Panathinaikos have not missed a beat, winning their opening five games before losing at home to Hapoel.

Željko Obradović has built an amazing defensive squad, with the best defensive rating in the EuroLeague by a good margin. This group can roll out different lineups and execute different schemes without losing its identity.

On offense, while not quite as dominant, this is still an above-average team with a number of options that are very hard to match. Four players are averaging double digits, and they can punish you both inside and outside. Oh, and Kendrick Nunn has yet to debut in this season’s EuroLeague.

Panathinaikos are the clear No. 1 team at this point of the season.

Six rounds in, the most convincing thing about Panathinaikos is what they have done without Kendrick Nunn. Losing their most dangerous difficult-shot creator should make the offense fragile. Instead, they are 5-1 and have established the best defense in the competition. That changes the ceiling of this team.

Obradović can win possessions with size, ball pressure or carefully controlled half-court coverage. Isaac Bonga and Brancou Badio can make life miserable for opposing guards, while the frontcourt gives Panathinaikos different ways to protect the paint. On the other end, Francisco and Sloukas have kept enough organization and creation on the floor for the defense to dictate games.

The next challenge is integrating Nunn without disturbing the balance that has made them so difficult to score against. That is a luxury problem. Right now, Panathinaikos have the strongest combination of results, identity and room to improve.

Another team with just one defeat in the opening six games, and that loss came on the road against the No. 1 team in our Power Rankings.

Defense is still the calling card of this team. We know the scheme, everybody knows it, but beating it is not easy. Fenerbahçe have the players to execute it at a very high level.

Offensively, they have been above average even with a cold start shooting from deep, at 33.5% as a team. We should expect that to improve. Another thing that makes this offense difficult to guard is how well they execute after timeouts. Šarūnas Jasikevičius does an amazing job drawing those plays up.

Fenerbahçe are clear contenders to be cutting down the nets at the end of the season.

Fenerbahçe stay second in my rankings because their success looks sustainable. The 5-1 start is supported by an elite defense, not a string of hot shooting nights. Jasikevičius has his team executing the same demanding principles that made it so difficult to beat last season, with enough perimeter options to change the matchups when an opponent finds an answer.

What interests me is the other end. This offense has not yet reached its best level from outside, and a roster with Shane Larkin, Wade Baldwin IV, Talen Horton-Tucker and so many capable wings should not have to depend on one creator every night. The challenge is deciding who owns possessions when everyone is available.

Panathinaikos have been even more imposing defensively, which is enough to keep Fenerbahçe at No. 2 rather than No. 1. But I trust their defensive identity a little more than Olympiacos’s at this stage, and that breaks the tie between two outstanding contenders. They are absolutely capable of winning the title.

Five wins and one loss, with the only defeat coming on a buzzer-beater. Not a bad start for the defending champions.

Olympiacos have been the best offense in the EuroLeague so far, and that is something Georgios Bartzokas’s group has accustomed us to over the last few years. The screening is there, the cutting is there, the ball movement is there, and now there is also something that was missing in the past: a point guard who can easily create for himself and others in Jean Montero.

Defensively, this is a team with the tools to be above average, too, with Codi Miller-McIntyre being a pest at the point of attack, three bigs with different profiles who can all protect the rim, and a group that knows how to execute its schemes.

They could certainly be higher than third, but the competition is tough.

Olympiacos remain third in my rankings, and that says much more about the strength of the top two than any concern about this team. They are 5-1, their only defeat came on Marcus Carr’s buzzer-beater in Bologna, and I trust their half-court offense to survive almost any postseason matchup. That is about as convincing a start as anyone could ask for.

The biggest development is Jean Montero. For years, Bartzokas has built one of Europe’s smartest offenses around screening, cutting and the constant movement of the ball. Montero now gives Olympiacos a player who can beat the initial defender and generate something when all that beautiful movement runs into a switching defense. Vezenkov, Milutinov and Fournier are still there to profit from the advantages.

The only thing keeping them behind Panathinaikos and Fenerbahçe is the defensive gap. Olympiacos have enough on that end to win any matchup, but the two teams above them have been more consistent at taking opponents out of their offense. When the playoffs arrive, the number of ways Olympiacos can score will make them every bit as dangerous. For now, third is the right spot.

Real Madrid had their worst start in EuroLeague history, dropping the first three games. Now they are on a three-game winning streak, and all the overreactions look plain wrong.

Real already have one of the league’s strongest offenses, and the crazy part is that they still have a lot of room to grow. The three-point percentages of some of their best shooters are down, Facundo Campazzo has had a slow start with some costly mistakes, and Pedro Martínez is still tinkering with lineups and rotations.

Real Madrid have a very talented team with a lot of weapons. It is very hard to place them any lower than fourth.

An 0-3 start was always going to generate noise in Madrid. Three wins later, it looks much more like the growing pains of a new system than proof that the roster was overrated.

The important part is that Madrid have already shown they can generate efficient offense while Pedro Martínez is still learning the combinations he trusts. Campazzo has not been at his best, but his ability to control possessions has not disappeared. Maledon gives the team another way to get into the paint, and Tavares still forces opponents to change their shot selection simply by being on the court.

The defense remains the question. Martínez wants activity and pressure; Tavares is at his most valuable when the structure takes advantage of his size rather than asking him to chase every action. Finding that balance will take time. Still, there are very few rosters I would trust more to improve between now and May.

I have to admit, once again, that I was a bit low on Valencia. The Spaniards have picked up this season where they left off last year, winning four of their opening six games.

The offense has been absolutely elite, ranking near the top in offensive rating and leading the league in the share of shots taken at the rim. T.J. Shorts looks like he is back to his best version, and Nikola Mirotić gives this team a half-court release valve it did not have last year.

On defense, the team has taken a small step back compared with last year’s group but is still competitive on that end.

Should we really count Valencia as a contender?

Valencia are my biggest admission of the first six rounds. I was worried that changing coaches and reshaping so much of a Final Four roster would cost them too much continuity. Four wins in six games and one of the best offenses in Europe have made that concern look premature.

The identity remains recognizable. Valencia attack before defenses are comfortable, pressure the rim and refuse to let a possession become static. T.J. Shorts looks much more comfortable in an environment that rewards his changes of pace, while Mirotić provides exactly the alternative last season’s team occasionally lacked: a player capable of winning a possession after the initial transition or early offense has disappeared.

They have not been quite as convincing defensively, which is why I am not ready to put them next to the top three. But the offensive floor is much higher than I expected. Fifth is no longer optimistic. It might be conservative.

Žalgiris’s start has not been the best, but this is such an interesting roster with a great coach that they remain among the playoff favorites for me. Žalgiris have picked up good wins against competitive teams such as Barcelona and Red Star, but have then dropped games that would have been labeled easier, against Paris Basketball and Anadolu Efes.

The new pieces have performed at a good enough level, and the team has been around the middle of the pack on both sides of the ball. With an accessible stretch of games ahead, the Lithuanian side could use it to iron out some of the details that have held them back and build momentum for the future.

Four losses in six games are not what I expected from Žalgiris, but I am only dropping them from fourth to sixth in my individual rankings. That might seem generous for a 2-4 team. The point of these rankings, though, is to judge what a team is capable of becoming, not just reproduce the standings after six rounds. And the underlying basketball case still makes sense.

Masiulis has several ways to create offense. Edwards can force defenses to extend, Brown and Grigonis can punish the next rotation, and Valančiūnas gives them a different type of interior advantage. The problem is that the pieces have not consistently produced clean possessions together. Against teams they should be able to beat, the decision-making and defensive execution have sometimes been too loose.

This is where my trust in the coaching staff matters. Žalgiris have time to simplify their approach, tighten their defense and rebuild momentum. I am keeping them sixth because I still trust the roster balance and the long-term upside more than the early results. Their margin for error is smaller than I expected, but I am not abandoning a top-six projection after six games.

Hapoel are another team off to a good start at 4-2, including an impressive road win over Panathinaikos.

Elijah Bryant is once again playing at an MVP level, while Zach LeDay gives them a real offensive threat at the four, something they lacked last year. They are two of five players averaging double digits.

Defensively, Hapoel have been playing at an above-average level. Tomáš Satoranský’s length at the guard position has been very important on that side of the ball.

Can they take the next step, stop being just slightly above average on both sides of the ball and become dominant in at least one?

Hapoel beating Panathinaikos in Athens matters. Not because one October win changes an entire projection, but because it shows they have enough shot creation to beat the best defense in the competition on the road.

Bryant has been exceptional, LeDay changes the way opponents have to defend the four and Satoranský gives the perimeter real defensive length. Add Micić’s experience in controlling the difficult possessions and there is a lot here that should translate to playoff basketball. The roster can win without requiring one specific type of game.

Why only eighth on my individual list, behind a Žalgiris team with a worse record? Because I still see a more established collective structure and top-six upside in Kaunas, while Hapoel have yet to become clearly dominant on either side of the ball. Their offense is dangerous and their defense is good, but neither has consistently matched the authority of the leading contenders. The upside is higher than eighth. The evidence, for now, places them here.

There is a lot of talent in this Dubai squad, and so far it seems to be working out just fine, with a 4-2 record.

On defense, this team is around average, an improvement compared with last year and a positive sign.

Playing at the slowest pace of any EuroLeague team, Dubai have been slightly above average offensively. But the hierarchy inside the team is still not clearly defined, leading to some confusing situations at times. The concern with Dubai is whether we will see a clear pecking order at any point during the season.

I have Dubai seventh, one place above Hapoel but one behind Žalgiris. Four wins in six games are a good return, and I still believe their best version has more answers than their current basketball is showing. But the performances have not always been as convincing as the record. They play at the slowest pace in the league and have been winning without consistently controlling the margins.

The appeal is obvious. Pascual can use Okobo to generate advantages, Musa or Bacon to create against a set defense, Shengelia to operate from the frontcourt and Walkup to organize and defend. Most EuroLeague teams would love to have even half that flexibility.

But the question from September remains unanswered: who gets the ball when the game is tight? Until Dubai establish a hierarchy that makes the talent complement itself, they will remain a dangerous team rather than a fully convincing contender.

Red Star have had a very positive start to the season, losing only two of their opening six games.

A roster full of long, switchable athletes who can defend multiple positions has built much of its early success on the defensive end. Red Star own the second-best defensive rating, making offenses work for every look and finishing possessions on the defensive glass.

The offense is not as fluid, though. The Serbians rank near the bottom in offensive rating and are dead last in effective field goal percentage. Their defense has been good enough to get them into the win column so far, but if the offense does not improve, wins will become harder and harder to come by.

Four wins in six games have turned Red Star into one of the most interesting defensive teams of the opening month. The length is real, the switching is real and the ability to finish possessions without giving away easy second chances is real. It is hard to build a good attack when the first option keeps disappearing.

Ibon Navarro deserves credit for giving that physical talent an identity so quickly. But the offense is not at the same level. Red Star have struggled to shoot efficiently and can go long stretches without a dependable answer when the first advantage is taken away. Jones, Nwora and Moneke offer ways out, but the pieces are not yet consistently connected.

That is why I have them tenth individually, one spot below João. I trust the defense to keep them in the playoff conversation. I need to see more reliable offense before trusting them above the teams with proven late-game creators.

FC Barcelona have had a decent start to the EuroLeague campaign with a 3-3 record.

Their offense has been among the league’s best, scoring over 120 points per 100 possessions. Kevin Punter has shown why he has consistently been one of the best offensive players in the EuroLeague over the last few seasons. Justin Robinson is building on a very solid opening campaign with Paris, while Umoja Gibson has been a spark plug off the bench. Their defense appears more solid in certain matchups than in previous years, with bigs like Olek Balcerowski and Josh Nebo offering better answers when defending the pick-and-roll.

Barcelona are not higher on the list because of the lack of high-end talent beyond Kevin Punter.

I am keeping Barcelona ahead of Red Star individually for a simple reason: when games are decided by two or three half-court possessions, Kevin Punter is still one of the best options available in this part of the rankings.

Barcelona have been excellent offensively through six games. Robinson has provided another ball-handler who can create advantages, and Gibson has given them genuine energy when the starters sit. This is a more varied attack than the one many expected from a team beginning a major roster reset.

The other end is still a work in progress. The new big-man rotation has more athletic tools, but having the right personnel and executing an entire defensive scheme are different things. Barcelona have been far too easy to score against at times. Ninth in my rankings reflects how much I value their offensive answers, not any belief that the defense is already fixed.

Partizan started the season 3-0 and then dropped the next three games against three of the strongest contenders.

This is a team at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to offense and defense. Defensively, Partizan are among the best in the competition, just outside the top three in defensive rating and leading the league in steal percentage. Offensively, the story is not so bright. They are dead last in offensive rating, struggling to generate and convert good looks, and they also sit at the bottom in offensive rebounding percentage.

If Partizan can improve their offense, they can be a real Play-In contender, and maybe more. But that is a big if.

Starting 3-0 and then losing three straight creates two very different narratives. The reality probably sits in the middle, especially considering the quality of the opponents Partizan faced during the losing streak.

There is a clear defensive identity. Pajola and the other perimeter defenders can pressure the ball, the team forces turnovers and the roster has enough size to change coverages without giving up every mismatch. That is a meaningful improvement from the version we feared might struggle to find its structure.

The offense is a different problem. Carlik Jones can still create a good possession, but Partizan have not consistently produced the second and third options that an elite defense forces you to find. Their shot quality, offensive rebounding and scoring efficiency all need to improve. I see a Play-In team if the offense reaches average. I do not yet see enough to put them in the top ten.

Virtus have had a very positive start to the season, with four wins and only two defeats, including a dramatic victory over the defending champions.

Defense has been their calling card, with one of the best defensive ratings in the competition so far, a great scheme and some elite athletes. On offense, the story is a bit different. Virtus are slightly below average on that side of the ball. Nevertheless, Marcus Carr has been exceptional, averaging 14.7 points and 5.8 assists per game. Can the defense sustain this level for the rest of the season?

The lack of a true elite option on offense makes me a little lower on Virtus’s ceiling.

Virtus moving from my preseason No. 20 to No. 11 is not about overreacting to a 4-2 record. It is about admitting the team looks more coherent than I expected, especially defensively. The win over Olympiacos was dramatic, but the ability to compete in that game was no accident.

Mumbrú has athletes who can cover ground, protect the ball-handler’s mistakes and make life difficult for opponents trying to run their usual actions. Marcus Carr has also taken on a much bigger offensive responsibility than I thought he would be able to handle this quickly. His shot-making and passing have given Virtus a real point of organization.

I still worry about the final five minutes against the best defenses in Europe. One good creator is not always enough when a playoff opponent has time to remove your favorite actions. The floor has moved up dramatically. The ceiling is still being tested.

Continuity has started to bear fruit. Beşiktaş have a 3-3 record, winning the games against teams below them in the standings.

The offense has been particularly impressive, looking like a well-oiled machine and scoring with ease, with one of the best offensive ratings in the competition. That said, the reason Beşiktaş do not rank higher is their defense. Sitting among the bottom six, they have been unable to consistently get stops, and that can be costly, especially against the top teams.

Beşiktaş’s ceiling may be defined by their ability to compete against those top teams, and so far they have been unable to do it.

Beşiktaş are one of the reasons the EuroLeague is so interesting this season. A newly promoted project was supposed to need time simply to survive. Six rounds in, they are 3-3 and already look like a team that knows how it wants to score.

Alimpijević has brought clarity, and that matters. The offense moves with a purpose, the guards know where the advantages should come from and the frontcourt can be productive without requiring the ball on every possession. That cohesion is worth several spots compared with my preseason projection.

The problem is at the other end. Against the strongest opponents, Beşiktaş have not consistently been able to finish defensive possessions or control the matchups. I am happy to move them up four places. I am not ready to treat an excellent offensive opening as proof that they are a top-ten team.

Anadolu Efes have taken a big fall in my Power Rankings, largely because of the injury to Mike James. The Turkish club just lost the EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer and one of the best closers in the competition for virtually the entire season. That is not something easy to overcome.

The offense has been struggling, sitting near the bottom of the league in offensive rating. While the defense has been good, it has not been at a level where it can overcome the lack of scoring, leaving Efes with a negative net rating.

Can they find enough offense to at least make a Play-In push?

There is no reasonable way to judge Efes today as the same team we ranked before the season. Mike James’s Achilles injury removes the player who was supposed to give Pablo Laso an answer whenever the offense stopped working. Losing that kind of creator for the season changes everything.

The defense has actually been respectable. That makes the offensive struggles even more frustrating, because Efes are creating enough stops to compete in games they simply cannot finish efficiently. Strazel, Loyd, Cordinier and Šarić still provide talent and different skills, and Cameron Payne gives them another ball-handler, but asking those pieces to replace James’s individual creation is not realistic.

Fourteenth is a major drop from my preseason No. 8. The Play-In is still possible if the offense becomes functional again. The top-six expectations that existed in September, however, are no longer an appropriate benchmark.

A normal start to the season for Bayern, with a couple of wins, including a particularly good one on the road against Hapoel, and no terrible loss.

The duo of Duane Washington and Andreas Obst has done its part so far, and Rokas Jokubaitis has shown some promising signs in his return. The road to becoming more competitive lies on the defensive end, where Bayern rank near the bottom, and in doing a better job of cleaning the defensive glass. If they can improve those areas, they have enough offensive talent to create problems for any opponent.

Bayern are exactly where I had them before the season: talented enough to cause problems and inconsistent enough to remain outside my projected postseason field.

The offensive appeal is easy to understand. Obst forces defenses to chase him through actions that open space for everyone else, Washington can score in bunches and Jokubaitis gives the team a much-needed organizer after his long absence. Their road win against Hapoel is proof that this combination can work against quality opposition.

The defense and defensive rebounding have not been anywhere close to reliable enough. That is a particularly bad combination when you are not guaranteed elite shot creation at the other end. Gavel has enough weapons to steal games. Until Bayern start closing defensive possessions, I struggle to see a path to winning enough of them.

There has been a big problem with Maccabi over the last few years, and that problem remains this season: their defense is among the worst in the competition. Sadly, their offense has also taken a step back. The departure of Tamir Blatt left this team without a true playmaker who could move the ball and find the roster’s several good scorers in positions to succeed. The offense now looks more predictable and forced, sitting in the bottom half of the league in offensive rating.

If there is one good thing about Maccabi, it is the number of offensive weapons they possess, players capable of winning games on their own. But relying on that makes it tough to be consistent.

I had hoped Maccabi’s frontcourt additions would create a more stable team, but the early results have made the backcourt problem harder to ignore. Two wins in six games and another poor defensive opening are not the signs of a team ready to break into the Play-In.

Blatt’s departure removed more than a passer. It removed someone who could establish the rhythm of a possession and find the best scoring option before the defense was comfortable. Theis, Hoard and Colson can all help offensively, but someone must consistently put the ball in the right place for them. Too many trips are becoming a collection of individual decisions instead of an organized attack.

And then there is the defense, which still makes opponents far too comfortable. I keep Maccabi above the bottom four because the talent exists to be better. I have seen little evidence so far that the collective problems have been solved.

Tony Parker’s squad already has two wins this season, which allows them to jump one spot in my Power Rankings.

The offense has been at a decent level, around the middle of the pack, with Patty Mills showing out so far, averaging 15.6 points per game on good percentages. It is the defense that prevents ASVEL from ranking any higher. They are among the worst teams in the competition at stopping opponents. The French side has a clear roadmap for improvement. The question is: can they do it with this personnel?

ASVEL’s two wins deserve recognition, and Patty Mills has provided more consistent scoring than I expected this early. But this still feels like a team trying to build a shared identity while the rest of the league is already playing the season.

Parker has offensive options. Mills can punish a mistake, Waters can generate an advantage and Bolomboy should help the team finish possessions around the basket. The trouble is that the defense has offered almost no dependable foundation. Opponents are getting too many quality looks, and the guards are repeatedly being forced to recover from the first breakdown.

There is room for improvement as the group gains familiarity. That is the argument for not putting ASVEL any lower. But at some point the conversation must move from individual names to the number of stops this team can actually produce. Right now, seventeenth is fair.

The biggest early-season disappointment has been Olimpia Milano. With a more balanced roster than in the previous season, the Italians have won only one game so far.

The defense has the same problems as last year, ranking dead last in defensive rating, but to make matters worse the offense has been nowhere to be seen, sitting in the bottom half after being a top-three unit last year. Milano will need a big jump on both sides of the ball to turn the season around.

Milano falling from my preseason No. 10 to No. 19 is the clearest example of why rankings need to change when the basketball does. I liked the defensive logic of adding Thompson, Hall and more athletic frontcourt pieces. Six games later, that improvement has not appeared.

The offense has taken a step backward at the same time, making this much more serious than one bad defensive stretch. Peters remains a valuable shooter, and there is still enough quality in the guard rotation for Poeta to build good possessions. But those players are not creating a reliable collective attack, and the defense continues to give away advantages too easily.

This was supposed to be a more balanced Milano team. Through six games it has looked less balanced than last year’s version. Talent gives them an escape route, but the burden of proof has shifted entirely onto the court.

Paris Basketball have kept the style, but the success has been lacking. With only one win in the opening six games, they are among the teams at the bottom of the standings.

Both offense and defense have been below average, but the most problematic thing about this Paris team is the lack of offensive contribution from its frontcourt players. That does not look like it is about to change, and it is the reason why I am so low on Paris. Winning while playing one-dimensional basketball is not easy.

Paris remain one of the easiest teams in this league to admire for five minutes and one of the hardest to trust for 40. When Hifi heats up, they can turn a game on its head with pace and shooting. Too often, though, the excitement disappears as soon as the other team stops giving them the type of game they want.

The bigger problem is not simply the 1-5 record. It is that their frontcourt rarely forces opposing defenses to make difficult choices. Teams can crowd the ball, protect the rim and dare Paris to find scoring from somewhere other than its guards. Warren gives them a different option and Ntilikina can improve the perimeter defense, but neither changes the overall imbalance on his own.

I have Paris one place above Milano because I still trust their identity to produce more explosive nights. Over a full season, it is not an identity with much margin for error.

The Baskonia project has not been solid, and the dismissal of Paolo Galbiati perfectly encapsulates that. Even with a dysfunctional roster clearly lacking a reliable true five, the Italian coach had managed to steal a EuroLeague win and was undefeated in ACB play. Velimir Perasović is the new man in charge, but turning the season around should not be an easy task.

Baskonia are bottom five in both offensive and defensive rating, meaning there is work to be done on both sides of the ball. The departure of Markus Howard only makes an already difficult situation more complicated.

Baskonia are the one team I cannot make a convincing argument for moving upward. The early results were poor enough to cost Galbiati his job, and Perasović now takes over a roster that does not look complete. The lack of dependable interior structure has become a problem on both sides of the floor.

The departure of Markus Howard removes the one scorer who, at his best, could turn an ugly possession into an efficient one almost by himself. Duarte, Simmons and the other creators still have talent, but the offense has much less room for error without that bailout option. The defense has not provided the stops necessary to compensate.

Perasović can bring organization and accountability. He cannot immediately solve every roster problem. In a league this deep, being competitive in the Spanish league is not enough to hide the issues that have already appeared in Europe. Twentieth is where Baskonia belong today.