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Scoring efficiency rising to near-record pace

Scoring efficiency rising to near-record pace

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20 Φεβρουαρίου 20234 Χρόνος Ανάγνωσης

Scoring efficiency rising to near-record pace

With only 10 games remaining 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, most teams have established a rhythm on the offensive end. That is perhaps most evident in the fact that league-wide scoring efficiency has continued to rise deep into the season, reaching 0.99 points per possession following the conclusion of Round 24.

Historically, efficiency tends to level out over the first third of the season. After that point, the surges of some teams are offset by the regressions of others. This season has been different because shot-making efficiency has continued to climb, month after month. With seven teams current scoring more than 1.00 points per possession – a gold standard at the highest levels of the sport – the EuroLeague may be on course to match the remarkable offensive standard it had set before the pandemic.

The league's highest volume scorers tend to be the standard-bearers for how high the bar truly is set in the EuroLeague at any given moment. The table above ranks the top players in points per possession among those using more than 10 possessions per game this season. Through the last round, a total of 58 players had used over 10 possessions per game. That group is scoring 1.00 points per possession, just ahead of the league average.

As has been the case throughout the season, Sasha Vezenkov has set the curve among this year's top scorers in terms of efficiency. With only 10 games remaining, he is not only on pace to join Bo McCalebb, Boban Marjanovic and Nikola Mirotic as the only players in modern EuroLeague history to average more than 1.20 points per possession over 12 possessions per game, but he's still on track to set the modern scoring efficiency record, which currently sits at 1.26 points per possession. It is hard to understate just how effective Vezenkov has been to this point. His 77% shooting when finishing around the rim is nearly unprecedented, and his ability to score from inside and out has propelled Olympiacos Piraeus to the top of the standings.

It is not particularly surprising that Nikola Mirotic of FC Barcelona has reclaimed a spot on this list despite having missed the early part of the season with an Achilles tendon injury. Looking none the worse for the extended absence, Mirotic has nearly picked up where he left off in his spectacular MVP campaign last season.

Keenan Evans of Zalgiris Kaunas suffered a similar bout of bad luck this season; he was scoring at an elite level before he hurt his Achilles tendon in Round 17.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, which has been surging over the last couple months, places two new players on this list relative to the early part of the season. Mathias Lessort has been a force inside all season, but the play of Kevin Punter and Dante Exum has been key to the club's rise as the most potent offense in the league.

Its easy to forget that Dzanan Musa of Real Madrid is only 23 years old in what amounts to his rookie year in the EuroLeague. He played sparingly for Anadolu Efes in four games during the 2020-21 season, but blossomed last year and has taken another step in this one, giving Real a massive boost on the wing.

Veteran big men Bojan Dubljevic, Johnathan Motley and Gabriel Deck have taken different paths to make it to this level. Dubljevic has been a cornerstone for Valencia Basket for a decade now; Motley worked his way up the ranks to get his first crack at the EuroLeague this year with Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul; and Deck has always made an impact for Real but had to earn additional touches over time.

With the playoff push looming and expectations rising along with league-wide efficiency, the league's top players will likely have a chance to author the ending of what has been a very memorable season so far.