By George Orfanakis/ info@eurohoops.net
The first phase of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague has been completed! A total of 15 rounds, 120 games and a little over 4.800 minutes of basketball in which the protagonists of the competition tried to do their best.
A few were disappointing, some provided important help and some others proved why they rightfully belong in the elite of European basketball. With the help of four specified criteria, Eurohoops came up with the first and second best teams in this year’s EuroLeague.
The criteria are the following:
- Individual performance: This is essentially the first and most basic criterion and concerns the player’s performance in the first half of the season. The rating in the evaluation system is representative to a large extent but is not the only statistic element that influenced the final selection.
- Contribution to the team’s game: There are some players who are the beginning and end of their team. Players that, if they are absent, their team is not as likely to celebrate at the end of a game or if they are sitting on the bench the whole team’s image is affected to a considerable extent.
- A team’s position in the standings: It’s not enough for a player to play extremely well, but at the same time he must be able to secure the win for his team. Of course, this doesn’t depend solely on one player but the team’s ranking affected the final selection to a large extent.
- Total games: In the first half of the season there were players who were especially unfortunate with injuries. Two characteristic examples are Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nando De Colo, who clearly have everything it takes to be in the best teams but who were left out because of their injuries.
There were dozens of candidates, which makes the competition for a spot on the top teams particularly intense and the options too many to choose from, when the distance between the first and second best line-ups is very small. Taking all of the above duly into consideration, Eurohoops presents its selections…
Nick Calathes – Panathinaikos Superfoods
The excellent season he’s been having so far in the EuroLeague rightfully places him in the second best team, while he also strongly “courted” a spot on the first one. He’s without a doubt one of the best defenders in the whole competition, something that is evidenced mainly by his ability to restrict rival guards but also the 1.9 steals (1st in the EuroLeague) he makes on average.
Starting this year, however, he has also taken on the role of executioner, as he’s Panathinaikos’s top scorer with 13.6 points per game. He is the brain of the greens while he’s on the floor, with the element that shines in his stats being the best assist-turnover ratio in the entire EuroLeague, with 96 assists for just 24 lost balls. He worthily covered the gap left for a long time by Mike James and the… rhetorical question that arises is this: What coach wouldn’t want to have a multi-tool like Calathes at their disposal?
Shane Larkin – Baskonia
This past summer Larkin left the magical world of the NBA with the aim of becoming the best point guard in the EuroLeague, as he himself put it. After the first 15 rounds, the ingenious guard confirms, to a degree, his words as he leads Baskonia and is one of the main reasons for the Basques’ excellent position in the standings.
He hasn’t missed any games, while special reference should be made to the fact that it took him very little time to adapt to the new reality of European basketball. He’s as good a scorer (13.6 points) as he is a creator (5.8 assists), and when he… puts his foot on the gas very few players can keep up with him, while he never neglects his defensive duties. He could not be absent from the top teams, and every indication is that the best for him is yet to come…
Vassilis Spanoulis – Olympiacos
No matter what you say about Spanoulis, it won’t be enough! His accomplishments throughout his career, but also the… terror he inflicts upon his opponents when he’s on the floor, speak for themselves. In his best season of his career creatively, Olympiacos’s leader is the most important personality on European courts right now. Any coach who faces him will make reference to his name and adjust the whole game plan around him.
He scores 13.7 points per game and dishes 6.4 assists, asserting for yet another season his leading role in execution and creation. It’s common knowledge that Spanoulis is in control of the situation and as the season advances he will be improving his performance all the time until he reaches the maximum of his abilities. After all, we’re dealing with one of the most… clutch players in history and when the ball is hot, it’s a given whose hands it’s going to be in and what the outcome is going to be…
Derrick Brown – Anadolu Efes
After his mediocre last season in Efes’s colors, the American power forward has found himself again. Based on the evaluation system, he’s one of the top players of this year’s EuroLeague, since his energy and his athletic qualities are making the difference for his team on the court.
His big frame but also his speed, allow him to cover spaces in defense, while in offense he provides help both close to the basket as well as from mid-range. He counts a little less than 14 points on average, he collects a little less than 7 rebounds, while he has an important role in the creative part as well (2.8 assists), making him Efes’s third best player in terms of assists behind the guards Thomas Heurtel and Jayson Granger.
Lastly, his ability to put the ball on the floor but also his effectiveness from mid-range force his rival big men to follow him out away from the basket where Brown has a clear advantage.
Chris Singleton – Panathinaikos Superfoods
Few players in this year’s EuroLeague produce the kind of energy on the court that Singleton does. Within a few months the American has managed to be rightfully considered Panathinaikos’s top big man and one of the best players in the competition, proving wrong those who were “worried” that he would get worn out because of his playing commitments in China in the summer.
He threatens from every range and he forces rival big men to follow him out to the perimeter, which results in creating spaces in the Greens’ offense. At the same time, his very good stats (11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists) do not fully reflect his contribution to the Greek team’s game since he also helps out in defense, covers spaces and steals balls that turn into easy points on the break.
Panathinaikos have the best defense in this year’s EuroLeague and are very high in the standings, with Singleton being one of the main reasons for that.