By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
As always, status, team dynamics, form and the significance of results were taken into consideration for ranking the 16 teams.
16. BUDUCNOST VOLI PODGORICA
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 0-4
At home: 0-2
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 64.3 ppg.-80.0 ppg.
Buducnost VOLI Podgorica returned to the EuroLeague for the first time since 2003, but still has not found a return to victories in the competition. Paradoxically, defense is not the team’s biggest problem (third best). The offense scoring only 64.3 points (39.2% in field goals) is the worst by far – 11 points behind the next in line – as is its point differential of -15.7 points, though the most-recent defeat by Real Madrid, 89-55 in Spain, had a lot to do with this. Edwin Jackson (10.8 ppg.), Nemanja Gordic (10.5 ppg., 2.3 apg.) and Earl Clark (10.3 ppg., 4.0 rpg.), except for their last performance of -13 PIR points, stand out in the pursuit for the squad’s first win since a 91-75 victory over Siena in 2002.
15. DARUSSAFAKA TEKFEN ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 1-3
At home: 1-1
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 77.5 ppg.-82.5 ppg.
Darussafaka fought hard in the last two rounds against CSKA Moscow in Russia and FC Barcelona Lassa in Istanbul, but despite that, its win over Buducnost remains the only one. The balance in terms of scorers is not reflected in the overall outcome (third worst offense) and is in contrast with their defense (eight worst). Michael Eric (12.5 ppg., third best rebounder with 8.0 per game and fourth best shot blocker with 1.3) stands out in the effort to turn around the situation with help from Stanton Kidd (12.3 ppg., 2.5 rpg.), Ray McCallum (10.5 ppg., 5.0 rpg., 3.8 apg.) and Zanis Peiners (9.0 ppg.).
14. HERBALIFE GRAN CANARIA
Previous ranking: 15 (+1)
Record: 1-3
At home: 1-1
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 84.3 ppg.-97.8 ppg.
Gran Canaria had to wait a lifetime for its first appearance in the EuroLeague, but not more than two rounds for the first win (87-86 over Barcelona) and, despite three defeats, the team and its fans seem to be enjoying every moment. Especially since all of those defeats were at the hands of teams that are aiming to make the Final Four (97-72 to Fenerbahce Istanbul, 102-87 to Panathinaikos OPAP Athens, 91-106 to CSKA). Granca boasts the seventh-best offense in the competition, led by the eighth best scorer, Christopher Evans (15.3 ppg.), in contrast to the worst defense with an average of 97.8 points allowed.
13. KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION
Previous ranking: 12 (-1)
Record: 0-4
At home: 0-2
Away: 0-2
Offense-Defense: 78.8 ppg.-86.5 ppg.
Every beginning is difficult, especially for Khimki Moscow Region, which still hasn’t celebrated a win. In contrast to the games against Olympiacos Piraeus in Moscow and with Fenerbahce in Istanbul, Khimki was defeated literally at the last moment by Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Moscow and by AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan in Italy. Khimki is one of two teams whose win tally is stuck at zero. The presence of Alexey Shved (top scorer with 26.0 ppg. and second-best passer with 7.3 apg.) is not enough in oofense (fourth worst), while the defensive function is not much better (second worst).
12. FC BAYERN MUNICH
Previous ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 2-2
At home: 2-1
Away: 0-1
Offense-Defense: 75.3 ppg.-80.8 ppg.
The return to the EuroLeague after an absence of three seasons is turning out to be better than expected for FC Bayern Munich, which counts two wins in the first four rounds. Both of them were at home (80-79 over Panathinaikos, 77-71 over KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz), which means that Bayern must try harder than what it did against Efes in Istanbul and Barcelona in Barcelona. Its fifth-best defense has limited considerably the damage done by the second-worst offense, where they have already improved somewhat, thanks to Derrick Williams (11.0 ppg.), Nihad Dedovic (14.8 ppg., 2.5 rpg., 2.8 apg.) and Vladimir Lucic (10.8 ppg., 4.5 rpg.).
11. KIROLBET BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ
Previous ranking: 9 (-2)
Record: 1-3
At home: 0-1
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 79.3 ppg.-84.5 ppg.
The win over Zalgiris Kaunas in Kaunas was not followed up on by Baskonia, which has a run of three consecutive losses. The first was to Olympiacos (80-85) in Vitoria and the others to Madrid (97-79) in Spain and to Bayern (77-71) in Germany. Tornike Shengelia is consistently good (14.5 ppg., 4.8 rpg.), Vincent Poirier follows as the other player scoring in double digits (12.5 ppg., 6.4 rpg.), and Matt Janning (9.8 ppg.) and Jayson Granger (9.3 ppg.) are adding points on offense, though the team is lagging behind as a whole (fifth worst offense). Things are even worse on defense (third worst).
10. MACCABI FOX TEL AVIV
Previous ranking: 8 (-2)
Record: 1-3
At home: 0-1
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 82.0 ppg.-83.5 ppg.
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv is hoping to return to the Final Four after an absence of four years, but the start of the regular season found it going up against teams with similar ambitions – two of them away from home – and losing to all of them (89-84 to Panathinaikos, 86-89 to CSKA, 88-80 to Olympiacos), and so Maccabi has already been left behind with only one win: over Buducnost, 68-78, in Podgorica. What’s coming next seems just as difficult since, until the Round 8, Maccabi will have found itself away from Tel Aviv six times. Scottie Wilbekin is trying hard (second best scorer with 20.7 ppg., sixth best passer with 6.0 assists and fifth in the index rating with 19.3), but Jeremy Pargo’s injury has deprived them of a lot on offense (10th best), while Maccabi also has to work on defense, too (fifth worst).
9. FC BARCELONA LASSA
Previous ranking: 7 (-2)
Record: 2-2
At home: 1-0
Away: 1-2
Offense-Defense: 80.8 ppg.-81.5 ppg.
The three road games in the first four rounds tested Barcelona’s character from early on and it only responded in the last one with a win over Darussafaka in Istanbul. That had been preceded by losses to CSKA and Gran Canaria to be followed by a first win over Bayern in Barcelona. At least the group of Ante Tomic (14.8 ppg., 4.5 rpg.), Chris Singleton (11.8 ppg., 5.0 rpg.), Kyle Kuric (11.3 ppg.) and the third best passer in the competition, Thomas Heurtel (6.3 apg.), have a .500 winning percentage. Barca needs to work on its offense (sixth worst) in contrast to the defense (seventh best).
8. PANATHINAIKOS OPAP ATHENS
Previous ranking: 4 (-4)
Record: 2-2
At home: 2-1
Away: 0-1
Offense-Defense: 88.3 ppg.-84.5 ppg.
Its undefeated record in the Olympic Sports Center Athens was broken after only three games (it was 10 last season) and Panathinaikos already has two defeats in four games with a loss to Zalgiris preceding defeat at the hands of Bayern in Munich in the Greens’ only away game so far. The team’s fourth-best offense comes in full contrast to the fourth-worst defense and explains its .500 winning percentage so far, despite the earnest efforts of Nick Calathes (first in assists with 9.0 per game) and Keith Langford (15.0 ppg.).
7. ZALGIRIS KAUNAS
Previous ranking: 6 (+1)
Record: 2-2
At home: 0-2
Away: 2-0
Offense-Defense: 83.5 ppg.-82.8 ppg.
Its last win over Panathinaikos in Athens, in fact could have placed Zalgiris higher in the rankings, but the paradox of the equal number of home defeats and away wins has the Lithuanian champs in the middle. Even so, every result can be explained based on the opponent, although in the defeat by Fenerbahce the team had been 16 points ahead. Nate Wolters (eighth best scorer with 15.3 ppg. and eighth best passer with 5.3 apg.) and Brandon Davies (14.0 ppg., 5.3 rpg.) stand out in the balanced distribution of roles, which is as balanced as the situation on offense (ninth best) and defense (sixth worst).
6. ANADOLU EFES ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 11 (+5)
Record: 3-1
At home: 1-1
Away: 2-0
Offense-Defense: 85.8 ppg.-82.8 ppg.
It seems that finishing in last place last season rattled Efes as much as was needed so that it already has almost half as many wins as it had then (7-23). The latest win over city rival Fenerbahce came to add more points to the character they had already shown in the previous and just-as-dramatic win over Khimki in Moscow, 84-85. Efes has the sixth-best offense, led by Adrien Moerman (13.0 ppg.) and the sixth-worst defense, but with room for improvement thanks to the presence of two-time EuroLeague Best Defender Bryant Dunston.