Adjusting for factors such as strength of schedule, Synergy rates the quarterfinalists according to per-possession efficiency on offense and defense.
Stats review: Synergy's net rating for quarterfinalists
Stats
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The BKT EuroCup Quarterfinals are here after all four teams from Group A won in the eighthfinals last week. The siloed nature of the regular season leaves some interesting questions to be answered in the postseason, and the early returns suggest that teams coming out of Group A may be more battle-tested than those in Group B.
That puts an interesting spin on what Paris Basketball accomplished during the regular season. The table above, produced by Synergy's actionable analytics team, looks at new adjusted team metrics by taking into account strength of schedule, venue, rest, hot streaks, and how teams often pile on points in garbage time. The resulting adjusted offensive and defensive points per possession and Synergy Net Rating (SNR) paint a clearer picture of the league landscape than conventional efficiency measures.
Paris's pre-eminence
It also really hammers home just how well Paris has played this season. After losing to Besiktas Emlakjet Istanbul back in Round 8, Paris won its remaining 10 games by an average of 24.5 points. Interestingly, an 89-82 home win over Joventut Badalona, now Paris's quarterfinal opponent, was by far its closest game in that span. Even including that game, Paris has a historically dominant SNR, with an expected margin of victory of 19.4 points per 100 possessions over an average team in neutral conditions, which trumps all recent EuroCup champions. It will be fascinating to see how Paris deals with the only team that played it tough in both of their games this year.
Despite an SNR would sit near the top of the heap most seasons, Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv will face a unique test from a Besiktas team that already took down last year's champion, Dreamland Gran Canaria, in the eighthfinals. It was not a pretty win, but Besiktas was disruptive enough on defense to earn a hard-fought victory against Gran Canaria, which was the lone team in the SNR top-nine that did not reach the quarterfinals. That poses some interesting questions about what they might be capable of against a better opponent, Hapoel, that has beaten Besiktas twice this season.
Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse vs. Prometey Slobozhanske and U-BT Cluj-Napoca vs. London Lions feature opponents who found similar success on paper, according to SNR, in opposite regular-season groups. Those games could go a long way to confirming or offering a rebuttal to Group A's dominant showing in the eighthfinals. There's a contrast of styles and strength in both games. Bourg has done its best work offensively on the perimeter this season while Prometey has been more effective inside. London has scored steadily in transition while Cluj is the best offensive rebounding team remaining in the bracket.