By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops presents the Top 100 EuroLeague Players ahead of the 2019-2020 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/data 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 EuroLeague newcomers, 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” that already have 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 a 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. Of course, there’s also the fact that these teams usually sign a lot of top talent.
It goes without saying that injuries also played a part in picking and ranking the players.
This year there is a slight change in the usual Eurohoops Top 100 Players ranking criteria. Past achievements (individual awards/team titles) are no longer considered or taken into account with the same gravity they used to carry in previous Top 100 features.
It should also be noted that the place an “x player” gets in the list doesn’t necessarily mean that he is overall “better” than another player since there’s a multitude of factors that determine the ranking.
The most important ones are the following:
1) The individual quality of each player in combination with the prospect he carries for 2019-2020, plus the role and playing time we anticipate he will get with his team.
2) The strength of the club the player belongs to. 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 the club’s high aspirations.
3) Prior experience in EuroLeague/European basketball.
4) How the player performed in 2018-2019 and his contribution to his team reaching its goals.
100. Lorenzo Brown (Crvena Zvezda)
Year of birth: 1990
Position: Guard
Height: 1.96 m
2018-2019 stats: 2.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 8.2 minutes over 26 NBA games with the Toronto Raptors plus 25.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.8 steals in eight appearances in the Chinese League with the Guangzhou-Long Lions.
Crvena Zvezda put the icing on the cake of its 2018 offseason transfers by acquiring American guard Lorenzo Brown. A player who fell a couple of months short of winning an NBA championship, since the Toronto Raptors waived him in January.
Brown will make his Europe and EuroLeague debut with Crvena Zvezda by undertaking a ‘do it all’ role on offense. If the 2018 G League MVP delivers, he will realize what it’s like to be a fan favorite in “Stark Arena.”
99. Nigel Hayes (Zalgiris Kaunas)
Year of birth: 1994
Position: Forward
Height: 2.03 m
2018-2019 stats: 15.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.1 steals in 29:14 minutes over 10 EuroCup games with Galatasary.
Following a rather productive debut season in Europe with Galatasaray, American forward Nigel Hayes is making the jump to EuroLeague in his third year as a professional player. It will be a rewarding challenge for him if he plays his cards right since Sarunas Jasikevicius’ coaching takes the maximum out of players and helps them push their careers forward.
Saras picked Hayes to basically replace Aaron White on the roster of Zalgiris. Hayes should provide the Lithuanian side with a variety of ways with which he can be used offensively, be it as a 3-point getter, especially from a spot position, or via constant cuts that can be rather dangerous thanks to his smart off-ball movement.
98. Jock Landale (Zalgiris Kaunas)
Year of birth: 1995
Position: Center
Height: 2.11 m
2018-2019 stats: 11.2 points, 65. rebounds, 1.8 assists 25:06 minutes over 16 EuroCup games with Partizan Belgrade.
Apart from Hayes, Zalgiris shopped another 2018-2019 EuroCup standout in the face of Australian center Jock Landale. Following some notable performances the player had with the Milwaukee Bucks in summer, he is now bound to make his first appearance in EuroLeague.
While Landale is expected to mostly operate as Saras’ guy inside the paint, he can provide Zalgiris with a large offensive package: A solid amount of dangerous low post moves (he’s great at taking the right positions close to the basket), pick n’ roll finishers and even pick n’ pop action. While not really what you would characterize as a ‘stretch 5″, Landale has also looked more and more comfortable taking the 3-pointer and should continue that way with Zalgiris.
It will be interesting to see the new Zalgiris frontline with Landale plus another young player that you’ll see in this Top 100.
97. Billy Baron (Crvena Zvezda)
Year of birth: 1990
Position: Guard
Height: 1.88 m
2018-2019 stats: 12.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists in 27 minutes per game with Crvena Zvezda in the EuroCup
Billy Baron’s scoring ability had been thoroughly tested and proven in all kinds of competition in Europe except EuroLeague. This will happen in the upcoming season, something that was possibly a long time coming for the player.
Red Star is back in EuroLeague by winning the ABA League title and Baron basically “punching” the ticket for the team’s return in the competition. He was named MVP of the playoffs after notching 3.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and putting on some key performances down the stretch in a couple of games.
How successful Baron’s maiden EuroLeague run will be depended on the way he adapts to some defenses that are simply on a completely different level than anything he has faced so far in his career, plus the chemistry he’ll develop with Lorenzo Brown.
96. Kevin Punter (Olympiacos)
Year of birth: 1993
Position: Guard
Height: 1.96 m
2018-2019 stats: 16.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.7 assists in 23 minutes per game with Virtus Bologna in the Basketball Champions League.
If there’s one thing that characterizes Kevin Punter in his professional career so far, that is him being a winner.
In a three-year span, Punter won back-to-back Basketball Champions League titles, with AEK Athens in 2018 and Virtus Bologna in 2019 (claiming Final Four MVP), plus the Greek Cup as a player of AEK following a win in the Final against his current team. Not bad, right?
It’s this winning mentality that Olympiacos will want Punter to bring on the table and of course, his often remarkable scoring prowess. Punter “torched” all sorts of competition throughout the 2018-2019 season in the Basketball Champions League, showing leadership and taking initiative when the ball was “hot”. EuroLeague however, is a completely different animal, one that Punter will need to tame for the first time in his career.
95. Jeremy Evans (Khimki Moscow)
Year of birth: 1987
Position: Forward
Height: 2.06 m.
2018-2019 stats: 9.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 blocks in 25:58 minutes over 27 games with Darussafaka Tekfen in EuroLeague.
Darussafaka Tekfen failed miserably in the 2018-2019 EuroLeague season by finishing at the bottom of the standings, but you can’t blame Jeremy Evans for that. The former Slam Dunk champion was actually one of the true standouts of the Turkish team, emerging as one of the best power forwards in the competition.
Evans put his superb athleticism at full swing on both ends of the floor. He was strong when he cut to the basket with, or without the ball to make a bucket and often served as a rim protector on defense.
Among other things, Evans also displayed notable progress in his shooting by making s It will come in handy on a team like Khimki and if he preserves or improves this numbers then, who knows, he might find himself back in the NBA come next summer.