MIES (Switzerland) - Season 8 of the Basketball Champions League has reached the Round of 16 stage so  we are headed towards the crucial phase of the season, meaning it's time for a Power Rankings update.

We are trying to rank all 16 teams based on their overall performance, not just their BCL record. That means that their domestic league results are also taken into account, because you'll feel better about a team that won 10 straight games overall, than about a team that won two BCL games, but lost eight games in their domestic championship.

You can revisit Volume 1 by clicking this link. Then, you can find Volume 2 here. Or, if you don't like old news, just visit the latest edition, Volume 3 right here. The last checkup was in early December, Volume 4.

Finally, Volume 5 was the last one to feature all 32 teams that played in the Regular Season.

#16 Tofas Bursa (+8)

BCL record: 4-6
Domestic championship record: 8-10

Two wins and five defeats over the last seven games in all competitions, including a 19-point defeat to Unicaja, which saw them score an abysmal six points in a quarter. Not fun. Not at all.

#15 Hapoel Holon (=)

BCL record: 5-5
Domestic championship record: 5-3

Should we put Shawn Dawson on a special triple-double watch? He's not the best scorer, he's not the best passer, he's not the best rebounder. But somehow, you look at his stats and he's done a bit of everything for his team, like when he had 6 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists against Hapoel Eilat over the weekend. In just 25 minutes of work! We already had one this season, Dawson to be the second one? Sure. Why not.

#14 AEK BETSSON BC (-12)

BCL record: 5-2
Domestic championship record: 7-9

Coach Joan Plaza is gone. Nobody talk to me for another week or so, please.

#13 SIG Strasbourg (-5)

BCL record: 4-3
Domestic championship record: 10-11

This team is impossible to read. IM-POSS-I-BLE! They were in a slump after losing four games in five tries, and they had Paris coming to town over the weekend. Surely they were going to lose one more. Surely. Right? Wrong. Strasbourg defeated Paris with a masterful performance by Hugo Invernizzi, who knocked down six three-pointers and put up a game-high 23 points. Yep. It's not hot and cold, it's fire and freezing with the SIGmen.

#12 Galatasaray EKMAS (+10)

BCL record: 5-4
Domestic championship record: 9-9

Just click play at the 3:19 mark of the video and enjoy the way Galatasaray erased a six-point deficit in the last 40 seconds of the fourth quarter, and then erased a seven-point deficit with two minutes to play in overtime. Nothing lifts the morale like a passionate comeback win in front of your fans!

 

#11 JDA Bourgogne Dijon (-5)

BCL record: 5-2
Domestic championship record: 10-11

Another milestone is about to be unlocked by David Holston. The eternal point guard needs just five points to join Vojtech Hruban, Giorgi Shermadini and Levi Randolph as the only men with 900+ career points in the Basketball Champions League. Dijon are up against the team you just scrolled down from -  Galatasaray - this week. They went 2-0 against them in the Round of 16 in 2022.

#10 Peristeri bwin (+9)

BCL record: 5-4
Domestic championship record: 10-6

Hey, talking about BCL greatness, here's Joe Ragland's team. He finally clicked with coach Vassilis Spanoulis - was it even a question? - and now he's delivering big time. He didn't post any double-doubles in the first four games this season, but now he's had 10+ points and 10+ assists in four of his last five games! In fact, Ragland's just 0.3 of an assist away from averaging a season double-double. In fact, he's got 12 career double-doubles in the BCL, owning the top spot in that department. Oh, and we get to witness a fine matchup this week, because he'll be up against Marcelinho Huertas, the man right behind him in all-time double-doubles, with 10.

#9 Pinar Karsiyaka (+4)

BCL record: 5-5
Domestic championship record: 12-6

We told you before about Karsiyaka's road struggles, but it's a paradox. Because their best player, Vernon Carey Jr, is actually playing better on the road. He is averaging 20.3 points and 8.8 rebounds away from home, compared to 17.5 and 6.7 at home. And, get this, Carey's 26 and 8 at home over the weekend weren't even good enough to make him the man of the hour, because Vitto Brown went crazy with 29 and 6 to blow out Anadolu Efes by 18!

#8 Promitheas Patras (+10)

BCL record: 6-3
Domestic championship record: 9-7

Just go through the slides here. Anthony Cowan is the best-kept secret in the BCL.

 

#7 Telekom Baskets Bonn (+3)

BCL record: 4-3
Domestic championship record: 11-8

Are the defending champs finally catching their stride? Remember, they had a four-game losing streak in December, they lost five of their six games then, and it seemed like maybe they weren't all that good. But, it turns out they were just waiting for the Four Hills Championship to begin to start flying, too. Four wins in the last six games, plus a home game against Ludwigsburg coming up - a team they already beat twice, both times on the road, in German domestic competitions.

#6 MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg (+5)

BCL record: 6-4
Domestic championship record: 11-7

Sure, we know the Giants are all about shooting this season and can defeat anybody on their night, but they can also lose to anybody if the shots aren't falling. One thing they need to improve is their rim protection. That's why they brought in Michael Hughes, a soon-to-be 26-year-old big who averaged 2.3, 2.7 and 1.6 blocks per game in his three seasons at Duquesne, respectively. If they go on a deep run, he could be in the mix for most blocks per 40 minutes, for sure.

 

#5 UCAM Murcia (-2)

BCL record: 6-1
Domestic championship record: 11-9

Imagine how good of a start to the season they had, that four defeats in the last seven games is considered a slump, and said"slump" simply brought their record down to 17-10 for the season... Murcia extended coach Sito Alonso's contract, they are now handing long-term contracts to players, too, and they could make BCL history this week, because they are on a six-game winning streak by double-digit margins. No team has ever won seven in a row by 10+ points!

#4 Lenovo Tenerife (+3)

BCL record: 5-2
Domestic championship record: 11-9

Two words for you: Marcelinho Masterpiece. Enjoy it! Okay, one more thing - go-to Guy had arrived!

#3 Cholet Basket (+9)

BCL record: 6-4
Domestic championship record: 11-10

Hey now. Four straight wins for Cholet Basket in all competitions, 7-2 over the last nine games, packed stands in France, and two guys who are must-watch BCL material. Craig Randall II is currently the top scorer in the BCL, while Tidjane Salaun is a runaway candidate for the Best Young Player award at the end of the season. Cholet are fun. Best run since the start of the season, when they connected six straight wins.

#2 Unicaja (+2)

BCL record: 5-2
Domestic championship record: 16-4

The fact that Unicaja blew out Valencia by 20 (!) on the road (!!!) and nobody bats an eyelid just speaks volumes of the standards coach Ibon Navarro and the front office have set for this team. They are just one win behind Real Madrid in the battle for #1 in Spain, they are topping their BCL group, they have won six of their last seven games in all competitions, 11 of their last 13, 20 of their last 23, and 21 of their 27 games this season. Come on. 21-6 season record!? Ridiculous. And still, they are not the number one here because...

#1 Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (=)

BCL record: 6-1
Domestic championship record: 7-3

...Speedy Smith said so! Big shot after a big shot, Speedy Smith has won another game for Jerusalem, an emotional one which marked the start of a new era in the club. Coach Aleksandar Dzikic stepped down for personal reasons, but the team, under coach Ilias Kantzouris now, picked up where they left off and got off to a winning start in the Round of 16. A loaded team, which is also highly ambitious after losing out in the Final last season. One step farther this season? One step farther.

 

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