Round Two nears a close. This time, we have 2019 vs. 2012!
Vote for the best All-EuroLeague First Team in history: 2019 vs. 2012
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2 Min lectura
Each season, the top five players in Europe’s premier basketball competition are honored with All-EuroLeague First Team selections. Over the past quarter century, these elite squads have featured legends, icons, and unforgettable performances.
This summer, we’re putting them head-to-head to answer one big question: Which All-EuroLeague First Team stands above the rest?
Our panel of in-house EuroLeague experts seeded all 24 teams into a bracket. Several times a week, we reveal a new matchup on the official EuroLeague Instagram account — and you vote for your favorite. Eight teams are already out. Sixteen remain. Who will punch their ticket to the quarterfinals?
2019
- Nick Calathes, Panathinaikos (age 30)
- Kostas Sloukas, Fenerbahce (age 29)
- Will Clyburn, CSKA Moscow (age 29)
- Brandon Davies, Zalgiris (age 27)
- Jan Vesely, Fenerbahce (age 29)
2012
- Dimitris Diamantidis, Panathinaikos (age 32)
- Vassilis Spanoulis, Olympiacos (age 29)
- Andrei Kirilenko, CSKA Moscow (age 31)
- Erazem Lorbek, Barcelona (age 28)
- Nenad Krstic, CSKA Moscow (age 28)
I have to admit that while I thought this would be a fairly one-sided contest, my AI partners on this project saw it as much closer, though with the same outcome. Let’s look at the teams' strengths and weaknesses. Team 2019 is a well-balanced side where Calathes and Sloukas could run masterful pick-and-rolls with the two bigs, Clyburn and Vesely could burn opponents in transition and there is great speed and length on the defensive end.
Team 2012 counters with top-tier basketball IQs all around, EuroLeague Best Defender winners in Diamantidis and Kirilenko, and low-post aces in Lorbek and Krstic. Add to them Spanoulis, one of the great clutch players in EuroLeague history, and you have a team that is tough to beat.
I choose Team 2012 as my clear winner. But when I asked for feedback from different AI engines, I first got an 87-83 victory for the boys from 2012 with Spanoulis serving up 21 points and 5 assists and Kirilenko making a key strip late to seal the game. The next AI engine gave 2019 the win by the same score with Clyburn going for 21 points, 7 rebounds and a dagger triple. In the tiebreaker, 2012 wins the series 76-72 as Kirilenko puts up 18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Agree or disagree? Let us know!