Stats review: Gran Canaria and its after-timeout success

The two most efficient half-court offensive teams in the 7DAYS EuroCup faced off in Round 4 as Gran Canaria scored a road win in a back-and-forth duel with Paris Basketball. In a game that swung on the rebounding margin, the talent and execution of both teams lived up to expectations. With Kyle Allman and AJ Slaughter heating up, both teams rode the hot hand for stretches but also made the most of their looks from the perimeter and got their role players involved in a variety of ways, executing effectively.

Execution has been particularly important for Gran Canaria throughout the first month of the season. Synergy Sports counts each team’s first half-court possession out of a sideline huddle as an after-timeout play. Those situations constitute around 15% of all half-court possessions season-to-season.

While the average half-court offensive possession has been converted for 0.92 points per possession this year, the average after-timeout play has been worth only 0.86 per possession. Historically, teams benefit more from being able to set their defense than their offense. Every year there are one or two teams that defy that logic and bolster their offensive efficiency with their playcalling and focus out of stoppages and that team has been Gran Canaria this season.

As the graphic above suggests, Gran Canaria has scored a remarkable 1.20 points on after-timeout possessions so far this year with no other team joining them above the 1.00-line. Their poise in executing Coach Jaka Lakovic’s quick hitters, patience to find the open man along the perimeter when they do not get something off their initial action, and three-point shooting in special situations have placed Gran Canaria alongside Paris and Joventut Badalona as the only three teams scoring over 1.00 in the half court overall this season. It's still early, but Gran Canaria's ability to get things done out of stoppages has helped the team maintain momentum and has been key to its 3-1 start.

The early play of AJ Slaughter has also been a significant factor in Gran Canaria’s efficiency as the 35-year-old guard does not just rank as the EuroCup’s most efficient volume scores through four games, but his ability to make shots in a pinch has given the club an obvious player to look to on the rare occasions they have not created a good shooting opportunity towards the end of the shot clock.

Looking ahead to Round 5

Gran Canaria will put its ability to lean on its offense to the test against a Hapoel Tel Aviv team that has the best point differential among the five teams sitting at 3-1 in Group B. In the early going, Hapoel has ranked among the league’s best half-court defensive units thanks in large part to its three-point defense.

It will be interesting to see how that holds up against Gran Canaria; how well Hapoel closes out shooters could go a long way toward determining whether it remains at the top of the standings next week.