Post by Portland on Apr 23, 2015 19:55:35 GMT -6
Last year at about this point in the season I posted some statistics on who the top road teams are in the ABCA by looking beyond the basic W-L records to measure how the top squads were faring against each other. My measuring stick for that is based on road wins against top teams. If you can take down the strongest competition on the road you’re definitely a team to be reckoned with. Conversely if you can’t beat those opponents on your home hardwood… you might not be as good as your record makes you appear. Below you can see my findings.
“Top teams” is somewhat subjective, so in the context of this article for simplicity’s sake I chose the 16 squads with the best overall won-loss record. They are: Knicks, Beermen, Kings, Sonics, Warriors, Towers, Lakers, ALBA, Athens, Boca, Franca, Bullets, Pacers, Mahram, Spurs, and Titans.
The San Miguel Beermen: This team has beaten eight top-16 teams on the road, more than any other ABCA franchise. Coming back the other way only one Top-16 visiting team has managed to beat them in the Beer Garden (Arena de San Miguel) that being Berlin – and it took 38 points from ALBA’s John Havlicek to make that happen. The scalps they’ve taken: Athens (twice), Towers, Titans, Mahram, Franca, Bullets, and ALBA. It must be noted that none of those victories are against the Knicks, Kings, Sonics, or Warriors so the men of beer haven’t been tested entirely. It’s almost another month before they match up with any team of that caliber.
The Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers have six road wins against top-16 teams: Boca, Kings, Pacers, Spurs, Titans, and Towers. That’s half of all their road wins! To highlight the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde nature of the team, or maybe just their strength of schedule, that they’ve been whipped seven times at home by visiting power squads, with six of those losses against American Conference teams. In their favor they rarely get upset by the ABCA bottom-feeders, and it says a lot about this gm that he’s got the team where it is after it started 7-and-12. I see more tough road wins in LA’s future.
The New York Knicks: You would expect to see the Knickerbockers up here considering the strong season they’re having. The Knicks have five road wins at ALBA, Bullets, Lakers, Pacers, and Spurs. And who you may ask has come into the Garden and beaten New York? That would be no one. The team’s 31-0 home record is truly remarkable. The only blemish on their season from my perspective is their road loss to the Pistons when Antonello Riva posted a 31/16 performance and everyone but Dantley went into a shooting funk for the Knicks. It happens.
The Mexico City Titans: Like the Knicks the Titans have five road wins against top-16 teams: Boca, Franca, Pacers (twice,) and Mahram. That’s not exactly a who’s who of the ABCA but they’re all solid teams, and in many of those games the margin-of-victory was substantial. Alas the Titans have been dumped six times by visiting Top-16 teams: Lakers, Pacers, Mahram, Bullets, Beermen, and Kings. Ultimately if their recent 7-and-12 skid is any indication, there will be tough times ahead with the Warriors, Sonics, and Lakers headed to town.
The Seattle Supersonics: The Sonics sport a 37-and-14 record and are another team with five road wins against tough teams. They’ve beaten the Lakers twice, Mahram, Athens, and the Spurs. The first Laker win was earlier in the year when the team was most beset by injuries; Alex English and Arpod Losonczy led Seattle to a one-point victory in that one. Two months later a healthy squad headed back to the Staples Center and mauled LA by 33 points on Jojo White’s 40/11/12 triple double. The Sonics have only been dinged once by a top-16 visiting team, an early-season loss to the Bullets, but surprisingly they’ve dropped two contests each to the lowly Bulls and CSKA... one on the road and one at home.
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The Washington Bullets: Speaking of the Bullets, they’re another team with five road wins against top teams, having beaten Lakers, Pacers, Sonics, Boca, and Titans – all American Conference rivals. Most of those were early-season victories other than the Titans win which was a thrashing in mid-January. The Bullets have lost three games to visiting top-16 teams: Beermen, Knicks, and Franca in the home opener.
The Boca Juniors: The last team I’ll look at in depth is Buenos Aires who got nice road wins against the Warriors twice, Titans, ALBA, and the Towers. Six top-16 teams however came into the Estadio Luis Conde and smoked Boca – Lakers (by 30!), Titans, Mahram, Franca, Bullets, and Kings. The Titans and Laker defeats came back-to-back in early February when Kareem looked uncharacteristically human in his last two games as a Boca Junior. With the Hot Rod Williams era now underway we’ll see if BA can get a few more road wins; they travel to the Spurs, the Lakers again, and the Bullets in the next few weeks.
Road wins against the top-16 for the rest of the ABCA:
Pacers 4
Celtics 4
Kings 4
Maccabi 3
Warriors 3
Bayi 3
ALBA 3
KK Partizan 3
Mahram 3
BC Zalgiris 2
Bulls 2
Towers 2
Franca BC 2
Spurs 2
CSKA 2
Aoshen 2
Harlem 2
Athens 2
Raptors 2
Pistons 1
“Top teams” is somewhat subjective, so in the context of this article for simplicity’s sake I chose the 16 squads with the best overall won-loss record. They are: Knicks, Beermen, Kings, Sonics, Warriors, Towers, Lakers, ALBA, Athens, Boca, Franca, Bullets, Pacers, Mahram, Spurs, and Titans.
The San Miguel Beermen: This team has beaten eight top-16 teams on the road, more than any other ABCA franchise. Coming back the other way only one Top-16 visiting team has managed to beat them in the Beer Garden (Arena de San Miguel) that being Berlin – and it took 38 points from ALBA’s John Havlicek to make that happen. The scalps they’ve taken: Athens (twice), Towers, Titans, Mahram, Franca, Bullets, and ALBA. It must be noted that none of those victories are against the Knicks, Kings, Sonics, or Warriors so the men of beer haven’t been tested entirely. It’s almost another month before they match up with any team of that caliber. The Los Angeles Lakers: The Lakers have six road wins against top-16 teams: Boca, Kings, Pacers, Spurs, Titans, and Towers. That’s half of all their road wins! To highlight the Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde nature of the team, or maybe just their strength of schedule, that they’ve been whipped seven times at home by visiting power squads, with six of those losses against American Conference teams. In their favor they rarely get upset by the ABCA bottom-feeders, and it says a lot about this gm that he’s got the team where it is after it started 7-and-12. I see more tough road wins in LA’s future. The New York Knicks: You would expect to see the Knickerbockers up here considering the strong season they’re having. The Knicks have five road wins at ALBA, Bullets, Lakers, Pacers, and Spurs. And who you may ask has come into the Garden and beaten New York? That would be no one. The team’s 31-0 home record is truly remarkable. The only blemish on their season from my perspective is their road loss to the Pistons when Antonello Riva posted a 31/16 performance and everyone but Dantley went into a shooting funk for the Knicks. It happens.The Mexico City Titans: Like the Knicks the Titans have five road wins against top-16 teams: Boca, Franca, Pacers (twice,) and Mahram. That’s not exactly a who’s who of the ABCA but they’re all solid teams, and in many of those games the margin-of-victory was substantial. Alas the Titans have been dumped six times by visiting Top-16 teams: Lakers, Pacers, Mahram, Bullets, Beermen, and Kings. Ultimately if their recent 7-and-12 skid is any indication, there will be tough times ahead with the Warriors, Sonics, and Lakers headed to town. The Seattle Supersonics: The Sonics sport a 37-and-14 record and are another team with five road wins against tough teams. They’ve beaten the Lakers twice, Mahram, Athens, and the Spurs. The first Laker win was earlier in the year when the team was most beset by injuries; Alex English and Arpod Losonczy led Seattle to a one-point victory in that one. Two months later a healthy squad headed back to the Staples Center and mauled LA by 33 points on Jojo White’s 40/11/12 triple double. The Sonics have only been dinged once by a top-16 visiting team, an early-season loss to the Bullets, but surprisingly they’ve dropped two contests each to the lowly Bulls and CSKA... one on the road and one at home.The Washington Bullets: Speaking of the Bullets, they’re another team with five road wins against top teams, having beaten Lakers, Pacers, Sonics, Boca, and Titans – all American Conference rivals. Most of those were early-season victories other than the Titans win which was a thrashing in mid-January. The Bullets have lost three games to visiting top-16 teams: Beermen, Knicks, and Franca in the home opener.The Boca Juniors: The last team I’ll look at in depth is Buenos Aires who got nice road wins against the Warriors twice, Titans, ALBA, and the Towers. Six top-16 teams however came into the Estadio Luis Conde and smoked Boca – Lakers (by 30!), Titans, Mahram, Franca, Bullets, and Kings. The Titans and Laker defeats came back-to-back in early February when Kareem looked uncharacteristically human in his last two games as a Boca Junior. With the Hot Rod Williams era now underway we’ll see if BA can get a few more road wins; they travel to the Spurs, the Lakers again, and the Bullets in the next few weeks.Road wins against the top-16 for the rest of the ABCA:
Pacers 4
Celtics 4
Kings 4
Maccabi 3
Warriors 3
Bayi 3
ALBA 3
KK Partizan 3
Mahram 3
BC Zalgiris 2
Bulls 2
Towers 2
Franca BC 2
Spurs 2
CSKA 2
Aoshen 2
Harlem 2
Athens 2
Raptors 2
Pistons 1
