FIBA Basketball

Fear of the Bears intensifies; Ironi Ness Ziona and s.Oliver Wurzburg shoot up the Power Rankings

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – With the return of FIBA Europe Cup action for the Second Round, the Power Rankings are back as well, topped by the unbeaten Bakken Bears.

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – With the return of FIBA Europe Cup action for the Second Round, the Power Rankings are back as well, topped by the unbeaten Bakken Bears and followed by Pallacanestro Varese and Dinamo Sassari.

Like always, here are the rankings in reverse order.

RANK	CLUB	MOVE	COMMENT
16			The thesaurus suggests quite a few heavy-ringing words to describe how Wednesday night in Saratov went for Kataja Basket, but we'll just stick with horrible. The only team to qualify for the Second Round with three wins, the Finns will have to pick up their game if they don't want their European season to finish soon. (Yeah, just went there!)
15			Seen as the clear underdogs in the Group of Death, Petrolina AEK exceeded expectations for most of the first half against Pallacanestro Varese, but could never recover after conceding a 9-0 run at the end of the second period.
14			Did not see that one coming, did you? After looking so good in the Regular Season, ZZ Leiden opened the Second Round with a FORTY point loss in Aarhus. They'll need to get this whoopsie out of their system as soon as possible and hope that's all it was – an inconvenient accident. After all, we all have bad days.
13			The 18-point margin of defeat against s.Oliver Wurzburg does not reflect the solid Z Mobile Prishtina effort in Germany. One of only a few European teams still perfect in their domestic championships, the Kosovar title-holders have always been more convincing in front of their superb fans than on the road.
12			If you had asked who the most clutch team in the competition was just a week ago, Alba Fehervar would have been the clear front-runner. But did they use up all of their good luck in the Regular Season? After stealing a number of close ones in the Group Phase, the Hungarians got a taste of their own medicine against Balkan Botevgrad.
11			They looked to be heading for their third defeat in a row in the FIBA Europe Cup, but then Brandon Brown worked some magic to force overtime and the rest is history, with Balkan Botevgrad squeaking out an 88-82 win.
10			Szolnoki Olaj front man David Vojvoda came out and said it: scoring 23 points in a half at home is unacceptable. The Hungarian title-holders wasted an excellent first-half performance against Pinar Karsiyaka with a stinker of a second half to drop their first home game of the season in all competitions.
9			All good things come to an end and that was also the case for Donar Groningen's impressive FIBA Europe Cup winning streak at home. In memory of the 14-game stretch, here is the list of the teams they beat before falling to Dinamo Sassari last week: SL Benfica, Lukoil Academic, ESSM Le Portel, KK Bosna, Telenet Giants Antwerp, U-BT Cluj-Napoca, Belfius Mons-Hainaut, Keravnos, U-BT Cluj-Napoca once again, Mornar Bar, Umana Reyer Venezia, Istanbul BBSK, Pinar Karsiyaka, Spirou Basket.
8			That's two defeats in a row for the Bulgarian title-holders Lukoil Levski, who ended the Regular Season with a slip-up against Aris and now began the Second Round with a worrisome home defeat to Ironi Ness Ziona. Too early to look for the panic button in Sofia, but the latest results have seen Levski drop a few spots in the Power Rankings.
7			It would appear that s.Oliver Wurzburg hit the nail on its head in the acquisition of former FIBA Europe Cup champion Mike Morrison, who was one of four players to share a team-high 12 points in a 95-77 win over Z Mobile Prishtina. You got to love that all-inclusive Denis Wucherer offense!
6			Ironi Ness Ziona might be the hottest team in the FIBA Europe Cup, coming off an impressive patch of results. The big-hitters from Ness Ziona strung together wins against Lukoil Levski and the top two teams in the Israeli championship – Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Holon. That has not gone unnoticed in the Power Rankings as they climbed up the ladder by five spots.
5			The only remaining Turkish side in the FIBA Europe Cup, Pinar Karsiyaka looked shaky against Szolnoki Olaj but got their act together in the second half and powered through to take the W in Hungary, which will give them a solid base to work with in the Second Round.
4			Avtodor Saratov have raised their game after the arrival of head coach Dusan Alimpijevic, with the side winning four out of the last five contests in the FIBA Europe Cup and the VTB League. Paired with beating Kataja Basket by 41 points to start the Second Round, wins against Nizhny Novgorod and Zenit St. Petersburg on the home front has propelled Avtodor up in the Power Rankings.
3			By snatching a win against Donar Groningen in the Netherlands, Dinamo Sassari accomplished something that had not been done for nearly two years. Although they have lost five of the last six games in the domestic championship, they did push reigning champions Olimpia Milano to overtime and showed they have the potential to punch above their weight.
2			The Pallacanestro Varese season continues to gain traction with Attilio Caja's men enjoying a month-long seven-game winning streak in the FIBA Europe Cup and Lega Basket Serie A. Tipping off the Second Round with a 35-point win against Petrolina AEK brought the Italians one step closer to the top of the Power Rankings.
1			What should you do if you encounter the Bakken Bears? Don't panic, make your presence known, don't run away and do fight back if you are attacked. Contrary to popular belief, playing dead is not all that effective – just ask Cherkaski Mavpy, Steaua Bucuresti, Z Mobile Prishtina or their latest victim ZZ Leiden.