I just searched ‘power rankings euroleague adventures’ on Google and it replied with ‘bitch please’. That’s why we’re going with Hoopsquad Hierarchy. For now at least. Next week I might think it sounds lame and very forced, and I’ll crack the whip with something that’s definitely lamer and perhaps even forced-er. But here we go: with the season upon us, it’s time to start stacking these guys up next to one another in a futile attempt to appropriately rank 24 teams that have never faced one another with their current personnel. Speculation and subjectivity reign supreme here, so come with your best in the comments section. Hoopsquad Hierarchy…let’s get, get, get it.
Rank | Team (EL record) | What they did to get here... | Last Week |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Regal FC Barcelona (0-0) | The defending EL champs whooped the Lakers in an exhibition game and now they're 2-0 in the ACB. | - |
2 | CSKA Moscow (0-0) | Dusko Vujosevic is the best in Europe at squeezing the most out of his players. What will he accomplish with top flight talent? | - |
3 | Panathinaikos (0-0) | Maric is a great fill-in for Pekovic, and Sato is a huge upgrade at small forward. | - |
4 | Olympiacos (0-0) | Spanoulis and Teodosic in the same backcourt. Ever seen two guys account for 50% of their team's shots? | - |
5 | Real Madrid (0-0) | Either Prigioni needs to get healthy or Sergio needs to get comfortable at the point. Then...watch out. | - |
6 | Maccabi Electra (0-0) | David Blatt got the guys he wanted this offseason. I don't doubt his ability to motivate. | - |
7 | Efes Pilsen (0-0) | Wisniewski bolsters a backcourt which had trouble last season creating shots for Boki and Rakocevic. | - |
8 | Caja Laboral (0-0) | After three games in the ACB (2-1), it seems as though Caja is ready to lean on Fernando San Emeterio for 30+ minutes per game. | - |
9 | BC Khimki (0-0) | In Mozgov, Javtokas and Jankunas, Khimki lost a lot of size. But impressive showings in the EL qualifiers indicate they traded size for firepower on the perimeter. | - |
10 | Valencia (0-0) | Serhiy Lischuk has performed admirably down low, but after a 1-1 ACB start, they could use James Augustine in the paint for some depth and rebounding. | - |
11 | Montepaschi Siena (0-0) | Usually stable, MPS's season could go a couple of ways. I imagine they'll succeed as always. | - |
12 | Zalgiris (0-0) | 5-0 in the LKL is no shock, but they've got two things now that they didn't at the end of last season: Depth and a coach. | - |
13 | Unicaja (0-0) | Not stacked with weapons, but a win vs. Caja Laboral in the ACB proves they've got a good feel for their team. | - |
14 | Fenerbahçe Ülker (0-0) | Roko Ukic arrived a little too late last season. Now he gets a full campaign. | - |
15 | Armani Jeans Milano (0-0) | Finley, Nardi, Jaaber and Hawkins won't slow anything down. I like this team more than the ranking would indicate. | - |
16 | Asseco Prokom (0-0) | Bobby Brown should be among the league leaders in scoring over the first ten games. | - |
17 | Lietuvos Rytas (0-0) | Losing Jerry Johnson for six weeks hurts. Especially with Zydrunas Kelys still sidelined with injury. Point guards: wanted. | - |
18 | Partizan (0-0) | Oliver Lafayette is a nice touch to a team that needed (like, really really needed) some help at point guard. | - |
19 | Lottomatica Roma (0-0) | A very solid five to seven players, but you need more than that to win in this league. Not to say folks won't step up. | - |
20 | Brose Baskets Bamberg (0-0) | Tibor Pleiss grabbed 17 boards in a single game and BBB is 4-0 in the German League. Let's see if it carries over. | - |
21 | Cibona (0-0) | I think Bojan Bogdanovic is better off as a Robin, but this is a Batman-less team. | - |
22 | Cholet (0-0) | 89-51 win over Pau-Lacq-Orthez in their first French League contest. | - |
23 | Union Olimpija (0-0) | Money problems or not, these boys have a new stadium and plan on winning inside of it. I must be honest though; this team is a mystery until they play their first real game. | - |
24 | Spirou Charleroi (0-0) | Why did I rank Spirou so low and Khimki so high? So Spirou could use this as bulletin board material. | - |