EuroLeague tip-off: A champion borrowing a court, and a throne handed over by theory

In Athens, there is a team that has to borrow a court to play its home games. It is Olympiacos, the reigning EuroLeague champion. Their SEF arena is under renovation, and by all estimates it will not be ready until just before the playoffs this season. In the meantime, the players train at SEF but play their home games at AEK's court. A champion without a home. That is the image that came to mind first when I read EuroLeague's preseason Power Rankings - the only rankings Eurohoops will publish all season.

It reminded me of 2026, when I was 16 and watched my first LCK final, and saw Faker sitting blankly after a 0-3 loss to Longzhu Gaming. That night I understood something: a dynasty does not collapse with thunder, but with a single misstep in the final minute of stoppage time. European basketball operates on the same logic. A throne does not shake because an opponent is too strong, but because of a slow concrete pour at SEF, or a missed free throw in the 39th minute.

The ranking Eurohoops published is not a verdict. It is a way of presenting expectations before the ball goes up: teams ranked on theory. Preseason friendlies offer only vague hints. The season is a marathon, and once official games begin, the actual standings replace Power Rankings as a far more objective measure. A team can start fifteenth and finish fourth, and the reverse is just as possible. That is the nature of a long season.

The plan to split EuroLeague into two conferences in 2027 is like a major patch that rewrites the whole meta of the competition. In esports, when the publisher changes the map, last season's champion is often the slowest to adapt, because it built its playstyle around the old version. The same applies here: two conferences mean fewer meetings, a different schedule, and home-court advantage mattering more than ever. But that is a story for the future. For now, we have a season ahead and a ranking to take apart.

I came to European basketball by a roundabout route: esports. Back in 2026, analyzing the World Cup semi-final between France and Belgium, I "translated" Deschamps's 4-2-3-1 into League of Legends language, calling France's defensive block a "tank champion" and Mbappé "burst damage". With EuroLeague, I do the reverse: I read the Power Rankings the way I read a tier list before a tournament. It is all theory until the whistle blows. And the whistle, in basketball as in esports, is the one thing that cannot be scripted.

Throughout my writing career, I have been haunted by empty spaces. In 2026, when the pandemic blurred the line between real and virtual sport, I produced the series "The Quiet Summer", interviewing Levi - GAM Esports' jungler - about the habit of reading the map with no crowd cheering. He said he missed the shiver of a teamfight in a packed arena. EuroLeague this season has spaces like that too: a champion without a home, a team without its city, a Hapoel forced to play in Bulgaria. What is absent is what shapes the story.

The three names at the top

First is Panathinaikos. Yes, they suffered a pile of injuries in preseason. But they are the most expensive team this season, with a legendary coach on the bench, and their goal is the summit. When we talk about power - even only in theory - this is its definition. In esports, we call this an "all-star roster": every position capable of deciding a game on its own.

Second is Olympiacos. In theory, champions should start at the top, especially when they keep their core and may even improve with key additions like Montero. But Olympiacos's big problem is at home. They train at SEF and play at AEK's court, and that could cost them points in the standings. In European basketball, home court is not merely a mental edge. It is where the crowd's roar sets the tempo, where referees unconsciously lean toward the host, where a team can turn a losing fourth quarter into a win.

Third is the team that won the Super Cup this season. They have turned a page with strong motivation after losing a final in Athens, yet the two "eternal" clubs of Greece - Panathinaikos and Olympiacos - still seem at least one step ahead. This is the familiar paradox: a team can be stronger than last year and still rank lower, simply because the teams above grew stronger too.

Looking at these three names, I see a pattern familiar from esports: the strongest team is not the one that spends the most, but the one that makes the fewest mistakes under the greatest pressure. Panathinaikos spends. Olympiacos keeps its core. The third has motivation. But motivation, as every gamer knows, is a stat you cannot buy.

The dangerous ones

Fenerbahce is fourth. It is hard to imagine them outside the title contenders, but equally hard to rank them above Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and the Spanish royals. That does not mean they cannot finish above all of them. In a marathon season, a team ranked lower is often the one with the most room to grow.

Dubai is fifth. After a somewhat "timid" first season, they did not hesitate to flash their financial muscle, building a top-level roster aiming at least at the Final Four. The problem lies elsewhere: travelling across Europe and spending most of your time on planes is not easy. Moreover, if the Iran-Israel conflict escalates, they might end up playing in Sarajevo again. This is a problem money cannot solve. Even the most expensive roster can collapse from exhaustion on long-haul flights.

Zalgiris is sixth. In a "short" league, having a center like Jonas Valanciunas can make an enormous difference. Even with less firepower, Zalgiris is usually in the playoff race, and this season they are more than an outsider. An elite center is like a jungler controlling the map: he does not score much, but he shapes the entire game.

The playoff chasers

Hapoel is seventh. A deep roster, and despite off-court noise, they reached the playoffs last year and are expected to return. Playing home games in Bulgaria was decisive in last season's playoff series against Real Madrid - a small detail that decided a whole season. When you lose your home court, you lose half your weapon.

Red Star Belgrade is eighth. They have a chance to reach the playoffs, having already played the play-in last season. After dominating the Basketball Champions League, coach Ibon Navarro has a great chance to make a splash in EuroLeague. The home advantage in Belgrade is obvious - a crowd that can become a sixth player.

Efes is ninth. This is Pablo Laso's first season in Istanbul, with Mike James as the focal point. An intriguing mix, and Efes can aim at least at the playoffs. The only question is whether Mike James will share the spotlight, because an individual star and a collective system rarely click from day one.

Valencia is tenth. We learned our lesson last year, so we will never underestimate them again. And there is a sense that we might see TJ Shorts play at Paris level once more.

The fallen giants

Barcelona is eleventh. With competition getting ever tougher, Barcelona took a step back. They will fight for the playoffs, but there is no guarantee they make it. A big club in decline is like a team that once won its domestic title and then dropped down a division: the name remains, but the class has drifted away.

Maccabi is twelfth. The same story. They will fight for the playoffs, but with Belgrade rather than Tel Aviv as home, the answer is unlikely to be positive. A team that loses its true home is like a player who loses his signature champion: the skill is intact, but the instinct is off-beat.

The next two teams have theoretically improved, with playoff-caliber rosters. But that has been the story in recent years: they miss the playoffs, partly due to persistent injuries. When a pattern repeats, caution is the only sensible response.

The bottom

ASVEL is fifteenth. Everyone will follow them to see Tony Parker's first season as a coach. But this is not the roster Parker imagined at the start of summer, and even a playoff berth looks distant.

Bayern is sixteenth. Despite the big name, they try to build sustainably without spending much. Anton Gavel is a first-class coach, and he might make something out of limited resources.

Paris is seventeenth. They think like Bayern, and the plan once worked with Splitter on the bench and TJ Shorts having an MVP-level season. The roster was raided two summers ago, and now Paris is trying to build something that defies expectations once more.

Besiktas is eighteenth. In theory they could be higher. But EuroLeague is a completely different matter from the EuroCup, and if you do not spend heavily in your first season at the elite level, things can become extremely difficult.

Baskonia is nineteenth. They will have a few flashes, but the main goal is to avoid last place, while every rival takes another step forward.

Virtus is twentieth. On paper, probably the weakest roster in EuroLeague. Despite their history, the main goal is not to become the competition's punching bag.

But Power Rankings are beautiful as poetry - and that is the problem

We love the "underdog rises" story. But reality runs on injuries, travel and money. Dubai's problem is geography, not talent. A team that spends most of its time on planes will be exhausted by March, however expensive its roster. That is pure logistics.

Olympiacos's problem is much the same: a construction schedule. A champion does not lose its crown because an opponent is stronger, but because its home arena is not finished. A season is not lost in a dramatic moment, but in a missed free throw in the 39th minute, or a slow concrete pour at SEF.

I am also cautious with the "fallen giant" narrative. Sometimes a team is simply worse. Empathy must not become a distorted beautification of the truth. In 2026, writing about Morocco at the World Cup, I learned that the most beautiful thing is not an underdog beating a favorite, but the moment a collective discovers its own limits.

In 2026, at the Paris Olympics, I interviewed a 19-year-old Cambodian swimmer. She finished last in her 200m freestyle heat, 14 seconds off the Olympic record. When asked, she smiled: "I swim so that Cambodians know they are not alone on the track." That is what deserves writing, not a ranking handed out by theory.

An open ending

Power Rankings are a starting gun, not a verdict. By April, we will know which theory was fiction. The question is not who starts first, but who is still standing when the lights come on for the playoffs. And maybe, just maybe, the team that trains at SEF but plays at AEK's court will find its home again - just in time. Or it will not. That is the thing a ranking will never tell us.