Preview: Who are the teams to beat in the Second Round?

MUNICH (Germany) - The Regular Season field is down to 16 teams, all competing for the right to be crowned FIBA Europe Cup 2022-23 champions.

The remaining sides have been split into four groups of four, to battle it out over another six weeks of action on the way to the Quarter-Finals.

Let's take a look at the 16 title contenders and their seasons so far, as well as the players leading the way for their respective teams.

Group I 

Niners Chemnitz (GER)

Record: 4-2 (Group A winners)

Regular Season: Chemnitz had the points differential of any team in the Regular Season at +98. And although they came out of Group A with two losses, they avenged both of them - against Brose Bamberg and Hapoel Nofar Galil Elion. 

Key Players: Their playmaker, Arnas Velicka, leads the competition so far in assists. He dropped 11 dimes in the team's most recent game. The club's leading scorer is Marko Filipovity with 14.8 points per game while averaging 3.3 made three-pointers.

SCMU Craiova (ROU)

Record: 5-1 (Group H winners)

Regular Season: The only blemish on Craiova's record so far is a 102-81 drubbing they received at home from HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim. The Romanian club won every other Regular Season game by at least 9 points and are in good form.

Key Players: Veteran guard Giordan Watson is the club's only player in the top-five in the competition in any stats category: he was fifth in the Regular Season in assists at 6.3 per game. They're led in scoring by Dimitrije Nikolic with 13 points per game‎, albeit only narrowly - the team's strength isn't necessarily in individual performances.

FC Porto (POR)

Record: 3-3 (Group C runners-up)

Regular Season: The Portuguese club grinded their way to the Second Round, with a tight 76-75 win on Gameday 5 against Fribourg proving key. At home, they nearly took down the group winners Heroes Den Bosch, but suffered a major loss to the Dutch club later on the road.

Key Players: American guard Teyvon Myers leads the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game. However, forward Michael Finke might quietly be their MVP - he's the only starter with a positive plus/minus.

 Cholet Basket (FRA)

Record: 4-2 (Group E runners-up)

Regular Season: Cholet come into the Second Round looking like one of the strongest runners-up in the field - they managed a +70 points differential in the Regular Season. They also split their game against Group E winners Oradea. 

Key Players: Perry Ellis led the team in points per game during the Regular Season with 19.2, but the team also gets valuable scoring and rebounding contributions from Justin Patton. 

Group J

Hapoel B-Cure Laser Haifa (ISR)

Record: 5-1 (Group B winners)

Regular Season: The top defensive team coming into the Second Round in terms of points allowed per game, Hapoel Haifa impressed on that side of the floor on their way to securing the top spot in Group B. 

Key Players: On a strong defensive team, Anthony Hickey stands out as a top-five per game steals leader in the competition. He also leads the team in both the scoring and assists categories and will be one to watch in the Second Round.

Karhu Basket (FIN)

Record: 5-1 (Group G winners)

Regular Season: Karhu took Group G in part thanks to two incredibly narrow, single point wins over runners-up Anwil Wloclawek, as well as Egis Kormend. They'll certainly be going into the Second Round with a solid amount of experience under pressure.

Key Players: American forward Jaye Crockett is arguably Karhu's best - he's sitting at third in the competition in efficiency rating so far as well as being the team leader in rebounds. Daniel Dolenc is their top scorer - putting up 15.2 points per game on 74 percent shooting from the field as well as 90 percent on free throws.

Patrioti Levice (SVK)

Record: 3-3 (Group D runners-up)

Regular Season: Group D was the most hotly contested in the Regular Season - every team finished with the same record. Patrioti Levice is the club that snuck into the Second Round by the narrowest of margins - with a +4 points differential.

Key Players: With that said, Levice also has the leading scorer so far in the competition - Miha Lapornik is averaging 22.3 per game, shooting a deadly 50 percent from three-point range and also picked up Player of the Month recognition for November. 

BC Budivelnyk Kyiv (UKR)

Record: 4-2 (Group F runners-up)

Regular Season: The Ukrainian team that plays out of Italy managed second place in a tough three-way battle in Group F, despite not managing to beat group winners Kalev/Cramo. 

Key Players: The team's efficiency leader is Bogdan Bliznyuk, who recorded two triple-doubles in the Regular Season. Johnny Berhanemeskel and Archie Goodwin (top-three in steals this season) also bring it on both ends for the team, filling up the stat sheet.

Group K

Gaziantep (TUR)

Record: 3-3 (Group B runners-up)

Regular Season: The Turkish club gave group winners Hapoel Haifa their only loss of the Regular Season, but also lost their last three games coming into the Second Round after an encouraging start.

Key Players: Damyean Dotson leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game, while Codi Miller-Mcintyre is dishing out 7 assists per game. Leyton Hammonds also gives a strong contribution to the club with 14.8 average efficiency. 

HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim (GER)

Record: 4-2 (Group H runners-up)

Regular Season: Crailsheim come into the Second Round on a four game winning streak, including avenging their loss earlier in the season to group winners Craiova as they build plenty of momentum. 

Key Players: American forward Jaren Lewis is in the top-five so far in the competition in both rebounding and efficiency and is also the team's leading scorer with 13.8 points per game.

Heroes Den Bosch (NED)

Record: 4-2 (Group C winners)

Regular Season: The Dutch club closed out the Regular Season with a big win over group runners-up FC Porto, 82-64. They'll come into the Second Round as one of the top defensive teams in the competition and will hope to continue that trend.

Key Players: Chris-Ebou Ndow is one of the top rebounders thus far, averaging 8.7 per game as well as putting up 13.8 points per game to spark the offense. 

BC Kalev/Cramo (EST)

Record: 5-1 (Group F winners)

Regular Season: Kalev/Cramo were far and away the top team in Group F, with a +80 points differential. The only blemish on their Regular Season record is a two-point road loss to a tough Happy Casa Brindisi team. 

Key Players: The team is led in scoring by Wesley van Beck with 16.7 points per game, while Latvian center Martins Meiers is their rebounding leader with 6.7 per outing.

Group L

Brose Bamberg (GER)

Record: 4-2 (Group A runners-up)

Regular Season: The German club recovered from a rough stretch - including a shocking home loss to Golden Eagle Ylli - to comfortably qualify for the Second Round with a 4-2 record. 

Key Players: The team's overall best contributor is undoubtedly German national team member Christian Sengfelder - averaging 17.3 points on over 50 percent from the floor, and over 80 percent from the free throw line. Just for good measure, he's also pulling down 6.3 rebounds per game.

Anwil Wloclawek (POL)

Record: 4-2 (Group G runners-up)

Regular Season: The Polish club were the highest scorers in the Regular Season, averaging 91.5 points per game. They also gave up the second most points on average among teams to advance to the Second Round - in other words, if you like scoring, you're likely to enjoy a game involving Anwil.

Key Players: Kamil Laczynski is the competition's leader in steals having produced 8 in a single game against Egis Kormend, whilst leading the team in assists. Phillip Greene is averaging 16.8 points per game with an impressive 59.5 percent on threes.   

Keravnos BC (CYP)

Record: 3-3 (Group D winners)

Regular Season: The top club out of the aforementioned closely-contested Group D, Keravnos won the group as a result of their superior points differential. And, not unlike the other qualifiers out of that group, the club regularly enjoys amazing individual performances.

Key Players: Keravnos has the leader in efficiency and rebounding: Ousman Krubally. He's also an iron man, regularly playing every minute in games having been Player of the Month in October. Meanwhile, Deondre Burns leads the team in scoring, just ahead of his teammate.

CSM CSU Oradea (ROU)

Record: 5-1 (Group E winners)

Regular Season: Oradea cruised to the top of Group E, winning their last five in a row after a tough road loss to start the season against runners-up Cholet as they are trending in the right direction. 

Key Players: The club maintains a balanced scoring attack, but American guard Erick Neal is by far their leader in passing, averaging 7.2 assists per game. He's also among the top in the competition in forcing turnovers, with 2.5 steals per game, while Oradea's top rebounder is Mark Ogden with 6.5 boards per game.

FIBA