Best second units: EuroLeague teams that get the most points off the bench / News - Basketnews.com

FC Bayern Munich is the only EuroLeague team with second unit players outscoring the starters.

Credit: Olympiacos BC Credit Olympiacos BC

Nikola Mirotic was an absolute force to be reckoned with at the Piece and Friendship Stadium, silencing the packed EuroLeague arena with a whopping 11,500 fans. Even Sasha Vezenkov, fresh off his February MVP award, couldn't keep up with last year's EuroLeague MVP.

Player of the Game EFF 16 Shaquielle McKissic Points 16 Accuracy 5-8 Rebounds 1 Assists 4

Unfortunately for Olympiacos, they just couldn't match the physicality that Barca brought to the table. And to make matters worse, they were too nervous on the offensive side to finish strong.

With only 11 points in 14 minutes of play, it seemed like the game was slipping away from their grasp, including the top seed in the standings.

But then something remarkable happened when the second unit stepped up. Giannoulis Larentzakis, who had just entered the court 30 seconds prior, jolted the Peace and Friendship Stadium, locally known as SEF,back to life with an incredible three-pointer, thanks to a slick assist from Shaq McKissic.

Suddenly, Alec Peters, Tarik Black, and Kostas Sloukas ignited Olympiacos with a 12-0 run that allowed them to take over the lead.

And when the game was back on the line, it was Larentzakis, McKissic, Peters, and Black who came through in the clutch. Together, they combined for an impressive 22 of Olympiacos' 27 fourth-quarter points to secure a regular season sweep over Barcelona with a final score of 77-70.

"We were hesitant and stressed. But we put in players with a lot of energy who came off the bench and gave a lot," Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas praised his second unit.

"Sometimes we have competitions with the first unit, and today was just our day," McKissic recalled. "I believe in Larentzakis a lot, and he believes in me, so we have a lot of fun out there. Coach believed in us, and we just went out there and fought hard."

Olympiacos' second unit was responsible for a massive 58% of the team's 77 total points, proving that having a strong backup squad is critical to success in the EuroLeague.

Elie Okobo

MIN:25.6PTS:12.19 (59.09%)REB:2.12As:3.5ST:0.85BL:0.12TO:1.92GM:26ProfileEuroLeague2022/2023

BasketNews did some digging, and as Darius Garuolis' data showed, FC Bayern Munich's bench players are the most productive in the league, with their second unit contributing 51.59% of all team points - the only team where the bench outscored the starters.

Andrea Trinchieri's men are averaging an impressive 39.7 points per game from their second string.

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade came in second place, with 48.55% of their total team points coming off the bench, at an average of 36.7 PPG.

Virtus Bologna, Valencia Basket, Real Madrid, ALBA Berlin, Baskonia, and Monaco all fall in the range of 44-45% of their points coming from the bench.

On the flip side, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos Athens, and Zalgiris Kaunas were the bottom three teams this year, with 33.2%, 34.9%, and 35.4% of their points coming from the bench, respectively.

Zalgiris also had the lowest bench player scoring average per game at just 26.63 PPG, with Milan slightly ahead at 26.73 PPG.

Second unit contribution (Darius Garuolis data)

Team Games Starters PTS Bench PTS Bench contribution (%) Bench (PPG) 1. Bayern 27 1006 1072 51.6 39.7 2. Crvena Zvezda 26 1012 955 48.6 36.7 3. Virtus 27 1141 965 45.8 35.7 4. Valencia 27 1211 1022 45.8 37.9 5. Real 26 1193 992 45.4 38.2 6. ALBA 27 1189 970 44.9 35.9 7. Baskonia 27 1296 1035 44.4 38.3 8. Monaco 26 1210 955 44.1 36.7 9. Olympiacos 27 1291 988 43.3 36.6 10. Fenerbahce 25 1222 908 42.6 36.3 11. Barcelona 27 1282 901 41.3 33.4 12. Partizan 27 1359 933 40.7 34.6 13. ASVEL 27 1230 795 39.3 29.4 14. Efes 25 1266 803 38.8 32.1 15. Emporio Armani 26 1201 695 36.7 26.7 16. Zalgiris 27 1311 719 35.4 26.7 17. Panathinaikos 26 1345 722 34.9 27.8 18. Maccabi 26 1427 709 33.2 27.3

Regarding individual performances, Monaco's Elie Okobo reigns supreme, scoring the most points among second-unit players with 306 in 24 appearances off the bench.

Marko Guduric of Fenerbahce comes in second with 273 points (12.4 PPG), followed by Nemanja Nedovic with 256 (14.2 PPG).

Will Clyburn and Kostas Sloukas tie for the fourth spot, with 254 total points each, but Clyburn holds the highest scoring average among players coming off the bench with an impressive 16.9 PPG in 15 appearances.

Markus Howard of Baskonia comes in a close second with 15.1 PPG in 12 appearances off the bench.

The status of a bench player can be quite subjective, as perfectly demonstrated by Clyburn's performance. Despite appearing in more games as a substitute than as a starter, he ranks second in the EuroLeague by playing time, averaging 33 minutes per game.

Milos Teodosic (Virtus) leads in points per game (10.5) among bench players who play fewer than 20 minutes per game, per Darius Garuolis' data.

Jared Harper averages 10.2 points, while Jasiel Rivero follows with 10.1 points per game off the Valencia bench.

URBONUS podcast:

Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.