Key stats ahead of Group Stage 2 of BCL Americas

MIAMI (United States) – The 12 teams of Season 5 of Basketball Champions League Americas will look to take another step toward the next round when they play in Group Stage 2 from January 17-28. After the first stage, Real Estelí, Quimsa and SESI Franca remain the only unbeaten squads, but nothing is yet set in stone.

The action now heads to Montevideo (Uruguay), where Hebraica Macabi will host Group C. UdeC will do the same in Concepcion (Chile) for Group D, while Gladiadores will host Group A in Anzoategui (Venezuela). Nacional will play their Group B home games in Buenos Aires (Argentina) due to repairs not being yet completed on their own arena.

It is yet to be seen whether the undefeated teams can maintain their dominance or surprises lurk around the corner. Here are some things that may help us glean some tendencies ahead of the next games:

-Real Estelí’s center Ismael Romero is the player with the highest scoring mark with 29. Nicknamed “El Cubanazo,” he leads in field goal percentage (64.0). His teammate Emmitt Williams is second with 63 percent.

-Nacional’s shooting guard Michael Smith comes into this Stage 2 as the leading scorer (23.5 points per game). The American also leads the competition with 23 free throw attempts.

-Quimsa’s Brandon Robinson drained 7 three-pointers on December 16th against Sao Paulo, the most in a game so far. He had to leave early due to injury in his next game, but still sits atop the long-range leaderboard with 8 alongside Lucas Dias (SESI Franca) and Terrell Holloway (Real Estelí).

-Obras’ Venezuelan big man Miguel Ruiz has shined on the defensive end for the Argentinian outfit. He’s leading the tournament with 12.5 rebounds per game while taking just 4.0 shots per contest.

-São Paulo didn’t have a great start, but the silver lining was Cordero Bennett’s performance. He’s leading the event with 3.5 steals per game.

-Quimsa leading the power rankings isn’t a huge surprise. The Argentinian defending champions boast the best offense so far, not only in points per game (99.0), but also in three-point percentage (41.8), assists (23.5), rebounds (tied with Gladiadores at 45.0) and they’re the only team with fewer than 10 turnovers per game (9.0).

-UdeC is currently the team with the worst long-distance accuracy at just 20.6 percent.

-Boca Jrs. is the team allowing the fewest points per game (65.5), despite being the second worst in rebounds (36.5), seventh in steals (6.5) and sixth in blocks (4.0).

FIBA