The EuroLeague's October MVP, Tornike Shengelia of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, sat down with EuroLeague.net to talk about his and his team's accomplishment last month.
Tornike Shengelia, Virtus, October MVP: 'Keep the engine going'
Toko Shengelia led Virtus Segafredo Bologna to a 4-1 start in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, averaging 18.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and a PIR of 23.6. That allowed him to be chosen as the EuroLeague MVP for October. We traveled to Bologna, Italy to interview Shengelia at Palestra Porelli, Virtus's practice facility, and talked not just about his achievements on the court, but also off the court.
Shengelia gave a lot of credit to his teammates for putting him in the situation to play well. "It looks like it is a personal award, but if my team didn't succeed as well as we did, we wouldn't be sitting here. And all the credit should go to my team and my coaches, putting all this trust in me and the confidence in me," Shengelia said. "But without them, I couldn't have done it."
Virtus did not have an easy start of the season. It had a coaching change on September 15, bringing Luca Banchi in. It lost its first EuroLeague game at home against Zalgiris Kaunas, which rallied from a double-digit deficit. Things got even worse when Achille Polonara had to undergo surgery due to a testicular tumor. Shengelia told us how the team regrouped in that tough moment.
"It was common sense to go out there and win the games for him. You know, he's going through some stuff, but like I said, we are a team and we are going through it together. And some guys, we had to step up even more physically and mentally for the games," he said, before talking about Coach Banchi. "He brought a great positivity. He makes us believe again in ourselves. And overall, I want to say that even for me, that personally I wouldn't be sitting here having this interview without him."
In 2022, Shengelia obtained ISDE's Global Master in Sports Management course. He was the first EuroLeague players to graduate from the program. Shengelia told us how hard it was to work on it while playing professional basketball. "It was a great experience. It was something different from outside of the sports," Shengelia said. "I had many, many times that I wanted to drop out because it was very difficult. But at the end of the day, I'm very happy that I kept going."
Shengelia has expressed interest in owning and managing a EuroLeague or EuroCup team in his native Georgia.
"Yes, that's my dream," he said, before explaining what he has in mind. "Unfortunately, in the past, if you had the talent and then if you don't get out from our country and go somewhere else at the age of 15, 16, 17, then your talent would die, basically. And there was no bright future for you. That's what I want to change, and I want to give the guys opportunity to pursue their careers and have a team there in Georgia which will compete at a higher levels of basketball in Europe."
About his great moment on the court, Shengelia believes that being focused and mentally ready made the difference and led him to play so well.
"I'm happy because I'm getting a lot of confidence from [the] coaching side, from my teammates," Shengelia said. "When I'm at my best mentally, that's when I play the best, with freedom and with confidence."