FIBA Basketball
Prievidza shoot up in FIBA Europe Cup Power Rankings, Pau-Lacq-Orthez take top spot
MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Pau-Lacq-Orthez snuck ahead in the FIBA Europe Cup Power Rankings, while Prievidza were the biggest movers, climbing eight positions in a single week.
MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Pau-Lacq-Orthez snuck ahead in the FIBA Europe Cup Power Rankings after starting the Second Round of the competition with a thoroughly impressive 35-point victory against BK Pardubice.
The only other undefeated team, Nanterre 92, who were at the top of the list last week, celebrated a more modest win, but did keep its clean record intact, while most other higher ranked teams also came away victorious.
Slovakian side Prievidza were the biggest movers after shocking BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque with a 98-95 victory on the road in France, climbing eight positions into 15th place in the Power Rankings, after some magic by Andre Jones.
The only other instance of a lower-ranked team defeating the supposed favourites, was Alba Fehervar's home win against U-BT Cluj-Napoca, with the Hungarian side making use of the home court advantage.
| 1. Pau-Lacq-Orthez (1-0) | Pau-Lacq-Orthez moved up to the top spot in the Power Rankings with an emphatic 101-66 victory against Pardubice at the Palais des Sports de Pau on the back of a perfect 11-of-11 shooting night by Vitalis Chikoko. Due to the lopsided nature of the game, D.J. Cooper only played in the first quarter, but his 19-year-old back-up Elie Okobo filled in nicely with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists. |
| 2. Nanterre 92 (1-0) | Pascal Donnadieau's side did not cool down with the start of the Second Round, getting over minor humps and bumps on their way to an 87-77 win against Kormend in Group N. Once again, Nanterre showcased their roster depth, with five players reaching double figures even on a rare night when the team's top scorer Spencer Butterfield failed to reach the double-digit mark himself. |
| 3. Telekom Baskets (1-0) | Bonfires in Bonn! Telekom Baskets handed a heavy blow to the visiting APOEL by registering the biggest victory margin of the week, coming away with a 96-58 win to start the Second Round of action in the FIBA Europe Cup. After a magnificent team display, coach Predrag Krunic expressed his satisfaction after his team remained locked in throughout the game in spite of the ever-growing advantage. |
| 4. Vytautas (1-0) | Vytautas were on pace to better their already league-best offensive output in the first half of their game against Oberwart, but sloppy play after the intermission almost got the Prienai-Birstonas club in a sticky situation despite holding a 30-point lead after two quarters. However, the Lithuanian side woke up before it was too late and ended up taking a convincing 91-72 victory. |
| 5. Tsmoki (1-0) |
A competition season-best 9 blocks were at the heart of Tsmoki's assured 89-76 victory against Bnei Herzliya at home in Minsk, with Serbian big man Djordje Gagic leading the effort with 5 blocked shots, the most by a player this season. While Gagic did most of of the work on the defensive end, Nemanja Milosevic and Dru Joyce took care of business on offence with 23 and 19 points, respectively. |
| 6. Demir Insaat (1-0) | All it took was a good first quarter for Demir Insaat to wrap up the win against Antwerp Giants at home in Istanbul. The Turkish side, still undefeated at home, blasted in front with a 17-0 run to start the game and never looked back, showing just how scary they can be for opponents when all is clicking. |
| 7. Elan Chalon (1-0) | After an up-and-down Regular Season, last year's Final Four participants Elan Chalon welcomed the opportunity for a fresh start with open arms and began the Second Round by hammering BK Pardubice by 36 points. The team's play-caller Jean-Denys Choulet will be especially satisfied with the play of the 21-year-old prospect Axel Bouteille, who dropped 30 points, grabbed 6 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. |
| 8. Enisey (1-0) |
No Frank Elegar? No problem for Enisey, who handled Donar Groningen with confidence on the road in the Netherlands after leading by double figures for most of the game even without the injured FIBA Europe Cup leader in efficiency. In Elegar's absence, Tony Taylor stepped up with a team-high 18 points. |
| 9. Gaziantep (1-0) | The Second Round opener against Sodertalje Kings left Gaziantep with a mixed bag of feelings, as the Turkish side dominated right until the fourth quarter, but learned a valuable lesson not to take their eyes off the prize too soon, as the visitors from Sodertalje nearly came way with an upset. |
| 10. Lukoil Academic (1-0) |
Filip Videnov had by far his best game of the season in the FIBA Europe Cup, collecting 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in Lukoil Academic's victory against Bnei Herzliya. Getting more consistent production from the 36-year-old veteran would be a big boost to the team's chances of getting out of a tightly-contested Group P. |
| 11. Alba Fehervar (1-0) |
Alba Fehervar used the opportunity to restart their FIBA Europe Cup campaign with a clean slate after a messy finish to the Regular Season. The big loss to Elan Chalon was all but forgotten, as the Hungarians picked up a 92-83 victory against U-BT Cluj-Napoca behind another magnificent game by Justin Edwards, who double-doubled with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 10 assists. |
| 12. BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque (0-1) | On the wrong side of the biggest upset of the opening week of action in the Second Round, BCM Gravelines will want to forget their lacklustre defensive effort against Prievidza as quickly as possible. Having conceded 98 points to one of the lowest-scoring teams in the competition, coach Christian Monschau will be looking for improvements in their next game in Antwerp. |
| 13. U-BT Cluj-Napoca (0-1) | As if the tough away environment wasn't enough to worry about on the road, things were made even more difficult for U-BT Cluj-Napoca against Alba Fehervar by the fact that the Romanian side had to do without one of the team's top scorers Vlad-Sorin Moldoveanu. Although a road defeat is far from a tragedy, things will not get easier next week, when Cluj welcome the undefeated Pau-Lacq-Orthez at home. |
| 14. Bnei Herzliya (0-1) |
Foul trouble plagued the team's number one option Karam Mashour in Minsk, but it was not what cost Bnei Herzliya the game against Tsmoki, as the Israeli side simply couldn't buy a bucket from anywhere on the court, finishing the game with a 41.2% mark from the field and only 64% from the free-throw line. |
| 15. Prievidza (1-0) | Can Prievidza become the FIBA Europe Cup darlings? Having completed step one by upsetting BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque in France, it will be harder for the Prievidza club to stay under the radar and their other group opponents, Buyukcekmece and Antwerp Giants, will be much more serious in their preparations. |
| 16. Donar Groningen (0-1) | In spite of another excellent offensive display by Lance Jeter, Donar Groningen could not capitalise on playing against Enisey without the injured Frank Elegar. After getting off to a promising 8-0 start, Groningen faded away quickly and stood no chance against the visitors from Krasnoyarsk. |
| 17. Kormend (0-1) | Kormend gave Group N front-runners Nanterre 92 quite a run for their money on the road in France and, while a defeat is nothing to write home about, there are positive signs all over the place for coach Teo Cizmic. Going forward, with one of the loudest arenas in the competition, playing in Kormend will be a challenge for all teams in the group, including Nanterre, when they visit Hungary. |
| 18. Sodertalje Kings (0-1) | Sodertalje Kings were their usual self against Gaziantep, leaving things for the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for coach Vedran Bosnic, unlike against Telekom Baskets in the Regular Season, it was too late this time around, as the Kings fell short after nearly erasing a 20-point deficit in Turkey. How many more comebacks do they have in them? |
| 19. SL Benfica (0-1) |
The Eagles could not get off to the start they wanted in the Second Round, falling short against Lukoil Academic on the road in Bulgaria. Next chance to bounce back for SL Benfica? Against Donar Groningen at the Pavilhao Fidelidade on Wednesday. |
| 20. Antwerp Giants (0-1) | At one point, it seemed Antwerp Giants were mere spectators in their Second Round opener against Demir Insaat in Istanbul, with the Belgian side failing to open their point tally for nearly the first seven minutes of the game. It wasn't that bad the rest of the way, but it might have had quite a lot to do with Buyukcekmece taking it easier on their guests after establishing a commanding lead. |
| 21. Redwell-Gunners (0-1) |
There are positive and negative takeways for Redwell-Gunners from the first week of action in the Second Round. The good? They outscored the top offence in the league, Vytautas, 48-37 in the second half. The bad? They were already down 54-24 at the halftime break. |
| 22. Pardubice (0-1) | Despite travelling to France as clear underdogs, the 35-point loss was more than Pardubice were expecting to bring back to Czech Republic. The young team has another tough road game ahead, as they head out to face Alba Fehervar in Hungary. |
| 23. Mures (0-1) | BC Mures received a clear message that the Regular Season is over, as the Romanian side got steamrolled by Elan Chalon in France. Although, generally speaking, they have been better at home this season, friendly rims at the Sala Sporturilor might not be enough for Mures against the powerful Group K opposition. |
| 24. APOEL (0-1) | APOEL got absolutely dismantled by the well-oiled Telekom Baskets machine in Bonn and no words will describe it better than the final score of 96-58. |
FIBA