By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Only one round remains in the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup regular season before the second midseason break that will pave the way for the playoffs.
This was a fascinating stretch with some powerhouses confirming their status by playing beautiful basketball of the highest order and perhaps some unexpected challengers emerging along the way. The MVP race remains less monopolized than last season while there are many youngsters who can lay their hands on the Rising Star award.
Valencia and Bahcesehir have shown they are made of different stuff
While there are several scenarios and factors that will determine the final rankings in Group A and Group B, we know for certain the two standings leaders: Bahcesehir College Istanbul and Valencia Basket, respectively.
On its return to the competition after its only previous appearance in 2020-21, Bahcesehir quickly established itself as a force to be reckoned with and will enter the postseason as one of the heavy favorites to win the championship. It’s certainly not a coincidence that the Turkish side is in this position, having invested in multiple players with EuroLeague pedigree like Jaleen Smith, Mateusz Ponitka, Tyler Cavanaugh and Sehmus Hazer, while it has one of the most experienced coaches around in Dejan Radonjic leading the way.
Bahcesehir may not be the most impressive or fancy team around, being ranked 10th in points with 83.5 per game. Still, they are lethally effective, having the second-best offensive rating at 119.7, showing they make the most out of their possessions. This is largely due to avoiding mistakes; indeed, they commit fewer turnovers than any other EuroCup team with 10.4 for 19.5 assists. Their defense is also strong, allowing just 75.1 points per night.
Meanwhile, Valencia is a locomotive once again. Not only do they have the best record in the competition at 15-2 but absolutely dominate all the major statistical categories.
Just before the regular-season finale, Valencia is ranked first in points with 96.2, assists with 23.2 and rebounds with 41.0. They are the most dangerous EuroCup team from deep with 13.4 three-pointers made per game on a league-best 38.9 percent and can easily dispatch their opponents by scoring 100 or keeping the other team below their standards. Just ask Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, which lost 66-72 at home to the Taronja last week.
Who will succeed TJ Shorts?
Last season, Paris Basketball guard TJ Shorts was pretty much the unanimous favorite for EuroCup MVP. This season is kind of different. Even though there is one obvious choice, some others are putting on a strong case themselves.
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem guard Jared Harper seems like the frontrunner thus far. He’s the leading scorer with 22.8 points per game and it’s not even close, since Turk Telekom Ankara forward Anthony Brown follows with 18.3 ppg. He’s amply facilitating for his teammates by dishing out 5.8 assists, being tied for second in the category with Jaleen Smith.
Right now, Harper has collected the most MVP of the Round nods with five, something that illustrates his winning impact for playoff-bound Hapoel Jerusalem.
There are two other challengers that stand out in the MVP race. The first one is Brown of Turk Telekom. Not only is he averaging 18.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists, but his shooting efficiency is exceptional with 51.6 percent on two-pointers and an outstanding 47.5 percent on three-pointers while making 2.8 triples per game, more than anyone else.
The other is U-BT Cluj-Napoca guard Zavier Simpson. He’s the only player outside of Harper with a presence in the top three in points and assists with 18.0 and a league-leading 7.4, respectively, while also posting 3.7 rebounds. For the American playmaker to remain in the MVP conversation, though, his team must beat Aris Midea Thessaloniki on the road to boost its postseason chances.
Youth Gone Wild
The 2024-25 EuroCup is packed with talent and this has also made the Rising Star contest rather interesting. It’s quite wholesome to watch young players not only given plenty of opportunities by their coaches but becoming leaders of their teams toward successful results.
Perhaps the biggest example of this is ratiopharm Ulm, a truly unique case of a high-level European team with 18-year-old players as main contributors: Noa Essengue and Ben Saraf.
Essengue produces team highs of 12.9 points and 5.2 rebounds while Saraf tallies 12.5 points, a team-best 4.8 assists and 2.3 rebounds. Ulm will need their spark to get the victory in an almost win-or-go-home game against Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv.
In his first season in the EuroCup, Valencia guard Jean Montero is also turning some heads with his game. At 21, he’s leading his team in assists with 5.2 to go with his 12.4 points, artfully taking care of playmaking business in a demanding situation.
A new power rises as another falls
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana had collected four wins in the two previous EuroCup seasons together. This year, they reached 10 victories by Round 16 to book a ticket to the playoffs and leave behind their two previous miserable campaigns in the competition.
Under new coach Zvezdan Mitrovic, a EuroCup champion and Coach of the Year in 2021 with AS Monaco, the Slovenian side has once again become a winning team that can dream of materializing the high goals set by the organization.
On the other hand, this has been a rough season for Joventut Badalona. This is the first time the Catalan team will miss the playoffs after fourth consecutive postseason trips, carrying a disappointing 6-11 record after Round 17.
Joventut started the season with an impressive 75-72 win over stacked contender Hapoel Tel Aviv but soon collapsed behind a 1-7 stretch, despite the presence of such players as Ante Tomic, Adam Hanga, Kassius Robertson and Artem Pustovyi. They never recovered as the addition of Sam Dekker proved to be not enough.