19 September, 2017
06 May, 2018
Power Rankings: New faces among the Top 10, defending champs charging towards the podium
11/12/2017
News
to read

Power Rankings: New faces among the Top 10, defending champs charging towards the podium


MIES (Basketball Champions League) - Another week of international and domestic basketball is behind us, time to update our Power Rankings ahead of Gameday 8!

RANK

CLUB

MOVE

 

32

Good news when you're at the bottom? There is only one way to go, and that's up. Or down if you're looking from this angle of the Power Rankings. Rosa Radom suffered a tough defeat in Ljubljana, leaving them as one of only two Basketball Champions League teams at 1-6...

 31

...and here's the other. With three quarters of hope. SikeliArchivi Capo d'Orlando kept MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg nervous for a long time, falling behind in just the last ten minutes. Time to extend their fine form to 40 minutes, otherwise their international season could soon be over...

 30

Troubled times in Lithuania. Juventus Utena will keep looking at their schedule, and hoping - three of their next four games are at home, but that didn't mean a thing when they faced UCAM Murcia and were handed their fifth defeat of the season...

 29

Enisey Krasnoyarsk cannot take advantage of their massive home court advantage. They are just 1-2 at home in the Basketball Champions League - that has to change if they want a place among the best 16 clubs of the competition.

 28

Coach Nenad Markovic has a lot of work ahead of him. Gaziantep are not only struggling in the Basketball Champions League, but also in the Turkish League, where they have won just two of their 10 games. At least they still have the time to make a positive run and find calmer seas.

 27

Slovenian champs Petrol Olimpija have a guy named Jordan Morgan in their team. You should keep an eye out for him, he's capable of monster double-doubles, such as the 21 points and 14 rebounds he had against Rosa Radom, in Olimpija's second win of the season.

 26

Green Hill seeing red. Stelmet Zielona Gora lost an important home game against CEZ Nymburk, dropping them to 2-5 in Group D. They are in a three-game losing streak that needs to be stopped sooner rather than later, because this Group D opposition is just lurking around for blood...

 25

Adding Phil Goss to the team sure helps... PAOK will be much different from now on, Ventspils and Chalon are sharing a 3-4 record tied for the last Play-Off spot from Group B, and the Greek side are just a win behind. With a couple of tweaks in the lineup, PAOK could be celebrating in a month or so.

 24

Maccabi who!? UNET Holon are the hottest team in Israel right now, Glen Rice JR had 28 points in their 93-89 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv. And Tamir Blatt set a new Basketball Champions League season-high with 13 assists last week. Seems like they are much more than a 2-5 team, right?

23

Dear Telekom Baskets Bonn,
Thank you for making Group D even more interesting. Good job in getting Tomislav Zubcic, his 13 points in 16 minutes sure helped you against Oldenburg over the weekend, right? Anyway, stay in touch! See you soon,
Yours truly, Basketball Champions League

22

French champions waking up! Hard to see Elan Chalon retaining their title, but a win over Antibes moved them away from the last position in the standings. They've also collected an away win in the Basketball Champions League, potential triumph against Neptunas could take them to .500 as soon as this week!

 21

Ventspils are probably looking at the schedule, crying about having to face PAOK again... They are 0-3 in two Basketball Champions League seasons when the black-and-white Thessaloniki team is on the other side.

20

Huge win over Aris to stay alive in the Basketball Champions League, plus a 10-0 record in the Belgian League. If coach Dario Gjergja ever runs for Oostende mayor, we're guessing he'd win easily. Just as he does on the basketball court...

 19

Not a lot to be happy about at Aris. You need to get away wins in a crowded Group D, and after falling to Oostende, Aris will need a bigger scalp to advance to the Knockout Phase of the Basketball Champions League. Stelmet Zielona Gora game is a must-win for them, not just in terms of their position, but also in terms of their confidence, as they have also fallen to 10th in Greek League...

 18

Sheesh, you just never know with AEK, right!? They had almost lost to Rosa Radom at home, then went on to defeat Panathinaikos in the Greek Cup Semi-Finals. They had lost to medi Bayreuth and made a coaching change, only to follow it up with a first win over Olympiacos in 13 years!! Have to search for the last season when AEK defeated both Pao and Oly, will be back online in an hour or so...

 17

Among the teams with two defeats in a week, Sidigas Avellino are still holding onto their second spot in Serie A. But after Telekom Baskets Bonn escaped with a W in the Basketball Champions League, they are down below .500 in Group D ahead of their Wednesday night fixture against the almigthy Besiktas.

 16

UCAM Murcia were unlucky to concede a two-point defeat away at Real Madrid over the weekend. But their spirits are still high, especially after a big win over Juventus last week - their game against Holon will be a must-see for you guys on Tuesday!

15

Ajo!! Dinamo Sassari have done what no other team managed to do in Italy this season! They have beaten Germani Basket Brescia, handing the leaders their first L of the campaign. Man, that must have gotten the whole island all fired up... Time to prove their worth away at Pinar Karsiyaka, that would be a gigantic leap towards the Play-Offs!

14

Winning on the road is never easy. It helps when your travel ends after a three-hour-drive, which is why CEZ Nymburk looked so fresh against Stelmet Zielona Gora last week. At 4-3 in a tough Group D, Nymburk keep on flying under the radar. (If it's even worth flying from Nymburk to Zielona Gora anyway...)

 13

Two words for you: Gabe. York. Shooting guard led medi Bayreuth with 20 of his 22 points against AEK coming in the first half, then repeated the drill with 8 points in the first seconds of the game against Oettinger Rockets. He scored 20 overall in that one, leading Bayreuth to back-to-back wins. Standing at 9-3 in Germany and 4-3 in Basketball Champions League - enjoyable season!  

 12

What a difference a week makes... Banvit looked to be comfortable in their Play-Off runs both domestically and internationally. But defeats to SIG Strasbourg and Istanbul have complicated things for last season's runners-up, leaving them in a three-way tie at 4-3 in Group C. It doesn't get any easier, group leaders Umana Reyer Venezia will arrive in Bandirma on Wednesday.    

 11

Feel-good team was not feeling that good last week. EWE Baskets Oldenburg fell to the hands of UNET Holon and Telekom Baskets Bonn, taking a blow in both Play-Off hunts, both in the Basketball Champions League and the Bundesliga. They have a tough trip ahead of them, but a win over Enisey in Krasnoyarsk Krai could heal all the wounds for the German squad.

10

A shot that could change the whole season! Sylven Landesberg gave Movistar Estudiantes a much-needed morale booster against Umana Reyer Venezia, and up on their new-found confidence, they took down the reigning champions Valencia in the Spanish League! They could be the straight A students after all... Welcome to the Top 10!

9

Good news? Even D.J. Kennedy-less, Pinar Karsiyaka were challenging AS Monaco in their own backyard for a long time.
Bad news? They lost.
Even worse news? They lost again in the Turkish League, leaving them at 2-8, just a win ahead of the bottom-placed Muratbey Usak...

8

Ugh... Again!? Last season it was Jimmy Baron, shortly after his record-breaking 42-point performance in the Basketball Champions League, and this season it is Arnas Butkevicius, the second man with a triple-double in our competition, and Mindaugas Girdziunas, another star of Neptunas Klaipeda, who leave the club mid-season. Without the two of them, it's hard to see Neptunas staying at pace. Hopefully, they prove us wrong!

7

 

They may have lost to Besiktas in Istanbul, but Nanterre 92 have retained their Best Green-and-White Team of the Basketball Champions League title. A 5-point defeat will give them hope they can challenge Besiktas for the top spot once they meet in France* later on this season. Enjoy five-out, high-speed, 3PT-shooting basketball? Sweet, meet your new favorite team in the world!
*Insert a joke about a lucky second rendez-vous...  

6

 

Since the beginning of November, SIG Strasbourg have won seven of their eight games, climbing to a 5-2 record in Group C and a 7-5 record in the French League, which sees them take the fourth spot at the moment. The only defeat in that aforementioned stretch was a wild 109-102 game away at Boulazac. (Nope, not in overtime. That's why it said "wild" up there.)

5

Too early to call it a slump? Umana Reyer Venezia lost back-to-back games in the Serie A, and suffered heartbreak after Sylven Landesberg hit that game-winning buzzer-beating three-pointer for Movistar Estudiantes in the Basketball Champions League. But, even with three straight defeats, they are at 5-2 in Group C and 7-3 in Italian League, way above the average. Pay attention to coach Walter De Raffaele's timeouts, a lot can be learned.

4

Iberostar Tenerife have put out the fire in one of the hottest teams around (Neptunas), and went on to defeat FC Barcelona away from home in the Spanish League. Message sent - message received! Just take a look at Mateusz Ponitka and his performance over the weekend, it had Jugador de la Jornada written all over it. Fotis Katsikaris is off to a great start at the helm!

3

 

Man. Besiktas Sompo Japan are 8-2 in the Turkish League and 6-1 in the Basketball Champions League. They have won 7 straight in the Basketbol Super Ligi and 6 in a row in our very own Group D. Right now, they seem to be a tough draw for Bayern Mun...oh, wait. That's that other Champions League... Anyway, expect BJK to be around the top of the Power Rankings all the way until May.

2

 

The run of 10 straight wins is officially over... MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg have lost their third game of the entire season (won 20 at the same time, btw), and they have a tough week ahead of them - away at PAOK, home to medi Bayreuth in the Bundesliga and home to Iberostar Tenerife next week. We'll know what they are made of after that stretch. (Iron, probably. Or something else that's unbreakable.)

1

 

As if winning 7 straight Basketball Champions League games was not enough, AS Monaco are also at the top of the French League with a 9-3 record. The last domestic win was a 99-71 blowout of Dijon, with Sergii Gladyr going full Klay Thompson mad, hitting 9-of-10 from beyond the arc!! AWAY FROM HOME! Monaco have won five straight in all competitions, by an average score of +19.8...


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