Post-timeout possessions account for 15% of all half court play — and the teams maximizing them are rising
Stats review: Defense after timeouts drives Turk Telekom’s rise in Group B
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Round 16 of the BKT EuroCup brought about quite a bit of movement in the standings with several spots in the eighthfinals remaining open and the leaders of both groups losing to create some pathways for multiple clubs to vie for the coveted postseason bye in the coming weeks. With only two rounds remaining in the 2025-26 regular season, every possession matters and the details could be the difference between a trip to the postseason or the end of the line.
The table above lists the top teams and the number of points per possession they score, less those allowed in the first half-court possession after a timeout situation. Essentially, this ranks this season’s teams by how far they tip the scoreboard after their coach has had a chance to reorganize his lineup and draw something up on the sideline. Around 15% of all possessions come after a quarter break or a timeout and are converted for 0.92 points per possession — a ways below the 0.96 average for all half-court possessions. As in most seasons of high-level leagues, stoppages ultimately favor the defense.
Turk Telekom Ankara has been the league’s top defensive team this season, supplanting Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse, which was entrenched there in the early going and holds a one game edge on Turk Telekom atop Group B. Some of that can be attributed to the Turkish side's stellar work out of timeouts. Turk Telekom has given up little at the rim when it has a chance to set its defense and has done so without committing fouls to earn its place at the top of this list.
The other team with 11 wins in Group B sits just behind as Besiktas GAIN Istanbul has been this season’s best offense out of timeouts, shooting a staggering 41% from beyond the arc in those situations, with Vitto Brown and Ante Zizic proving to be especially valuable targets within the sets Dusan Alimpijevic has called.
Twelve-win Hapoel Midtown Jerusalem and both U-BT Cluj-Napoca and Umana Reyer Venice — who hold the poll positions for the two final spots in Group A — have all exceeded expectations defensively after pauses. Being able to come up with stops in late-game situations — when more after timeout situations occur — figures to be key to the fortunes of the latter two as they look to solidify their spots in the postseason.
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana and Slask Wroclaw feature two of this season’s top-five individual after-timeout scorers. Umoja Gibson and Stefan Dordevic have both scored steadily out of stoppages with Gibson’s shooting factoring into his team’s playcalling and Dordevic shooting an exceptional 82% inside the arc, scoring seemingly every time he touches the ball around the rim in special situations some nights.
With several important games on the horizon for many of these teams, it will be interesting to see if they can sustain their success out of timeouts to put themselves in position for a postseason run.