ratiopharm Ulm announced on Thursday that it has signed Brazilian forward Bruno Caboclo. The contract is through the end of the 2023-24 season. Caboclo (2.06 meters, 27 years) arrives from Mexican club Capitanes de Ciudad de Mexico, where he averaged 12.0 points and 5 rebounds in two G-League games this season. He has spent the majority of his career in the NBA with Toronto, Sacramento, Memphis and Houston and with those teams' G-League affiliates, Fort Wayne, Raptors 905, Reno and Rio Grande. 

Caboclo began his career with Pinheiros in Brazil. He has also played for Sao Paolo, which he led to the Basketball Champions League Americas title in 2022 and was the championship game MVP after posting 29 points and 7 rebounds in that effort. This will be Caboclo's second time playing in Europe after a stint with Limoges in France in 2021.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="de" dir="ltr">Olá Bruno🧡🇧🇷<br><br>Der brasilianische Nationalspieler Bruno Caboclo wird ein Uuulmer. Der NBA-erfahrene Innenspieler hat bei uns einen Vertrag bis zum Ende der Spielzeit 23/24 unterschrieben.<br><br>Alle Infos findet ihr jetzt hier👉 <a href="https://t.co/C8BjIv7fVG">https://t.co/C8BjIv7fVG</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/uuulmer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#uuulmer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/weareone?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#weareone</a> <a href="https://t.co/sFrBzoWNdr">pic.twitter.com/sFrBzoWNdr</a></p>&mdash; ratiopharm ulm (@ratiopharmulm) <a href="https://twitter.com/ratiopharmulm/status/1610989879864836096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 5, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Ulm inks Caboclo to multi-year deal

### What’s made Group B special?

The midway point of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season is time to step back and see what’s special in each of the groups. Group B features some of the top individual performers in the EuroCup this season, whether it be scorers, rebounders, playmakers or potential Rising Stars.

### Top scorers

The top two scorers in the EuroCup this season are both guards in Group B. Joe Young of Promitheas Patras leads all players with 23.4 points per game. He has scored at least 20 points in six of his seven appearances this season. Young’s total is the fifth-highest in EuroCup history for players with at least seven games played. Kyle Allman of Paris Basketball is second in scoring this season with 18.9 points per game. Young was injured when Paris hosted Promitheas in Round 8, but these two high scorers will get a second chance to square off in Round 17.

### Home of the big men…

By all measures, the top big men in the EuroCup this season are competing in Group B. The top four rebounders are there: Alpha Kaba of Buducnost VOLI Podgorica leads the way with 11.5 per game, Paris Basketball center Ismael Kamagate is second with 9.3 followed by Turk Telekom Ankara’s Tyrique Jones (8.4) and Veolia Towers Hamburg’s Yoeli Childs (8.1). Of the 10 players averaging at least 1 block per game, eight are in Group B. The top big men in terms of PIR are also in the group: Kaba (20.8) is second, Jones (18.5) is sixth, Kamagate (18.4) seventh and Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv’s Jaylen Hoard is eighth (18.3).

### … And the top playmakers

Not only are the best bigs pushing their way around the paint in Group B, the top playmakers are there too! The top four assist men in the EuroCup this season are all in Group B: J’Covan Brown (7.3 apg.) is first followed by Jerian Grant (6.7 apg.) of Turk Telekom, Kendale McCullum (6.1 apg.) of Hamburg and Ferran Bassas (5.6 apg.) of Gran Canaria.

### Gran Canaria’s perfect home record

Only one team has a perfect home record so far in the EuroCup this season and it’s a team that always has a distinct home-court advantage: Gran Canaria. The trip to the Canary Islands can be the longest and toughest for many teams and Coach Jaka Lakovic has used that to their advantage. Over the past decade, Gran Canaria is 43-9 in group-stage (regular season, Last 32 or Top 16) games at home for an 82.7 winning percentage. If it maintains that mastery at home, it should remain in the thick of the fight for the top spots in Group A going forward.

### Group of the Rising Stars

The race for the 2022-23 EuroCup Rising Star Trophy will be, in all likelihood, decided in Group B. Through nine games, the top six Rising Star Award-eligible players in terms of performance index rating are all in this group. Paris’s Ismael Kamagate stands head and shoulders above the rest with an average PIR of 18.4. His teammate Juhann Begarin is fourth (9.3). Gran Canaria centers Khalifa Diop and Aleksander Balcerowski, are second and third, respectively. Diop (11.4) is the reigning EuroCup Rising Star and Balcerowski (10.8) won the award in 2021. Rounding out the list are Matteo Spagnolo (9.2) of Dolomiti Energia Trento and Ziga Samar (8.9) of Hamburg.

Slask Wroclaw, London Lions, Dolomiti Energia Trento, Hamburg Towers, Promitheas Patras Top Plays from 09/30/2022 to 01/04/2023

Half-season highlights of bottom 5 Group B teams

Group B midway through the regular season

Promitheas Patras has confirmed that [Joe Young](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/eurocup/players/joe-young/012015/), the leading scorer in this season's 7DAYS EuroCup, has left the club by mutual agreement.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="el" dir="ltr">Ανακοίνωση ΚΑΕ Προμηθέας Πάτρας<a href="https://t.co/Py8gExwkW1">https://t.co/Py8gExwkW1</a></p>&mdash; Promitheas Patras BC (@promitheasbc) <a href="https://twitter.com/promitheasbc/status/1610587620131885056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Young averaged 23.4 points per game across his seven appearances with Promitheas this season, which is 4.5 points more than the competition's second-highest scorer, Kyle Allman of Paris Basketball. In addition to his scoring exploits, Young also had the EuroCup's third-highest PIR mark with 20.4 and shared MVP of the Round honors in Round 2.

Joe Young's best plays for Promitheas in the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season.

Joe Young's best plays for Promitheas

Promitheas, Joe Young part ways

### What’s made Group A special?

At the midway point of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season, Group A is the tighter of the two groups. Only one win separates the top six teams in the standings and three wins separate first place from ninth. It has also seen more points scored and home-court advantage has mattered more. 

### Home court advantage 

The home teams have won 60 percent of the games played in Group A, which stands out, even more, considering that in the other regular season group, home teams actually have a losing record (22-23). Even though no Group A team has a perfect home record, it features four teams with only one loss and only one team with a losing record at home (Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana at 1-4). The winningest home team in the group thus far has been 7bet Lietkabelis Panevezys at 4-1. 

Joventut Badalona, JL Bourg en Bresse, Umana Reyer Venice, Prometey Slobozhanske, Frutti Extra Bursaspor Top Plays from 09/30/2022 to 01/03/2023

Half-season highlights of top 5 Group A teams

### 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. 

ratiopharm Ulm, Germani Brescia Leonessa, Lietkabelis Panevezys, U-BT Cluj-Napoca, Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana Top Plays from 09/30/2022 to 01/03/2023

Half-season highlights of bottom 5 Group A teams

Group A midway through the regular season 

Buducnost VOLI Podgorica has announced the signing of experienced combo guard [Erick Green](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/players/erick-green/005159/) until the end of the season. Green (1.93 meters, 31 years old) arrives from Hapoel Holon of Israel, where he averaged 22.3 points per game. He is a veteran of Euroleague Basketball competitions, as he played four seasons in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and two in the 7DAYS EuroCup.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="und" dir="ltr">Zeleno ide sa plavo-bijelim: Bivši evroligaš stiže u Podgoricu 🔵⚪️<a href="https://t.co/BECwlva3ms">https://t.co/BECwlva3ms</a><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KKB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KKB</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeOwnTheFuture?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeOwnTheFuture</a> <a href="https://t.co/ofms32CRL2">pic.twitter.com/ofms32CRL2</a></p>&mdash; KK Budućnost VOLI (@KKBuducnostVOLI) <a href="https://twitter.com/KKBuducnostVOLI/status/1608221786893680641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

In the EuroLeague, Green made a total 102 appearances with Montepaschi Siena, Olympiacos Piraeus, Valencia Basket and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul between 2013 and 2019. He scored a total of 1,027 points, or 10.1 per game, and dished 113 assists. In the EuroCup, Green played 15 games with Siena and Bahcesehir Koleji Istanbul in 2013-14 and 2020-21, respectively. In his last EuroCup season, in 2020-21 in Turkey, he averaged 21.3 points and 4.7 assists as a starter in all of his nine appearances. He has also played in Spain and China and in the NBA with the Utah and Denver.

Buducnost signs scoring ace Green

U-BT Cluj-Napoca has completed the signing of Kasey Shepherd until the end of the 2022-23 season. Shepherd (1.89 meters, 28 years old) spent the first part of the campaign with Bahcesehir Koleji, where he averaged 8.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 steals in 9 Turkish League games. He will make his 7DAYS EuroCup debut with Cluj.

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Santa? Was it you? 🚨Transfer Alert! 🚨<br>Welcome to oUr family, Kasey Shepherd! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HaideU?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HaideU</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cluj?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cluj</a> <a href="https://t.co/oFWR2FgNpd">pic.twitter.com/oFWR2FgNpd</a></p>&mdash; U-BT Cluj-Napoca (@UBTCluj) <a href="https://twitter.com/UBTCluj/status/1608056329448607744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Shepherd began his professional career in Montenegro with BC Ulcinjska Rivijera in 2017-18, before splitting time the following the season between Kaposvari KK of Hungary and Batumi RSU of Georgia. In 2019-20, Shepherd played for Kyiv Basket of Ukraine, averaging 16.8 points in the Basketball Champions League. He improved on that average one year later in the same competition, scoring 17.4 points per night with BC Nizhni Novgorod of Russia. Last season with Tofas Spor Kulubu, Shepherd's role in the BCL was reduced, but in the Turkish League he averaged 11.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals in 25 games. His new experience with Cluj will see him play in Romania for the first time in his career and make his first appearance in the EuroCup.

Cluj signs guard Shepherd on deal until end of season

Last year nobody expected Frutti Extra Bursaspor to make it to the final and this season there are at least four teams who can surprise anyone in a single-game playoff.

A lot has been said about the new format of the 7DAYS EuroCup which has a long regular season and then knock-out elimination phases.

[MORE...](https://www.eurohoops.net/en/trademarks/1440047/dont-sleep-on-the-eurocup-sleepers/)

Don’t sleep on the EuroCup sleepers by Eurohoops

 Stats Review: Efficiency heat check 

The mid-point of the 2022-23 7DAYS EuroCup has arrived following an eventful week that saw the league's top offensive team knock off its top defense. 

The graph below plots every team in the EuroCup based on offensive and defensive efficiency through the first eight games relative to the league average. As it suggests, Turk Telekom Ankara has set the standard on offense so far and hammered that point home in a 13-point road win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, the league's top defense. Currently averaging 1.06 points per possession, Turk Telekom is on pace for one of the five best offensive seasons in recent history – a big reason they currently own the league's top overall efficiency differential and best record.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the graph below is the stark contrast between groups. While most of the teams in Group B fall towards the extremes, every team from Group A is concentrated in a tight cluster. Some of this can be traced to Group B having this season's two outlier negative point-differentials, but regardless, the competitiveness of Group A and the imbalance of Group B is a storyline to follow into the second half of the year and into the postseason.

## Group A

With just one team – Joventut Badalona – sitting above average in both offensive and defensive efficiency, the teams in Group A are victims of its competitive balance. With no team proving thoroughly dominant or struggling to this point, things are a bit complicated. Perhaps the best example of that is the cluster of three teams on the left. While Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, U-BT Cluj-Napoca and ratiopharm Ulm have all performed at a similar level on paper, Ulm has as many wins as the other two clubs combined as the margin for error among these 10 teams is razor-thin.

That is most noticeable on offense, where the gap between the most- and least-efficient teams in Group A amounts to just half of the gap that exists between its most- and least-efficient defenses. Umana Reyer Venice is responsible for that disparity as its defensive prowess in transition and denying opponents catch-and-shoot opportunities has set the Italian club apart this season. 

Looking ahead, it will be fascinating to see just how competitive Group A remains at the end of the regular season. Will teams like Minicidelice JL Bourg en Bresse and Prometey Slobozhanske continue to deliver in key moments to stay towards the top of the standings? Will the consistency of a team like Germani Brescia close the gap by Round 18? Does Group A's level of parity set its teams up for postseason success? It's still too early to tell.

## Group B

Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv is the most balanced team in an imbalanced group. Hapoel owns the second-best efficiency differential in the EuroCup but nonetheless sits in the middle of the pack in the standing at just 5-4. They'll host many of the teams ahead of them in the standings in the second half of the regular season, which should make for an exciting conclusion to the team's debut campaign in the EuroCup.

While Hapoel has been the league's most balanced team on paper, Group B also features the EuroCup's first- and second-ranked defenses. Buducnost and Paris Basketball have been very stingy this season – Buducnost with interior defense and Paris with its efforts on the perimeter.

Promitheas Patras is one of just four teams that have performed at an above-average level in terms of both offensive and defensive efficiency, but still has some things to prove given its negative point differential overall. Its efficiency differential is marginally better than that of Gran Canaria who, sitting at 7-2, has come through in nearly every key moment so far this season. While efficiency is important, timing can be everything in an 18-game campaign.

Stats Review: Efficiency heat check

Paris Basketball played the role of party pooper at Copper Box Arena on Wednesday night, beating the London Lions 80-93 in front of a sellout crowd to improve to 5-0 on the road in this year's 7DAYS EuroCup and 6-3 overall. The newcomer to the competition has now won four of its last five games, too.

One of the things that Paris head coach Will Weaver will have pleased with against London is the fact that nine of his players scored 6 points or more, while four got into double figures: Aamir Simms (15), Tyrone Wallace (13), Gauthier Denis (12) and Kyle Allman (10). Even though Paris has been led by Allman and Ismael Kamagate so far this season, the team continues to have different players step up on a round-by-round basis. After winning in London, Coach Weaver decided to pay homage to his bench players.

"Our guys that haven’t been playing as much have done an exceptional job of staying ready. Their professionalism shines through when their number gets called in an environment like this," Coach Weaver commented in the post-game press conference on Wednesday. "Every single guy that stepped on the court tonight approached it the right way and played for the name on the front of the jersey, and we got a good result because of that."

Paris Basketball's best plays vs. London Lions

Curiously, despite being impeccable away from Paris, the team is 1-3 at Halle Georges Carpinter. Paris lost its first two games in the French capital – 86-100 to Hapoel Vegan Friendly Tel Aviv in Round 2 and 81-89 to Gran Canaria in Round 4 – before finally giving its fans a first home win in Round 6 against Veolia Towers Hamburg, 87-84. However, despite following that up with a road win at Slask Wroclaw, another home defeat arrived in Round 8, with Promitheas Patras winning 71-74. Heading into the second half of the season, this is one area where Paris must improve if it is to continue making progress.

Next up for Paris is the visit of Turk Telekom Ankara, who leads the Group B standings with a record of 7-2. Paris beat Turk Telekom 75-90 in Turkey in Round 1, but it will face a far bigger test this time around, with head coach Erdem Can's team having the only other unbeaten road record in the EuroCup at 4-0. Nevertheless, Coach Weaver is confident about Paris's chances.

"We're looking forward to trying to complete the sweep when we play against those guys \[Turk Telekom\]," he stated. "Obviously, this next time around in the competition, now that we've played everyone once, I think everyone's got a better feel for their teams and their opponents. We'll look forward to that challenge. I think, on paper, they're the favorites in our group, so we'll look forward to hosting them and see if we can keep some momentum going."

Paris, like London, is one of the most ambitious teams in this year's EuroCup, and Wednesday night's triumph at Copper Box Arena showed that Coach Weaver and his players are certainly on the right tracks. It is a young roster – Allman is 25, Kamagate is 21, Juhann Begarin is 20 – yet Paris has shown a resoluteness on its travels to remain unbeaten. Now, the key will be to start turning Halle Georges Carpinter into a fortress, starting with the visit of Turk Telekom after the break on January 10, 2023.

Paris continues to make noise with EuroCup-best road record

London Lions v Paris Basketball (2022-12-21T19:30:00.000Z)

Paris Basketball v Turk Telekom Ankara (2023-01-10T19:30:00.000Z)