We are past the halfway point in all of the European National Domestic Leagues and with January fully in the books, it is an opportune time to check in on our Floor Impact Counter rankings. The FIC is an objective statistical measure that accounts for all of the elements of a box score.

Spanish ACB Power Rankings

As expected, Real Madrid and Barcelona are atop the standings of the world’s second best domestic league. Each team is perfect at home and winning by a margin of 11+ points per game. Madrid beat Barcelona on January 4th by a 78-74 final on their home floor. The two teams will meet again on May 2nd.

Lucentum Alicante is tied for fifth place with a 12-6 record, but are ranked eighth here and have a negative point differential.

Andy Panko, James Augustin and Javi Rodriguez are the leaders in points, rebounds and assists per game, while Paul Davis has the highest PER and Augustine leads in season FIC.

1. Real Madrid: 24.17  
2. FC Barcelona Regal: 19.04  
3. Unicaja Malaga: 9.12  
4. Caja Laboral: 7.86  
5. Bilbao Basket: 2.74  
6. Cajasol Banca Civica: 2.60  
7. Lagun Aro GBC: -0.20  
8. Lucentum Alicante: -0.27  
9. Basket Zaragoza 2002: -0.44  
10. Valencia Basket: -0.56  
11. Assignia Manresa: -0.97  
12. Baloncesto Fuenlabrada: -4.22  
13. FIATC Mutua Joventut: -6.43  
14. CB Gran Canaria: -7.26  
15. Obradoiro CAB: -7.68  
16. UCAM Murcia: -10.67  
17. Blancos de Rueda Valladolid: -11.33  
18. Asefa Estudiantes: -14.27

Italian Lega A Power Rankings

Siena is currently in first place with a 13-5 record in the domestic league with the most parity. Though Milan leads these rankings, they are tied for third with an 11-7 record. Twelve of the 17 teams have a 44% of better winning percentage.

Andre Smith is the scoring leader, while Viktor Sanikidze and Marques Green lead in rebounds and assists respectively. Oliver Stevic and Giorgi Shermadini lead in PER, while Sanikidze leads in season FIC. Green also leads in Hands on Buckets, accounting for 41.8% of the field goals scored by Air Avellino.

1. Armani Milano: 10.15  
2. Montepaschi Siena: 9.80  
3. Canadian Solar Bologna: 8.59  
4. Bennet Cantu: 8.14  
5. Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro: 4.15  
6. Fabi Shoes Montegranaro: 0.60  
7. Air Avellino: 0.57  
8. Pepsi Caserta: 0.43  
9. Umana Venezia: -1.46  
10. Cimberio Varese: -2.46  
11. Angelico Biella: -3.40  
12. Dinamo Basket Sassari: -3.82  
13. Benetton Treviso: -4.84  
14. Virtus Roma: -5.42  
15. Banca Tercas Teramo: -5.44  
16. Novipiu Casale Monferrato: -5.45  
17. Vanoli-Braga Cremona: -10.19

Greek Basket League Power Rankings    

Even more so than Spain, there's Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and everybody else. They each have one loss, with the latter losing to the former and the former losing to Kavala.

Dionte Christmas is the league's leading scorer, while Giorgios Apostolidis and Giorgos Printezis lead in PER.

1. Panathinaikos: 27.15  
2. Olympiacos: 26.19  
3. Panionios BC: 9.26  
4. Kolossos Rodou BC: 7.73  
5. AGOR Aegean BC: 3.06  
6. Kavala: -0.73  
7. Aris BC: -2.52  
8. Peristeri BC: -3.51  
9. KAOD BC: -8.33  
10. PAOK BC: -9.21  
11. Ilisiakos BC: -13.47  
12. Maroussi BC: -15.25  
13. Ikaros Kallitheas BC: -20.98  

Russian PBL Power Rankings

CSKA is winning by an average of 14.1 points per game and have an 8-1 record with their loss coming against Khimki BC.

Davon Jefferson leads in points per game at 22.0 and in rebounds at 8.5, while Aaron Miles leads in assists. Timofey Mozgov, who has returned to the NBA, led in PER, followed by Darius Lavrinovic of CSKA and Jefferson. Patrick Beverley leads in season FIC and is second in HOB behind Jefferson.
        
1. CSKA Moscow: 26.64  
2. Khimki BC: 18.02  
3. UNICS Kazan: 8.61  
4. Triumph Lyubertsy: 6.31  
5. Spartak Saint Petersburg: -0.44  
6. Spartak Primorye: -0.51  
7. Krasnye Krylia: -4.54  
8. Lokomotiv Kuban: -5.64   
9. Enisey Krasnoyarsk: -20.00  
10. BC Nizhny Novgorod: -23.82

French Pro A Power Rankings

BCM Gravelines has recently stumbled in Eurocup play, but they haven’t lost a domestic league game since Dec. 10th against JDA Dijon and hold a one game lead over Chalon in the standings. 

Gravelines has an average point differential of 14.7 points, compared to less than seven for Malcolm Delaney, Blake Schilb and Alade Aminu’s Chalon squad.

1. BCM Gravelines: 23.43  
2. Orleans Loiret Basket: 11.81  
3. Chalon-Sur-Saone: 11.12  
4. Nancy Basket: 9.73  
5. Le Mans Sarthe Basket: 8.98  
6. Cholet Basket: 8.27  
7. Paris-Levallois Basket: 4.79  
8. Strasbourg IG: 3.07  
9. ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne: 1.77  
10. JDA Dijon Basket: -2.38  
11. STB Le Havre: -6.24  
12. Chorale Roanne Basket: -6.45  
13. JSF Nanterre: -9.72  
14. Poitiers Basket 86: -13.75  
15. Pau-Orthez: -15.73  
16. Hyeres-Toulon Var Basket: -28.80 

Turkish TBL Power Rankings

Things are tight atop the standings in Turkey, with Galatasaray, Besiktas and Banvitspor within striking distance of Anadolu Efes. Dusko Savanovic’s Efes team has beaten second place Galatasaray in both domestic and Euroleague competition, though two more battles are scheduled for the next month. Their two domestic defeats came against Tofas and post-Deron Williams Besiktas.

Mire Chatman and Anthony Grundy lead in points per game, while Vladimir Stimac and Baris Ermis lead in rebounds and assists respectively. Stevan Jelovac is the current leader in PER, while Chatman is the season FIC leader by a comfortable margin and also in HOB.

1. Anadolu Efes: 23.80  
2. Galatasaray: 21.70  
3. Banvitspor: 15.29  
4. Besiktas Milangaz: 11.36  
5. Fenerbahce Ulker: 10.77  
6. Pinar Karsiyaka: 9.91  
7. Tofas: 9.60  
8. Erdemirspor: -0.67  
9. Aliaga Petkim: -1.24  
10. Turk Telekom: -2.62  
11. Hacettepe Universitesi: -7.47  
12. Mersin BSB: -9.66  
13. Antalya BSB: -11.43  
14. Olin Edirne: -13.74  
15. Trabzonspor: -20.83  
16. Bandirma Kirmizi: -32.02

Lithuanian LKL Power Rankings

Lietuvos Rytas, featuring Jonas Valanciunas, is winning by an average of 20.9 points per game, but have dropped two games and are a game and a half behind undefeated Zalgiris. Valanciunas is averaging 15.9 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in just 25.3 minutes over his eight domestic games.

Povilas Butkevicius  leads in points per game at 17.6, with Dane Johnson and Mantas Kalnietis holding the lead in rebounds and assists respectively. Butkevicius leads in PER, while David McClure is the current leader in season FIC. Bilal Benn leads in HOB, contributing to 32.3% of Naglis’ buckets. 

1. Lietuvos Rytas: 33.17  
2. Zalgiris: 25.60  
3. Rudupis: 19.75  
4. Pieno Zvaigzdes: 2.17  
5. Siauliai: -0.81  
6. Neptunas: -1.65  
7. Baltai: -3.54  
8. Techasas: -9.38  
9. Kedainiai Triobet: -9.84  
10. Juventus: -11.43  
11. Sakalai: -16.70  
12. Naglis: -18.65  

Serbian KLS Power Rankings

KK Vojvodina has a two-game lead and winning by 10.8 points per game, more than double KK Mega Vizura and BKK Radnicki Beograd. KK Radnicki Basket has an 11-7 record, but are second in point differential at 5.0 per game.

Milos Bojovic is leading in points per game at 23.7, while Darko Balaban leads in rebounds and Marko Popovic is the leading assist man. Ivan Zigeranovic of KK Borac Cacak leads in PER just ahead of Balaban, who leads in season FIC. Branko Milisavljevic leads in HOB, scoring or assisting on 40.5% of KK Mega Vizura’s buckets.

1. KK Vojvodina: 17.62  
2. OKK Beograd: 12.54  
3. KK Radnicki Basket: 6.81  
4. KK Borac Cacak: 6.73  
5. BKK Radnicki Beograd: 6.40  
6. KK Smederevo 1953: 3.75  
7. KK Mega Vizura: 3.65  
8. KK Tamis: 0.53  
9. KK Sloga: -2.39  
10. KK Metalac Valjevo: -6.62  
11. KK Napredak Krusevac: -8.94  
12. KK Sloboda Uzice: -10.13  
13. KK Zeleznicar: -10.24  
14. Proleter Naftagas: -18.71 

Croatian A1 Liga Power Rankings

It is somewhat shocking KK Zadar has managed to lose three times considering they are winning by an average margin of 14.3 points per game. KK Jolly and KK Zabok are next in point differential at 4.5 points.

Ivan Mimica leads in points per game at 22.0, while Ive Ivanov and Josip Glavinic are kings at rebounds and assists. Ivan Grgat is tops in PER and Ronald Ross is the season FIC leader. Ivan Tomeljak has scored or assisted on 44.4% of KK Brod Svjetlost’s buckets.

1. KK Zadar: 24.29   
2. KK Split: 8.02  
3. KK Jolly Jadranska Banka: 5.15  
4. KK Vrijednosnice OS Darda: 3.93  
5. KK Zabok: 1.87  
6. KK Borik Puntamika: 0.16  
7. KK Kvarner 2010: -2.05  
8. KK Krizevci: -4.51  
9. KK Alkar: -7.95  
10. KK Brod Svjetlost: -9.70  
11. KK Dubrovnik: -20.70

Slovenian SKL Power Rankings

This is another top-heavy league, with Helios Domzale and Elektra Sostanj dominating the top of the table.

Travis Nelson is the scoring leader at 17.4 points per game, with Esmir Rizvic and Luka Rupnik holding court in rebounds and assists respectively. Fittingly, Nelson leads in both PER and season FIC. Rupnik is responsible for 36.4% of Goplin Slovan’s buckets, which ranks him first in the league.

1. Helios Domzale: 21.07  
2. Zlatorog: 18.33  
3. Elektra Sostanj: 13.11  
4. Sentjur: 9.63  
5. Maribor Messer: 8.34  
6. Geoplin Slovan: 3.92  
7. Hopsi Polzela: -4.50  
8. Rogaska Crystal: -7.74  
9. LTHCast Mercator: -23.13  
10. Parklji: -36.09 

German BBL Power Rankings

Both Brose Baskets and Ratiopharm Ulm have just two losses, but one team is dominating in much more impressive fashion than the other. Brose is winning by a 17.9 differential, while Ratiopharm Ulm has a more human mark of +9.5.

David Holston and Bobby Brown are the league’s leaders in scoring at better than 17 per game, while John Bryant and Jared Jordan lead in rebounds and assists. Bryant also leads in PER, while Holston is the season FIC leader ahead of Tony Gaffney. Jordan has been responsible for 42.9% of TBB Trier’s field goals.   

1. Brose Baskets: 31.80  
2. Ratiopharm Ulm: 15.78  
3. Artland Dragons: 13.91  
4. ALBA Berlin: 12.69  
5. FC Bayern Munich: 7.31  
6. s.Oliver Baskets: 7.26  
7. Telekom Baskets Bonn: 4.05  
8. EWE Baskets Oldenburg: 1.84  
9. New Yorker Phantoms Braunschweig: -0.93  
10. BBC Bayreuth: -3.90  
11. Eisbaren Bremerhaven: -4.88  
12. TBB Trier: -6.29  
13. Walter Tigers Tubingen: -6.31  
14. Fraport Skyliners: -6.89  
15. EnBW Ludwigsburg: -7.84  
16. LTi Giessen 46ers: -14.95  
17. Phoenix Hagen: -16.77  
18. BG Gottingen: -23.05 

Belgium BLB Power Rankings

Belgacom Spriou has a two-game lead in the loss column, though they are coming off a loss at Leuven Bears.

Chris Copeland is averaging 18.9 points per game, while Jason Love and Salah Mejri are each averaging 8.0 rebounds and Dusan Djordjevic is leading in assists. Sean Singletary is leading in PER ahead of Caleb Green and Darnell Wilson.   

1. Belgacom Spirou Basket: 17.87  
2. Generali Okapi Aalstar: 9.48  
3. Antwerp Giants: 8.93  
4. Stella Artois Leuven Bears: 7.91  
5. Telenet Oostende: 4.54  
6. Dexia Mons-Hainaut: 0.38  
7. Optima Gent: -5.92  
8. Belgacom Liege Basket: -14.45  
9. VOO Verviers-Pepinster: -27.87

Israeli Super League Power Rankings

Maccabi has a three-game lead, losing just twice in domestic play.

Sylven Landesberg is leading in points, as he is joined by Adrian Banks and Tweety Carter in the 21+ club. Bryant Dunston is leading in rebounds, while Moran Roth holds court in assists. Shawn James and Richard Hendrix, each of Maccabi, are leading in PER. Bryant Dunston has the highest season FIC total.

1. Maccabi Tel Aviv: 26.77  
2. Hapoel Holon: 8.30  
3. Maccabi Rishon Lezion: 7.07  
4. Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem: 3.50  
5. Maccabi Haifa: -1.75  
6. BC Habikaa: -1.97  
7. Gilboa Galil: -2.21  
8. Maccabi Ashdod: -3.58  
9. Ironi Ashkelon: -4.07  
10. Barak Netanya: -7.46  
11. Bnei HaSharon: -25.02

The Euroleague Regular Season came to an end this week as we begin to move into the Top-16 stage.

Group A Action

SLUC Nancy went down to Olympiacos by a final score of 74-79 in a close game that could have gone either way. Nancy made a number of third and fourth quarter runs, bringing Olympiacos’ lead down to the slimmest of margins, but like all great teams, they responded with tough makes.

Olympiacos went up by seven on a three-pointer by big man Pero Antic, but a put back and two at the line by Adrien Moerman cut the margin to five points. Nancy gave up too many offensive boards in the final three minutes and were seemingly given chance after chance at a game-tying three point attempt but the French side simply couldn’t convert.

Jamal Shuler was fantastic for Nancy with 18 points and nine rebounds. For Olympaicos, Antic finished with 20 and Georgios Printezis contributed 18 points.

In a do or die game, Gescrap BB took a 77-72 win over Caja Laboral, a win that eliminated their opponents and propelled the Spanish team into their first ever Top 16 appearance.

It was a three point game for the final few minutes, but Gescrap was able to finish their opponents off at the free-throw line.

Gescrap’s Marko Banic led all scorers with 18 points (7-10 shooting from the field).

Fenerbahce Ulker held on to defeat Bennet Cantu 83-76 behind 21 points from Oguz Savas and 19 from NBA prospect Bojan Bogdanovic.

The win put Fenerbahce on top of Group A, but even the loss, Cantu was still able to maintain third position in the group and advance to next stage.

Group B Action

An exciting night in Group B action, CSKA Moscow kicked things of by solidifying their top overall ranking by defeating third seed Unicaja 91-83. While CSKA finished the tournament’s regular season as the only undefeated side, the loss for Unicaja dropped them down a position on the group table and out of the competition.

Former tournament MVP, Milos Teodosic returned to his best form and posted a very impressive 18 points and 10 assists. Nenad Krstic had another fine game and finished with 14 points and six rebounds while drawing seven fouls on the Unicaja defenders.

The Spanish side received a number of impressive performances in their loss. Joel Freeland, Hrvoje Peric (7 rebounds, 4 assists) and Gerald Fitch (6 rebounds, 5 assists) all scored 16 for Unicaja, however it was not enough to compete with the size and depth of the Russian powerhouse.

Panathinaikos’ 71-66 victory of Brose Baskets knocked the German side out of consideration while allowing for Zalgiris Kaunas to sneak into Top 16 as the third seed in the group.

Brose took a late fourth quarter lead but were unable to pull it together. The win was Panathinaikos’ third in a row and certified their position as the group’s second seed. The Greek team’s size controlled the boards with four players collecting over six rebounds. Kaimakoglou was the stand out as he registered 11 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Bamberg’s only two real big men, Tibor Pleiss and Marcus Slaughter, were decent, but not enough to steal a win.

Zalgiris Kaunas won 87-76 at home against KK Zagreb and moved into the Top 16. Not a competitive game, Sonny Weems led Zalgiris with 20 points while Marko Popovic contributed 17 of his own.

The win marked a fantastic string of games for Zalgiris and after a very average early season start they have compiled three wins from the last four games, enough to sneak into the next stage of the tournament.

Group C Action

What turned out to be the game of round featured two teams competing against each other for the group’s final place in the Top 16. Partizan entered the game needing to lose by no less than three points while EA7 Emporio Armani Milan found themselves needing to win by four or more points.

An extremely low scoring first half saw Milan only crack the 30 point barrier two minutes into the third term, but they used the early stages of the quarter to reduce Partizan’s double digit lead to just four points. Things continued to go wrong for the Serbian team as Milan used a 14-8 run to end the quarter and take a one point lead.

The Italian side controlled the game from that point on. With a chance to cut Milan’s lead to four points, Acie Law missed one of two free throws in the final minutes that severely damaged Partizan’s chances of reaching that three point mark. Luckily for Law, some poor efforts by Milan’s star players in the final minutes (including two missed gimme buckets by Malik Hairston in the paint with 20 seconds remaining) took a bit of pressure of the choke job.

A shocked Partizan home crowd saw Milan close the game out at the line, winning 72-66 and advancing to the Top 16.

Milan’s Malik Hairston led all scorers with 18 and played an efficient game. He also hit a clutch three late in the game off an assist from Omar Cook. His presence for Milan was vital in the second half even though he played the majority of that time with four fouls.

Cook, a former NBA reserve, was also brilliant. He was deadly in transition, nailed a couple of three point baskets, was very aggressive drawing fouls and hunting for loose rebounds and added six assists to his 17 points.

For the losers, Malik Macvan had another solid game in what was a fantastic tournament for the 22-year-old. He finished with 13 (only two second half points), but grabbed 11 boards and handed out four assists. Macvan has a very solid future ahead of him and it was great to see a young guy succeed as he used his high levels of basketball IQ and hustle combined with his size and talent to dominate the competition this year.

Law had another forgettable performance shooting 2-6 (six points), but registered five assists. While he did make a couple of nice passes that led to buckets late in the fourth, he had a couple of really weak attempts at the basket, some of which hurt his team went the ball went the other way.

Real Madrid turned in a dominant second half to route Anadolu Efes 75-66. Up by as much as 17 in the second term, Efes was able to bring the deficit under ten points, but lost all their momentum as the third quarter began.

Kyle Singler started again and was solid with 12 points on 5-8 shooting, but Real’s top player was NBA prospect Nikola Mirotic who finished with 16 points on 6-9 from the field.

Dusko Savanovic was a beast for the losing side. He tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

A six consecutive win, Real finished a strong regular season campaign with an 8-2 record and finished first in the group. The loss had little impact on Efes’ standing in the group as they finished third with a place in the Top 16.

Belgacom Spirou were already out of contention for the Top 16, but still lost in embarrassing fashion as they were blown out 86-69 by Maccabi Electra. The win pushed Maccabi into second position.

Keith Langford had a season-high 20 points and contribute five rebounds while David Blu also had 15 and five.

Group D Action

Barcelona Regal destroyed Galatasaray 79-50 and finished their regular season campaign with a 9-1 win loss record and top spot in the group.

Former L.A Clipper Boniface N’Dong led Barca in the blowout with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocks while Australian international Joe Ingles also had a solid night out. The versatile swingman contributed eight points, four rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes of action.

Montepaschi could advance no further than second position in Group D but won regardless, defeating the lowly Asseco Prokom, 79-53. Pietro Aradori was the top scorer for the Italian side with a game-high 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists. He was also their only player to reach double figures.

Unics went into their matchup with Union Olimpija with hope of stealing second position in the group, but even with their 13 points victory, Montepaschi’s own victory meant Unics had to settle for third position and a trip to the Top 16.  Not a bad result for the Russian side making their Euroleague debut.

American guard Henry Domercant led Unics with 16 points and nabbed five rebounds as well.

Follow Robert on Twitter @RobertWhitebrrr

With only a little bit more than a week left untill the end of its regular season, RealGM presents the Euroleague Power Rankings. We evaluated and ranked all 24 Euroleague teams' performance over their first eight games and their perspective in future battles.

Here is how the end of the NBA lockout impacted Euroleague teams’ camps, who's still hot and who is not at the finish line of regular season and more.

1. FC Barcelona Regal (Spain) (8-0)

Euroleague fans still probably remember what happened back in 2009-10 when FC Barcelona Regal ended the regular season undefeated (10-0). Current members of FC Barcelona Regal, Erazem Lorbek, Pete Mickeal, Boniface N'Dong and Euroleague's all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro took part of that victorious Euroleague season when the unbreakable Catalonian team grabbed the Euroleague title.

Obviously, there are many similarities between that champion team and this season's FC Barcelona Regal. Moreover, now Xavier Pascual's team demonstrates even more incredible defense -- FC Barcelona Regal didn't let its opponents to score more than 50 points in its last three games -- and now they also have one of the most versatile players in Europe, Chuck Eidson, on its squad. Definitely, the sky is the limit for this team and after missing Euroleague Final Four last season, FC Barcelona Regal is hungry to bring the title back to Spain like never before.

2. CSKA Moscow (Russia) (8-0)

CSKA, who made eight straight Euroleague final four appearances from 2003 to 2010, is demonstrating this season how quick the Russians can come back to the top. After their shocking fiasco last year when CSKA finished its Euroleague season right after the group stage (the Russians won only three games and didn't make it to the Top 16) Moscow made huge investments in roster changes in off-season, which are already paying dividends.

Of course, having a favorite to win Euroleague MVP award, Andrei Kirilenko, which averages 13.8 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.1 blocks per game, on roster makes things easier for CSKA but another reason why they are still undefeated is their offense based on sharing the ball. CSKA leads the league in assists with 20 per game as five players average more than two assists per match.

The only thing CSKA should be concerned with is Kirilenko's contract situation. The Russian superstar can sign a deal with an NBA team and leave CSKA before January 7th.

3. Panathinaikos Athens (Greece) (6-2)

The most successful European club of the last decade, Panathinaikos, started 2011 by winning another Euroleague title, their third in the last five years. Moreover, except Antonis Fotsis and Drew Nicholas, who moved to EA7 Emporio Armani and now can only dream about their past glory, Panathinaikos saved all main the pieces of their championship team and are on the way to having a shot at winning the whole thing again.

Zeljko Obradovic and Mr. Clutch, Mr. MVP and Mr. Defense, Dimitris Diamantidis (yes, it's three persons in one body, holy trinity, call him the way you want it) duo still perfectly works as Panathinaikos slipped only two times this season -- lost by two points to group leader CSKA and suffered a three-point loss in Bamberg. However, the regular season is usually just a warm-up for Panathinaikos before the real action starts and you would not imagine a better warm-up against the current best team in the league, FC Barcelona Regal, which the Athens team will face this week.

Like FC Barcelona Regal, Panathinaikos was not obsessed with an idea to sign NBA players during the lockout and while few other contenders are desperately trying to strengthen their roster, the Greens can focus on polishing their game.

4. Real Madrid (Spain) (6-2)

Losing a starter is always hard but Real Madrid proved last week that the departure of Rudy Fernandez won't destroy everything Pablo Laso's team has created so far. Even without the scoring from Fernandez, Real, thanks to unbelievable performance by 20-year-old Nikola Mirotic, crushed fellow Euroleague contender Maccabi and made a big statement on how serious they are this season.

The best scoring team in the Euroleague, Real has a deep bench this season -- only two players, Jaycee Carroll (22 minutes) and Mirotic (23), average more than 20 minutes per game -- therefore the departure of Fernandez and Serge Ibaka shouldn't be a hard and unexpected hit to the team.

5. Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel) (5-3)

Before December 8th, Maccabi Tel Aviv's situation seemed to be perfect -- despite two losses, Maccabi with Jordan Farmar was definitely one of the Top-3 Euroleague teams at the time and undoubtedly one of candidates to win the Euroleague trophy. However, after the end of lockout and departure of Farmar, Maccabi started to struggle. Not mentioning the 24 points humiliation by Real Madrid, but Tel Aviv's team also lost to KK Zagreb in Adriatic league.

It is obvious that Maccabi needs time to adjust to the life after Farmar and find a proper replacement. Definitely, having Keith Langford on its roster should help to get through hard times as he had a best game yet in Maccabi squad with 18 points at last week's game versus Real. Langford led the Euroleague in scoring last season (18.7 PPG) but this year due to radically decreased playing time to only 12 minutes per game his points average dropped to just 4.9. After Farmar left, Langford took 14 shots in one game -- more than in first six games combined -- therefore his big scoring nights are still ahead.

Despite Maccabi being fifth in our ranking, last season's Euroleague title finalist has plenty of space to improve. The most obvious thing is long-range shooting as Maccabi transformed from one of the best shooting teams to one of the worst (22nd in the league) and makes only 29% of its attempts from beyond the arc. 

6. Montepaschi Siena (Italy) (6-2)

Déjà vu. Injuries to core players, Rimantas Kaukenas and Ksystof Lavrinovic, should take Montepaschi's fans back to last season. Siena's team was dealing with injuries all season long, but the biggest lose was MVP candidate Bo McCalebb, who was sidelined for the biggest part of second half of the season. Despite that, Montepaschi managed to go all the to the Final Four.

Excellent work by the front office in the off-season improved Montepaschi to a true title contender, which would be even ready for this kind of emergency situations. With Kaukenas and Lavrinovic or without them, Montepaschi still remains among Euroleague elite. Especially when you have David Anderson, Igor Rakocevic, McCalebb and the newest addition, Bootsy Thornton on your roster.

7. Unics Kazan (Russia) (5-3)

Eurocup winner of the 2010-11 season, Unics continues its successful performance on the European basketball scene. Well-picked American players led Unics to four wins in last five games and helped Kazan club to already secure its place in Top 16. Euroleague veteran Henry Domercan's, who is a nice surprise for Kazan and a main reason of Unics success, three-pointers saved his team many times this season and now it is getting interesting how far the shooter can lead Unics this season.

However, the Russian team must find other weapons in offense as Kazan ranks only 22th in Euroleague teams scoring ranking, averaging only 69 points per game. Despite that, experience -- nine players are 30-year-old or older -- helps Unics remain among Euroleague elite and possibly end regular season at the second place of group D.

8. Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul (Turkey) (5-3)

Last season, Fenerbahce Ulker was just one win away from reaching Top-8 stage and now the Turks are on the way to bring their team to the third stage of competition, where they haven't been since 2007-08. Even though Istanbul's club will finish the regular season at the top of group A, this team hasn't yet revealed its true potential. Fenerbahce Ulker lacked real competition and hasn't met the Euroleague title contenders yet.

The NBA lockout affected Fenerbahce Ulker as well, as the team's leading scorer Thabo Sefolosha, had to leave Turkey. To keep the team, which won five out of last six games, on winning road, somebody will have to step up and one of possible candidates could be last season's Euroleague MVP candidate Roko Ukic. The Croatian averages only 8.6 points and 2.1 assists this season and after the departure of Sefolosha should step up and have a bigger role.

9. Partizan Belgrade (Serbia) (4-4)

Even without Nikola Pekovic, who left the team due to the end of the NBA lockout, Partizan had a brilliant chance to secure a place in Top-16 by beating Belgacom Spirou last week. However, the Serbian team, which could even beat Dallas Mavericks at home but struggles against weaker teams at away matches, surprisingly lost to Belgians and took the hard way to Top-16.

This week, Partizan is playing group C leader Real in Madrid, therefore the next week game against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, another candidate to grab the last ticket to Top-16, could be crucial. Fortunately for Partizan, which has only one non-Serbian player on its roster (Acie Law), the final game of regular season will be played at Pionir arena, where the Serbians lost only once two months ago this Euroleague season.

10. Bennet Cantu (Italy) (5-3)

Bennet Cantu continues to live a dream. After surprisingly making to the Italian league finals and getting a straight ticket to the Euroleague last season, now Bennet Cantu, which currently stands at 5-3 and are among Top 10 Euroleague teams in our rankings, proves that they were worth that chance. Even more, Gianluca Basile's, who actually failed physical examination at first and was close on contract cancelation last summer, magical buzzer beater in last week's game already guaranteed his team a place in the Top-16.

In addition, Bennet Cantu also has a chances to win the group A in its hands as they will meet Fenerbahce Ulker, which also holds 5-3 record, and Olympiacos, which stands fourth with 4-4. Finishing at top would help the Italians get weaker opponents in Top-16 and... Alright, maybe it's too early to talk about Top-8, but you know, it's Bennet Cantu...

11. Anadolu Efes Istanbul (Turkey) (5-3)

After seeing Anadolu Efes lose its second round game against Belgacom Spirou, a lot of Euroleague fans likely thought "here we go again"... Too fast. This season Anadolu Efes, which was the best example of how to waste money for the last three years, already secured the ticket to the Top 16 stage and have a serious chance to end regular season with better than .500 record for the first time since 2007-08.

All they need to do is win against one of Top 5 Euroelague teams -- Maccabi Tel Aviv next week or Real Madrid in last tour. Without scoring leaders Sasha Vujacic and Ersan Ilyasova, who left to New Jersey and Milwaukee, which seems to be an impossible mission.

12. Olympiacos Piraeus (Greece) (4-4)

The transition of Olympiacos Piraeus from Euroleague super club to just a contender to make it to the Top-16 and a team, which takes one game at the time, was rough, but it seems the worst has passed. Starting the Euroleague season with a win and three losses is definitely not what Olympiacos fans were use to, but times have changed.

Thanks to Vassilis Spanoulis, who is having a career year and averages 19.5 points per game, Olympiacos is just one step away from making to the Top-16 now and they are strong enough to make that last one against Bennet Cantu or in worst case, beat SLUC Nancy in last tour.

13. Caja Laboral Vitoria (Spain) (4-4)

At the beginning of the season, Caja Laboral looked like a serious candidate to fight for a spot in the Euroleague Final Four -- three wins in a row against top group A teams -- but then Vitoria club simply collapsed. Four losses in last five games, but all of them by less than five points. That just proves Caja Laboral's capabilities to make something big this year

It would be a huge upset for Caja Laboral to leave the competition so early, especially as Mirza Teletovic, who leads the Euroleague in scoring with 22.9 points per game, is having his career year. Teletovic scored a career-high 32 points last week against Olympiacos and also has made at least one three-pointer in 18 straight Euroleague games. No doubt, Teletovic is ready to carry the team on his shoulders if needed and that could be a key factor playing against Gescrap Bizkaia and SLUC Nancy.

14. Gescrap Bizkaia Bilbao (Spain) (3-5)

It is fair to say that Gescrap Bizkaia is one of the unluckiest teams in the Euroleague. Leading by eight points against group A leader Fenerbahce Ulker with almost five minutes to go, but then five scoreless minutes and a 0-14 run and letting victory slide out of their hands. Just a few weeks ago, 29-year-old Olympiacos guard Vassilis Spanoulis played his best career game when he scored 29 points, dished out six assists and led his team to a close win against Gescrap Bizkaia. And last week, Bennet Cantu's Gianluca Basile's three-pointer just killed the Spaniards hope to get a win and be one step closer to Top-16. 

Gescrap Bizkaia can still prove that those losses were just a coincidence by beating Caja Laboral and Fenerbahce Ulker in last two rounds and making the Euroleague's next stage. Obviously, they have a strong enough roster to do that and with just a bit of luck... 

15. Galatasaray Istanbul (Turkey) (3-5)

Winner of Euroleague qualification tournament, Galatasaray Istanbul came to the league with big ambitions but failed to meet them. The Turks were not able to beat any of Top-3 teams of group D, but it was strong enough to beat the worst Euroleague teams, Union Olimpija and Asseco Prokom thrice to maintain the 4th place.

Galatasaray will probably secure its place in Top-16 this week by beating Union Olimpija or at least losing by no more than eight points. And in Top 16, it's a whole new, 0-0 story.

16. Unicaja Malaga (Spain) (3-5)

Being the best rebounding team in the league didn't prevent Unicaja from suffering four losses in a row. After a great start, now Unicaja put itself to a must-win position. And that must happen with an away game against KK Zagreb, which also still holds chances to make it out of the group.

Perhaps Malaga's team, which demonstrates great results in the Spanish league, 8-3 there, needs some more time for players like Euroleague rookies Kristaps Valters and especially Earl Rowland, who recently started make bigger impact to Unicaja's game. Nevertheless, this week there can't be any excuses for Unicaja if they want to make their seventh straight appearance in the Top-16.

17. Brose Baskets Bamberg (Germany) (3-5)

Brose Baskets probably didn't dream about being in the third position of group B after eight tours but at the moment what seemed to be just a dream looks real. Brose Baskets could be the first German team to make it to the Top 16 since 2008-09 and everybody understands the price of the next game again Zalgiris Kaunas.

Brose Baskets guard Anton Gavel said that "now we [Bamberg] got this opportunity to make it to the Top-16 and you are never going to get it again". Fair enough: it's now or never. The Germans, who rank 6th in the league in terms of scoring, in last tour will face Panathinaikos, which they beat once, but you know what they say, lightning doesn't strike the same place twice. If Brose Baskets want a ticket to the Top-16, they have to take care of business with Zalgiris on Thursday. 

18. SLUC Nancy (France) (3-5)

Two-time Euroleague MVP of the week award winner Nicolas Batum brought SLUC Nancy to the point where French basketball teams are not use to treading -- on the way to the Top-16. However, the departure of second the most valuable player in the league, Batum, threw SLUC Nancy back to reality.

Without Batum, who averaged 15.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists in six games, SLUC Nancy has already lost two games in a row and now ranks at the bottom of group A. Nevertheless, the French team still holds the change to make out of the group, but looking what left on their schedule -- Olympiacos Piraeus and Caja Laboral Vitoria -- that doesn't seem to happen this year.

19. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (Italy) (2-6)

After two miserable seasons, EA7 Emporio Armani decided to walk an extra mile and bring well-recommended players to the team. Euroleague champions Drew Nicholas and Antonis Fotsis, Ioannis Bourousis, who was selected to RealGM's All-Euroleague 2nd Team last season, Omar Cook and most important, head coach of Spain national team, Sergio Scariolo signed with the team to bring victories to Milan. Even Danilo Gallinari joined EA7 Emporio Armani for a while, but as results show, all those cardinal changes year after year are simply unproductive.

The current EA7 Emporio Armani situation looks terrible and knowing this team, seeing them in the Top-16 looks unreal. Milan just lost its scoring leader Gallinari and they lost four games in a row. Of course, you don't need to be a super team to beat Belgacom Spirou at home, but winning the final regular season game against Partizan in Belgrade by more than four points seems to be a challenge of the decade.

20. Belgacom Spirou (Belgium) (2-6)

We can still imagine how brutal the group C would look with Khimki Moscow Region, which was eliminated by French team in Euroleague qualification tournament and didn't have chance to meet Belgacom Spirou in the final game. But that's the beauty and tragedy of one-and-done.

Those kind of thoughts should come to mind as you meet Belgacom at 20th place of RealGM Euroleague power rankings. Nevertheless, to be fair, Belgacom never gave up without a fight this season as their biggest loss, except the season-opener against Real, was only by 10 points. Still, mostly because of Demond Mallet, who has scored in double figures and made at least one three-pointer in each game this season, the Top 16 hope, despite it's really small, but is alive. 

21. Zalgiris Kaunas (Lithuania) (2-6)

No doubt, Zalgiris is the biggest disappointment of this Euroleague season. Last summer, Zalgiris' management brought many promising faces to Kaunas and raised the expectations to the sky. Lithuanian national team captain Robertas Javtokas, Eurocup final MVP Marko Popovic, Toronto Raptors guard Sonny Weems were all added. Zalgiris also made one of the most impressive signings of all last off-season by bringing Denver Nuggets starting point guard Ty Lawson. Kaunas managed to have the best roster since the last season Arvydas Sabonis wore Zalgiris' jersey back in 2003-04.

It seemed that this year the Lithuanian champions, who started playing in their new 15,000 seat arena, would finally have a chance to make it to the Euroleague final four, but despite all the expectations, this season reminds the worst nightmare so far. And Zalgiris' fans just can't wake up. 

The most upset person in this situation should be Sonny Weems. The former Raptor told RealGM he chose Zalgiris over other teams because after a weak season in Toronto, he wanted to be a part of a winning basketball club. Just unlucky.

22. KK Zagreb (Croatia) (2-6)

The last two years have been tough for Croatian basketball -- its national team finished 14th in 2010 FIBA Worlds, Cibona Zagreb was the only Euroleague's winless (0-10) team in 2010-11, national team failed to make it out of the weak group D in the last EuroBasket and this year KK Zagreb is at the bottom of Euroleague's group B. Drazen Petrovic is probably spinning in his grave.

Thanks to 37-year-old Damir Mulaomerovic, who is one of the top scorers for KK Zagreb, averaging 11.3 points per game, and nice surprise Sean May, who proved that his disappointing season in Turkey was just a misunderstanding, the Croatian team got two wins in its pocket and they are still in the race for a place in the Top-16.

23. Asseco Prokom Gdynia (Poland) (1-7)

After a terrible showing last season (2-8, last place in group stage) it seemed that the only way to go was up. However, the Polish club stuck on the bottom of Euroleague for a while as they lost seven games in a row and grabbed its first win last week against the worst Euroleague team. There are many reasons why Asseco Prokom is struggling and one of them definitely would be psychology. Asseco Prokom proved itself as a team, which is bad in close games as they lost all three matches when the difference was four points or less. The Polish club is also terrible at the free-throw line -- Asseco Prokom ranks the last with only 59.5 free-throw shooting percentage.

Despite Asseco Prokom's bad results, there is one reason why particularly Houston Rockets and Lithuanian basketball fans should keep an eye on Gdynia club. His name is Donatas Motiejunas.

The toughness of head coach Tomas Pacesas helped Motiejunas from the guy, who didn't make to the Lithuanian national team last summer, become a second best Euroleague rebounder and one of the most exciting players to watch. 14.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in the Euroleague -- that is more than enough to silence Motiejunas' critics. At least until the Lithuanian big man comes to Houston.

24. Union Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) (1-7)

This team has gone from top to bottom. From one of the best offensive teams in the league last season, Union Olimpija became undoubtedly the worst. Talent wise, Union Olimpija is far far away from the rest of the 23 other teams. The Slovenians average only 58 points per game (the worst result in the league) and they never topped 70 points this season.

Even worse, as Union Olimpija faced financial problems, three top scorers and almost half of the team left Ljubljana. Apparently for Union Olimpija, the Euroleague season has ended earlier and last two games against Galatasaray and Unics are just a formality.