Stats review: Breaking down the EuroLeague's most efficient scorers

Sportradar's Matt Kamalsky looks at the numbers and the players making an impressive impact

The first third of the EuroLeague season is in the books. The standings are incredibly tight with nine teams having eight or nine wins thus far, while first-year head coach Tomas Masiulis has guided Zalgiris Kaunas to the league’s top point differential, first-time participant Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv is sitting atop of the standings, and Jordan Nwora is leading all players in PIR after finishing 118th last season.

There are no shortage of rapidly developing storylines across the league, and that has ushered in some major changes to the individual efficiency leaderboards.

The table above lists this season’s most efficient scorers in points per possession among the 39 players using over 12 possessions per game. While Sasha Vezenkov has been a mainstay on these lists since he ascended as a star for Olympiacos during the 2020-21 season, he is the last long-term staple still standing as this season has marked a changing of the guard among the league’s more productive and efficient scorers.

Filip Petrusev may be establishing himself as a staple in his own right this season for Dubai Basketball. After finishing fourth in the EuroLeague by averaging 1.15 points per possession a year ago, he has set a tremendous pace this one scoring at a strong rate in the post, providing a reliable target rolling to the rim, and looking more opportunistic attacking from the perimeter as well. He has formed an imposing duo with Mfiondu Kabengele, whose impact on the glass and physicality inside have made him brutally effective at the rim in his first season competing in the EuroLeague. While some of their productivity can be traced to the absence of Dzanan Musa, Dubai has been able to rely on its frontcourt for efficient production to keep it afloat through a challenging stretch of its first EuroLeague campaign.

They are joined in the top six by two of the most improved players in recent EuroLeague history in Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot of Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Jordan Nwora of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade. Luwawu Cabarrot averaged in double figures last season but has so far managed to nearly double his scoring average and elevate his efficiency this one, finding a consistency from beyond the arc that had eluded until now. He has been tremendously reliable with his feet set thus far, not just as a floor spacer, but running off screens as well. Nwora’s quick bounce back from injury was key in Zvezda’s Round 13 win over Olympiacos and representative of his year on the whole—he’s scored in bunches getting downhill to the rim and been extremely difficult to stop when he finds his range from the perimeter on top of that. He’s relished the opportunity to play a feature role this season after functioning as a role player last one.

Veteran Shavon Shields may not be quite the staple Sasha Vezenkov has been on these lists, but he’s no stranger either as his continued growth as a shooter in his late 20s has taken his game to another level. His consistency on and off the ball has been a steadying factor for an EA7 Emporio Armani Milan team that seems to have hit its stride recently, winning five of its last six games and climbing into the top five in overall offensive efficiency.

Elijah Bryant’s ability to exploit the spacing of Hapoel’s ball screen-heavy offensive and dead-eye shooting at the line, Sterling Brown’s assertiveness with the ball in his hands for Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, and Chima Moneke’s knack for creating opportunities for himself in transition and as a cutter have helped them nab spots on in the top 10.

Nando De Colo is perhaps the most interesting name on this list, on pace for one of the best offensive seasons of his illustrious career. The 38-year-old has had plenty of efficient stretches, averaging 1.11 points per possession during his Most Valuable Player campaign during the 2015-16 season, but he’s nearly matched that consistency this year, remaining a dangerous scorer on and off the ball while shooting an absurd 46 for 46 from the line.

With very little decided this season, it will be interesting to see how this list evolves as the season barrels towards its mid-point.