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Week 4’s upon us, so why dilly dally? Let’s get to it:
| Rank | Team (EL record) | What they did to get here... | Last Week |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Montepaschi Siena (3-0) | Proof that games ain't won on paper. They wouldn't seem to have the scorers to blow people out like this, but Simone Pianigiani remembered something I'd ignored: great defense leads creates offense. | 4 (80-57 W vs. Cibona) |
| 2 | Fenerbahçe Ülker (3-0) | You just beat the defending champs on their home floor. What do you do for an encore? Knock off Hoopsquad's newest number one. And how's this for reliable leadership: Roko Ukic has 13 assists this season and---wait for it---zero turnovers. | 5 (61-69 W at Barcelona) |
| 3 | Union Olimpija (3-0) | Are they the third best team in the Euroleague? Who cares? You'd be hard pressed to find somebody that isn't loving this hoops revival in Ljubljana. Except for maybe Efes Pilsen, AJ Milano, and most recently, Panathinaikos fans. | 9 (85-84 OT W vs. Panathinaikos) |
| 4 | Regal FC Barcelona (2-1) | Granted, the loss meant much more to Fenerbahçe than it did to Barcelona, but this should be a reminder to the champs that nobody can be taken lightly. Not even at home. | 1 (61-69 L vs. Fenerbahçe Ülker) |
| 5 | Caja Laboral (2-1) | A 4-point home loss to a vastly underrated Khimki team isn't much reason for concern, especially considering David Logan was off visiting his newborn baby in the states. The baby's healthy, David's back and Caja won at Valencia by 14 this weekend. They'll be OK. Much, much better than OK in fact. | 3 (64-60 L at BC Khimki) |
| 6 | Maccabi Electra (2-1) | Jeremy Pargo and Lior Eliyahu combined for 24 points in their first two games. In their win at Partizan, they teamed up for 30. That's how good this team can be with contributions from everybody. | 6 (54-67 W at Partizan) |
| 7 | Olympiacos (2-1) | Who needs Linas Kleiza or Josh Childress when you've got...Kostas Papanikolaou. 17 and 6. Yep, I think Dusan'll be just fine with that. | 7 (93-66 W vs. Unicaja) |
| 8 | Panathinaikos (2-1) | No word on Mike Batiste's suspension (or lack thereof), but Zeliko Obradovic has the wisdom necessary to divert his team's attention toward the task at hand. | 2 (85-84 OT L at Union Olimpija) |
| 9 | Real Madrid (2-1) | Credit Ettore Messina for allowing his team to find their identity over the last couple of weeks. This team wants to be tough, physical and aggressive. Messina's smart to let them run free. | 8 (56-74 W at Roma) |
| 10 | BC Khimki (2-1) | You have to love the way Keith Langford picks his spots on offense without alienating his teammates. Credit due to Sergio Scariolo for keeping these fellas in line. | 10 (64-60 W vs. Caja Laboral) |
| 11 | Efes Pilsen (2-1) | Igor Rakocevic is back to ballin' and Efes Pilsen looks unbeatable at home. Can they keep things going on the road against Panathinaikos? | 11 (82-74 W vs. AJ Milano) |
| 12 | Brose Baskets Bamberg (2-1) | Two straight wins have pulled the Germans out of the cellar, but Brian Roberts will need to re-find his stroke if they want to continue improving. Having Kyle Hines and Casey Jacobsen perform at this level sure does take some pressure off though. | 18 (79-69 W vs. Spirou) |
| 13 | Zalgiris (2-1) | Zalgiris has turned it over more than any other team in the EL. They've also drawn more fouls than any team in the EL. That's right: they're aggressive and, at times, reckless. Balance is the key. | 15 (74-68 OT W vs. Asseco Prokom) |
| 14 | Valencia (1-2) | Nando de Colo's back in action, now it's time to work on the chemistry with fellow backcourter Omar Cook. One step at a time... | 20 (82-57 W vs. CSKA Moscow) |
| 15 | Cholet (1-2) | Fabien Causeur busted out of his slump but Cholet needs more offensive support if they want to out-scrap Cibona in Croatia this week. But all analysis aside, Randal Falker is a beast. | 23 (73-69 W vs. Lietuvos Rytas) |
| 16 | Armani Jeans Milano (1-2) | While the small backcourt is fun and catquick, Milano desperately needs to get Oleksiy Pecherov back. Either that or Marius Petravicius needs to pull from his Lietuvos Rytas days and make something happen inside. | 13 (82-74 L at Efes Pilsen) |
| 17 | Partizan (1-2) | James Gist fit in just fine and Vladimir Lucic continues to grow, but it's still important to get Jan Vesely and Branislav Djekic involved if they want to turn this season into another unlikely F4 run. | 17 (54-67 L vs. Maccabi) |
| 18 | Unicaja (1-2) | Trouble time in Malaga. Two straight losses and now Terrell McIntyre's out for at least three weeks. Rafa Freire needs to turn into John Stockton over night. | 14 (93-66 L at Olympiacos) |
| 19 | CSKA Moscow (0-3) | If Unicaja's in trouble, then CSKA is in panic mode. Three starters out and a defense incapable of stopping anyone on D. We can only hope Matjaz Smodis kicks it into high gear over the next few weeks. Is the rust off? It needs to be. | 12 (82-57 L at Valencia) |
| 20 | Virtus Roma (2-1) | Darius Washington took a step backwards last week, scoring none and only playing nine minutes. Roma lost. Maybe the Memphis Tiger's in line for some more PT. | 16 (56-74 L vs. Real Madrid) |
| 21 | Asseco Prokom (0-3) | New week, same problem: no production inside. Last year, Ratko Varda came in and saved the day for Prokom. This year though, he's already there. So who's the spark this time around? | 19 (74-68 OT L at Zalgiris) |
| 22 | Lietuvos Rytas (0-3) | I've had a tough time pinpointing Rytas' issue. They play hard, they share the ball, so what gives? The easiest answer: they've had some tough luck. | 21 (73-69 L at Cholet) |
| 23 | Cibona (0-3) | The win's coming this week against Cholet. I can feel it in my bones. | 22 (80-57 L at Montepaschi Siena) |
| 24 | Spirou Charleroi (0-3) | This team has a lot of issues. That's pretty much it. | 24 (79-69 L at Bamberg) |