08 October, 2019
04 October, 2020
27/01/2020
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Basketball Champions League Power Rankings: Volume 12

MIES (Switzerland) - Basketball Champions League is back, which also means that our Power Rankings are here to stay, too. The format remains the same as last season, domestic results are taken into account, because you can't view this as an isolated competition, but as part of what a basketball team is going through all season long, in all competitions, all the time.

32

The only two teams with just a single win in the Regular Season? Bakken Bears in 2016-17, Petrol Olimpija last season. VEF Riga have two more games to avoid becoming the third team at 1-13.

31

Nothing has changed, Polski Cukier Torun still score the most points in the Basketball Champions League, averaging 89.5 per game. However, they also allow the most points, with 97.5 which is just horrible.

30

The end of an era. Vincent Collet is no longer in charge of SIG Strasbourg, a ten-game losing streak in all competitions was too much to swallow for the front office.

29

PAOK had their hearts broken last week at the buzzer...and it didn't help that they lost by 117-79 to the hands of Panathinaikos in the Greek League, either. Malcolm Rhett Cooke and Jacorey Williams are the latest two signings to save the season for PAOK.

28

With EB Pau-Lacq-Orthez no longer in the hunt for Play-Offs, the team can now focus in helping Justin Dentmon take the scoring title in here. Dentmon is averaging 23.6 points per game, which would give him the highest points per game average in BCL history. Nick Minnerath had 20.3 for Saratov in Season One.

27

The fact that Gaziantep are out of the hunt for the next round may be a good thing. In fact, they defeated Fenerbahce by 11 last weekend, staying in Play-Offs contention in Turkey, which could be a ticket back to the Basketball Champions League in 2021.

26

Telenet Giants Antwerp are up to 148 offensive rebounds this season, which is good for the top of the charts in the league! Hang on... Is that... Is that really a category you want to lead? Doesn't that mean that you also missed a bunch of shots? It does. Because Antwerp are shooting 40.8 percent from the field, lowest mark of the entire competition, and that's why they won't repeat their last season's Final Four success.

25

Speaking of league lows, Mornar Bar's iso-ball means that they only had 172 assists this season. Marcelinho Huertas has 98 assists by himself...

24

Falco Szombathely are suffering from the Power Rankings curse. Since they were at number 11, and we talked about them being a Top 10 team, they suffered three straight defeats. Sorry, Falco. It's not you.

23

The losing streak is all gone now. Neptunas Klaipeda defeated Bonn last week...but at 5-7 with two games to play in the Basketball Champions League, it could be too little too late.

22

The losing streak is all gone now. Lietkabelis defeated Torun last week...but at 5-7 with two games to play in the Basketball Champions League, it could be too little too late.

21

Hey, even though their Play-Offs chances in the BCL are becoming slimmer by the minute, it's good to see that Anwil Wloclawek are doing things right in the Polish League. They had 100+ points in their last four games, winning all of those and thinking, "man, why can't we do this in the BCL, too!?"

20

Thing you need to know about Happy Casa Brindisi? Ty Stone is a good at this basketball thingy.

19

Out of nowhere, UNET Holon connected four! Two wins in the BCL and two more in the Israeli League made them a team on fire, even though their lack of rim protection could be exposed as they travel to Sassari this week. Just 15 blocks this season. Just over 1 per game. That's not a lot, you know.

18

Rasta Vechta are one of only three teams in the Basketball Champions League that has not had a player with a double-double yet. The other two? Bamberg and Bonn. German efficiency, huh?

17

It's happening again. Filou Oostende could have their fourth straight Basketball Champions League season in which they lose the Play-Offs ticket by just a single win... Belgian champs have got Manresa and Torun in their two remaining games, maybe it finally opens up beyond the arc for them because Oostende are bottom of this field with just 70 three-pointers made. That's just under six per game. Basically, guys like Feldeine and York have a habit of making more triples in a game than Oostende.

16

Guys, just do the Hack-a-Nizhny-Novgorod. Because these guys knocked down just 115 free throws all season long, and they are doing it with a 65.7 percent accuracy, so yeah, James Harden probably does not prefer their kind of basketball, no.

15

Telekom Baskets Bonn are still not confirmed for the next round. They are in if they win. Also, they are in if they lose and Besiktas and Brindisi both win. Meaning, they are almost in. But the way Bonn have gone up and down and up and down this season, let's just wait for official mathematical confirmation, please.

14

Bryce Taylor joined the podcast crew last week, so take a listen why he loves Germany so much. Brose Bamberg have a do-or-die game in front of them, they need to defeat Peristeri if they want to have a chance of reaching the last 16 again.

13

Emanuel Terry is leading the league in rebounds per game with 10.0, and he's doing it is scary fashion, too. The big guy could be the best defending big guy we've ever seen in this league, and that says a lot. With Terry doing Terry stuff, Teksut Bandirma have picked up two straight wins, over AEK and Rasta Vechta, which means they could be through with a win this week, if other results go their way.

12

Biggest game of the week coming up: Peristeri winmasters play host to Brose Bamberg and need a win to advance. If they allow the Germans to pick up a road win, they will be tied at 7-6 with Bamberg owning the tiebreaker. See? Biggest game of the week.

11

For the first time ever in the Basketball Champions League, AEK lost three straight games. That's it. That's the post.

10

BAXI Manresa picked a horrible timing for a four game losing streak in the BCL and the Liga Endesa. Still, a win over Oostende and it's all done, they can start the "load management" for the last game of the Regular Season, to possibly make Liga Endesa a priority for a short period of time. Win in Belgium, that's the first step.

9

You know how players and coaches usually say that losing a couple of players can actually help the rest of the team form bonds and stay together? Well, Besiktas Sompo Sigorta are the best possible example. They are 6-1 since late December, with their only defeat being an overtime thriller with Bahcesehir. BJK sent a message over the weekend, Shaq McKissic went mad for 38 points to hand Anadolu Efes only their second defeat in the Turkish League! Good to see you back to your best, Besiktas!

8

Try explaining how San Pablo Burgos managed to get swept by EB Pau-Lacq-Orthez and bounced back with a +17 win over AEK, which is the largest ever defeat for the 2018 champs. Win away from the Play-Offs, playing away at Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem this week. Tough one.

7

Let's not talk about that game against Zaragoza, okay? JDA Dijon could afford that one. And they are up at 17-3 in the French League, which is just crazy at this point of season. Keep an eye on Lamonte Ulmer, he leads the BCL with 2.3 steals per game.

6

Dinamo Sassari's drop has nothing to do with them. Just a lot to do with the other teams switching through gears and powering through on all counts. Oh well, a couple of wins against Holon and Manresa should do the trick and put Sassari back into the Top 5. They will need a bit of help from the others because Turk Telekom own the tiebreaker and would finish first in case of a tie at the top of Group A.

5

Last four Casademont Zaragoza games in all competitions: +16, +19, +32, +21. Yep. Peaking at the right time, good job by coach Porfirio Fisac! Also, it helps when you have a guy who can knock down 8 three-pointers in a game, right? Right.

4

Turk Telekom are 5-1 in 2020. C.J. Harris is the new man in town, so expect them to get even better and charge for the first spot in the Power Rankings...and Group A, that's equally as important, you know.

3

There are a lot of impressive things about this team, but take a second to admire what Zach Hankins is about to do. ERA Nymburk's big guy is averaging 2.4 blocks per game, which is the most since Norvel Pelle had 2.7 back in Season One. Nice find, Nymburk. Nice one indeed.

2

Marcelinho Huertas found the fountain of youth, because he's dishing out assists like it's a video game. He had 17 last week, the most ever in a BCL game, tied with Scottie Reynolds who did it for Cibona in January 2017. And nobody ever had more than 8.0 assists per game in this competition - Huertas sits at 8.9 for Iberostar Tenerife as we speak.

1

James Feldeine had a cold day in the sun last time around, missing all five of his attempts from beyond the arc. And yet, he's on pace to set the new mark for most three-pointers in a single season, he knocked down 39 of them in 12 games - just for comparison, Kevin Punter had 51 in 20  games last season. Gabe York's 57 are the most so far, done back in 2017-18. With Feldeine's gravity, offensive space will keep opening up for all the others in Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem's shirt.


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

Igor Curkovic

Igor Curkovic

Igor Curkovic is Basketball Champions League's writer and editor since day one of the competition, specializing in Live Blog coverage of the games and sorting out the teams on Mondays, in the Power Rankings. When he's not watching basketball, he's commentating Croatian Second Division soccer games for TV.