In honor of the 'season of giving', let's have a look at the players in the EuroLeague who create the most points through their passing.
Stats review: Salute to those players who create the most offense
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The season of giving is upon us and perhaps no individual performance this season has fit that theme quite like the Round 16 MVP effort from Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade point guard Milos Teodosic. By scoring 27 points and dishing out 14 assists in only 28:45 minutes of action, the 36-year-old point guard had a career night, creating 62 of his team’s 98 points to lead them to their first road win of the season.
Synergy’s points-created metric combines the points a player scores or assists with advanced game-tracking data to credit a player for the openings they create for teammates that are more than one pass away. The latter gives a more accurate measure of the contributions made by the EuroLeague’s top playmakers; even when they do not tally an assist, their passes after weathering traps or when they’ve collapsed the defense before the payoff comes more than one pass away have an obvious impact on the scoreboard.
Stripping out the scoring piece and adjusting the resulting passing-centric data for playing time leaves us with a pretty clear picture of the impact the EuroLeague's best passers truly make with their ability to set the table for others.
No team in the EuroLeague runs more pick-and-roll than Real Madrid and that contributes heavily to the hold they have on the spots atop this list. While Facundo Campazzo has taken on the lion’s share of the ball-handling duties this season, Sergio Rodriguez has been nearly as effective moving the ball in limited action. With two of the league’s top passers, multiple lob threats, and the season’s second-best spot-up three-point shooting unit, Real’s offense has tremendous synergy and that's a big reason why they rank second in overall efficiency this season.
Without the same level of shot-making and finishing around him, Milos Teodosic has still managed to be almost as impactful with his passing this season. Zvezda has performed on par with the EuroLeague's third-most efficient offense with Teodosic on the floor despite ranking 17th in field goal percentage. It is sometimes cliché to say that a player makes his teammates better, but the veteran floor general simplifies the game for the players around him in a way that’s hard to look past on paper.
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Facu Campazzo![image]()
Sergio Rodriguez![image]()
Milos Teodosic![image]()
Chris Chiozza![image]()
Nicolas Laprovittola![image]()
Tamir Blatt![image]()
Kostas Sloukas![image]()
Lorenzo Brown
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz reserve Chris Chiozza has played a protracted role this season playing more some nights than others, but his ability to make reads in pick-and-rolls remains his calling card. FC Barcelona standout Nicolas Laprovittola has been similarly impactful as a passer while simultaneously ranking among the EuroLeague's most efficient pick-and-roll scorers. He’s put pressure on opposing defenses in the two-man game as consistently as anyone this season.
Kostas Sloukas of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv teammates Tamir Blatt and Lorenzo Brown also warrant mention among this season’s most prolific table-setters. While some players make the simple play consistently or show good vision finding the open man on the move, the EuroLeague's best move the needle for their teammates every time they step on the court.