11/11/2019
Long Read
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Basketball Champions League Power Rankings: Volume 4
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
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Not much to say when PAOK are one of only three teams without a win in the Basketball Champions League. |
31
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Not much to say when Mornar Bar are one of only three teams without a win in the Basketball Champions League. |
30
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Not much to say when Lietkabelis are one of only three teams without a win in the Basketball Champions League. |
29
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Not sure if it's crazier that Polski Cukier Torun have two guys in top five in scoring (Chris Wright 21.8 ppg, Keith Hornsby 20.3 ppg) or that they allowed 100+ points in back-to-back Basketball Champions League games. Either way, only good enough for 29th spot here. |
28
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No matter how low or high VEF Riga are on this list, they still have a guy named Arturs Kurucs on their roster. Dave Hein wrote a nice one about him here. |
27
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Last season, coach Igor Milicic was on the Basketball Podcast: Episode 46, talking about how he likes to mix up the defense, and keep the opponents dizzy. Well, it's not working so well this season, because Anwil Wloclawek are dead last in the Defensive Rating, allowing 128.4 points per 100 possessions. Waaaaaay too much. |
26
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Gaziantep moved up because of their back-to-back wins in the Turkish League and the Basketball Champions League last week, and frankly, they weren't that far off from an upset as Anadolu Efes defeated them by only five points. Better times are coming. |
25
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Losing at home is a big no-no. Telenet Giants Antwerp will have to get at least one back on the road, possibly even two, maybe even three in a tough group that they have...but hey, at least they are unbeaten in Belgium this season. |
24
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All hail De Jong. Nicolas De Jong was the MVP of the Week after his mind blowing performance that saw EB Pau-Lacq-Orthez get off the mark...and earned himself a nice standing ovation as he left the game with ten seconds to play. Getting a standing ovation away from home, that's one of the biggest things you can get, right? |
23
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Besiktas Sompo Sigorta are just 1-3 in the Basketball Champions League and 2-5 in the Turkish League and they lost six straight games in all competitions so I don't want to talk about it, okay? Okay. |
22
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Sure, Teksut Bandirma lost to AEK, lost by a lot, and only scored 50 points at home. But that was their only defeat over the last five in all competitions, so they deserve to be up at 22 despite their 1-3 record in this League. |
21
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Three straight defeats. We are sorry, we are the ones to blame, because a slump like that usually happens as soon as we start discussing stuff here and say, "oh man, Telekom Baskets Bonn look like a contender this season!" Sorry. |
20
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You should be very scared of this team. Because UNET Holon are just starting to get into their own rhythm, they are just starting to share the ball the way coach Sharon Drucker wants them to. We have a story about them right here. |
19
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Going to put an * next to BAXI Manresa's 3-1 record because they did play three games at home so far. And they are just 2-6 in the Spanish League, too. But they are a joy to watch. Don't believe me? Believe the stats, Manresa own a league leading assists percentage of 76.6. Assists make people happy, that's all. |
18
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You know what's the big secret if you are a team from, let's say, Hungary or Czech Republic or somewhere and want to compete? Defense. Because Falco Szombathely are among the highest ranked defensive teams of the League, with a defensive rating of 96.1 - anything below 100 suggests you are really good. Oh, and ERA Nymburk are 93.4 in the same column. That's why I said it's a secret for Hungarians and Czechs. |
17
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Want drama? Just tune in to SIG Strasbourg. Last three games, won two, lost one, biggest margin was 5 points... Crazy. But good to see them win three of last four after a horrible start to the season. |
16
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Just here to tell you that Shevon Thompson is averaging 17.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. I'm making him my MVP of the competition if Filou Oostende end Gameday 6 with a 4-2 record. |
15
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It's okay, Peristeri winmasters. Maybe you started losing the games, which is fine, because nobody expected you to go 50-0 this season. But at least you got a shout here for your beautiful elevator set, in Diccon Lloyd-Smeath's Tactics Board. |
14
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Three straight defeats in all competitions. Stay positive, Turk Telekom. |
13
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Second in offensive rating, San Pablo Burgos really should've done what their Spanish friends from BAXI Manresa did when they had three home games over the first four weeks. But instead of going to 3-1, they are down to 2-2 and dropping down a place or two every week because of their five game losing streak. |
12
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Here they go again. Happy Casa Brindisi on their second three-game-winning-streak of the season. Games against PAOK and Szombathely coming up, chance to make it a five-game winning streak, powered by their highlight machine called Kelvin Martin and his Rare Heart. |
11
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Casademont Zaragoza got a good one this week, because Dylan Ennis joined the team. With him on board, Carlos Alocen has a perfect partner in the backcourt, and good luck to all trying to guard the two guards and their mixture of passing, scoring, speed and panache. |
10
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Everybody on October 23, after Nizhny Novgorod blew by Brose Bamberg: "OH MY GOD, IS THIS THE END OF AN ERA!? BAMBERG ARE LOSING GAMES AND LOOK AWFUL." Everybody on November 12, after Bamberg's five game winning streak: "Forget it." |
9
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Told you in the Falco Szombathely that ERA Nymburk are the second best defense of the Basketball Champions League. Even though they suffered their first defeat since - get this - February, Nymburk still look like a team that will feed off of the energy and good vibes that Czech Republic created during the FIBA Basketball World Cup. Meaning, Nymburk should be there for the Play-Offs. And longer. |
8
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For the first time in nearly a month, Nizhny Novgorod had to play a VTB game, losing by four away at UNICS Kazan. But don't be afraid about them being tired, because they've got Nymburk and Zielona Gora coming to town over the next four days, with their next trip happening next week, when they take on Gaziantep in Turkey. So, two games at home. Sounds perfect if you want to go to 4-1 in BCL and 4-2 in VTB. |
7
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Five in a row for Neptunas Klaipeda! They have a lot of interesting young players, which makes Deividas Gailius a perfect mentor on the floor. And out there he can do it all, 17.3 points per game, 4.0 assists per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, 1.3 steals per game, so there could be a third BCL triple-double brewing in Lithuania with him playing like this. One of the previous two triple-doubles in this competition was done by Arnas Butkevicius, so Neptunas already know the feeling... |
6
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I have no clue how to explain Dinamo Sassari's offensive form this season. They have three games in which they scored 100+ points, but wait. Don't call them a loaded gun so fast. Because they also have three games in which they were stuck in 50s. Last game in Italy included, a 55-54 defeat to Venezia. And it's a shame. Because I was about to make them a Top 5 team. |
5
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Oh boy. It's them again. AEK finally found their groove, winning four in a row in all competitions and having not one, but two MVP candidates in Keith Langford and Howard Sant-Roos who is yet another threat for the triple-double. Last week, Sant-Roos had 8 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds against Bandirma, so stop sleeping on him. |
4
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When Rasta Vechta went into the season with an 0-3 record, a lot of people thought they were just another one-hit wonder and that they couldn't repeat the same kind of performances like last season. Well, a lot of people were wrong. Because Vechta won 7 of their last 8 games in all competitions and are such a joy to watch. Also, a team named after a Bob Marley song cannot be a one-hit wonder. No way. |
3
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So, what's better than Rasta's 7 wins in 8 games? How about Iberostar Tenerife's 8 wins over their last 9 games in the Spanish League and the BCL!? Plus, the only defeat they had - it was by just a single point, 79-78, to Baskonia. Man, Txus Vidorreta is a genius, that's all I'm saying. And the winningest coach in the history of the Basketball Champions League, as of last week. |
2
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So, what's better than Tenerife's 8 wins in 9 games? How about JDA Dijon's 11 wins in 12 games in the French League and the BCL this season!?!? Crazy. And with David Holston and Axel Julien playing the way they are, being two of the three players with 30+ assists this season in the Basketball Champions League, it's hard to see Dijon losing a game. Ever. |
1
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So, what's better than Dijon's 11 wins in 12 games? How about Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem's 11 wins in 12 games, while already winning the Israeli League Cup, getting a league leading offensive rating of 126.3 here and a league leading offensive rating of 119.5 in Israel, and scoring 318 in their last three games!? Yep. That should do it. Jerusalem still number one in the Power Rankings. |
*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 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.
