By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
Status, dynamics, form and the significance of each team’s results were the criteria for ranking the 16 teams.
16. AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 6-14
At home: 4-7
Away: 2-7
Offense-Defense: 81,8-86,6
Milan can brag about their offense (third best with 81,8 points) but unfortunately that’s as good as it gets for them. Their defense (the worst with 86,6 points) does not allow for something more, and this was obvious in the last defeat to Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv (102-111). At least Milan’s preceding consecutive wins over Unicaja Malaga (101-87) and Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz (82-83) helped them get unstuck from the last place in the standings, where they’ve found themselves five times.
15. Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Previous ranking: 14 (-1)
Record: 5-15
At home: 3-7
Away: 2-8
Offense-Defense: 77,9-84
When the sixth-worst offense (77,9 points) meets the second-worst defense (84 points), there can be no result other than Efes’s current course. Consecutive defeats against CSKA Moscow (110-79), Fenerbahce Dogus Istanbul (84-89) and Real Madrid (87-68) have pegged them in last place and their presence in the playoffs last season is already a distant memory. Zoran Dragic (9,8 points, 2 rebounds, 2,8 assists, 0,7 steals, 1,4 turnovers) emerging as the MVP of Round 17 in a 104-95 win over Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade was the best thing they’ve shown lately.
14. Brose Bamberg
Previous ranking: 12 (-2)
Record: 7-13
At home: 5-5
Away: 2-8
Offense-Defense: 74,3-80,1
Brose are is going through their worst patch in this season’s competition and seven losses in the last eight rounds confirm the verdict. The win over Zalgiris Kaunas (93-86) was not followed up on (81-66 at FC Barcelona Lassa, 81-72 at CSKA) and they were left even further behind in the qualification battle for the playoffs. How could it have been otherwise when they have the worst offense (74,3 points) and the seventh-worst defense, conceding 80+ points per game?
13. Valencia Basket
Previous ranking: 15 (+2)
Record: 7-13
At home: 5-5
Away: 2-8
Offense-Defense: 77,1-79,8
Valencia reacted to their streak of 10 consecutive defeats with four wins in the next six games, but the damage had already been done and the recent rise has had little impact on their ranking. In their last win – at home, since away they share the second-worst record (2-8) – over Khimki Moscow Region (85-83) they once again scored well above their average, however their offense remains one of the worst (third worst with 77,1 points) and is not sufficient to give them an even greater push. And, to top it off, they also lost Sam Van Rossom (6,8 points, 1,9 rebounds, 4,3 assists, 0,3 steals, 1,8 turnovers) with an injury.