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48MoH reader and Italian league season ticket holder Nicola Mezzadri submits this report on former Spurs draft pick Viktor Sanikidze, a player I once described as the Keyser Soze of international hoops.

Viktor Sanikidze is the prototypical eastern European combo forward-lanky, fairly athletic and high-energy. He was also a teenager a lot of European and NBA scouts were high on, and with good reason, given his steady fundamentals, speed running the floor and hustle. But this was in his previous life, the one he used to live before multiple knee injuries sabotaged his career and forced him to lose the entire 2007-08 season.

In 2008-2009, he showed that he was still able to contribute at the European level by playing with the Estonian team Tartu Rock, both in the Baltic League and the Eurochallenge (the third level Euro cup). Despite the not-so-stellar stats he put up (he averaged 9.4 PPG with 6.5 RPG in 21 MPG in the Baltic League and 5.7 PPG with 3.9 RPG in less than 15 MPG in the Eurochallenge), his strong play at the end of the season was a clear sign that he still had promise as a player and could be effective against good competition.

This August, together with Hawks’ center Zaza Pachulia, he led his National Georgian team to the victory in the European Division B qualifying round and his solid play (16.6 PPG, 13 RPG) generated enough interest to land a contract with the Italian club Virtus Bologna (which in their heyday was home to a certain Emanuel Ginobili and is now trying to recover from a difficult summer, in which the attempted sale of the club to new investors slowly faded away).

Now, at 23, Viktor is a young man fully healthy with a reborn career.

Listed at 6-8, 195 lbs, Sanikidze is asked to be a full time power forward in Europe and he is currently playing as the first big off the bench for Virtus Bologna. Apart from Sanikidze, the other 3 bigs sharing the minutes at the 4 and 5 spots are University of Texas – San Antonio alumni LeRoy Hurd, an offensively gifted face up 4 with SL experience with the Spurs, Spanish veteran Diego Fajardo, a 33 years old seen-it-all-before PF/C who has lost a step, but is still capable of putting up nice numbers, and former minor league dominator Michele Maggioli, a 32 years old all around center.

The start of the season was definitely rough for Sanikidze, who battled early foul trouble in his first games in Italy, racking up whistles while being over aggressive going for offensive boards, most of time in 1 against 3 battles. However, things started to turn around and Viktor collected a nice box score line during games three and four, averaging an efficient 8 PPG on 4.5 AFG and 3 RPG in 18.5 MPG in two wins. This stretch was highlighted by a transition block (1:15 mark) on an attempted game tying three pointer buzzer beater in Teramo, which secured a come from behind win for Virtus.

Unfortunately, these games were followed by a rough outing against Olympia Milano, in which Viktor showed his good defense and rebounding ability (commanded 5 rebounds in 12 minutes), but just didn’t have an impact on the offense (albeit showing he can jump by nailing a great put back dunk on the wrong side of the first quarter buzzer).

However, Viktor showed his potential and his growth against Varese. With Fajardo injured and Hurd in foul trouble, Sanikidze stole the show, playing 36 huge minutes and going off for 12 points (6/8 from 2, 0/1 from 3 and 0/2 from 1), 15 rebounds (3 offensive), 1 assist and 1 block, even if the stats in this case only tell part of the story, as he played great defense and just dominated the game by out hustling everyone else on the floor. A couple of great dunks were just the cherry on the top. Obviously, he was named MVP of the game.

The offensive game of Sanikidze mostly originates from strong cuts to the basket and put backs, but he clearly has difficulties finishing in traffic due to a lack of upper body strength. Such lack of strength is definitely the most disappointing flaw in Viktor’s game since it severely hampers his offensive efficiency, especially considering that when his number is called in the mid-post he shows good footwork, even if sometimes a little bit mechanical.

Obviously, his athleticism helps him greatly when he finds room in the paint, since he can play above the rim, dunking with ease. When slashing, Sanikidze benefits from a quick first step that allows him to blow by most PF, but so far has shown only average ballhandling abilities, struggling to change direction after the first move. His jump shot is a pleasant surprise, since he has the range to knock down threes (at least Euro 3s - 20 ft 6 in) with good consistency, with a high but slow release. His form looks good, but his unwillingness to shoot many Js (or Virtus’ gameplan) gives us a small body of work to evaluate. He is an excellent offensive rebounder who always battles hard for position and is difficult to box out.

On defense, Viktor shows excellent court awareness, both playing zone and man-to-man D. His long arms and decent lateral speed allow him to switch and stay with smaller players for two or three steps. His rotations from the weak side are good, even if he should use his length, athleticism and good timing to block more shots. His activity on D sometimes leads him into foul trouble, but in this month of playing he has shown a clear improvement in this area.

This far, Sanikidze showed that he is not only gifted with good length, athleticism, passion and above average basketball instincts, but also that he is capable to improve and adapt his game to a new league and a new system.

However, as of now, his game still seems a little bit too raw, probably because of the time he lost due to injuries, and it seems like he has to spend time in the weight room in order to add the strength he needs to battle in the post with heavier 4s and NBA sized 3s.

As of now, his production in the Italian league is comparable to the production of another Spurs draftee in the same league one year ago: James Gist.

Albeit Gist’s arrival to Biella was definitely surrounded by more hype and he was given a bigger role in the team rotation from day one (30 MPG starting in the first 4 games with Biella), while Sanikidze had to work hard in order to earn minutes (15 MPG off the bench in the first 4 games with Bologna), lately their statistical impact has been similar: Gist appears to be a better scorer and overall shooter, with a little advantage in size (1 inch) and a bigger frame (45 pounds), while Sanikidze appears to be a better rebounder (especially on the offensive end, where he shines, taking 4 offensive rebounds in less than 20 MPG) and defender.

Given his production and growth, if Viktor keeps up improving it is not a wild dream to imagine him gaining an invitation to Vegas next summer.