Home-court advantage could not save five teams from defeat in Round 1 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16.
Stats Review: The prudence of scoring efficiency
Stats
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High-gravity matchup
There was plenty of drama in Round 1 as five teams scored road wins to begin their Top 16 campaigns. Joventut Badalona’s win over Unicaja Malaga was perhaps the most impressive of those victories. Using a fourth-quarter surge to best an Unicaja team that 46% of general managers put through to the finals in the 2020-21 mid-season survey 95-86, Joventut seized the inside-track in Group A.
Living up to its billing as the league's second-toughest opponent from that same survey, Joventut got 18 points from MVP candidate Ante Tomic, 13 from Nenad Dimitrijevic, and a career-night from big man Vladimir Brodziansky, who scored 21 points over just 12 possessions. Following that showing, Brodziansky is now on pace to become the seventh player to join the 60-40-90 club in EuroCup history.
High-value scorers
Players do not score 1.75 points per possession over more than 10 possessions per game very often in the EuroCup, but Vladimir Brodziansky is not your average EuroCup player.
A total of 75 players have used over 100 possessions this season and of that group, only six have scored over 1.20 points per possession. Brodziansky ranks as the fourth most efficient scorer in that group, but he is one of just two big men to reach that threshold and by far the tallest. Falling between elite jump-shooting guards like Francis Alonso and Jamar Smith, the 2.11-meter big man has a unique scoring touch for a player his size making him valuable within Joventut’s half-court sets. Having a player like Brodziansky who can do a lot with a little is inherently valuable in the Top 16 when one game can make the difference between a spot in the quarterfinals and an early exit.
Pierre Pelos epitomized the impact that type of contributor can have for a JL Bourg en Bresse team that half of all general managers voted as this season’s most surprising team. Pelos finished third on the club in possessions per game, but scored an absurd 1.42 points per possession in their wins compared to 1.14 in their losses. His ability to make opportunistic plays often proved to be an x-factor during Bourg’s international debut and improbable run to the Top 16.
Shot making
There's no shortage of urgency in every Top 16 game and Round 2 features several critical games for teams with postseason aspirations that fell in Round 1. Herbalife Gran Canaria, Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar and Unicaja Malaga all comfortably qualified for the Top 16, but suffered a home loss in their opener.