MIES (Basketball Champions League) - With three weeks to go, Play-Off battles are heating up. Time to update our weekly Power Rankings, with each team getting their own theme song.

CLUB	MOVE
32		Team theme song: Another Day, Another Struggle. Rosa Radom were in another back-and-forth game against AEK last week, but conceded yet another defeat, their 10th of the Basketball Champions League season. Domestic picture isn’t looking any better, at 9-8 they are in 9th place right now.
31		Enisey Krasnoyarsk won just one of their last eight games. Seems like their European campaign will end in three weeks' time, but at least they can enjoy Martins Meiers' 15-point, 8-rebound, 2-block performances every time they take the floor. Meiers theme song: Where Have You Been All My Life?
30		Ugh. The free fall continues. Just 2-9 in Group B, and 5-11 in Serie A, SikeliArchivi Capo d'Orlando are on a downward spiral that saw them lose 8 straight in all competitions. Team theme song: Free Fallin'
29		Another wasted chance for UNET Holon. They blew a 20-point lead against Pinar Karsiyaka, dropping their fifth game by single digits. In games decided by less than 10 points, Holon are only 2-5 – not enough to see them through to the Round of 16. Therefore, team theme song: Losing My Favorite Game
28		Team theme song: I can see clearly now the rain is gone. Juventus Utena ended the five-game losing skid, but at 3-8 in Group A, it is too little, too late to go on a crazy run towards the Play-Offs. But gone are the dark clouds that had them blind, now they could spoil somebody's plans over the last three weeks of the Regular Season.
27		Victor Rudd could've been an MVP candidate. His 31-point, 7-rebound, 2-assist, 2-block, 1-man-show against Neptunas ended Gaziantep's 8-game losing streak in the Basketball Champions League, and Rudd is leading the team in PPG, RPG, SPG and efficiency rating. If you weren’t down at 3-8, He Could've Been Your Hero, Gaziantep.
26		Petrol Olimpija are really unlucky, being in such a tough Group C… And being on the road all the time did not help at all, with the Slovenian Champs having played 10 games over the first 20 days of 2018, winning four of them. February will give them hell again, four away games in eight days, which is why their theme song is: On The Road Again.
25		Let's get straight into this one: It Can't Be All Our Fault! Yes, the pioggia* might be falling on you, Dinamo Sassari. And yes, the gente** might not be sorride***-ing anymore. But it can't be all your fault. And you can still make it right – three wins in three remaining games, combined with three defeats by Karsiyaka and you are through to the Play-Offs! *rain **people ***smiling
24		Is something wrong at Aris? Of there is. Aris are still alive, they said, but do they deserve to be? Is that the question? And if so, if so, who answers, answers? Pearl Jam are obviously the theme of this team. Aris are indeed still Alive, even after dropping four straight since January 9. They are just a win behind fourth-placed Avellino in Group D!
23		Don’t think there is a tougher schedule in the Basketball Champions League than the one in front of Telekom Baskets Bonn. Last three Gamedays will see them travel to Nanterre 92 and Besiktas Sompo Japan, before hosting Sidigas Avellino on the very final day of the Regular Season. Best of luck to you, Bonn. Hopefully you won't get Homesick whilst on the road.
22		6-1 since Andrej Urlep took over at Stelmet Enea Zielona Gora. Not only that, but what once was a 2-7 abysmal team is now a 4-7 force that took down Besiktas and Avellino, pushing them closer to a place among the last 16. Zastal fans must have thought their season was over about a month ago, but Urlep had other ideas and just said: "Wait for me." And that Čakaj Me by the Slovenian is now paying off big time!
21		Elan Chalon are all alone at the bottom of the French League. Their defeat to the hands of PAOK could also be the biggest blow of their international campaign, as they are now at 5-6 in Group B, with games against MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg and Iberostar Tenerife just around the corner. Team theme song: They are survivors, they're gonna make it, keep on survivin'...
20		Ventspils have won five of their last six outings, but still haven't locked their place in the Round of 16. Wins over Tenerife and Chalon get them so close to a Top 4 finish in the Group, but defeats to PAOK and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg keep them far away from Play-Offs. That's why their theme song is: Faraway, So Close.
19		Did you know that Marvin Gaye lived in Ostend in early 1980s? Maybe he could explain What's Going On with Oostende all season long... Dario Gjergja's boys are up to 16-0 in Belgian League, and their comfy 13-point win over Nanterre 92 got them in a 5-6 tie with Avellino for the fourth spot in Group D! The troubling part is their record against the teams fighting for Play-Offs. Avellino have the tie-breaker over them, meaning Oostende need to finish at least a win above Avellino to get to the Play-Offs.
18		Thomas Scrubb almost erased a nine-point deficit away at Reggio Emilia with three three-pointers made in the last minute, one of them even being a four-point play. But Sidigas Avellino lost by three, surrendering their top spot in Serie A in progress. Surely feels good to see the Canadian Scrubb performing brilliantly. With Fesenko (UKR), Filloy (ARG/ITA), Rich (USA), N'Diaye (SEN) already leading the team, a lot of nationalities are coming Insieme over there in Avellino.
17		PAOK are on fire!! And Diccon Lloyd-Smeath wrote all about it, so jump on over here! Crazyness In My Mind when I think about PAOK's numerous zipper solutions...
16		Dear Neptunas, this is not the time to lose your composure. Back-to-back defeats in the Basketball Champions League, followed by an 8-point defeat to Zalgiris in Lithuanian League, just like that, they have to fight for Play-Offs amidst a 3-game losing streak... PAOK, Ventspils and Elan Chalon are putting you Under Pressure, aren't they? That's like Play-Off basketball even before the Play-Offs!
15		Panagiotis Vasilopoulos is the new man in town, leaving Thessaloniki's yellow-and-black to join the Athens-based club with the same kind of colors. This is the kind of position AEK wanted to be in since Day 1. With three games to go - two of them being at home in Athens - Dragan Sakota's boys are above .500, at 6-5, holding their fate in their own hands. If they just Go With The Flow they went with in Greece (best home team of the League, 6-1!), that could be enough to get them to Round of 16.
14		Home crowd helped SIG Strasbourg collect their third straight win, an 89-88 triumph against Pau-Orthez on a late tip-in by Dee Bost. They seem to be heading in the right direction, when Bost, Wright, Logan, Bilan, Labeyrie and all the others are clicking, seems like a Seven Nation Army Couldn't Hold Them Back. Their game away at AEK on Tuesday will be one of the games of the season! Can't wait!
13		It's such a Crying Shame to see the injury of Gediminas Orelik. Umana Reyer Venezia are 0-2 without their forward, and the troubling part is that they do not have the time to figure out how to survive the post-Orelik era. Petrol Olimpija and Movistar Estudiantes will visit Italy over the three remaining Gamedays, with medi Bayreuth awaiting Venezia in Germany on the penultimate day of the Regular Season.
12		Raoul Korner shared a video of Gabe York casually hitting a full court shot, just to warn you about the shooting touch medi Bayreuth have... They booked a place among the Top Four of the German Cup, now they can fully focus on winning a top four place in Group C, as well, before they embark on a run towards the Final Four. A lot of fours in question, but Bayreuth are saying They Swear They'll Be There.
11		Just Three MCs and One DJ - Pinar Karsiyaka showed us what a four-headed monster looks like in their come-from-behind win over UNET Holon last week. Dominic Waters and Jarrod Jones scored 19 apiece, and Marko Banic came up big in the clutch with 13 points. They are the three MCs, and one DJ is, obviously, D.J. Kennedy. He had 18 points and 11 rebounds - are we ready to crown him as the new MVP yet? One more win needed to advance to the Play-Offs.
10		EWE Baskets Oldenburg suffered a tough 20-point defeat to the hands of UCAM Murcia, putting their second place in Group A in doubt. They were able to calm the nerves with a two-point win over Lowen Braunschweig on Saturday, keeping their domestic Play-Off run strong. And you know that Only The Strong Survive. AS Monaco are in town this week to test how strong Oldenburg really are...
9		Team theme song: The End. CEZ Nymburk's remarkable 17-game winning streak had to end somewhere. Besiktas put a stop to it, but CEZ Nymburk are still in a fine position in Group D, chasing the second spot. They are headed for an Olimpija-kind-of schedule, with five games in between January 23 and 31.
8		Students are quickly becoming the teachers in the Basketball Champions League! Movistar Estudiantes have now won three games in a row in Group C, giving them a season-high 8th spot in our Power Rankings. They must be Feelin' Good out there in Madrid right now... Maybe a successful Basketball Champions League performance sees them improve on their 7-10 record in the Spanish League.
7		Four wins in a row, seven wins in last eight games, Ovie Soko as the MVP of the week, tied for second spot in Group A, still in a Play-Off position in the Spanish League... UCAM Murcia have to admit, it's Getting Better, getting better all the time! One of the feel-good teams of the season, a win away at Karsiyaka would promote them to top candidates for the runner-up spot behind the almighty Monaco.
6		They've done it! They've Shot The Sheriff! Nanterre 92 are the first team to defeat AS Monaco since SIG Strasbourg in November...but they did not shoot the deputy. Oostende took down Nanterre in Group D last week, making the French club's ride to the Play-Offs just a bit bumpier. It's okay, though. They are still on track, haven't fallen off the rails even after that defeat.
5		That's how you do it! Banvit have won nine games in a row in Basketball Champions League and the tough Turkish League! Saso Filipovski and his boys are up to 5th spot this week, All The Stars Are Closer to them, as they want to get back to the Final Four once again. And they've done it with most of the lineup completely different compared to last April - pure evidence about Banvit's fine performances in the front office, as well as on the basketball court.
4		CEZ Nymburk held 17 teams winless over their furious winning run, but Besiktas Sompo Japan got the message delivered to the Czech champs: Can't Hold Us! Scary news for all the other teams. Josh Adams is having fun in Besiktas, any questions about him and Juan Palacios fitting in with the team - and the time it will take to do that - are answered. Adams is averaging 15.6 points per game for Besiktas. And he can fly, too.
3		This is a team that is doing things differently than others at the top. MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg aren't among the best in field goal percentage or assists per game, but they are still putting up 82.8 points per game (3rd most) by dominating the boards and doing their job on the defensive end (37.2 RPG, 9.0 SPG, 2.4 BPG - all Top 10!). Those categories have "heart", "hard work" and "pride" written all over them, and for MHP it's like making Something From Nothing every single week!
2		Iberostar Tenerife have just one wish for the remaining three weeks of the Regular Season: No Alarms and No Surprises, please! Mateusz Ponitka exploded for 22 points and 11 rebounds against Estudiantes over the weekend, leading Tenerife's charge towards home-court advantage for the Spanish Play-Offs. Three more wins in the Basketball Champions League, and they will be the Number One seed out of Group B for the Round of 16 draw.
1		Chris Evans' theme song: I Believe I Can Fly! AS Monaco's dunking machine is just one of the reasons why they are 11-0 in the Basketball Champions League and leading the French Pro A League, too. Jeff Taylor covered the topic of Monaco's unreal season in his Eurovision column - go ahead, give it a look!

*The power rankings are entirely subjective and is in no way a true, accurate ranking systems. All comments are purely those of the author.