By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
#16 DARUSSAFAKA TEKFEN ISTANBUL
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 3-17
At home: 3-7
Away: 0-10
Offense-Defense: 74.5-84.3
Darussafaka accepted its fate a long time ago, but in recent weeks seems to be enjoying things a bit more. After Olympiacos Piraeus (Round 15), it also beat KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (Round 20) and is about to enter a period in which it could be the spoiler for other teams with playoff ambitions. But it will likely have to be at home since on the road Darussafaka is still the team with the worst record. Darussafaka fields the EuroLeague’s second-worst offense, which seems incongruous to its first place in offensive rebounds (12.1), but makes more sense when considering its 13.6 turnovers, which is third worst defense in the competition.
#15 HERBALIFE GRAN CANARIA
Previous ranking: 13 (-2)
Record: 6-14
At home: 4-7
Away: 2-7
Offense-Defense: 77.8-86.6
Herbalife Gran Canaria still hasn’t been able to say “Happy New Year” since it’s completed five rounds without a victory and with an average margin of defeat of 15.4 points. The most-recent loss at the hands of Buducnost was the smallest (-5), but the result was the same. Its offense has dropped to 12th place – Gran Canaria closed out 2018 as the seventh-best, and the defense is still the worst of all.
#14 BUDUCNOST VOLI PODGORICA
Previous ranking: 15 (+1)
Record: 6-14
At home: 6-5
Away: 0-9
Offense-Defense: 74.1-83.0
Wins over big rivals are becoming a habit for Buducnost, which prevailed over Real Madrid (Round 19) and reminded us that nothing is coincidental. Now, Buducnost has three consecutive wins, as many as it had in the previous 17 rounds combined! Norris Cole and Goga Bitadze, who have now been on the team for a month, are credited with a large share of the success, even if they lead the worst offense despite having the second-fewest turnovers (11). The defense isn’t doing much better and ranks fourth worst.