EuroLeague Power Rankings by Eurohoops: Vol. 5

09/Mar/21 13:45 March 9, 2021

John Rammas

09/Mar/21 13:45

Eurohoops.net

With six games left for most teams in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, Eurohoops presents the fifth and final edition of the Power Rankings.

By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net

Status, dynamics, form and the significance of results were the criteria for ranking the 18 teams.

#18 KHIMKI MOSCOW REGION

Previous ranking: 18 (-)
Record: 3-24
At home: 2-12
Away: 1-12
Offense-Defense: 78.5-90.8

Khimki Moscow Region surprised even themselves with their recent win over Real Madrid (78-77) in Moscow. It was the first one after 17 consecutive defeats and only their third in 27 games for the sixth-worst offense and the worst defense in the competition. They have seven more chances (they still have the game from Round 24 with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv) to avoid Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul’s negative record of five wins (in 30 games) in 2019.

#17 CRVENA ZVEZDA MTS BELGRADE

Previous ranking: 17 (-)
Record: 7-21
At home: 4-10
Away: 3-11
Offense-Defense: 73.7-79.3

Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade has reached eight consecutive defeats and remains unmovable from 17th place in the rankings. It couldn’t have been any different for the team with the worst offense in the EuroLeague (ninth-best defense). The upcoming games against Khimki in Belgrade and Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in the Greek capital will determine whether it can become any different.

#16 ALBA BERLIN

Previous ranking: 16 (-)
Record: 10-18
At home: 5-9
Away: 5-9
Offense-Defense: 77.8-82.7

ALBA Berlin won two of the last three games (74-65 over Panathinaikos in Berlin and 81-100 over Khimki in Moscow), but before that the losses were many and consecutive and so they remain in the lower places of the rankings. In general, ALBA hasn’t climbed any higher than 12th place (Rounds 13-15). Not with the fifth-worst offense and the second-worst defense.

hezonja

#15 PANATHINAIKOS OPAP ATHENS

Previous ranking: 15 (-)
Record: 9-17
At home: 6-7
Away: 3-10
Offense-Defense: 79.5-82.1

Panathinaikos is showing some improvement under Oded Kattash but without the corresponding results, since they count three consecutive defeats and are trapped between 15th and 16th place in the rankings. The fourth-worst defense in the competition does not allow for much more (ninth-best offense, without Nemanja Nedovic in the last four games). They still have to play games for Round 6 with Zenit St Petersburg and Round 25 away at CSKA Moscow.

sloukas

#14 OLYMPIACOS PIRAEUS

Previous ranking: 12 (-2)
Record: 12-16
At home: 5-9
Away: 7-7
Offense-Defense: 78.9-81

Olympiacos Piraeus just put an end to a streak of seven consecutive defeats, the longest they have suffered in the EuroLeague, which was enough to put them out of contention for qualification in the playoffs. They were in eighth place in Round 19 and now they’re in 13th with the seventh-worst offense and fifth-worst defense. The long absence of Kostas Papanikolaou proved to be irreplaceable, while they also just lost Hassan Martin to an injury.

#13 MACCABI PLAYTIKA TEL AVIV

Previous ranking: 10 (-3)
Record: 11-15
At home: 7-6
Away: 4-9
Offense-Defense: 77.3-80.1

Before beating Valencia Basket (84-72) in Tel Aviv, Maccabi had lost two games on the final possession in what has been a recurring scene throughout the season. Now, they have 10 losses by deficits of up to 4 points. In general, they could’ve done much better than 14th place, but they never escaped mediocrity (ninth-worst offense and ninth-best defense).

#12 LDLC ASVEL VILLEURBANNE

Previous ranking: 13 (+1)
Record: 12-16
At home: 8-7
Away: 4-9
Offense-Defense: 77.3-80.1

With seven wins in the last ten games, LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne has made an impression after a negative first round, while at the same time causing shifts in the rankings. Except for Zvezda (78-81), all of the teams ASVEL beat were from the top eight or were aiming to get in there. The smallest possible improvement in their offense (third-worst) and defense (eighth-worst) will allow them not to fall below 12th place again.

#11 VALENCIA BASKET

Previous ranking: 11 (-)
Record: 14-14
At home: 9-4
Away: 5-10
Offense-Defense: 82.2-82.5

Until Round 18, Valencia was one of only two teams (FC Barcelona was the other) that had never lost its place in the top eight. With six defeats in the following 10 games, they have now dropped down to 11th place in the rankings and far from those that lead to the playoffs. Things would be much better if they had found a balance between offense (third-best) and defense (third-worst).

#10 ZALGIRIS KAUNAS

Previous ranking: 7 (-3)
Record: 15-13
At home: 8-6
Away: 7-7
Offense-Defense: 77.4-76.8

Zalgiris Kaunas counts six defeats in the last 10 games and they continue sitting outside the top eight since Round 24. The next two games, against Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Turkey, will make it difficult for them to recover that lost ground. They remain consistently good in defense (fifth-best), but they’re unable to improve in offense (fourth-worst) and that has cost them.

#9 TD SYSTEMS BASKONIA VITORIA-GASTEIZ

Previous ranking: 14 (+5)
Record: 14-14
At home: 9-5
Away: 5-9
Offense-Defense: 79.6-76.6

The 1-5 at the beginning of 2021 set back TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in a big way, so much so that the 5-1 that followed was not enough for them to get as close to the top eight as they would have liked. Now their role is more as a regulator since the last six games will find them playing against four teams that are already in the positions that lead to the playoffs. The eighth-best offense does not fully reflect their philosophy as a team, but on the other hand the fourth-worst defense characterizes their game.

#8 ZENIT ST PETERSBURG

Previous ranking: 5 (-3)
Record: 16-11
At home: 7-5
Away: 9-6
Offense-Defense: 77.2-75.3

Zenit had even climbed to third place in the rankings (Round 21), but the last defeat by Madrid (71-75) in St Petersburg was the fifth since then and now they’ve dropped to eighth place. They have difficult and nless difficult games ahead until the end of the regular season and they can win back the lost positions, but that will take improvement on offense (second-worst against the second-best defense). They still have the game for Round 6 to play against Panathinaikos in St Petersburg, too.

#7 REAL MADRID

Previous ranking: 4 (-3)
Record: 17-11
At home: 9-4
Away: 8-7
Offense-Defense: 79.8-76.8

The many absences (Anthony Randolph, Rudy Fernandez, Sergio Llull, Trey Thompkins) have cost Madrid and they now count six losses in the last 11 games, the most recent one being at the hands of last-placed Khimki (78-77) in Moscow. They are now out of the top four and in danger of losing more positions in the upcoming games against Barcelona and CSKA in Madrid. They’re called to pick up the slack, both in offense (seventh-best) and in defense (sixth-worst).

#6 FC BAYERN MUNICH

Previous ranking: 8 (+2)
Record: 18-10
At home: 11-3
Away: 7-7
Offense-Defense: 79-77.4

FC Bayern Munich kicked off 2021 with three losses in the first four games but drastically changed the situation and now they count six wins in the last seven. They are now back in the top four. With the rest of the schedule coming against teams from places 1 to 11 in the rankings, Bayern will be forced to show an even better face on offense (eighth-worst) and defense (seventh-best).

#5 CKSA MOSCOW

Previous ranking: 3 (-2)
Record: 18-9
At home: 8-4
Away: 10-5
Offense-Defense: 83.1-80.1

CSKA just suffered their sixth defeat (100-70 by Efes) in the last ten games, while almost all of the four they won they did so at the end. The next two games, against Milan in Moscow and Madrid in Spain, will decide whether they will remain in the top four, where they’ve been consistently since Round 8. Their offense, the best in the competition, remains their strongest card (eighth-worst defense). They still have the game for Round 26 against Panathinaikos to play in Moscow.

#4 AX ARMANI EXCHANGE MILAN

Previous ranking: 2 (-2)
Record: 18-10
At home: 10-5
Away: 8-5
Offense-Defense: 81.6-78

After having won six games in a row, AX Armani Exchange Milan is 3-3 since then. Despite that, they’ve been consistently in the top four since Round 22. They have a series of crash tests ahead of them, with CSKA in Moscow and Barcelona in Milan being the first two, which will decide whether they will stay so high up or not and to which they bring a combination of the fourth-best offense and eighth-best defense.

#3 FENERBAHCE BEKO ISTANBUL

Previous ranking: 6 (+3)
Record: 17-11
At home: 9-6
Away: 8-5
Offense-Defense: 80-80.3

The recent defeat by neighbors Efes (74-106) may have put an end to Fenerbahce’s winning streak (10-0) but it didn’t throw them off and they proved this in Milan (92-100) and in Lyon (86-90). Now they’re even hoping to make the top four. The offense (sixth-best in the competition against the sixth-worst defense) can take them there regardless of how difficult the rest of their schedule is.

#2 ANADOLU EFES ISTANBUL

Previous ranking: 9 (+7)
Record: 17-10
At home: 8-6
Away: 9-4
Offense-Defense: 82.2-76.2

2021 is Efes’s year. How could it not be with nine wins in 10 games, some of them by a wide margin over teams that have the same goals (74-106 over Fenerbahce, 100-70 over CSKA), while they even got a win on the home court of top-ranked Barcelona (68-86). They have another three games against teams from the top eight, but with the third-best offense and defense they’re not the ones who should be worried. They still have the game from Round 23 to play against Maccabi in Tel Aviv, too.

higgins

#1 FC BARCELONA

Previous ranking: 1 (-)
Record: 20-8
At home: 10-5
Away: 10-3
Offense-Defense: 80.8-73.2

The recent defeats in Barcelona at the hands of Efes (86-88) and Villeurbanne (69-76), the only ones in the last 11 games, didn’t cost Barcelona and they remain firmly at the top of the standings since Round 21. In the remaining six games they will face four teams from the top eight, but they have what it takes to remain ahead of everyone, like the best defense in the EuroLeague and the fifth-best offense.

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