By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops presents the Top 100 EuroLeague Players ahead of the 2019-2020 season. A list of players compiled with some specific criteria with the purpose of tracing and ranking those hoopers that are expected to define the upcoming EuroLeague season.
While there are some objective and factual elements/data that were taken into consideration when choosing the 100 players and then ranking them, the final result is, inevitably, subjective.
As always, there was a calculated risk with EuroLeague newcomers, especially those who are completely unfamiliar with European basketball. Hence why some players who will now take their first steps in EuroLeague have been omitted from the list or where placed in lower positions in comparison with “rookies” that already have considerable experience at a competitive level of European basketball. Experience in this level and type of game matters since we’ve seen no few quality players, even established NBAers, immensely struggle in their new surroundings simply because of their unfamiliarity with everything that European basketball encompasses.
What should be noted is that a player of a team that is a title or Final Four contender automatically got a relative priority over another with possibly similar or equal, maybe even superior individual strengths. This is why you will find that there is an increased number of players from well-known powerhouses. Of course, there’s also the fact that these teams usually sign a lot of top talent.
It goes without saying that injuries also played a part in picking and ranking the players.
This year there is a slight change in the usual Eurohoops Top 100 Players ranking criteria. Past achievements (individual awards/team titles) are no longer considered or taken into account with the same gravity they used to carry in previous Top 100 features.
It should also be noted that the place an “x player” gets in the list doesn’t necessarily mean that he is overall “better” than another player since there’s a multitude of factors that determine the ranking.
The most important ones are the following:
1) The individual quality of each player in combination with the prospect he carries for 2019-2020, plus the role and playing time we anticipate he will get with his team.
2) The strength of the club the player belongs to. The players of the teams that are usually playoff staples and are considered among the title contenders always have the edge because they combine individual quality with the club’s high aspirations.
3) Prior experience in EuroLeague/European basketball.
4) How the player performed in 2018-2019 and his contribution to his team reaching its goals.
Here are the picks from 100 to 91, 90 to 81, 80 to 71, 70 to 61, 60 to 51, 50 to 41, 40 to 31 and 30-21.
20. Kyle Hines (CSKA Moscow)
Year of birth: 1986
Position: Center
Height: 1.98 m.
2018-2019 stats: 7.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists in 19:33 minutes over 36 EuroLeague games with CSKA Moscow.
A few months ago, Kyle Hines accomplished something that an American-born player has done only once before in the annals of European basketball: Win a fourth EuroLeague title. It’s a truly rare achievement and, then again, Hines is a quite special player. Especially when it comes to defense.
Hines is what you might call a defensive floor-general. He holds CSKA’s rearguard together by checking and anticipating the movements of not only his personal opponent but all players of the other team to provide stops everywhere it’s needed. He can be almost at two places at once, switching on the opposing guard and then swiftly rush to give the help defense, possibly with a block.
It’s his tremendous overall defensive (and not only) impact, tons hustle, the overall positive mindset and team-first attitude, apart from his winning skills, that have classified him as a legend already in EuroLeague.
19. Nikola Milutinov (Olympiacos)
Year of birth: 1994
Position: Center
Height: 2.13 m.
2018-2019 stats: 11.7 points, 7.9 points, 1.3 assists in 26:01 minutes over 28 EuroLeague games.
With every year that goes by the more dominant Nikola Milutinov becomes. Last season he was ranked second in PIR average (20.4) and basically the only reason he wasn’t included in the All-EuroLeague Teams was that Olympiacos didn’t make the playoffs.
The “Reds” will look to redeem that and so will Milutinov in the last year of his contract with the club. One of the most efficient scoring bigs in the continent (67.98% True Shooting in 2018-2019), with an effect on offense that goes beyond his own buckets, a figure of fear for any opponent while protecting the rim, the Serbian center shall become an even stronger focal point on offense and a bigger cornerstone on defense for Olympiacos.
18. Tornike Shengelia (Baskonia)
Year of birth: 1991
Position: Forward
Height: 2.06 m.
2018-2019 stats: 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 steals in 24:29 minutes over 20 EuroLeague games with Baskonia.
The first season after signing a new, and quite lucrative, contract with Baskonia didn’t go completely as planned for Tornike Shengelia. He suffered a knee injury that kept him out for 14 games of the second leg of the EuroLeague regular season and was visibly affected by it during the playoffs vs. CSKA Moscow.
His numbers also saw a slight drop in comparison to the ones he put on during his 2018 All-EuroLeague First Team run. There’s a new season, though, ahead and Shengelia shall be ready to once again stand out as Baskonia’s leader, a versatile forward who can score and rebound big, and overall deliver in any area of the game his team needs him.
17. Alexey Shved (Khimki Moscow)
Year of birth: 1988
Position: Guard
Height: 1.98 m.
2018-2019 stats: 23.3 points, 6.6 assists, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals in 32:00 minutes over 14 EuroLeague games with Khimki Moscow.
You can’t blame Alexey Shved for Khimki’s disappointing, playoffs-less run of 2018-2019 but you can’t overlook the fact that the team won three out of the 14 regular seasons he played due to injury problems.
The high production rates were there, as always for the Russian superstar – ranked ninth in 3-point attempts despite playing in 14 matches – who filled the stats sheet in any way imaginable. The numbers didn’t translate into any sort of success, however, thus the season overall was certainly not quite as impressive as his MVP-quality 2017-2018 output.
Shved is expected to once again have “license to kill” in the new season, where Khimki will look to return to the playoffs. At least.
16. Anthony Randolph (Real Madrid)
Year of birth: 1989
Position: Forward/Center
Height: 2.11 m.
2018-2019 stats: 12.5 points, 4.3 rebounds in 22:6 minutes over 33 EuroLeague games with Real Madrid.
In the summer of 2018, Anthony Randolph was reported to be with one foot at the exit door of Real Madrid. A couple of months later, he was the leading scorer of the team and playing some of the best basketball of his career.
Last year’s Top 100 included a prediction that Randolph will have a better season than 2017-2018 if he stays “healthy and focused”. Randolph was both, using his vast offensive arsenal and exceptional athleticism to bruise the opposing defense from all corners and ranges, getting boards and helping his team get stops. In between, he was throwing down some rather thunderous slams.
He ultimately finished as the scoring leader of and second-best performer of the “Blancos”. Quite the stuff.
15. Brandon Davies (Barcelona)
Year of birth: 1991
Position: Center
Height: 2.08 m.
2018-2019 stats: 14.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals in 24:12 minutes over 34 EuroLeague games with Zalgiris Kaunas.
Brandon Davies simply catapulted every aspect of his game and performance in the 2018-2019 season. The result? Signing a contract with Barcelona.
Davies’ scoring feel and touch sometimes looked unreal in the previous season with Zalgiris Kaunas and he seems to be taking it from where he left it in his first appearances with the “Blaugrana”. He can lay the ball in the hoop in an impressively versatile way for a big guy: Jumpers, drives to the basket, pick n’ roll action, post-ups… you name it.
In the meantime, Davies is a defensive all-arounder who can hold his ground against all kinds of opponents. Barca has been looking for a big man who can truly make a difference, and Davies may be the one.
14. Edy Tavares (Real Madrid)
Year of birth: 1992
Position: Center
Height: 2.20 m.
2018-2019 stats: 7.4 points, 6.2 rebounds 1.7 blocks in 19:22 minutes over 19:22 minutes.
Before moving on to Edy Tavares’ specialty (yes, we’re talking about defense), let’s take a moment to mention that he finished the 2018-2019 season with 79.4% on 2-pointers. Yes, the majority of his attempts are under the rim, but making almost 8 out of 10 shots is still a bit ridiculous.
Now, on to the defense indeed. Early in the season, Tavares confessed that one of his 2018-2019 goals was to win EuroLeague Best Defender. He proceeded to be a rim-protecting menace that struck fear to the heart of his opponents with his mere presence inside the paint, kept up with much faster opponents to swat their shots, en route to being named DPOY.
Tavares is basically a walking, talking “Keep Away” sign inside the paint. He’s one of a kind and it’s a small wonder that Real signed him to a multi-year extension deal in offseason.
13. Malcolm Delaney (Barcelona)
Year of birth: 1989
Position: Guard
Height: 1.91 m.
2018-2019 stats: 19.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.3 steals in 32:5 minutes over 37 Chinese League games with the Guangdong Southern Tigers.
A longtime flirting between Barcelona and Malcolm Delaney came into fruition this year in a kinda unorthodox manner. It was the injury of Thomas Heurtel that prompted the club to hire Delaney for his return to EuroLeague and the reunion with his former Bayern Munich coach Svetislav Pesic.
Delaney’s previous EuroLeague run in 2015-2016 was nothing sort of an individual and team triumph since he led Lokomotiv Kuban to the Final Four for the first time in the history of the club (eliminating Barca in the playoffs) while earning First Team honors. It was an MVP-caliber season for the former Hokie who capitalized on his overall outing by signing a deal with the Atlanta Hawks to play in the NBA for the first time in his career.
Now Delaney is back in EuroLeague. A combo guard who shall heavily produce pretty much anything his team requires of him on offense, the Delaney carries the credentials of a player who can be a leader of a high-aspiring team. Such as Barcelona.
12. Sergio Rodriguez (Olimpia Milano)
Year of birth: 1986
Position: Guard
Height: 1.91 m.
2018-2019 stats: 10.2 points, 4.5 assists, 1.5 rebounds in 21:51 minutes over 35 EuroLeague games with CSKA Moscow.
Not many players can say that they have won the EuroLeague with two different teams and only one (Sarunas Jasikevicius) can pride in doing so with three different teams. Sergio Rodriguez is already part of the first group and a new goal ahead of him is, why not, to be crowned continental champ with yet another club.
After all, Olimpia Milano has been aiming for something truly great in EuroLeague this last couple of years but without any success. Rodriguez was brought on board to provide his valuable experience, outstanding playmaking skills, scoring fluency, and intelligent floor-general output in order to get Milano among the EuroLeague elite.
11. Mike James (CSKA Moscow)
Year of birth: 1990
Position: Guard
Height: 1.85 m.
2018-2019 stats: 19.8 points, 6.4 assists, 3.8 rebounds in 33:56 minutes over 30 EuroLeague games with Olimpia Milano.
The fact that Olimpia Milano didn’t make the playoffs was the only “stain” in an otherwise sensational EuroLeague season for Mike James and the reason why he was the last player to be left out of the Top 10 of our annual Top 100 ranking.
True to his nature as a player, James let his scoring instincts take over and scorched opposing defenses at will with his electrifying game that expressed by his ultra-fast drives to the basket and his favorite jump-stops. While he paved the way for winning the ‘Alphonso Ford Trophy” for being EuroLeague’s top scorer, he filled the stats sheet with dimes and boards as well, apart from points.
After parting ways with Milano, James joined defending EuroLeague champion CSKA Moscow. It will be an interesting challenge for James, especially since for a club like CSKA success means lifting the EuroLeague title and nothing else.