Efes: Final Four Dark Horse of EuroLeague
Following a mediocre start to the season Anadolu Efes Istanbul appear poised to become the Final Four dark horse.
At the halfway mark of this season Anadolu Efes Istanbul,was 7–8 and looked like they’d be lucky to make the playoffs. They had vacillated between moments of brilliance, and flashes of embarrassment. But as the season winds down, Efes doesn’t just look better, they look like a final four team.
Since Round 19, Efes is 9–2. For the record that is better than Fenerbahce (6–5), CSKA Moscow (8–3) and Olympiacos (6–5). Furthermore, it equals the record at the top of the standings which Real Madrid posted during this stretch.
So, how is Efes doing this? And why does it look like it could carry them to a surprise final four berth?
The first person we need to recognize is head coach Velimir Perasovic. This isn’t the Croatians first time leading an unexpected team to the Final Four. In fact, he did it last season with Baskonia in similar fashion.
Baskonia got off to a slow start in last years Top 16 stage as they won just once in their first three games. After that the club went on a tear, winning five games in a row with Perasovic getting the most out of his players. Ioannis Bourousis, Mike James, Darius Adams, Davis Bertans and others were all playing at the top of their game.
Baskonia won two of their last three Top 16 games with both wins coming over Spanish Rivals and fellow playoff teams, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
After that, Baskonia continued to play fantastic basketball and swept Panathinaikos in the playoffs, putting themselves in the Final Four.
Perasovic is poised to do it all over again with Efes. The 9–2 record doesn’t do justice to how well Efes has been playing lately. During this 11 game stretch they managed to end Zvezda’s seven-game winning streak in Belgrade while also beating Dacka, Baskonia, Fenerbahce and Olympiacos. Their only two losses during this stretch were at CSKA (where they lost by a mere three points) and a home loss to Brose Bamberg.
During this 11 game run Efes has shown improvements in many statistical categories. Their team index rating has risen from an average of 92.67 during their first 18 games of the season to 97.55 in their past 11. Moreover their true shooting percentage has shown a marginal rise from 46.38 to 48.76 while their points per possession has gone from .94 to 1.
Efes has also improved defensively as they were initially giving up 85 points per game but have only given up 80.36 over their last 11. So what does this mean?
Efes has a versatile roster and can attack teams in many ways. They can beat teams with perimeter scoring with their vast array of isolation scorers and shooters.
They can get out in transition and quite literally run you out of the gym.
They can bang down low and slow the game down by asking Deshaun Thomas and Derrick Brown to be bruisers. Moreover, Honeycutt has shown the ability to play with his back to the basket this season.
Efes also run the pick and roll and pick and pop better than most teams. With french maestro Thomas Heurtel pulling the strings and Perasovic surrounding him with shooters,
Plus they feature big’s who can finish with authority at the rim. In essence there really is no slowing Efes down.
Efes’s ability to attack teams in multiple ways is proven by the numbers as well. Since Round 19 they’ve had five different leading scorers and six different players have led them in player index rating. Teams who face Efes are clearly faced with a pick your poison dilemma and no team wants to deal with that in a playoff series.
