5
At home: 0-3
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 85,4-97
Galatasaray is the only team that hasn’t celebrated a win in the EuroLeague yet! Of course, they have had a very difficult schedule, going up against three favorites to qualify for the Final Four (CSKA, Madrid, Fenerbahce), an ambitious team (Maccabi), and the competitive Zvezda. The Turkish team started the competition with aspirations, but they still haven’t been able to find the right chemistry. Ergin Ataman has several stars at his disposal and based on their talent, Galatasaray can return with a vengeance. They definitely have to improve their defensive attitude, though.
15. Unics Kazan
Previous ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 1-4
At home: 0-2
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 79,4-84,6
Unics Kazan made the big surprise on the fifth game day by defeating Fenerbahce in Istanbul and improved the image they had projected in their previous games. The Russian team was afflicted with serious injuries (Coty Clarke, Anton Ponkrashov), and has been reinforced with new signings, but have to work on their chemistry in order to become more competitive.
16. Zalgiris Kaunas
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 1-4
At home: 1-2
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 75,2-81,8
Zalgiris has a record of 1-4, putting up a competitive image in most of their games. Despite this, they’ve only managed to beat Baskonia in Kaunas, while they lost to Maccabi and Darussafaka at home. The Lithuanian team uses a slow tempo to limit games to fewer possessions, but they are not so effective offensively since they have the EuroLeague’s lowest shooting accuracy from behind the three-point line.