Stats review: Three hopefuls, two playoff spots

With all but two of 16 spots in the 7DAYS EuroCup Eighthfinals accounted for already, all eyes are on three Group B teams trying to squeeze into the playoffs.

High-Gravity Matchups

While the playoff qualifiers in Group A are already set, lots of teams notched important wins that helped solidify their seeding with the postseason looming, The pressure at this point, however, is on the teams at the bottom of Group B.

Three teams, two spots

Umana Reyer Venice, Frutti Extra Bursaspor, and Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse are all vying for the final two playoff positions in Group B. With both Venice and Bourg losing in Round 16, Bursaspor's win over second-place Valencia stands out as perhaps the biggest victory of the week, moving them two games clear of Bourg and tied with Reyer on the seven-win line.

Looking ahead, five-win Bourg is effectively in must-win mode from here on out and, in the final two rounds, faces a pair of quality opponents in Buducnost VOLI Podgorica and Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Still, Bourg lost to those teams by a total of just 5 points combined their earlier games this season. Bursaspor will also face Buducnost to close the season but has a matchup with fifth-seeded Ratiopharm Ulm up first. Venice, which currently holds currently the tiebreaker over Bursaspor, will face last-place Promitheas Patras and first-place Gran Canaria to close out its season.

Whether things break just right for Bourg and all three teams end up on the seven-win line or not when the season comes to a close, these three teams have all competed at a very high level on the floor all season, making for some interesting matchups in the EuroCup's first year under its new format. In fact, this trio represents two of this season's three most efficient offenses and its second most-efficient defense. Postseason-bound or not, each of these teams has stood out at times.

Bourg leads the EuroCup in offensive efficiency thanks in large part to their high-powered pick-and-roll attack. With Rasheed Sulaimon and Calvin Harris doing a lot of the scoring while Axel Julien and Hugo Benitez do a lot of the playmaking, this team was able to push the boundaries of how much offense a team can create out of ball screens this season. Not only did they generate a record 55% of their half-court possessions through pick-and-rolls, but they scored 1.01 points per possession used that way – right in step with their top-ranked season standard.

Bursaspor led the EuroCup in offensive efficiency last season and currently sits third. This year's team has been explosive in transition and tremendous from the perimeter, shooting a particularly impressive eFG% of 72% in unguarded catch-and-shoot situations. With several dangerous perimeter scorers who can be x-factors at any given night, Bursaspor has steadily lit up the scoreboard against teams that have not been timely with defensive rotations.

While excelling offensively, both Bourg and Bursaspor have had a hard time getting stops consistently. The opposite has been true for Reyer, which has been exceptional on the defensive end. For many EuroCup defenses, how they contest shots tends to matter more than what they take away. Reyer has fallen on the other end of the spectrum, however, doing a tremendous job limiting the number of catch-and-shoot three-point attempts allowed to opponents in half-court situations. While forcing turnovers at a strong rate, the way that Reyer's defenders have influenced the shot selection of opponents is the reason they rank second in overall defensive efficiency this season.

Looking ahead to Round 17

Whether Bursaspor or Reyer punch their ticket to the postseason with a win or Bourg is able to keep the dream alive is a compelling storyline to watch in Round 17 as the regular season winds down.