Tornike Shengelia comments on Virtus's downturn, praises Belinelli / News - Basketnews.com

Tornike Shengelia, the star of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, talked about the team's recent downturn and praised teammate Marco Belinelli.

Credit: Euroleague Basketball via GettyImages Credit Euroleague Basketball via GettyImages

Virtus Segafredo Bologna's power forward Tornike Shengelia has been having a season to remember with the Italian team, both personally and as a club.

3-pointers this season

37%9,6Points made:9,6Accuracy:37,4%Place in standings:9Record max:16Record min:4Most made 3FGs:Marco BelinelliTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Not only does Virtus share the third spot with Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens and AS Monaco, but they mainly run their offense through Shengalia. Although they recently are facing a downturn, having lost 5 of their last 7 games, the team still remains high up on the standings.

"A few games recently have gone the wrong way, but I don't see negative signs because we fight in every game until the last few plays, as some of our comebacks prove," Shengelia said to La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Our best quality is that we're an unselfish team. We play together, we win together, we lose together," he explained.

"There's a great spirit in the locker room. I really like it, that's how we have become a potential Final Four contender. From the beginning of the season, we've been consistently among the best 3-4 teams, so I don't see why we shouldn't be among the teams that will play in Berlin," stated the Georgian power forward. "It'll be crucial to maintain the home advantage for the playoffs."

Having signed with Virtus in 2021, Shengelia states that he is happy here and sees his foreseeable future with the club.

"I feel great here with Virtus. I have another year in my contract [under option]. I always like to look forward, and there's still a lot of work to do with Virtus," he explained.

Finally, the power forward had some high praise for Marco Belinelli, the veteran sharpshooter who is one of Virtus's main offensive weapons, even at the advanced age of 37.

"Marco is a terrible player... for our opponents," started Shengelia with a comedic misdirection. "For us, he's the perfect teammate, the one you always want on your side. I traveled a lot, [and] I played with a lot of great players, but I've never seen a shooter like Marco in EuroLeague," stated Shengelia.

Shengelia would be right, too, since Belinelli is shooting 41.5% from behind the three-point arc on 111 shots, which is a strong percentage for such a high volume of shots.

"Only Mike James is close to him when it comes to the difficulty of the shots he makes. Sometimes, it looks like Marco is not human. He's really unbelievable," he concluded with high praise.

For his part, Shengelia is the most productive player on his team, averaging 14.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists for 18.1 PIR.

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