The start of the EuroCup, by the numbers

There’s no shortage of storylines building momentum through the first three rounds of the BKT EuroCup. Four teams are averaging over 90 points per game, Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul leads all teams in defensive efficiency in its first EuroCup campaign since 2015-16, one player has nearly doubled his scoring average from last season to lead all players in scoring, a newcomer has leaped out ahead of the field on the glass, and numerous teams have made significant stylistic changes from last season. While it is still a little too early to draw many concrete conclusions about where the season is headed, there have been plenty of compelling games early on and a few numbers that have defined them.

4 – is the number of teams scoring over 90 points per game

Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv, Paris Basketball, Dreamland Gran Canaria, and the London Lions have all eclipsed that mark to this point. Despite playing at varying paces, finding different levels of success from beyond the arc, and even turning the ball over at far different rates, those four teams have been able to hang their hat on two things: they have all created quality looks consistently and — to separate themselves from the rest of the field — made them at an above average rate as well. Hapoel led all teams scoring 88 points per game last season, so there’s a regression to the mean on the horizon, but it does not take much effort to see why all four of those teams are unbeaten to this point.

0.82 and 0.95 - points per possession allowed

Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul is one of the other two teams that remains undefeated through Round 3 and its defensive efficiency has been the story. It has allowed a league-best 0.82 points per possession in the early going, but that only tells part of the story. Using Synergy’s new strength of schedule adjustments, we can see that Besiktas has allowed 0.95 points per possession after adjusting for who it has played to this point as its first three opponents rank in the bottom half of the EuroCup in offensive efficiency. That still ranks in the top four, but reflects that Besiktas still has some things to prove moving forward.

31% of available rebounds

In his first stint in Europe, 23-year-old center Trevion Williams is setting a tone with his productivity and that has been especially true on the glass. On top of his effective scoring, he’s pulled down 27 rebounds through two games corralling just under a third of all available rebounds when he’s been on the floor for ratiopharm Ulm. Alpha Kaba comfortably led the EuroCup by pulling down 22% of available rebounds last year, putting the young big man’s impact in perspective.

9.3 points per game

Veteran forward Tomer Ginat was Hapoel’s fifth-leading scorer last season averaging 10.3 points per game. He’s averaged a EuroCup-leading 19.5 per game through two appearances this season nearly doubling his production — an exciting development for a team intent on building on last season’s quarterfinals appearance. While Ginat was efficient in a complementary role last season, his energy level this one has been part of the reason Hapoel has cruised to a pair of easy wins to start the year.

37% full-court pressure rate

Paris Basketball owns this season’s highest point-differential so far and while its offense has been key in the team's three wins, its defense has been more of a nuisance than meets the eye. Picking up full court on over a third of the possessions it has faced — nearly three times as often as last year, Paris has been as aggressive guarding the length of the floor as any team in recent memory.

No team has come close to pressing more than just a quarter of the time in modern EuroCup history and there’s little doubt Paris will have plenty of incentive to change its tactics as it encounters elite teams in the coming weeks. All of these trends are subject to change to this point, but in an 18-game regular season, teams cannot take the little things for granted in their pursuit of a playoff berth.