Stats review: Looking at which teams have dominated in first quarters

The teams that excel consistently early in the games stand out in the standings, too

Valencia Basket notched the most important win of Round 10 when it defeated Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem to get 2.5 games clear of them atop Group B. To start the game, Valencia jumped out to a 33-26 first-quarter lead before building on their early success with a 26-12 second-quarter effort.

This is not the first time Valencia has blitzed a team out of the gate this season; it is averaging a league-best 1.23 points per possession in the first 5 minutes of games as it makes a concerted effort to test its opponents’ pick-and-roll coverages, move the ball around the perimeter, and look for shots along the three-point line in the opening minutes. For reference, Bahcesehir Koleji Istanbul leads all teams scoring 1.06 points per possession overall on the year. Valencia had nine players make three-pointers in their Round 10 win while still making 47% of 38 attempts from beyond the arc.

As good as Valencia has been in the opening minutes this season, it ranks only second in first-quarter efficiency. No team in the EuroCup has played as well offensively before the first break as Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, which is averaging 1.18 points per possession in first quarters this season. While some of that success early in games can be traced to some timely shooting from Fletcher Magee and Juwan Morgan, the key to those fast starts has been Rasheed Sulaimon. Leading the EuroCup by a wide margin in first-quarter scoring, averaging a blistering 1.50 points per possession early in games, the 30-year-old guard has hit the ground running most nights this season burning defenses playing both on and off the ball.

On the other end of the spectrum, Dreamland Gran Canaria has held opposing teams to just 0.84 points per possession in first quarters this season; that’s lower than the worst mark a team has posted in a season since the EuroCup moved to its current format. Coach Jaka Lakovic’s team has been aggressive in guarding pick-and-rolls without paying the price from the perimeter as the way the team has set the tone defensively to start games has kept it in step with Bahcesehir atop Group A.

Among other superlatives, U-BT Cluj-Napoca has the best first-quarter point differential ranking in the top four in both offensive and defensive efficiency with Valencia and Besiktas Fibabanka Istanbul not far behind above the +30 mark.

Bahcesehir has been this season’s most effective offensive team in the second and fourth quarters while Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius narrowly beat out several teams to rank as the EuroCup’s top offense coming out of halftime. One separator Valencia and Bahcesehir have found through the first part of the season has been their defense coming out of the half. With both teams allowing less than 0.78 points per possession, they have consistently disrupted the rhythm of opposing offenses to start second halves.

Aris Midea Thessaloniki and Cosea JL Bourg-En-Bresse came out ahead of a cluster of teams to rank as the best second-and-fourth-quarter defensive units, respectively.

With a pretty clear hierarchy beginning to form in the standings, it is worth noting that there is no shortage of teams who excel consistently in certain moments or show more potential than their current placement suggests at some junctures.