Synergy Sports's new points-created metric – going beyond just scoring and assists – makes it clearer still how Tornike Shengelia's impact is lifting Virtus Segafredo Bologna.
Stats Review: The heavy lifters
![Stats Review: The heavy lifters](https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/0fe5cad0-3da5-4308-9005-276093720217.jpg?crop=2676%3A1506%3Anowe%3A214%3A200)
The teams at the top of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings largely held serve in Round 6. That includes Virtus Segafredo Bologna, who beat Efes Istanbul to move to 5-1 to start the season after winning just 14 games in the last one. The Italian club has been a different animal this season, and while they made a few personnel changes over the summer, their early success is thanks in large part to the resurgence of power forward Tornike Shengelia, the MVP for October, as one of the EuroLeague's top players.
The 32-year-old is an accomplished veteran who made his EuroLeague debut during the 2011-12 regular season and has seen meaningful action every year for the last decade, scoring in double-figures in most of them. He earned All-EuroLeague First Team honors during the 2017-18 season, when he averaged 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. As much as Shengelia has been a household name for years now, he's raised his game to an entirely different level this season, serving as the focal point of what Virtus does offensively. The team ranks third in the EuroLeague in points per game on gaudy efficiency numbers while Shengelia averages a team-leading, career-best 4.3 assists per game.
![image](https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=320&resizeType=fill&format=webp 320w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=360&resizeType=fill&format=webp 360w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=640&resizeType=fill&format=webp 640w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=720&resizeType=fill&format=webp 720w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=960&resizeType=fill&format=webp 960w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=1280&resizeType=fill&format=webp 1280w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=1440&resizeType=fill&format=webp 1440w, https://media-cdn.incrowdsports.com/536b58e2-5bfd-4a81-81ba-d3848052ed0b.png?crop=960%3A768%3Anowe%3A0%3A0&width=1920&resizeType=fill&format=webp 1920w)
The table above lists the EuroLeague's top players in Synergy Sports's new points-created metric. It combines the things one would expect like points scored and assisted as well as more advanced player tracking data like secondary assists—shots derived from a player's passes out of pick-and-rolls, isolations, or post-ups that were not direct assists due to defensive rotations. It puts Shengelia's start to the season in perspective. Not only has he shot three-pointers at a high level and been exceptionally effective around the rim, but his increased playmaking role has placed him among the most productive overall weapons in the entire EuroLeague.
Shengelia is the elephant in the room at the top of this list, finding himself surrounded by some of the game's most prolific guards. Lorenzo Brown, Facundo Campazzo and Nicolas Laprovittola represent the top three players in assists per game while Mike James currently ranks second in points per game. Those players have the ball in their hands constantly and play a lot of pick-and-roll as primary ball-handlers of their respective teams. Shengelia joins them on this list despite seldom bringing the ball up the floor and doing as much passing from the post in traffic as any EuroLeague player in recent history.
Volume playmaking big men who can keep up with the league's most dynamic ball screen weapons are a rarity in the EuroLeague. Shengelia has changed the calculus entirely for Virtus as a big reason they currently rank second in offensive efficiency in the league. He makes things happen nearly every time has an opportunity within the flow of their offense and has an ability to make something out of nothing, often navigating traffic creatively to drop off nifty passes around defenders for easy layups on the block. As well as he has scored the ball himself, the corner he has turned with his passing in his 11th EuroLeague season has been perhaps even more impressive.
What Shengelia's rise means to Virtus moving forward will be fascinating to watch. Massive season-to-season turnarounds are not entirely unprecedented in the modern EuroLeague, but they are rare, and even more so for teams that do not overhaul their roster meaningfully.