Praise for the newcomers
The two EuroCup debutants in Group A have both acquitted themselves well to the competition. Prometey Slobozhanske (5-4) is a story unique to itself in that the Ukrainian club does not have a home this season due to the war in its country and thus has played its home games in Latvia and Lithuania. Nevertheless, it has won three of those and has excited fans with its high-scoring brand of basketball. The other newcomer, U-BT Cluj-Napoca (3-6) is second to Prometey for the most points of any team in Group A with 86.1 per game. What Cluj is lacking is a road win – it is winless in four appearances outside of Romania – and the ability to capture a victory away from home could be what it needs to reach the next phase.
Top offenses
More balls sink through the nets in Group A than in Group B. The scoring average for Group A teams is 82.9 points per game led by Prometey’s 87.0. The only two teams averaging at least 40 percent on three-point shooting are from this group: Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse (40.3%) and Joventut Badalona (40.0%). Joventut also tops the charts in free-throw accuracy (81.6%). Cluj not only leads the competition in two-point accuracy, but its 66.7% two-point shooting is on pace to set the EuroCup record. Dynamo Moscow set that record by shooting 61.8% on twos during the 2007-08 campaign.
Kings of the close call
Bourg shares the best record in Group A with Joventut at 6-3 and a main reason for that has been its performance in close games. The team is 5-1 in games decided by 7 points or less. The lone loss was at home against Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, 90-91, last week. Prometey and Cluj have also been in a number of close games. Neither has had the magic touch in close and late situations that Bourg has; Prometey is 3-3 in games decided by 7 points or less and Cluj is 2-4 in such games. With many more close games likely on tap, how teams far in those could tip the balance in Group A.
