Game 15 Rankings – Rapid Reaction

The final five of the first leg will be critically important for teams at all positions in the rankings. Those at the top will look to gain breathing room before their players head off to their respective leagues. Those in the middle will be looking to close the gap and position themselves for a top 4 run in the second leg. And those at the bottom will be looking to minimize the damage before hopefully seeing their players progress in their pro leagues. Before that begins, let’s take a look back at the last five.

Biggest Riser

Don’t look now, but Paris is in the top 10 and looking very scary. The French moved up six spots from 15 to 9 and now sit at a season-best 3 games above .500. An impressive 7-1 home record helps a lot, but they will still need to improve upon their road record – just 2-5, the worst among above-.500 teams – if they want to be taken seriously in the long run. Another strong run to finish the leg and the French could be heading into the break on the brink of the coveted top 4.

Year 1 – Game 15 Rankings

1. New York (12-3, 1)
2. Toronto (11-4, 2)
3. Sydney (11-4, 4)
4. Lagos (11-4, 6)
5. Madrid (11-4, 3)
6. Istanbul (10-5, 5)
7. Buenos Aires (9-6, 10)
8. Mexico City (9-6, 11)
9T. Tehran (9-6, 7)
9T. Paris (9-6, 15)
11. Johannesburg (9-6, 12)
12. Sao Paulo (8-7, 13)
13. Tokyo (7-8, 17)
14. Jakarta (8-7, 9)
15. Cairo (7-8, 18)
16. Moscow (7-8, 8)
17. Shanghai (7-8, 14)
18. Manila (5-10, 16)
19T. Bogota (5-10, 20)
19T. Seoul (4-11, 19)
21. Karachi (4-11, 22)
22. Delhi (3-12, 21)
23. Lima (2-13, 23)
24. Kinshasa (2-13, 24)

Game 10 Rankings – Rapid Reaction

With 10 games complete in the inaugural season of the GBC, we are starting to get a decent idea of how teams are actually doing. The second official rankings released yesterday, and there was plenty to discuss.

Biggest Riser

Clearly the big winner of the second five games of the year was Toronto, roaring to a record-tying six straight wins, a league-best 8-2 record (tied), and one very impressive win over New York. The committee gave the Canucks a lot of credit, moving them up 6 spots, but created some controversy with the decision to leave New York at #1. This is far from inexcusable – as many Canadian supporters would have us believe – as New York leads the league in both points scored and point differential. The Americans have had a very tough schedule and have excelled, and both of their losses are on the road. Toronto has played more home games than road – 6 and 4 – and already has a home loss. All that and the talent advantage gives the Americans the slightest edge, but this could easily flip in five weeks if Toronto can keep it up.

Damn Yankees

Canada has long been the United States’ punching bag, and that tradition carries on to this day.  How else can you explain the latest Official GBC Power Rankings that place New York ahead of Toronto, when just three weeks ago our boys bested the Yanks in a head-to-head matchup?  To find out how the team is taking it, I called Toronto head coach James Duvall.

“We don’t concern ourselves with popularity contests,” Coach Duvall said when he heard about the latest rankings.  “In our locker room, we believe we are the best team, and we go out each week and play that way.”

Year 1 – Game 10 Rankings

These official power rankings are released every 5 games by the Global Basketball Cup Association.  They are determined by a polling of a select group of international sports writers.

GBC Power Rankings after 10 games

(Previous rank in parentheses)

1. New York (1) 8-2
2. Toronto (8) 8-2
3. Madrid (3) 8-2
4. Sydney (5) 8-2
5. Istanbul (2) 7-3
6. Lagos (9) 7-3
7. Tehran (7) 6-4
8. Moscow (6) 6-4
9. Jakarta (11) 6-4
10. Buenos Aires (15) 5-5
11. Mexico City (10) 5-5
12. Johannesburg (14) 5-5
13. Sao Paulo (4) 5-5
14. Shanghai (18) 5-5
15. Paris (13) 5-5
16. Tokyo (23) 4-6
17. Manila (16) 4-6
18. Cairo (20) 4-6
19. Seoul (19) 4-6
20. Bogota (17) 3-7
21. Delhi (12) 3-7
22. Karachi (24) 2-8
23. Lima (22) 1-9
24. Kinshasa (21) 1-9

Sources: GBC Committee Has Championship Hosting Plan

When the Global Basketball Cup’s inaugural season launched a few weeks ago, most of the postseason plans were in place, but the specifics were still yet to be decided. Word out of the league headquarters is that all of the official plans for season 1 will be nailed down following the first leg of the season, at the year 1 break in the three year cycle.

There will be a meeting of the Organizational Committee as well as the Competition Committee to discuss the first leg of the season and hammer out how the first postseason will be laid out. The first major proposal to leak out is one regarding the host nation for the first league semifinals and finals. It was previously stated that these final rounds of the Final Tournament would be hosted “at a neutral site”, but it was not clear what that meant. Here is the rumored proposal:

The team (country) with the best regular season record through the second leg of the season shall host the semifinal games, 3rd place game, and Cup Final. However, no team may earn hosting rights more than once every four seasons. The host will be chosen after the second leg concludes rather than after the regular season as this allows adequate time for venue selection. The host city is not required to host any of the final games; other sites within their nation may be used. In the event of a tie, the standard tiebreaker system will be used.

Rapid Reaction: Game 5 Rankings

The season’s first official rankings were released yesterday, and there weren’t a lot of huge surprises. With the Americans easily holding the top spot after wiping out the last remaining unbeaten (other than themselves), and winless Karachi locking up the bottom, some of the drama was lacking. Let’s take a closer look at what lies between those ends.

Biggest Riser

Jakarta (3-2) and Delhi (3-2) shared the biggest jump from the unofficial preseason rankings, moving up 6 spots, but Moscow’s 6-spot leap may have been the most impressive. With a 4-1 record and tied for the fourth-best point differential, the Russians have made an early statement. Clearly, though, the committee is still wanting to see more before they discount the Russians’ perceived talent gap to make them a top 4 contender.

Year 1 – Game 5 Rankings

These official power rankings are released every 5 games by the Global Basketball Cup Association.  They are determined by a polling of a select group of international sports writers.

GBC Power Rankings after 5 games

(Previous rank in parentheses)

1. New York (1) 5-0
2. Istanbul (2) 4-1
3. Madrid (4) 4-1
4. Sao Paulo (5) 4-1
5. Sydney (7) 4-1
6. Moscow (12) 4-1
7. Tehran (11) 3-2
8. Toronto (6) 3-2
9. Lagos (13) 4-1
10. Mexico City (10) 3-2
11. Jakarta (18) 3-2
12. Delhi (19) 3-2
13. Paris (3) 2-3
14. Johannesburg (15) 2-3
15. Buenos Aires (8) 2-3
16. Manila (17) 2-3
17. Bogota (23) 2-3
18. Shanghai (9) 1-4
19. Seoul (14) 1-4
20. Cairo (21) 1-4
21. Kinshasa (24) 1-4
22. Lima (22) 1-4
23. Tokyo (16) 1-4
24. Karachi (20) 0-5

Season 1 Burning Questions – Games 1-5

A quarter of the way through season 1’s first year’s games, a lot has already happened. Only one unbeaten team, New York, and one winless team, Karachi, remain. We have some surprises among the top teams, and one notable surprise team – Paris – struggling. As we look back, and ahead, what are the top questions on this writer’s mind?

Change in the air for free-falling French?

It has only been four games, but the winds of change are picking up in Paris where “Le Bleu” have returned in shame after a stunning 98-87 loss in Cairo to a lowly-ranked Egyptian team.  The loss is Paris’ second on the season, which is surprising for a team projected to easily finish in the top four.

“We are not playing up to our standards,” Paris coach Jean-Michel Praud told reporters after the Cairo match.  “It’s that simple.  As the coach, that’s on me.”

Le Bleu’s other loss came in their first game at home against Lagos, who eked out an 85-81 win.  Paris fans wrote it off as opening-day jitters and a case of an under-ranked opponent, which looked feasible with Lagos going 3-1 so far on the year.  But losing to the now 2-2 Egyptians is much more concerning.