Spanish leaders a no-show in ACB; French, Lithuanians very meaningful at home
Spanish players are nearly non-existant in leadership roles in the ACB while the French and Lithuanian teams rely very heavily on local players. Here a study of eight European leagues.
In May 2022, TTC looked at the top domestic leagues in Europe to see how many local players were actually leaders in those competitions. It was time to time to update that piece. And the findings are downright frightening for the Spanish ACB while they are very promising for the French and Lithuanian leagues.
This piece uses stats from RealGM to see how eight leagues stacked up on November 11, 2024 - still very early in the 2024-25 season.
Spain
The Spanish daily Marca used the word “crisis” in an article in November 2021 talking about the lack of Spanish players contributing to ACB teams. Things have not gotten any better - in fact they are even worse now.
Scouring through the Top 50 in minutes and scoring in the league looking for Spanish players, each of them only included one player - yep, one player! Zaragoza’s Santiago Yusta is the only Spaniard in the Top 50 in minutes at No. 21 while Fran Guerra of Lenovo Tenerife is the sole Spanish native in scoring at No. 17.
For those in power in Spanish basketball, this has to be alarming, especially since more of the country’s top young players are flocking to the Name Image and Likeness money in NCAA basketball.
Minutes
No. 21 - Santiago Yusta - Zaragoza (25.6 mins)
Scoring
No. 17 - Fran Guera - Tenerife (13.5 ppg)
Lithuania
Things are quite the opposite in Lithuania where nearly half of the players in the Top 54 in minutes - 23 in total and 4 of the top 7 - are Lithuanians. Jovana Jovanos, Juventus, Lietkabelis, Mazeikiai, Neptunas, Rytas and Siauliai all have at least two players in the list.
From the scoring standpoint, 20 Lithuanians made their way into the Top 50. Again, multiple clubs - Jovana Jovanos, Juventus, Lietkabelis, Mazeikiai, Rytas, Siauliai and Zalgiris - have more than one player in the list.
Minutes
3. Donatas Sabeckis - Mazeikiai (31.6)
5. Giedrius Staniulis - Mazeikiai (30.8)
6. Lukas Uleckas - Siauliai (30.6)
7. Saulius Kulvietis - Siauliai (30.2)
12. Arnas Berucka - Neptunas (28.7)
16. Erikas Venskus - Jovana Jovanos (28.1)
17. Martynas Pacevicius - Neptunas (27.4)
23. Gediminas Orelik - Juventus (25.9)
24. Laurynas Beliauskas - Juventus (25.7)
25. Gytis Radzevicius - Rytas Vilnius (25.7)
30. Vytenis Lipkevicius - Lietkabelis (25.1)
32. Marius Valinskas - Siauliai (24.5)
34. Dovis Bickauskis - Lietkabelis (23.8)
38. Margiris Normantas - Rytas Vilnius (22.9)
39. Azuolas Tubelis - Rytas Vilnius (22.8)
40. Tauras Jogela - Siauliai (22.3)
42. Mindaugas Kupsas - Siauliai (22.0)
43. Martynas Varnas - Lietkabelis (21.8)
44. Deividad Gailius - Neptunas (21.7)
46. Vitalijus Kozys - Kedainiai Nevezis (21.3)
48. Matas Jogela - Wolves (21.0)
49. Mindaugas Girdziunas - Neptunas (20.9)
50. Edgaras Ulanovas - Zalgiris (20.8)
Scoring
14. Mindaugas Kupsas - Siauliai (13.4 ppg)
18. Lukas Uleckas - Siauliai (12.5)
20. Gytis Radzevicius - Rytas Vilnius (12.4)
21. Tauras Jogela - Siauliai (12.3)
24. Margiris Normantas - Rytas Vilnius (12.0)
25. Martynas Pacevicius - Neptunas (11.8)
26. Erikas Venskus - Jovana Jovanos (11.6)
29. Gediminas Orelik - Juventus (11.4)
30. Saulius Kulvietis - Siauliai (11.4)
32. Marius Valinskas - Siauliai (10.8)
33. Azuolas Tubelis - Rytas Vilnius (10.8)
34. Martynas Varnas - Lietkabelis (10.8)
35. Laurynas Beliauskas - Juventus (10.7)
37. Dovis Bickauskis - Lietkabelis (10.5)
40. Deividas Sirvydis - Zalgiris (10.1)
42. Mantas Rubstavicius - Lietkabelis (9.8)
43. Martynas Arlauskas -Jovana Jovanos (9.6)
44. Giedrius Staniulis - Mazeikiai (9.6)
45. Donatas Sabeckis - Mazeikiai (9.6)
49. Ignas Brazdeikis - Zalgiris (9.0)
France
France basketball leaders can also be happy about the health of local players in their home league as 19 French are in the Top 50 in minutes including two of the top four. Limoges and Nantes both have three players while ASVEL, Le Mans and Le Portel all have two players included in the list.
Fourteen French players made the list for top scorers including No. 1 Nadir Hifi of Paris and No. 2 Nicolas Lang of Limoges - Lang also leading the league in minutes. ASVEL have three players in the top 50 and Saint Quentin and Monaco both have two.
Minutes
1. Nicolas Lang - Limoges - (32.9 mins)
4. Matthew Strazel - Monaco (31.9)
17. Ivan Fevrier - Le Portel (27.5)
19. Noah Penda - Le Mans (27.4)
25. Axel Julien - Dijon (26.3)
28. Lionel Gaudoux - Chalon (26.1)
29. Digue Diawara - Le Portel (26.1)
34. Kenny Bapiste - Limoges (25.4)
35. Theo Maledon - ASVEL (25.4)
37. Hugo Invernizzi - Strasbourg (25.3)
38. Clement Frisch - Nancy (25.1)
42. Benjamin Sene - Nantes (24.9)
43. Abdoulaye N’Doye - Le Mans (24.9)
44. Nadir Hifi - Paris (24.8)
45. Edwin Jackson - ASVEL (24.7)
46. Alexandre Chassang - Limoges (24.5)
48. Paul Lacombe - Nantes (24.5)
49. Lucas Dussoulier - Nantes (24.3)
50. William Pfister - Saint Quentin
Scoring
1. Nadir Hifi - Paris (20.6 ppg)
2. Nicolas Lang - Limoges (18.9)
9. Theo Maledon - ASVEL (14.9)
13. Enzo Goudou-Sinha - Saint Quentin (13.6)
15. Brice Dessert - Strasbourg (13.4)
19. Elie Okob - Monaco (12.9)
21. Ivan Fevrier - Le Portel (12.6)
29. Matthew Strazel - Monaco (12.1)
32. Nando De Colo - ASVEL (11.9)
38. Lionel Gaudoux - Chalon (11.3)
39. Edwin Jackson - ASVEL (11.2)
40. Bastien Vautier - Cholet (11.1)
42. Benjamin Sene - Nantes (11.0)
44. Nolan Traore - Saint Quentin (10.9)
Germany
The situation in Germany is not as bad as Spain but not nearly as strong as in France or Lithuania. None of the top 29 players in minutes in the easyCredit BBL are Germans but seven of the next 21 are - with Vechta the only team with two players (Joel Aminu and Johann Grünloh).
Germans are not major scorers in the league as Robin Amaize is the top local player at 42, followed by the next two on the list for a total of three players in the Top 50.
Minutes
30. Kenneth Ogbe - Hamburg (26.8 mins)
34. Sam Griesel - Bonn (26.3)
35. Joel Aminu - Vechta (26.2)
39. Till Pape - Bonn (26.0)
40. Johann Grünloh - Vechta (25.9)
41. Nick Weiler-Babb - Bayern (25.8)
50. Robin Amaize - Rostock (24.5)
Scoring
42. Robin Amaize - Rostock (11.3 ppg)
43. Till Pape - Bonn (11.2)
44. Martin Breunig - Weißenfels (11.2)
Greece
Greece basketball fans do not have as many leading local players to follow either with eight Greeks in the Top 50 in minutes - three of them coming from Aris.
There are seven Greeks among the leading 50 scorers - topped by No. 13 Vasilis Mouratos, who ranks seventh in minutes.
Minutes
7. Vasilis Mouratos - Lavrio (29.1 mins)
15. Michail Lountzis - Promitheas (27.1)
17. Vasilis Toliopoulos - Aris (26.9)
24. Lefteris Bochoridis - Aris (26.2)
37. Leonidas Kaselakis - Karditsas (24.7)
39. Stelios Poulianitis - Peristeri (24.3)
43. Dimitrios Katsivelis - PAOK (23.7)
49. Lefteris Mantzoukas - Aris (22.7)
Scoring
13. Vasilis Mouratos - Lavrio (14.0 ppg)
25. Vasilis Toliopoulos - Aris (11.7)
31. Michail Lountzis - Promitheas (10.5)
38. Evangelos Zougris - Peristeri (9.8)
45. Kostas Mitoglou - Panathinaikos (9.2)
46. Alexandros Nikolaidis - Maroussi (9.0)
49. Dimitrios Katsivelis - PAOK (8.7)
Israel
Moving to Israel, the situation is more solid than Germany or Greece as 12 Israelis rank in the Top 50 minutes, including No. 2 Lior Carreira of Galilee Safed, who along with Ironi Nes Ziona have two players in the list.
Israel’s Winner League has nine Israelis in the Top 50 in scoring with Hapoel Tel Aviv the only club with two players: 30. Roman Sorkin and 39. Tomer Ginat.
Minutes
2. Lior Carreira - Galilee Safed (33.6 mins)
11. Roy Paretsky - Netanya (30.8)
14. Gur Lavy - Galil Galboa (30.0)
18. Raz Adam - Elitzur Kiryat Ata (29.5)
20. Amit Gershon - Hapoel Haifa (29.0)
32. Niv Misgav - Unet Holon (26.8)
34. Yovel Zoosman - Hapoel Jerusalem (26.5)
35. Adam Ariel - Ironi Ramat Gan (26.0)
39. Yair Kravits - Ironi Nes Ziona (25.6)
44. Zuf Ben Moshe - Ironi Nes Ziona (25.4)
47. Tomer Asayag - Galilee Safed (25.0)
48. Bar Timor - Hapoel Tel Aviv (25.0)
Scoring
15. Gur Lavy - Galil Galboa (15.0 ppg)
29. Roy Paretsky - Netanya (12.2)
30. Roman Sorkin - Maccabi Tel Aviv (11.8)
35. Raz Adam - Elitzur Kiryat Ata (11.3)
37. Adam Ariel - Ironi Ramat Gan (11.2)
38. Ethan Burg - Bnei Herzelia (11.0)
39. Tomer Ginat - Hapoel Tel Aviv (10.8)
41. Yair Kravits - Ironi Nes Ziona (10.6)
44. Ron Zipper - Hapoel Beer Sheva (10.5)
Italy
Moving to Italy, the Legabasket Serie A is similarly represented by locals compared to Greece and Germany. There are seven players in the Top 50 in minutes - though Nico Mannion is listed for his time with Varese while he has since moved onto Milan.
Mannion is listed as the top scorer in the league - one of six Italians in the Top 50 with Brescia’s Amedeo Della Valle at No. 5.
Minutes
8. Nico Mannion - Varese (31.0 mins) - (Now with Milan)
10. Andrea Cinciarini - Scafati (30.3)
15. Amedeo Della Valle - Brescia (29.4)
30. John Petrucelli - Trapani (27.0)
33. Bruno Mascolo - De’Longhi Treviso (26.7)
48. Jeff Brooks - Trieste (24.8)
49. Michele Vitali - Reggio Emilia (24.7)
Scoring
1. Nico Mannion - Varese (26.3 ppg) - (Now with Milan)
5. Amedeo Della Valle - Brescia (17.3)
22. John Petrucelli - Trapani (14.0)
27. Leonardo Tote - Napoli (13.1)
32. Marco Belinelli - Virtus Bologna (13.0)
37. Davide Alviti - Varese (12.6)
Türkiye
The final league in the comparison is the BSL in Türkiye, which had eight local players in the Top 50 in minutes - no club having two players in the list and none in the top 21.
In terms of scoring, four Turkish players make the list, topped by Sehmus Hazer from Bahcesehir at No. 13.
Minutes
22. Kadir Bayram - Yalova (28.7 mins)
24. Yunus Sonsirma - Manisa (28.6)
28. Gani Erdi Gulaslan - Buyukcekmece (28.0)
32. Sehmus Hazer - Bahcesehir (27.4)
37. Ayberk Olmaz - Merkezefendi (26.9)
38. Kenan Sipahi - Pinar Karsiyaka (26.9)
44. Yigitcan Saybir - Tofas (26.5)
45. David Mutaf - Bursaspor (26.4)
Scoring
13. Sehmus Hazer - Bahcesehir (16.0 ppg)
28. Tarik Biberovic - Fenerbahce (13.5)
30. Yigitcan Saybir - Tofas (13.2)
31. David Mutaf - Bursaspor (13.0)
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