Stats Review: What standings leaders have in common

Round 5 of the 7DAYS EuroCup certainly had its fair share of excitement, with four of the 10 games decided by single possessions. As the dust has settled, one trend has held up well in the early part of the season: teams that have made their open jump shots at high rates are currently dominating the EuroCup standings.

The graphic above shows the top five teams in catch-and-shoot three-point percentage. All five of these teams currently sit third place or higher in their groups. Mincidelice JL Bourg en Bresse is the lone 4-1 team to miss the cut above, but they are not far off the pace. Bourg is currently tied for seventh in three-point accuracy and lead all teams in the volume of their total shot attempts that are unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers. All of which means that getting and making the most of open shots on the perimeter is playing a key role in EuroCup outcomes so far.

Around 14% of all shot attempts and 35% of three-point attempts are unguarded catch-and-shoot jumpers. EuroCup teams have converted 40% of their unguarded catch-and-shoot three-point attempts this season. That’s much better than the 33% accuracy that teams have on guarded catch-and-shoot attempts or the 30% on pull-up threes. Teams strategize for these open shots for obvious reasons, but they are not easy to come by. Open jumpers are just a small slice of a much bigger pie, but consistently finding and hitting them has impacted the standings.

Among players, Nathan Sestina of Turk Telekom Ankara leads the EuroCup with 9 unguarded catch-and-shoot makes on 13 attempts. Leonardo Meindl, Allerik Freeman, and Lukas Meisner are tied for second with 8 such shots made. Given teams have averaged just 18.5 total makes of this kind during this season, players running especially hot can drive their teams’ success if they’re in the right place at the right time. Sestina, in particular, has often found himself at the end of the chain of passes on Turk Telekom’s best offensive possessions. His consistency in those moments has been a huge plus for his team.

Historically, the EuroCup’s diversity of play makes it difficult to pull one statistic that works for all the league’s top teams, which is why this catch-and-shoot trend is so notable now. Few trends hold over large samples, so it remains to be seen how getting and making open shots holds up as the season goes on. But for now, even as a proxy for a team’s shooting and passing skills, it has been a key factor in terms of early-season momentum in the standings.