The dust – and in Germany, the glass – has settled on a week of Cup tournament action throughout The Continent, so it’s time for BallinEurope to crunch the numbers in compiling the weekly Top 100 Teams in Europe list.
But, ran the first question, what relative weight should be prescribed for these games for national bragging rights? Should there just be a bonus for winning the big enchilada and perhaps ending up Cup runner-up? How much of national tournaments are mostly about pride and how much should a winning team be credited for beating an all-too-familiar-opponent? And how to keep the Copa del Rey winner from clinching the number one spot for the rest of the season?
After much hemming and hawing, tweaking and retweaking, BiE ultimately decided to just account for Cup tournament games with a 50% bonus. The thinking here is that, while the teams are familiar and wins and losses should theoretically receive the league standard, these competitions are typically comprised of the teams from the top one-quarter of a given league.
Without further ado, onto the rankings!
1. (1) FC Barcelona (ESP), 360.95 points
2. (3) Montepaschi Siena (ITA), 358.99
3. (2) Real Madrid (ESP), 352.62
4. (6) Fenerbahçe Ülker (TUR), 347.33 – Of all the Cup winners, Fenerbahçe may have been the most impressive, taking out Turkey’s no. 2 (Banvit), no. 4 (Galatasaray Café Crown) and no. 5 (Beşiktaş Cola Turka) on the way to taking the Turkish Cup; this could be the highest the team places in 2010-11, though, with the shocking loss of Mirsad Turkcan for the season.
5. (4) Olympiacos (GRE), 345.90
6. (5) Panathinaikos (GRE), 333.83
7. (7) Maccabi Tel Aviv (ISR), 309.01
8. (T8) Caja Laboral Baskonia (ESP), 306.41+
9. (T8) Power Electronics Valencia (ESP), 306.41 – After watching both of these Euroleague sides get bounced in the Copa del Rey semifinals, BiE, having gotten weary of seeing this tie within the top 10, came to make an the executive decision: Baskonia gets the nod based on its 81-67 win at Valencia in week six.
10. (11) Union Olimpija (SLO), 285.95
11. (10) Efes Pilsen (TUR), 278.67 – Union Olimpija stomped through the Slovenian Cup tournament while Efes Pilsen fell victim to surprising Beşiktaş Cola Turka early in Turkey, and so Olimpija leapfrogs back into the top 10 after a disastrous previous week.
12. (13) Partizan Belgrade (SER), 277.92
13. (14) Zalgiris Kaunas (LTU), 274.40
14. (12) Unicaja Malaga (ESP), 268.53
15. (15) Lietuvos Rytas (LTU), 260.55
16. (16) AJ Milano (ITA), 248.83
17. (17) Lottomatica Roma (ITA), 240.93
18. (18) BC Khimki Moscow region (RUS), 222.97
19. (19) CSKA Moscow (RUS), 217.17
20. (20) Cholet Basket (FRA), 214.20
21. (31) Galatsaray Café Crown (TUR), 208.26 – Now the top-ranked non-Euroleague team in the top 100, Galatasaray travels to the Czech Republic for a must-win Eurocup game against CEZ Nymburk (BiE’s no. 45) tonight after eking out the 76-75 victory in the last meeting.
22. (22) Unics Kazan (RUS), 207.11
23. (21) Brose Baskets Bamberg (GER) 206.41
24. (36) Bennet Cantu (ITA), 203.42 – Three teams made significant jumps this week based on cup finishes; for the second straight year, Cantu finished as runner-up to Montepaschi Siena in Italy.
25. (23) Cajasol Sevilla (ESP), 202.11
26. (38) Aris BSA (GRE), 201.43
27. (24) Asseco Prokom (POL), 201.17
28. (25) Gran Canaria 2014 (ESP), 201.15
29. (29) Norrkoping Dolphins (SWE), 197.26
30. (30) BC Azovmash (UKR), 194.40
31. (28) Tartu Rock (EST), 193.72
32. (26) Benetton Bwin Basket (ITA), 191.98
33. (33) Budivelnik (UKR), 190.91
34. (27) Asefa Estudiantes (ESP), 190.73
35. (32) Cedevita Zagreb (CRO), 188.66
36. (34) Cibona Zagreb (CRO), 184.50 – Just when you think another sentence can’t begin with “And Cibona Zagreb’s 2010-11 campaign has taken another turn for the worse,” here’s another one: And Cibona Zagreb’s 2010-11 campaign has taken another turn for the worse, as the team has reportedly decided to release starting Rok Stipcevic, leaving the roster with one true point guard in 21-year-old Karlo Vragovic. And let’s not even talk about the Krešimir Ćosić Cup, all right?
37. (56) Beşiktaş Cola Turka (TUR), 181.44 – The biggest jump of the week was enjoyed by none other than Beşiktaş, who made it all the way to the Turkish Cup finals before getting turned back by Fenerbahçe in a bizarre game which featured A.J. Ogilvy going to the free-throw line 18 times while the remaining Eagles took exactly one charity shot.
38. (42) Buducnost (MNT), 181.03
39. (39) BK Ventspils (LAT), 179.44
40. (35) Pepsi Caserta (ITA), 178.65
41. (37) KK Krka (SLO), 176.42
42. (T40) Hemofarm Stada (SER), 173.14
43. (48) PAOK BC (GRE), 170.65
44. (44) Banvit BK (TUR), 170.14
45. (T40) CEZ Nymburk (CZE), 169.52
46. (43) Siauliai (LTU), 165.15
47. (59) Gravelines Dunkerque (FRA), 161.33
48. (45) VEF Riga (LAT), 157.83
49. (46) Valladolid (ESP), 156.33
50. (47) Alba Berlin (GER), 155.45
51. (T53) DKV Joventut (ESP), 152.58+
52. (T53) Bizkaia Bilbao Baskets (ESP), 152.58 – Another tiebreaker settled: Joventut won at Bilbao, 92-85, in week eight.
53. (50) Spirou Charleroi (BEL), 150.92
54. (49) Pinar Karsiyaka (TUR), 150.76
55. (57) Rudupis (LTU), 149.44
56. (51) Le Mans (FRA), 146.33
57. (52) Panellinios BC (GRE), 145.03
58. (61) KK Zagreb Croatia Osiguranje (CRO), 144.79
59. (n/a) Fabi Shoes Montegranaro (ITA), 143.83 – The highest debut of the week is Montegranaro, though at just 9-9 in Serie A ball, BiE did violate his own rules a bit here…
60. (60) KK Zadar (CRO), 141.76
61. (T53) Fuenlabrada (ESP), 141.33
62. (62) Dnipro (UKR), 140.94
63. (58) BG Goettingen (GER), 136.67
64. (63) Chorale Roanne (FRA), 128.29
65. (67) Air Avellino (ITA), 128.28
66. (T73) KK Radnicki (SER), 127.08
67. (64) Asvel Basket (FRA), 126.77
68. (80) KK Siroki TT Kabeli (BIH), 124.08
69. (n/a) L’Elan Chalon/Saone (FRA), 120.45
70. (72) Nevezis (LTU), 119.80
71. (39) TTU/Kalev (EST), 118.20
72. (65) SLUC Nancy (FRA), 117.75
73. (66) Perlas (LTU), 117.17
74. (68) Maroussi BC (GRE), 116.33
75. (T73) KK Igokea (BIH), 116.21
76. (70) Spartak St. Petersburg (RUS), 115.42
77. (71) BC Minsk 2006 (BLR), 114.26
78. (75) Liepaja Lauvas (LAT), 114.25
79. (77) Khimik Yuzhny (UKR), 113.57
80. (76) Hapoel Jerusalem (ISR), 110.65
81. (78) Turk Telecom Ankara (TUR), 108.62
82. (81) Lukoil Academic Sofia (BUL), 108.48
83. (79) BC Lokomotiv Kuban (RUS), 108.38
84. (83) Honka Espoo Playboys (FIN), 108.06
85. (96) Elitzur Netanya (ISR), 107.83
86. (91) Anwil Wloclawek (POL), 107.36
87. (82) BC Donetsk (UKR), 107.06
88. (84) Deutsche Bank Skyliners (GER), 104.37
89. (88) Olin Edirne (TUR), 104.13
90. (86) Gasterra Flames (NED), 101.96
91. (85) EWE Baskets (GER), 100.08
92. (110) SKS Polpharma-Pakmet (POL), 98.83 – BiE offers special congratulations to Polpharma, firstly for taking out Asseco Prokom and secondly for winning the first-ever Polish Cup.
93. (87) BK Prostejov (CZE), 97.05
94. (89) Hoverla (UKR), 96.33
95. (94) Pyrinto (FIN), 91.83
96. (89) Hapoel Gilboa/Galil (ISR), 89.74
97. (91) Ferro-ZNTU (UKR), 88.99
98. (95) Telekom Baskets Bonn (GER), 84.76
99. (97) Kalev/Cramo (EST), 83.83
100. (100) Mersey Tigers (GBR), n/a.
Bubbling under: BC Oostende (BEL), 80.76 points; Kataja (FIN), 79.42; Kryvbasbasket (UKR), 78.83; Krasnye Krylia Samara (RUS), 78.04; KTP Basket KOTKA (FIN), 77.47; Hyeres-Toulon (FRA), 76.48; Korihait (FIN), 75.89; Maccabi Haifa (ISR), 75.71; Szolnoki Olaj (HUN), 74.60; FMP (SER), 71.58; Dexia Mons-Hainaut (BEL), 69.03; Energa Czarni (POL), 66.02; BC Kyiv (UKR), 64.48; PGE Turow (POL), 58.83; Antwerp Giants (BEL), 56.23; Artland Dragons (GER), 55.50; Trefl Sopot (POL), 55.08; Enterprise Dynamo Moscow (RUS), 54.89; Lisboa e Benfica (POR), 54.27; New Yorker Phantoms (GER), 54.06; Apoel Nicosia (CYP), 52.58; Leiden Basketball (NED), 50.50; Helsinn Lugano Tigers (SUI), 50.37; TBB Trier (GER), 50.20.
