The Future of the National Team – The Road of Georgian basketball to Eurobasket

In the project of Basketball Federation “The Road of Georgian Basketball to Eurobasket 2021” we introduced 80 players, which have officially played in the national team since May 24, 1994. On this day, our team played its first match – against Poland in Birmingham.

Since then there have been a lot of good and bad matches, we lost to Luxembourg, Iceland… The last two meetings we held in February 2020 are a clear indication of progress – we have defeated Switzerland in Tbilisi and Serbia in Belgrade.

Do you know what was most remarkable about these two meetings? – Coach Ilias Zouros let three debutants play, Saba Lobjanidze, Giorgi Korsantia and Giorgi Turdziladze. They haven’t been dysfunctional at all…

For Zouros, the future is more important than the present day, as we are going to host the nearest Eurobasket in Tbilisi. However, due to the pandemic, this event was postponed until 2022 and we got the biggest gap in the history of Eurobasket – after 2017, the European Championship will be held in 2022. Before that, it has been held once every two years.

We also had a small break in our project, which was probably needed to move from the present to the basketball of the future. Today we have to write about the future of the Georgian national team – Goga Bitadze and the promising young people like him.

Goga Bitadze

In September 2018, the Georgian national team defeated Israel 85:80 in Tel Aviv. Coach Ilias Zouros made an interesting decision in the last minutes:

– When you have trouble during peak-end roles of the opponent, it is very useful to have a moving center in the defense, who manages to rebound well. Goga Bitadze was distinguished in rebounds in the first half and that is why I let him play in the last minutes of the fourth period instead of Giorgi Shermadini. However, you know very well how I value Shermadini and what he means to the team. Our main task was to stop the peak-end roles, which we did well in the fourth period.

The coach replaced Giorgi Shermadini, the best center in Europe, with 18-year-old Bitadze. That says it all.

Do you know what else is nice? – Zouros found a tactic according to which he will let Goga and Giorgi play at the same time. And that strategy is justified. It will also justify on the 2022 Eurobasket, where we will have one of the best front lines in Europe – Bitadze-Shermadini, Shengelia-Burjanadze…

– When I was growing up, Pachulia, Shermadini, Shengelia were role models for me. I watched how they played in the national team. When I was a kid, I didn’t know if I could play at a high level, but I thought that if they managed it, maybe I could too – These are the words of Bitadze from Indiana, who is the sixth Georgian after Stephania, Tskitishvili, Pachulia, Sanikidze and Shengelia to be elected to the NBA draft.

Rati Andronikashvili

– When the coach decided to let me in on the court during the Georgia-Serbia match, these were the most emotional moments in my life. The fans knew I was the youngest of the team and I felt great support from them. I will never forget this emotion, – this is how the point-guard Rati Andronikashvili remembers his debut match in June 2018.

Since then, coach Ilias Zouros has been regularly calling, playing and preparing him for the 2022 Eurobasket. Rati will be 21 years old by that time and the fans are waiting for Giorgi Tsintsadze’s worthy replacement:

– Giorgi Tsintsadze was also 17 years old when he was called up to the national team. I love watching him play and compete with him because that’s how I learn more. I have a lot of questions for Giorgi and he is always open to relationship. Tsintsadze helps me a lot and at the same time, we play in one position. Ilias Zouros is the best coach I have ever worked with. He often tells me to talk openly if I have a problem. He is a professional and knows his job.

Saba Lobjanidze

Saba Lobjanidze is a player who has sculpted his career with a hard work. He was rarely invited by the coaches of the youth teams, but when he reached the adulescence, we see progress from year to year. Ilias Zouros, the coach of the team, also saw him and invited him to the team in February 2020.

– Getting to the Georgian national team is a dream of any player. I would like to thank Ilias Zouros for his trust and hope that my new team, TSU, will help me grow and develop even more, which will allow me to help the Georgian team again, – Such is the opinion of Saba Lobjanidze.

Nika Darbaidze

Do you remember the qualifying round of the 2019 World Cup? In the opening matches, we broke the rain of three-pointers against Serbia and Germany, but we lost. It was in that window that forward Nika Darbaidze made his national team debut.

He recalls an interesting story about the national team:

– During the match with Germany, the coach Ilias Zouros looked at the bench and shouted: “Toli” – he was calling Anatoli Boisa. I heard him shout “Gori”, I looked at my teammates, they thought he was calling me too. I got up and happily entered the court. Ilias Zouros showed generosity, did not let us notice that he had another decision at that moment and left me on the court.

“Gori” is the nickname of Nika Darbaidze. The reason is easy to guess – he is from Gori. His arrival in the team is a great stimulus for the young people of Gori.

Revaz Chachanidze

Giorgi Shermadini and Tornike Shengelia, Euroleague front-liners, could not help the Georgian team in most of the matches at the qualifying round of the 2019 World Cup. Coach Ilias Zouros decided to offer a surprise to the opponents and made focus on the three-pointers.

This was really unexpected from the Georgian team, because before that the opponents expected the main danger from under the rim.

At such a time, it was quite logical to invite Rezo Chachanidze, a sniper from the Georgian Championship, in the national team, who is one of the rare basketball players in the Super League, who cant’t be left without proper attention on the perimeter.

– Probably everyone is worried about the debut in the national team. Especially when you have to play in front of full tribunes in Tbilisi. I was in such a situation in the match against Germany in February 2018, when the coach Ilias Zouros let me on the court. However, as soon as I joined the game, I was relieved of the tension and I am very happy that I finished the first contact with the ball with a three-pointer, – says Rezo Chachanidze

Giorgi Korsantia

Giorgi Korsantia played in leading positions in different youth teams of Georgia. Despite his young age, he is experienced enough to play for the national team, which is quite noticeable. In 2020, Ilias Zouros trusted him against Switzerland and Serbia, and Giorgi justified it. Korsantia is a 203 cm tall fighting forward with a good shot.

Such versatile basketball players have always been valuable and, be assured, despite serious competition, he will further enhance his functions in the team.

– After the season 2019-20, I decided to pursue a career abroad. I will be able to progress in the French “Caen”, which will definitely help me in the national team. As well as playing well at TSU, being called up to the national team has helped me increase interest of foreign clubs, – said Giorgi Korsantia.

Giorgi Turdziladze

In February 2020, Giorgi Turdziladze also played his first match in the national team. He recalls the home match against Switzerland as follows:

– I couldn’t play the way I wanted to. The coach also noticed that I was nervous and replaced me. Generally, I’m not overly emotional, but there may be a lot of basketball players in my situation – you are playing the first match in the national team in front of the crowded tribunes of the Sports Palace, you are playing the first, tense match of the Eurobasket qualifiers…

Ilias Zouros said at the press conference that he would be given another chance…

– Three days later, when I went to the court with Serbia in Belgrade, I had removed all tensions. I played freely, I did what I was instructed to do by the coach. Of course, the team helped me in this. All players played at a high level in Serbia. For some, it may have been a surprise for the Georgian team to win in Belgrade, but not for us – I don’t know what the fans or the Serbian basketball players thought, but there was a fighting mood in the Georgian national team and I experienced unspeakable joy when I heard the final siren of the match and looked at the scoreboard.

94:90 in our favour.