FIBA Basketball

Power Rankings meet Play-Offs: Who is worthy of the top seed?

MUNICH (Germany) - After a Regular Season and Second Round full of ups and downs, the Power Rankings roller-coaster terminates at the Play-Off station with Wurzburg, Sassari and Varese leading the way.

MUNICH (Germany) - After a Regular Season and Second Round full of ups and downs, the Power Rankings roller-coaster terminates at the Play-Off station with s.Oliver Wurzburg, Dinamo Sassari and Pallacanestro Varese at the front of the echelon.

For the most part, excluding the situation with the lucky losers, the Round of 16 draw was conducted without seeds, so the Play-Off edition of the Power Rankings will classify the teams one last time instead.

This list may help you get a more accurate picture of where the weight lies in the Play-Off bracket and which teams may be looking at a relatively easier road to glory than others.

At the same time, it may not, so to hear all sides of the story, we are also asking you to leave a vote for your favorites to win the FIBA Europe Cup in our fan poll.

RANK	CLUB	COMMENT
16		Z Mobile Prishtina have already hit a couple of historic milestones in the FIBA Europe Cup this season, qualifying for the Second Round and then advancing to the Play-Offs. Having been paired up with one of the main favorites to win the competition, Pallacanestro Varese, for the Round of 16, the chances of another milestone being reached this season don't appear particularly good.
15		The extent to which someone who draws Dinamo Sassari in the Round of 16 can be called lucky is debatable, but ZZ Leiden did squeeze into the Play-Offs via the lucky loser route. Having already faced the likes of Avtodor Saratov, Bakken Bears and s.Oliver Wurzburg, they will know what facing high-powered teams feels like. Although the 1-5 record against them might not be all that inspiring, the Dutch side have a strong core of players who should not be counted out prematurely.
14		After a remarkable Regular Season performance, Alba Fehervar slowed down towards the end of the Second Round. All in all, they have still played above their heads in the FIBA Europe Cup with an 8-4 record, considering it took them three consecutive wins to climb to 10th place and get some separation from the dangerous relegation zone in the Hungarian championship. A particularly tough challenge against sixth-ranked Telekom Baskets Bonn awaits them in the Round of 16.
13		Donar Groningen were never pegged as favorites last year when they reached the Semi-Finals, but they made plenty of noise in the Play-Offs nonetheless. Their status as a lucky loser comes with an asterisk, having been in the same Second Round group with Dinamo Sassari and Pallacanestro Varese. They might be underdogs against Filou Oostende in the Round of 16, but Donar do have a case to make for themselves.
12		A team that has scratched and clawed, Balkan Botevgrad have exceeded all expectations in the FIBA Europe Cup this season. Not seen as favorites to advance from either of the Group Phases, they did it rather comfortably on both occasions and will hope to employ the same underdog tactics to cause an upset against the fourth-seeded UNET Holon in the Round of 16.
11		Ventspils have reached the Round 16 twice in the FIBA Europe Cup, but are yet to advance past the first stage of the knock-out rounds, falling to Maccabi Rishon LeZion and Bakken Bears in their previous attempts. After registering a sixth-place finish and a 6-8 record in the Basketball Champions League, they will not be favorites to advance this time around either, as they face seventh-seeded Pinar Karsiyaka.
10		Ironi Ness Ziona lacked consistency in the Regular Season and the Second Round to be considered a tier-one contender, but they are one of the teams that could beat anyone on a given night. If Daequan Cook stays as hot as he has been lately, the sky is the limit for the Israeli club. On the flip side of the coin, they have let a few bunnies get away from them throughout the season. They will be involved in perhaps the most evenly-matched tie against their Power Ranking neighbors Bakken Bears.
9		Long-time Power Ranking leaders, Bakken Bears lost some traction after dropping three games in the Second Round. Having looked like title contender material during their eight-game winning streak earlier in the season, the Danish title-holders will have to get their mojo back to put themselves back in the conversation or just to repeat last year's Semi-Final success. The ninth-ranked Bakken Bears can be considered slight favorites against Ironi Ness Ziona in the Round of 16.
8		One of a few teams to have featured in our Play-Offs for the past three seasons, Dario Gjergja and Filou Oostende will be looking to make up for their Basketball Champions League heartbreak in the FIBA Europe Cup. Having finished sixth in Group D with a 7-7 mark, the Belgians were seconds away from advancing but came up short against Strasbourg in the decisive game. Starting from block number eight, they will face their 13th-ranked Dutch neighbors from Donar Groningen in the Round of 16.
7		It would be easier to paint a bright future for Pinar Karsiyaka had they handled their business more frugally in the Second Round but talent alone puts them in the seventh position of the Power Rankings despite losing three games in Group I - twice to s.Oliver Wurzburg and once to Z Mobile Prishtina. Newly-appointed head coach Dirk Bauermann hasn't been dealt an easy set of cards for the Round of 16, as they were paired with Ventspils from the Basketball Champions League.
6		Telekom Baskets Bonn were a whisker away from reaching the Finals in the 2016-17 edition of the FIBA Europe Cup, falling to the eventual champions Nanterre 92 in the Semi-Finals. There are no doubts that the Germans will be among the title contenders once again. They arrive from the Basketball Champions League with a 6-7 mark and are ranked sixth in the German Bundesliga with an 11-10 record. Their Round of 16 opponent Alba Fehervar used one of the four lucky loser spots to qualify for the Play-Offs.
5		Avtodor Saratov are one of only two teams in the FIBA Europe Cup not to have lost more than one game each in the Regular Season and the Second Round, combining for an exceptional 10-2 record despite a couple of coaching changes along the way. Ranked fifth heading into the Play-Offs, they will have to get past the top-seeded s.Oliver Wurzburg in the Round of 16.
4		It is always difficult to appropriately rank an incoming team from the Basketball Champions League, but UNET Holon have the makings of a strong title contender when you take into consideration both their international and domestic play. Particularly impressive is the fact that Holon are leading the pack in the Israeli championship with a stellar 16-4 record. As a hypothetical four seed in the Power Rankings, coach Dan Shamir's side will meet 12th-ranked Balkan Botevgrad in the Round of 16.
3		Having topped the Power Rankings on more than one occasion, Pallacanestro Varese enter the Play-Offs as seed number three after suffering a couple of defeats to Dinamo Sassari and Donar Groningen lately. Although they are doing better than their compatriots from Sassari in the LegaBasket Serie A, FIBA Europe Cup form naturally takes precedence over domestic matters. The highest-ranked club among second-placed teams in the Second Round, the Italians are geared for a matchup with underdogs Z Mobile Prishtina, who find themselves on the last step of the Power Rankings ladder.
2		After scoring five wins in the Regular Season, Dinamo Sassari added five more in the Second Round and theoretically have a rather bright outlook for the Play-Offs after drawing one of the four lucky losers in ZZ Leiden. Their ongoing four-game losing streak in the Italian championship may give pause, but the Sardinian powerhouse will be a heavy favorite against their 14th-seeded Dutch opponents.
1		The race for the FIBA Europe Cup and, in particular, the margins at the top end of the Power Rankings are both extremely tight, but s.Oliver Wurzburg earned the rights to the hypothetical top seed after going undefeated in the Second Round and posting the best point differential in the competition. Set to meet the fifth-ranked Avtodor Saratov already in the Round of 16, they have to tread with caution to avoid an early exit.