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By: Freaknick/@euro_adventures
After two weeks of play, only six teams can still claim perfection. Four of the six shouldn’t surprise anyone: Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Montepaschi and Caja Laboral. The fifth and mot improbable is Union Olimpija, whose two wins thus far are one shy of their total from the previous two EL seasons. And then the sixth is interesting: Fenerbahçe Ülker. An underachiever the past couple of seasons, they play in a city of 15 million whose embrace of hoops grows stronger each year in a nation which still shines silver from last month’s FIBA fortunes. But it all comes to a head this Thursday when they travel to Barcelona to take on the champs. The outcome will not only be a barometer of where they are now, but a valuable, if painful, reminder of how winners operate on a weekly basis.
| Rank | Team (EL record) | What they did to get here and who's up next... | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regal FC Barcelona (2-0) | Even when they're rolling, they don't dominate you physically. But you better believe they're deeper and more poised than your favorite team. They won't budge from the top spot until they lose. Thursday vs. Fenerbahçe | 1 (77-84 W at Cholet) |
| 2 | Panathinaikos (2-0) | They've beaten their opponents by 16 and then 14 points, and Aleks Maric hasn't played more than 11 minutes in either contest? Zeljko Obradovic is teasing us. Thursday at Union Olimpija | 2 (74-60 W vs. CSKA Moscow) |
| 3 | Caja Laboral (2-0) | The Euroleague's most explosive starting five is even scarier now that Brad Oleson is contributing off the bench. Next up: Nemanja Bjelica.Wednesday at Asseco Prokom | 4 (73-80 W at Asseco Prokom) |
| 4 | Montepaschi Siena (2-0) | Bo McCalebb seems to be content letting Rimantas Kaukenas run the offense. Whatever works, I suppose.Wednesday vs. Cibona | 5 (75-79 W at Lietuvos Rytas) |
| 5 | Fenerbahçe Ülker (2-0) | Ülker's record is partially a result of their schedule (Cibona, L. Rytas), but their solid play cannot be ignored. Contributions from Vidmar, Savas and Lavrinovic inside, Kinsey on the wing and Ukic playing the point guard position to near perfection have eanred them an 8-spot leap on the board. We'll know a lot more by this Thursday. Thursday at Regal FC Barcelona | 13 (68-73 W at Cibona) |
| 6 | Maccabi Electra (1-1) | 16 point loss in week one. 16 point win 7 days later. Now they head to Pionir Arena where Partizan kept them out of the Final Four last year. Doron Perkins got it together against Zalgiris, but Jeremy Pargo needs to join him this week in Belgrade. Thursday at Partizan | 12 (86-70 W vs. Zalgiris) |
| 7 | Olympiacos (1-1) | This team's weakness is quite clearly the lack of a playmaking forward (See: no Kleiza, no Childress). So when Teodosic is, say, 2-10 from downtown, Olympiacos might have issues. Brose exposed that. Wednesday vs. Unicaja | 3 (73-61 L at Brose) |
| 8 | Real Madrid (1-1) | Turns out Sergio Rodriguez hasn't forgotten how to hoop after all. 14 points and 6 fouls received this week confirm that while he's getting where he wants on the floor, he simply hasn't converted. Things are looking up for Serge. Thursday at Roma | 9 (68-56 W vs. Unicaja) |
| 9 | Union Olimpija (2-0) | I totally had them at 2-0 to start the year. OK. Maybe not. Last week's road win proves they can win outside of Ljubljana, but Stozice Arena will need to provide one Hell of a lift if they plan on getting past Panathinaikos. Thursday vs. Panathinaikos | 20 (72-76 W at AJ Milano) |
| 10 | BC Khimki (1-1) | Kresimir Loncar's scoring is a great contrast to Benjamin Eze's defense down low, but they can't turn it over 18 times on the road and expect to beat teams, even ones less talented.Wednesday vs. Caja Laboral | 7 (72-68 L at Partizan) |
| 11 | Efes Pilsen (1-1) | There's not much the Beermen could've done last week against that atmosphere in Stozice Arena. They'll have All-Decader Nikola Vujcic at center this week after signing him only yesterday. Wednesday vs. Valencia | 14 (79-63 W vs. Valencia) |
| 12 | CSKA Moscow (0-2) | Two losses to start the season, now Ramunas Siskauskas is out with a back injury and Sasha Kaun is having his knee surgically repaired, keeping him out another three months. Very unfortunate circumstances for a team I predicted to win it all. Dusko Vujosevic needs to pull another rabbit out of his clipboard. Wednesday at Valencia | 6 (74-60 L at Panathinaikos) |
| 13 | Armani Jeans Milano (1-1) | In their week one upset of CSKA Moscow, big men accounted for 50% of Milano's scoring. Last week in a loss to Union Olimpija, buckets from bigs only made up 32% of the points. Such is the Oleksiy Pecherov effect. They need him back as soon as physically possible. Wednesday at Efes Pilsen | 8 (72-76 L vs. Union Olimpija) |
| 14 | Unicaja (1-1) | Not even Mr. Stability, Terrell McIntyre can keep these guys on a straight, steady line it seems. A win and a loss in the EL and fresh off an 18-point loss to Bilbao in the ACB, this team still isn't sure who they want to be. Wednesday at Olympiacos | 11 (68-56 L at Real Madrid) |
| 15 | Zalgiris (1-1) | Six guys average more than 19 minutes per game with another four at 14+. I love the way they spread it around, but finding a second half rotation of 7-8 might help smooth things out. Wednesday vs. Asseco Prokom | 10 (86-70 L at Maccabi) |
| 16 | Virtus Roma (1-1) | Why does Andrea Crosariol look 12,000 times better than Ali Traore and Josh Heytvelt combined? Thursday vs. Real Madrid | 16 (55-64 W at Spirou) |
| 17 | Partizan (1-1) | Nathan Jawai started to look like Aleks Maric out there last week. Crafty little spin moves, throwing his weight around on the block, and clearing things out for Oliver LaFayette and Vladimir Lucic to attack the rim. This week, add James Gist to the equation. Thursday vs. Maccabi | 19 (72-68 W vs. BC Khimki) |
| 18 | Brose Baskets Bamberg (1-1) | Brian Roberts is averaging 19 PPG and showing no signs of slowing with Kyle Hines beasting down low. It's a nice formula for success, but they'll be unpredictable all season long. They might advance if they capitalize on their "good" weeks. Wednesday vs. Spirou | 23 (73-61 W vs. Olympiacos) |
| 19 | Asseco Prokom (0-2) | Ewing: check. Giddens: check. Brown: check. So the perimeter's not the problem. Ronnie Burrell, Jan Jagla and Ratko Varda are at this point. Varda needs to get more than the nine minutes he saw in week two. Wednesday at Zalgiris | 17 (73-80 L vs. Caja Laboral) |
| 20 | Valencia (0-2) | Two straight losses and an impending battle with an equally desperate CSKA team. Nando de Colo better make some kind of impact when he returns from injury. Wednesday vs. CSKA Moscow | 15 (79-63 L at Efes Pilsen) |
| 21 | Lietuvos Rytas (0-2) | These guys made everything from inside the arc (25/39) but only clicked on 2/16 from deep. Big men Bajramovic/Valanciunas/Bjelica combined for a nasty 17/27 and if they had gone to those guys more in the second half then things might have been different. Thursday at Cholet | 18 (75-79 L vs. Montepaschi) |
| 22 | Cibona (0-2) | Leon Radosevic has quietly emerged at the top of the heap in the Rising Star conversation with averages of 15.5 and 6.5. His main competition might be on the same sideline, as Bojan Bogdanovic is leading the EL with 21.5 points per game. Now it's time to turn individual success into wins. Wednesday at Montepaschi | 22 (68-73 L vs. Fenerbahçe Ülker) |
| 23 | Cholet (0-2) | Unlike the team below them in the rankings, Cholet has played the two strongest teams in their group with losses at Montepaschi and at home vs. Barca. A win this week vs. Rytas would be a great step toward advancement. A loss, however, might seal their fate with seven weeks still remaining. Wednesday vs. Barcelona | 24 (77-84 L vs. Barcelona) |
| 24 | Spirou Charleroi (0-2) | Their home loss to a decent Roma team was their best chance to get a win in the first five. Now they'll be on the road before back-to-backs with the Group's best, Real Madrid and Olympiacos. Not good. Wednesday at Brose | 21 (55-64 L vs. Roma) |