Georgian_national_basketball_team
Georgia men's national basketball team
Men's national basketball team representing the country of Georgia
The Georgia men's national basketball team (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული საკალათბურთო ნაკრები) represents the country of Georgia in international basketball matches, and is controlled by the Georgian Basketball Federation. Georgia became a member of FIBA in 1992, after they gained independence from the Soviet Union. The national team played their first official match against Poland in 1995.
| FIBA ranking | 23  (1 March 2024)[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Joined FIBA | 1992 | ||
| FIBA zone | FIBA Europe | ||
| National federation | GBF | ||
| Coach | Aleksandar Džikić | ||
| Nickname(s) | ჯვაროსნები jvarosnebi (Crusaders) | ||
| FIBA World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 1 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| EuroBasket | |||
| Appearances | 5 | ||
| Medals | None | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Poland 91–68 Georgia  (Birmingham, England; 24 May 1995) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Georgia 103–43 Azerbaijan  (Tbilisi, Georgia; 2 September 2001) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
 Italy 90–43 Georgia (Siena, Italy; 28 February 1998) | |||
Georgia's accomplishments on the international level have been clinching qualification to the European Basketball Championship five times. Their best result came at their debut trip to the tournament in 2011. In 2023, Georgia achieved their first qualification on to the global stage at the FIBA World Cup.
Soviet era
Until 1991, Georgia was a part of the Soviet Union, with players born in Georgia playing for the Soviet Union national team. Notable players born in Georgia who played for the Soviet Union and won medals at the Olympic Games, FIBA World Cup and EuroBasket include: Nodar Dzhordzhikiya, Otar Korkia, Guram Minashvili, Vladimer Ugrekhelidze, Levan Moseshvili, Zurab Sakandelidze, Mikheil Korkia and Nikolay Deryugin.
Independent Georgia
After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, on several occasions the Georgian national team unsuccessfully tried to qualify for the EuroBasket, Europe's biggest basketball competition and major tournament. Although the national team did play on the EuroBasket Division B level three times and gained promotion in 2009 after defeating Belarus in play-offs.[2] However, after the expansion of the EuroBasket in 2011 from 16 to 24 teams, Georgia qualified to the competition for the first time.
EuroBasket 2011
The national team played five matches in Group D. They finished their preliminary group with an 2–3 record, with wins against Belgium and Ukraine, to advance. In their second round group phase, Georgia lost all five of their matches to finish their maiden voyage to the EuroBasket in 11th place.[3]
EuroBasket 2013
After finishing second in qualifying group, Georgia qualified for its second EuroBasket tournament. After a comfortable 84–67 victory in the opening match over Poland, Georgia lost their four remaining matches and finished the tournament with an 1–4 record.[4] To that point, the Eurobasket 2013 was the only tournament in which Georgia could not win more than one match.
EuroBasket 2015
Georgia qualified to the EuroBasket for the third successive time in 2015. After three consecutive losses to start the tournament, the national team finally earned their first win in group play against Macedonia 90–75. They followed it up with another victory to end the opening phase of the event against Croatia, 71–58[5] to move on to the knockout stages for the first time. There they suffered a narrow hard fought defeat to the tournament favourites, and eventual silver medalist Lithuania 81–85.[6]
EuroBasket 2017
During the EuroBasket 2017 qualification Georgia topped its group after an 90–84 victory over Montenegro, and qualified to EuroBasket for the fourth successive time.[7] Once the competition began, the national team got off to a quick start, avenging their EuroBasket 2015 knockout stage defeat to Lithuania 79–77.[8] The rest of the group stage didn't go as well for the Georgian side though. As the team could only manage to pullout one more victory against Israel, before falling to Italy to finish the tournament with an 2–3 record and being eliminated.[9]
EuroBasket 2022
Georgia was the co-host the EuroBasket 2022, and they automatically qualified for the 2022 finals tournament. This was the fifth successive time that Georgia qualified for the event overall. Tbilisi was one of the host cities, and was used for Group A matches at the brand new Tbilisi Basketball Arena.[10][11]
The Foundation
The core of the national team that has consistently qualified to Europe's biggest basketball competition consisted of captain Zaza Pachulia, Viktor Sanikidze, Manuchar Markoishvili, Tornike Shengelia, Giorgi Tsintsadze and Giorgi Shermadini. These pioneers in the Georgian basketball community have set the standard for future generations of the national team to build upon, and maintain.
FIBA World Cup
Olympic Games
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EuroBasket
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Win Loss
2023
| 26 August 2023 | Cape Verde  |
60–85 |  Georgia |
Okinawa City, Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 (UTC+9) | Scoring by quarter: 11–20, 11–28, 15–22, 23–15 | ||||
| Pts: Mendes 11 Rebs: W. Tavares 12 Asts: Da Rosa 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Shengelia 16 Rebs: Bitadze 11 Asts: Andronikashvili 6 |
Arena: Okinawa Arena Attendance: 5,669 Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Martin Horozov (BUL), Wael Mostafa (EGY) |
||
| 28 August 2023 | Georgia |
67–88 |  Slovenia |
Okinawa City, Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:30 (UTC+9) | Scoring by quarter: 17–16, 16–29, 17–18, 17–25 | ||||
| Pts: Mamukelashvili 21 Rebs: Mamukelashvili 7 Asts: Tsintsadze 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Dončić 34 Rebs: Dončić 10 Asts: Dončić 6 |
Arena: Okinawa Arena Attendance: 6,042 Referees: Jorge Vázquez (PUR), Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Blanca Burns (USA) |
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| 30 August 2023 | Georgia |
70–59 |  Venezuela |
Okinawa City, Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:00 (UTC+9) | Scoring by quarter: 24–19, 18–4, 17–21, 11–15 | ||||
| Pts: Shengelia 25 Rebs: Bitadze 11 Asts: Sanadze, Shengelia 3 |
Boxscore | Pts: Colmenares 16 Rebs: Colmenares 12 Asts: Guillent 7 |
Arena: Okinawa Arena Attendance: 5,807 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Amy Bonner (USA), Wojciech Liszka (POL) |
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| 1 September 2023 | Germany  |
100–73 | Georgia |
Okinawa City, Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:30 (UTC+9) | Scoring by quarter: 22–16, 21–25, 27–16, 30–16 | ||||
| Pts: Lô 18 Rebs: M. Wagner 6 Asts: Schröder 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Mamukelashvili 19 Rebs: Bitadze 6 Asts: McFadden 7 |
Arena: Okinawa Arena Attendance: 5,852 Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Martin Horozov (BUL) |
||
| 3 September 2023 | Australia  |
100–84 | Georgia |
Okinawa City, Japan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16:30 (UTC+9) | Scoring by quarter: 23–17, 31–20, 25–30, 21–17 | ||||
| Pts: Mills 19 Rebs: Kay 9 Asts: Ingles 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Bitadze 20 Rebs: Mamukelashvili 9 Asts: McFadden 9 |
Arena: Okinawa Arena Attendance: 6,126 Referees: Matthew Kallio (CAN), Blanca Burns (USA), Wojciech Liszka (POL) |
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2024
| 23 February 2024 | Denmark  |
75–69 | Georgia |
Næstved, Denmark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18:30 (UTC+1) | Scoring by quarter: 12–23, 16–14, 22–16, 25–16 | ||||
| Pts: Lundberg 19 Rebs: Knudsen 6 Asts: Lundberg 7 |
Boxscore | Pts: Shengelia 27 Rebs: Shermadini 8 Asts: Thomasson, Tsintsadze 4 |
Arena: Næstved Arena Attendance: 2,153 Referees: Zafer Yılmaz (TUR), Yener Yılmaz (TUR), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU) |
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| 26 February 2024 | Georgia |
63–76 |  Serbia |
Tbilisi, Georgia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 (UTC+4) | Scoring by quarter: 12–21, 19–17, 21–22, 11–16 | ||||
| Pts: Shengelia 19 Rebs: Shermadini 9 Asts: Tsintsadze 6 |
Boxscore | Pts: Gudurić 16 Rebs: Petrušev 8 Asts: Avramović 7 |
Arena: Tbilisi Arena Attendance: 9,400 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Martin Horozov (BUL), Michał Proc (POL) |
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| 4 July 2024 | Philippines  |
vs. | Georgia |
Riga, Latvia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15:30 (UTC+3) | |||||
| Boxscore | Arena: Arena Riga |
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2025
Current roster
Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Pre-Qualifiers matches on 23 and 26 February 2024 against Denmark and Serbia.[12]
| Georgia men's national basketball team roster | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Depth chart
| Pos. | Starting 5 | Bench 1 | Bench 2 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Giorgi Shermadini | Goga Bitadze | Giorgi Turdziladze | ||
| PF | Tornike Shengelia | Sandro Mamukelashvili | |||
| SF | Duda Sanadze | Mikheil Berishvili | |||
| SG | Joe Thomasson | Kakhaber Jintcharadze | Giorgi Tsintsadze | ||
| PG | Rati Andronikashvili | Giorgi Ochkhikidze | Luka Liklikadze |
Besik Liparteliani – (1994–1997)[13]- Levan Moseshvili – (1997–1999)
- Zurab Tomaradze – (1999–2001)
Dražen Brajković – (2001–2005)
Gordon Herbert – (2005–2007)- Ken Shields – (2007–2008)
Igor Kokoškov – (2008–2015)
Ilias Zouros – (2016–2023)- Aleksandar Džikić – (2024–present)
2011 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams
4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 5 Vladimir Boisa, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Lasha Parghalava, 11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 MarQuez Haynes, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 14 Tornike Shengelia, 15 Nikoloz Tskitishvili
(Coach: Igor Kokoškov)
2013 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams
4 Nika Metreveli, 5 Otar Pkhakadze, 6 Duda Sanadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Ricky Hickman,
11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 Levan Patsatsia, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 14 Besik Lezhava, 15 Nikoloz Tskitishvili (Coach: Igor Kokoškov)
2015 EuroBasket: finished 15th among 24 teams
0 Jacob Pullen, 4 Nika Metreveli, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini, 10 Duda Sanadze,
11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 12 Levan Patsatsia, 13 Viktor Sanikidze, 15 Beka Burjanadze, 23 Tornike Shengelia, 25 Besik Lezhava
(Coach: Igor Kokoškov)
2017 EuroBasket: finished 17th among 24 teams
3 Michael Dixon, 4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Duda Sanadze, 11 Manuchar Markoishvili, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 23 Tornike Shengelia, 35 Goga Bitadze, 99 Ilia Londaridze
(Coach: 
Ilias Zouros)
2022 EuroBasket: finished 21st among 24 teams[14]
4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Beka Burjanadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze,
9 Giorgi Shermadini (C), 10 Duda Sanadze, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 18 Merab Bokolishvili, 25 Thad McFadden, 33 Beka Bekauri,
35 Goga Bitadze (Coach: Ilias Zouros)
2023 FIBA World Cup: finished 16th among 32 teams[15]
4 Rati Andronikashvili, 5 Sandro Mamukelashvili, 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze, 7 Luka Liklikadze, 8 Giorgi Tsintsadze, 9 Giorgi Shermadini,
10 Duda Sanadze, 11 Giorgi Turdziladze, 17 Mikheil Berishvili, 23 Tornike Shengelia (C), 25 Thad McFadden, 35 Goga Bitadze
(Coach: Ilias Zouros)
Record by opponents
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Record against teams at the EuroBasket
Notable results
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Manufacturer
Sponsor
- 2015: Natakhtari[16]
- 2019: Georgian Railway
- "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 1 March 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2024.
- "Montenegro, Georgia promoted to Division A - TalkBasket.net". TalkBasket.net. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- "Georgia | EuroBasket (2011) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
- "Georgia | EuroBasket (2013) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
- "Georgia – Croatia | EuroBasket (2015) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- "Lithuania – Georgia | EuroBasket (2015) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
- "Georgia during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- "Georgia battle past Lithuania, exact revenge for 2015 loss". Retrieved 31 August 2017.
- "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2017". Retrieved 6 September 2017.
- "FIBA Europe delegation visits Tbilisi to see progress of new arena". FIBA. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
- "Georgia to build a new sports complex for European Basketball Championship". Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- "Denmark during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in February 2024". Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- "1994 წლის 20 მარტი – საქართველოს კალათბურთელთა ნაკრების დაბადების დღეა / ევრობასკეტი 1997". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
- "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2022". Retrieved 7 September 2022.
- "Georgia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup". Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- Georgia | EuroBasket 2015 – PHOTO GALLERY Archived 23 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- Official website
(in Georgian) - Georgia FIBA profile
- Georgia National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com
- Georgia Basketball Records at FIBA Archive
