With six home wins in as many close games so far, Group F is proving to be as exciting as advertised. With all teams having one once already, four triumphs will guarantee a playoff spot, but don't be surprised if point differences in ties also decide this group. Week 4 will be truly pivotal, as both current co-leaders play away, seeking good-as-gold road wins. Maccabi (2-1) faces much-improved Efes Pilsen (1-2) in Istanbul while Montepaschi (2-1) visits Real Madrid (1-2) in the Spanish capital. Since all four Group F coaches have Final Four experience, except a battle as tactical as it is physical. Montepaschi has the strongest core of players who have been together several seasons. Maccabi relies on its up-tempo game and fan support, home and away. Madrid and Efes have long rosters that are especially strong in the paint, when healthy. Expect a memorable battle to the Top 16 finish in Group F.

GROUP F NEXT GAMES

Efes vs. Maccabi

R. Madrid vs. Siena

Maccabi can remain in first place with a Week 4 road victory at Efes Pilsen.

Maccabi is tied for the Euroleague lead in blocked shots with 4.2 per game and boasts the players ranked second (D’Or Fischer, 1.5 bpg.) and third (Stephane Lasme, 1.4 bpg.) for the season in that statistic.

Alan Anderson leads the Top 16 in average index rating (33), scoring (23 ppg.) and free-throw accuracy (100%). He is also the only player ranked in the top 10th or betterin scoring and rebounds (7.7 rpg).

Montepaschi can remain in first place with a Week 4 road victory at Real Madrid.

Montepaschi has drawn more fouls (23.7 per game) than any Top 16 team and has used the starting five of Terrell McIntyre, David Hawkins, Romain Sato, Shaun Stonerook and Ben Eze in all but two Euroleague games.
 

Henry Domercant is the highest-scoring sixth man in the Euroleague this season. Among players to have come off the bench at least 10 times, Domercant is the No. 1 scorer at 9.9 points per game.

Madrid can challenge for first or second place with a Week 4 home win over Montepaschi.

Real Madrid is 10-0 this season in games in which it has held its opponents below 80 points scored. Conversely, its record when teams score more than 80 points is 0-4.

Darjus Lavrinovic leads all Euroleague players in both full-season performance index ranking (19.7 per game) as well as per-minute index rating (0.84).

Efes can challenge for first or second place with a Week 4 home win over Maccabi.

Efes Pilsen’s magic number on defense this season has been 70. Efes is 4-0 this season when holding teams below 70 points, but 1-8 when allowing more than 70.

Charles Smith’s 9 three-pointers are the most made by any player thus far in the Top 16.