Some players have been lighting up the EuroCup with their big dunks this season
Stats review: Getting up above the rim
Stats
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Round 15 of the BKT EuroCup saw Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana score a key victory over Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem to climb into sole possession of second place in Group B. While the club has done a number of important things well on both ends as they have climbed the standings, they have done so while also building perhaps one of the league’s best highlight reels to this point.
As the table above suggests, no team has played above the rim more often than Cedevita this season. Explosive swingman Devin Robinson, young big man Joan Beringer, and bouncy guard DJ Stewart give the Slovenian club a trio of players who finish around one dunk per game. While two points is two points, dunks do not come easy at this level, and there’s momentum to be seized when a player springs free to finish a lob or make a highlight reel play.
Robinson is currently in a three-way tie for second place in individual dunks with Bahcesehir College Istanbul's Tai Odiase and ratiopharm Ulm's Noa Essengue, who has propelled the German outfit towards the top of this list. The 18-year-old French forward has had a dunk in every game this season as he’s turned a bit of a corner with his assertiveness offensively in his second season in the EuroCup.
Turk Telekom Ankara's Yoan Makoundou led all players with three dunks in Round 15, and his ability to rise up to finish lobs and put backs above the square makes things interesting every time he finds an angle to the rim. He and Kyle Alexander give Turk Telekom perhaps the best duo of lob-catching big men in the EuroCup this season.
Mfiondu Kabengele of Umana Reyer Venice not only leads all players in dunks, but his single-game high of five back in Round 10 is one of the highest marks in recent history. The powerfully built big man is a physical presence around the rim and his 2.79-meter standing reach makes him an easy target for quick alley-oop passes in close proximity of the rim.
Dunks only make up around 5% of all shots in the EuroCup as defenses give up few easy looks inside. It is a luxury at this level to have a player so gifted that they can find ways to regularly make acrobatic plays rolling to the rim, cutting backdoor, or getting out in transition and perhaps no team has benefited from that as much as Cedevita as they position themselves for a postseason bye with only three games remaining.