By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Well, it’s that time of the year again.
Eurohoops presents the Top 100 EuroLeague Players ahead of the 2018-2019 season. A list of players compiled with some specific criteria with the purpose of tracing and ranking those hoopers that are expected to define the upcoming EuroLeague season.
While there are some objective and factual elements that were taken into consideration when choosing the 100 players and then ranking them, the final result is, inevitably, subjective.
As always, there was a calculated risk with rookies, especially those who are completely unfamiliar with European basketball. Hence why some players who will now take their first steps in EuroLeague have been omitted from the list or where placed in lower positions in comparison with rookies with considerable experience at a competitive level of European basketball. Experience in this level and type of game matters since we’ve seen no few quality players, even established NBAers, immensely struggle in their new surroundings simply because of their unfamiliarity with everything that European basketball encompasses.
What should be noted is that player of a team that is a title or Final Four contender automatically got a relative priority over another with possibly similar or equal, maybe even superior individual strengths. This is why you will find that there is an increased number of players from well-known powerhouses, apart from the fact that these teams usually sign top talent.
It goes without saying that injuries also played a part in picking and ranking the players.
Like every year, the Eurohoops Top 100 Players ranking is based on the following criteria (in this order):
1) The individual quality of each player in combination with the role and playing time we anticipate he will get with his team.
2) The strength of the club he plays for. The players of the teams that are usually playoff staples and are considered among the title contenders always have the edge because they combine individual quality with their club’s high aspirations.
3) What each player has achieved in his career in the EuroLeague, combined with the prospect he carries for the 2018-19 season.
The countdown continues with the spots from 71-60. Here are the 80 – 71, 90 – 81, plus the 100 to 91 picks.
70. Malcolm Thomas (Khimki Moscow)
Year of birth: 1988
Position: Forward/Center
Height: 2.06
2017-2018 stats: 7.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.4 assists in 22 minutes per game with Khimki Moscow in EuroLeague.
In his second EuroLeague season, Malcolm Thomas contributed far more for Khimki Moscow than what numbers tell.
Thanks to his mobility and athleticism, Thomas was one of the most interesting compact centers in the competition and a quite integral part for the defense of the Russian team. He was always on the move to the point of sometimes looking omnipresent, providing tons of help defenses, using his frame to intercept passes or simply snatch balls from his opponents. Speaking of which, opposing guards really struggled when they faced him after a switch.
This is the main reason why Khimki kept him for the upcoming season. Along with Jordan Mickey, Thomas will once again be one of the pillars of Giorgos Bartzokas’ defensive plans and one dangerous pick n’ roll finisher who, when he finds his way to the basket, will even have MVP nights.
69. Tarik Black (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Year of birth: 1993
Position: Center
Height: 2.06 m.
2017-2018 stats: 3.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 0.6 blocks in 10.5 minutes with the Houston Rockets in the NBA.
The massive overhaul that Maccabi underwent for yet another summer included a major boost of athleticism and strength inside the paint with Tarik Black.
Black has all the potential to be a beast of a center in EuroLeague with a crazy impact on both ends. That’s it if he adjusts to European basketball successfully, which isn’t always easy. Maccabi though has traditionally been an ideal team to assimilate such centers due to its high-tempo type of game that usually favors athleticism and speed. Black can thrive on this.
In the preseason, Black showed a strong effort against powerhouse Fenerbahce and a star center like Jan Vesely no less with 16 points plus 11 rebounds. Quite the promising stuff by a player who can earn an NBA return if he plays his cards right.
68.Stefan Jovic (Bayern Munich)
Year of birth: 1990
Position: Guard
Height: 1.94 m.
2017-2018 stats: 5.3 points, 5.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds in 21:45 minutes per game with Bayern Munich in EuroCup.
The record holder for most assists in a single EuroLeague game (19 vs. his current team when he played with Crvena Zvezda) is back in the top-tier continental competition following an absence of a one year that he spent with the Bavarians in Eurocup.
2017-2018 might’ve been a bit subpar compared to his usual standards, but Stefan Jovic remains among the most intriguing points guards in Europe and a mighty representative of all that cerebral basketball is about. Once again under Dejan Radonjic, the coach with whom he blossomed into a leading floor general, Jovic should be the driving force for Bayern in the club’s return to EuroLeague.
Facilitating for his teammates comes naturally to Jovic thanks to his court vision, passing aptitude and mind for involving every single player on the floor.
67.Nigel Williams-Goss (Olympiacos)
Year of birth: 1994
Position: Guard
Height: 1.91 m.
2017-2018 stats: 16.9 points, 7 assists, 3.7 rebounds in 32.2 minutes per game with Partizan Belgrade in ABA League.
This summer David Blatt handpicked Nigel Williams-Goss to come to Olympiacos and become the team’s starting point guard in the new, brand of motion basketball he wants to implement with the Reds.
While a rookie in European basketball last season (a characteristic he shares with teammate Zach LeDay), Williams-Goss showed early on that he won’t have a problem facing a completely alien to him kind of competition. Already in his fifth official game with Partizan Belgrade, he scored 30 points by taking just 15 shots and later in the season he proceeded to be the team’s leader in ABA League (just look at the numbers above) while adding the Serbian Cup plus the MVP title in his trophy case.
With his passing savvy and knack for dispatching his opponents by spinning and dribbling around them to finish with a quick and high release on his jumpers or floaters, Williams-Goss is projected to be one important player for Olympiacos next season. Not only for his direct impact but also because one of the American guard’s missions will be to share some of the load Vassilis Spanoulis carries (remember that the legendary V-Span becomes 37 next Spring). A big challenge for Williams-Goss in just his second professional season.