Sportradar's Matt Kamalsky breaks down how Bourg and Hapoel lead the pack in a season defined by contrasting styles and tight margins
Stats review: Bourg, Jerusalem, and the EuroCup efficiency race
Stats
4 Mins read
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana notched its fourth straight win to claim the top point differential in the BKT EuroCup through the first half of the season and ascend to the top of Group A. Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse, in contrast, has held steady atop Group B with only a single loss, but heads into the second half with only the third-best point differential in its group. Things are complicated throughout the EuroCup landscape with plenty of teams still having a chance to make some real headway before the calendar turns to 2026.
The graph above plots every team in the EuroCup in terms of how far above or below average they have performed in offensive and defensive efficiency. The teams with the two best efficiency differentials are pretty apparent on first glance as Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem and Bourg have been the class of the league on paper early on. While both teams have built impressive resumes on opposite ends of the floor, neither has shown the two-way dominance that characterized some of the more easily predictable title runs of the EuroCup’s last decade.
That duo is also an intriguing litmus test for how sustainable great offense and defense can be over the second run through Group play. It will be fascinating to see which team can maintain its near-record offensive and defensive efficiency.
While Group A has more parity than Group B at the moment, Group B features three other teams that have played at an above-average level on both ends of the floor through the early part of the season. Besiktas GAIN Istanbul, Turk Telekom Ankara, and Buducnost VOLI Podgorica all have some key markers of success, with Turk Telekom thriving on the road, Besiktas remaining undefeated at home, and Buducnost having a favorable schedule the rest of the way. Even with Bourg on a record pace defensively, its efficiency differential sits only marginally ahead of the strong cluster of quality teams chasing it.
In Group A, the fiercest competition at the end of the year may wind up being closer to the cut line, but the quality of the teams around that line seems like they’ll have an impact on the top of the standings as well. Bahcesehir College Istanbul’s recent losses align with that theory as it started the year 6-1 before falling to a pair of teams outside of the top six in back-to-back weeks. There are very few easy wins in Group A and that presents a real challenge for the teams angling for a bye to the quarterfinals when the postseason rolls around.
The second half of the regular season has a chance to be a roller coaster ride, and while Cedevita is the hottest team in the league right now, a team that gets hot towards the end of the season may have a chance to make a run.