Are Fenerbahce Really the Best Team in the EuroLeague This Season?

If we’re looking at the numbers, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul have clearly been the best team in the EuroLeague this season.

As the defending champions, they have the best defensive rating at 108.8, they limit opponents to just 50.1% shooting on twos, and allow just 78.9 points per game – the only team in the league under 80.

In terms of attack, they’re also well ahead, scoring around 82.7 points per game. But stats and numbers only tell half of the story. To find out whether Fenerbahce are really the best team in the EuroLeague, we have to look at things a little more deeply.

How Do Fenerbahce Compete?

While their defensive and offensive ratings are outstanding, the real test always comes when facing other elite teams in high-pressure situations. For instance, their January matchup against Olympiacos.

This was a clash of two of Europe’s best clubs in the late stages of the season, and despite Fenerbahce’s superior stats, it was incredibly difficult to call.

When Fenerbahce is involved, normally the basketball odds are weighted heavily in their favour, owing mainly to their disciplined defence and efficient scoring, but with Olympiacos also having a high-powered offence, the result was a little more uncertain than usual.

That being said, Fenerbahce came through that game as victors, staying controlled under pressure and managing to execute in clutch moments to end the game 88-80.

This really says everything about where this team is right now. When we’re revealing stats and numbers, we’re never giving details on a team’s mental state – their ability to execute when the game is on the line.

There are no stats like: ‘best decisions made during final-minute possessions’, or ‘most successful clutch rotations’. These are all intangibles that we can only learn through watching the team in high-pressure situations and observing how they respond.

Fenerbahce: The Best EuroLeague Team?

It’s clear, then, that Fenerbahce’s mental toughness is a big part of their identity, and that makes them highly dangerous in this season and in the future. Look at the best Fenerbahce players like Talen Horton-Tucker, Tarik Biberovic, and Yigit Hamza Metoglu. All of these players are established right now, but they have so much room to grow into even bigger roles as they gain experience.

As the squad gets tighter, the rhythm of each game will become smoother, to the point where their ability to win becomes instinctive.

This could become even more pronounced if the proposed NBA/FIBA collaboration were to occur. You would have thought Feberbahce would be one of the first teams to be included, and if that was the case, they would have even more chance to grow as a squad and gain the experience necessary to compete even harder during future EuroLeague seasons.