By Stelios Toromanidis/ info@eurohoops.net
As the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague moves towards the end of the regular season, Eurohoops analyzes the offensive production of the starters and bench players of this season’s 16 teams, two categories whose correlation leads us to useful conclusions.
The even distribution of points scored by starters and reserves can often be a key to better overall performance for a squad. In modern basketball, roster depth is now a requisite component. Here at Eurohoops we did our research and compiled the output of the starters and bench players for each of the 16 teams that take part in this season’s competition and we ranked them according to the smallest possible deviation between those teams’ starters and their subs. At the same time, we listed some useful stats, like the players who start the most games.
Before we present the list, it’s worth noting that only seven players in the EuroLeague have found themselves in the starting lineup for every game through the first 26 rounds. They are Pierre Jackson of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv, Kevin Pangos of Zalgiris Kaunas, Chris Singleton of Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens, Milko Bjelica of Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, Alexey Shved and James Anderson of Khimki Moscow Region and Kaleb Tarczewski of AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan.
1. CSKA Moscow
Games: 26
Total points: 2,341 Average points: 90.0
Starters’ points: 1,151 (49.2%)
Bench players’ points: 1,190 (50.8%)
Deviation between starters and bench players: -1.6%
Players who have started at least one game: 11 of 17 (64.7%)
Most appearances in the starting lineup: Nikita Kurbanov (25)
The leaders in the standings and the unwavering favorites for the top spot at the end of the regular season have so far used 11 of the 17 players on their roster as starters at least once. Nikita Kurbanov, Kyle Hines, Sergio Rodriguez, Nando De Colo, Semen Antonov and Cory Higgins account for the most appearances in the starting lineup for Coach Dimitris Itoudis. Despite this, as the deviation in points between the starters and bench players shows, CSKA Moscow gets almost the same percentage of points from these two categories with a slight advantage for the bench players. This shows that in addition to quality, the Muscovites also boast great depth. After all, we’re talking about the best offense in the competition with an average that exceeds 90 points per game.
2. Real Madrid
Games: 26
Total points: 2,223 Average points: 85.5
Starters’ points: 1,108 (49.8%)
Bench players’ points: 1,115 (50.2%)
Deviation between starters and bench players: -0.4%
Players who have started at least one game: 14 of 16 (87.5%)
Most appearances in the starting lineup: Facundo Campazzo (24)
Ranked fourth in the standings, Real Madrid has an even distribution of points between its starters and bench players, a privilege shared by CSKA as we mentioned above. Maybe this also has to do with the fact that Los Blancos’ best scorer this season, Luka Doncic, usually starts games on the bench and is then thrown in the game. Pablo Laso most often relies on Facundo Campazzo, Fabien Causeur, Walter Tavares, Trey Thompkins and Jeffery Taylor as starters. The Madrilenos are again considered masters on offense with a plethora of options, while also boasting the second-best scoring average in the competition.
3. Unicaja Malaga
Games: 26
Total points: 2,018 Average points: 77.6
Starters’ points: 1,096 (54.3%)
Bench players’ points: 922 (45.7%)
Deviation between starters and bench players: +8.6%
Players who have started at least one game: 14 of 15 (93.3%)
Most appearances in the starting lineup: Ray McCallum (22)
Unicaja may not have any real chances of qualifying for the playoffs and may be the 13th best offense in the EuroLeague, but it is one of the best teams in terms of the distribution of points scored by starters and bench players, something that can be largely credited to Coach Joan Plaza. Ray McCallum, Nemanja Nedovic, Dragan Milosavljevic, Jeff Brooks and Giorgi Shermadini are the players who have started more games than the rest, while 14 of 15 players on the roster have started at least one game.
4. Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz
Games: 26
Total points: 2,136 Average points: 82.2
Starters’ points: 1162 (54.4%)
Bench players’ points: 974 (45.6%)
Deviation between starters and bench players: +8.8%
Players who have started at least one game: 12 of 16 (75%)
Most appearances in the starting lineup: Janis Timma (22)
Baskonia is fighting for a spot in the playoffs of Europe’s top club competition and has a favorable schedule until the end of the regular season. It also has the third-best offense, behind CSKA and Madrid.
Perhaps the rather even distribution of points between the starters and bench players helps in this. Janis Timma, Jayson Granger, Vincent Poirier, Tornike Shengelia, Matt Janning and Rodrigue Beaubois are Coach Pedro Martinez’s top choices for the starting lineups.