By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
Here’s the story so far, with 15 games left for the end of the regular season.
#16 DARUSSAFAKA TEKFEN ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 2-13
At home: 2-6
Away: 0-7
Offense-Defense: 75.9-85.1
With 12 defeats in a row, Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul were about to break every negative record in the competition, but fate owed them at least one win and gave it to them when everyone least expected it, against Olympiacos Piraeus (79-75). It’s just that one for the moment, so last place in the rankings is still theirs, as it has been since Round 7. With Toney Douglas having gotten straight to work – he’s now first in the team in points (12.8) and assists (5.2) – Darussafaka like to believe that more wins are not far off. Until then, it will have the EuroLeague’s second-worst offense (although the first with 12.5 offensive rebounds per game), the third-worst defense, and the worst assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3), among other things.
#15 BUDUCNOST VOLI PODGORICA
Previous ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 3-12
At home: 3-5
Away: 0-7
Offense-Defense: 72.5-84.3
Four consecutive defeats brought Buducnost VOLI Podgorica back to a harsh reality and made the wins over KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (99-84, Round 7), CSKA Moscow (93-92, Round 9) and FC Barcelona Lassa (67-64, Round 11) look like a distant memory. Now, Aleksandar Dzikic has been replaced on the bench by Jasmin Repesa. Perhaps things would have been different if Buducnost had been able to hold out in the last game against FC Bayern Munich (93-88); the newly-acquired duo of Norris Cole and Goga Bitadze certainly tried. Maybe, too, if the team didn’t also own the worst offense and fourth-worst defense, but you can’t go very far with maybes.
#14 KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION
Previous ranking: 9 (-5)
Record: 5-10
At home: 4-4
Away: 1-6
Offense-Defense: 77.7-80.8
The absence since Round 9 of Alexey Shved, the competition leader in PIR with 25.9, has set Khimki back, so much so that it now sits in 14th place. Three consecutive away losses (72-65 to Bayern, 88-74 to CSKA, 79-63 to Maccabi) didn’t make this team’s mission any easier, while December ended with yet another defeat, at home this time (77-85 to Baskonia). The only win, a dramatic 85-84 decision over Darussafaka, was the least they could do, when their offense has dropped to 77.7 points, giving Khimki both the fourth-worst offense and defense in the EuroLeague. Khimki has also missed Anthony Gill for a few games, as indicated by a league-low 20.0 defensive rebounds per game.
#13 HERBALIFE GRAN CANARIA
Previous ranking: 14 (+1)
Record: 6-9
At home: 4-4
Away: 2-5
Offense-Defense: 81.2-87.9
Against prognostications, a coaching change and the release of Chris Evans, Herbalife Gran Canaria is no bit player in its first EuroLeague season, and might yet take on an important role. Although the end of 2018 may have found the islanders in 12th place, they’re just one win away from the top eight. Now, it will be interesting to see how much commotion they are able to cause, like they did at the beginning (86-94 over AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan) and end (73-66 over Zalgiris Kaunas) of December. In their last win, in fact, they kept Zalgiris very far from their league-worst average in defense. In offense, where they are seventh best, Gran Canaria never had a problem.
#12 MACCABI FOX TEL AVIV
Previous ranking: 13 (-1)
Record: 5-10
At home: 3-4
Away: 2-6
Offense-Defense: 78.0-80.1
Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv are 4-4 under the instructions of new head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos, but still has a long way to go. Slowly, at least, the team’s fortunes seems to have started turning with some wins in the final seconds, as happened with Darussafaka (71-73) in Round 11 and Milan (94-92) in Round 15. Just as important, this improvement has come while Jeremy Pargo still injured and Tarik Black out in the last game. Maccabi is hoping that, with a full roster, it can finally improve on offense (fifth-worst) and thereby take better advantage of its fifth-best defense.