By Nikos Varlas/ varlas@eurohoops.net
The season gets under way in a few days and the time has come for the top 100 Euroleague Rankings. A difficult concept, subjective, one that – by nature – creates differing opinions and disagreements!
Eurohoops begins the presentation from the bottom up and the main thing that has to be made clear is that our Rankings are not made based on those that are published about NBA players in the USA. It’s true that the individual element is very important, but we equally evaluate the team’s dynamics and potential.
Criteria
1. PLAYER’S VALUE: The overall competitive evaluation of players. The characteristics of their game, their worth, their leadership skills, their quality as a unit independent of the team they play for.
2. PLAYER’S ROLE: The importance of a player for their team as we evaluate and predict it for the new season.
3. TEAM’S WORTH: The team the player we choose plays for, its apparent value in the league in the long term and the potential it has. How far the player’s team that is chosen for the new Euroleague season can go.
4. INDIVIDUAL POTENTIAL: The individual potential of the player, exclusively. The extent to which they can grow and improve, how high they can go based on their value, talent and age.
5. THE NUMBERS: The statistics we speculate the player can tally on average, when their team’s run in the Euroleague is completed. This is definitely an important criterion but the last priority for our choices, since it depends directly on the quality of the team they play for and their role in the team.
These are the 5 criteria that we factor in in order to reach an overall assessment of every player individually and from that point to draw the Top 100 Ranks. If you consider that around 240 players are registered on the rosters of the Euroleague, you will comprehend how hard and tortuous it was to make these selections!
So many players of value that we respect infinitely for whom there was not enough space and, really, from a total of 150 players, the list of the 100 was drawn up with great difficulty. Especially in the bottom 20 slots, there could be any name from the 50 that were necessarily not included and we ask for your understanding for this in advance.
If you missed it, here’s our 100 to 91 rankings and the 90 to 81 and 80 to 71 as well.
So let’s continue to countdown.
#70 Justin Doellman 1985 2m.06 F Barcelona
His game is based on his offensive gifts. He has an excellent touch with the basket, he can score from any range (one of the few players that still uses the board so often in modern European basketball) and last year he scored some big shots, showing that he has some… clutch tendencies too. His role is going to be similar to his first season in Barcelona and of course he is going to be judged by his performance in the big games and whether Barca returns to the Final Four and the top of the ACB.
#69 Marcus Slaughter 1985 2m.04 C Darussafaka
He could have been even lower in our evaluation this year because last season he went rather unnoticed in Darussafaka with low productivity in all areas. We believe that with David Blatt on the team he’s going to be used more in roles that suit him and will experience an upswing this year. Great athletic qualities, he can prove to be a great force in the pick-and-roll, mainly defensively, but also offensively. He has to improve in the post offensively, work on his technique and last longer in his game.
#68 Derrick Brown 1987 2m.01 F Anadolu Efes
He didn’t escape the overall mediocrity of last year’s team, who failed in all their goals. His productivity dropped compared to everything he showed us in Krasnodar, as did his percentages. He’s a very quality player who can contribute a lot and – especially in offense – make the difference. We are expecting a much better season from the American, not so much in terms of stats, but his real impact on the court and the what extent he is going to push his team toward a better course this year.
#67 Nikola Kalinic 1991 2m.02 F Fenerbahce
He has found his place and his role in Fenerbahce. A team multi-tool that can contribute in balance and chemistry, without needing too many possessions in offense. His commitment in defense is so strong that it makes him truly great in this area. One of those players that big teams need to win titles and that Obradovic always likes and earn his trust.
#66 Keith Langford 1983 1m.93 G UNICS Kazan
A habitual scorer, he won the Euroleague’s “Alphonso Ford” trophy in 2014! He returns to the league after the regular period of the 2014-15 season and he is definitely going to be the benchmark of Evgeniy Pashutin’s team. He’s still charismatic in scoring and in one-on-one situations, and is going to give us some great nights. A key criterion for our Top 100 is the potential and future of the team in the league. UNICS cannot have any big ambitions to go very far in the tournament and this is why the American scorer is not higher in our evaluation.