By Stelios Toromanidis/ info@eurohoops.net
Away wins now become even more important in the effort to earn a spot in the Top 8 but also in regards to the advantage in the playoffs, while at the same time they create ups and downs in the mindset and mostly the confidence of the winners and losers.
Eurohoops did a survey in order to discover the best away team in these first 19 rounds of this season’s EuroLeague marathon and ranked all 16 contenders for the top European title with a special rating system.
The main statistical categories on which the survey was based were: the offense, defense, rebounds, assists, turnovers and index rating system of the teams when they play away from home, so far in the competition.
*In regards to the points the teams got in each statistical category, the team with the best performance is rated with 16 points and the worst with 1 point.
OFFENSE (1st statistical category): CSKA have the best performance
The survey starts with the offensive performance of the teams in their away games. The top spot and the 16 points belong to Dimitris Itoudis’s CSKA Moscow, who have been scoring 86,3 points on average, followed by Real Madrid with the also very good performance of 82,6 points.
Zalgiris Kaunas’s performance, in 3rd place with 82,4 points, is especially interesting, since we’re talking about a team with a low budget that nevertheless plays excellent basketball and has a plan, and this is also proven by their numbers. Armani Milan, with 79,8 points on average (6th place), and Anadolu Efes, with 78 points (9th place), also stand out because, even though they are low in the standings and have been disappointing, they do play good offensive basketball away from home.
The disappointments offensively in away clashes in the EuroLeague are definitely Panathinaikos (15th) and Olympiacos (16th), who occupy the bottom two places of this statistical category with 70,9 and 68 points respectively.
|
Team
|
Points (scored)
|
|
1. CSKA Moscow (16 points)
|
86,3 (in 10 games)
|
|
2. Real Madrid (15 points)
|
82,6 (in 11 games)
|
|
3. Zalgiris Kaunas (14 points)
|
82,4 (in 10 games)
|
|
4. Maccabi Tel Aviv (13 points)
|
81,5 (in 9 games)
|
|
5. Fenerbahce (12 points)
|
81 (in 9 games)
|
|
6. Armani Milan (11 points)
|
79,8 (in 9 games)
|
|
7. Baskonia (10 points)
|
79,5 (in 11 games)
|
|
8. Barcelona (9 points)
|
78,4 (in 10 games)
|
|
9. Anadolu Efes (8 points)
|
78 (in 10 games)
|
|
10. Crvena Zvezda (7 points)
|
76,8 (in 10 games)
|
|
11. Valencia (6 points)
|
76,6 (in 10 games)
|
|
12. Unicaja Malaga (5 points)
|
76 (in 10 games)
|
|
13. Khimki (4 points)
|
75,8 (in 10 games)
|
|
14. Bamberg (3 points)
|
74,1 (in 10 games)
|
|
15. Panathinaikos (2 points)
|
70,9 (in 9 games)
|
|
16. Olympiacos (1 point)
|
68 (in 11 games)
|
DEFENSE (2nd statistical category): Fenerbahce on the top
Defense is a very basic element in modern basketball if you want to win big away games, especially at the high level of the EuroLeague. Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s Olympiacos has the know-how in defense and this is also reflected in the stats, since the European runners-up have the second-best defense in the EuroLeague away from the Peace and Friendship Stadium, conceding only 75,3 points on average in every game.
The top spot belongs to the European champions, Zeljko Obradovic’s Fenerbahce, because even though they’re still trying to find their footing offensively, their defense is the weapon that can take them all the way to Belgrade in May.
Xavi Pascual’s Panathinaikos, who are overflowing with athleticism and energy, are also ranked very high – more specifically, in 3rd place – as they concede only 76 points, behind Fenerbahce and Olympiacos.
The teams that now have to completely change their defensive tactic in their away games are Efes, who concede 88,1 points and are at the bottom of this statistical category, and Maccabi Tel Aviv, who concede 86,6 points.
In detail, the table with the rankings for the 2nd statistical category:
|
Team
|
Points (conceded)
|
|
1. Fenerbahce (16 points)
|
74,4 (in 10 games)
|
|
2. Olympiacos (15 points)
|
75,3 (in 11 games)
|
|
3. Panathinaikos (14 points)
|
76 (in 9 games)
|
|
4. CSKA Moscow (13 points)
|
78,2 (in 10 games)
|
|
5. Bamberg (12 points)
|
80 (in 10 games)
|
|
6. Khimki (11 points)
|
80,4 (in 10 games)
|
|
7. Baskonia (10 points)
|
80,5 (in 11 games)
|
|
8. Real Madrid (9 points)
|
80,5 (in 10 games)
|
|
9. Zalgiris Kaunas (8 points)
|
81,4 (in 11 games)
|
|
10. Barcelona (7 points)
|
83,2 (in 10 games)
|
|
11. Valencia (6 points)
|
83,7 (in 10 games)
|
|
12. Unicaja Malaga (5 points)
|
84,5 (in 10 games)
|
|
13. Armani Milan (4 points)
|
85,1 (in 9 games)
|
|
14. Crvena Zvezda (3 points)
|
85,5 (in 10 games)
|
|
15. Anadolu Efes (2 points)
|
88 (in 10 games)
|
|
16. Maccabi Tel Aviv (1 point)
|
88,3 (in 9 games)
|
ASSISTS (3rd statistical category): The Barca paradox
The department of assists and creation is crucial for a team’s offensive function and Sito Alonso has done a good job in this aspect of Barcelona’s game. Barca are the best team in terms of assists in away games in the EuroLeague, with 20.9 on average.
They are followed by Fener and Baskonia with a minimal difference between them (19,4 and 19,3 assists, respectively), proving that moving the ball is a key weapon in their offensive game.
However, of all 16 teams it is Xavi Pascual’s Panathinaikos who need the biggest improvement in the department of assists in away clashes, since they dish only 13,5 assists on average in every game and this is something that certainly does not help the Greens win a lot of games away from Athens this season.
In detail, the table with the rankings for the 3rd statistical category
|
Team
|
Assists (on average)
|
|
1. Barcelona (16 points)
|
20,9 (in 10 games)
|
|
2. Fenerbahce (15 points)
|
19,4 (in 10 games)
|
|
3. Baskonia (14 points)
|
19,3 (in 10 games)
|
|
4. Zalgiris Kaunas (13 points)
|
18,5 (in 10 games)
|
|
5. Valencia (12 points)
|
18,2 (in 10 games)
|
|
6. Unicaja Malaga (11 points)
|
18 (in 10 games)
|
|
– Real Madrid (11 points)
|
18 (in 10 games)
|
|
– Maccabi Tel Aviv (11 points)
|
18 (in 9 games)
|
|
7. Armani Milan (10 points)
|
16,3 (in 9 games)
|
|
8. Khimki (9 points)
|
16,2 (in 10 games)
|
|
9. Olympiacos (8 points)
|
15,8 (in 11 games)
|
|
10. Bamberg (7 points)
|
15,4 (in 10 games)
|
|
11. CSKA Moscow (6 points)
|
15,2 (in 10 games)
|
|
12. Crvena Zvezda (5 points)
|
14,2 (in 10 games)
|
|
13. Anadolu Efes (4 points)
|
14 (in 10 games)
|
|
14. Panathinaikos (3 points)
|
13,5 (in 9 games)
|