Price of Three-Pointers - The Road of Georgian National Team to Eurobasket (Part XVII)
Basketball Federation continues its project – “The road of Georgian basketball to Eurobasket2021”. Now it’s time to introduce you Duda Sanadze, Beqa Burjanadze, Mikheil Berishvili, Levan Patsatsia and Sandro Mamukelashvili in the part XVII. We remind you that within the framework of the project we present the players who have participated in the official matches of the Georgian national team in different years and contributed to the development of Georgian basketball.
Duda Sanadze
The main hope from the perimeter for the Georgian national team in the 90’s was Gia Sanadze. He played 20 games and scored 48 three-pointers. His son Duda has been defending the dignity of the national team since 2013, having already beaten his father in the number of matches: 34, as for three-pointers, his son has more by one – 49.
May the son be better… Let’s not focus on this, as Gia and Duda had been playing in different eras, different teams with different strengths. In the 90’s our maximum was qualifying stage, while Duda Sanadze played three Eurobaskets with the team (2013, 2015, 2017).
Sanadze Jr has to play against world-level stars, for example he played against NBA champion – Marco Belinelli at the Eurobasket 2017, and one of the best matches of his career was at the same European Championship with Lithuania (79:77).
My mission was to play against the point guard. I did my best, as well as the whole team. I helped the team in offense well enough and we gained one of the most memorable victories in history. It still breaks my heart that we didn’t get the job done well in 2017, if we had left the group then, we would have gone far in the playoffs. We lacked two forwards very much – Viktor Sanikidze and Beqa Burjanadze…
What do you think, was his father satisfied with Duda’s work against Lithuania?
– He is never satisfied. You should score 50 points to get a praise from him. When I had scored 38 points in College League, he complimented me, but then we discussed several episodes in details later, explaining how should have I acted in each situation – says Sanadze Jr, whose both brothers are basketball players – Sandro is a sniper of TSU, the representative of the Superleague.
Beqa Burjanadze
Duda Sanadze noted that the team lacked Sanikidze and Burjanadze at Eurobasket 2017 very much. By the way, in his early ages, Beqa’s debut in the national team was postponed because of injuries and surgeries. If not for injuries, Burjanadze would have played more than 25 official matches.
– I always try to do my best. I know there is still a lot of work to do before I reach the perfect game and I accept this challenge. I always try to get some knowledge from experienced players, especially when I’m in the national team, – said Beqa after the Eurobasket in 2015.
As we’ve mentioned, he missed Eurobasket 2017, but in 2021, he will have more than enough experience and will become one of the main strengths of the team. However, there is a qualifying stage before that, where we rely on Burjanadze-Shermadini duo. The duo played together for “Andorra” two years ago and the team benefited greatly from their effectiveness. This is how Shermadini deciphers the tactics:
– I played freely in Andorra. Beqa Burjanadze has contributed greatly to this case. He is a power forward with great three-pointers, so his rivals were afraid to leave him and help my guard. Accordingly, forwards often failed to come in a three-second zone to help centers and play against me.
Such a strategy should be acceptable for the Georgian national team as well.
Levan Patsatsia
Levan Patsatsia started his career in Sokhumi, but received a huge experience in American College League and returned as a very useful player for the Georgian national team. Due to his universalism, coaches Igor Kokoshkov and Ilias Zouros let him play on different possitions.
– My childhood dream came true – I played in the national team under the Georgian anthem! There were certain circumstances that did not allow me to fully express my talents. It’s worrying, but I encourage the younger generation to work hard to achieve what they have in mind. Achieving great goals without great commitment is unimaginable.
In 2014, the “big goal” of the Georgian national team was achieved by Levan Patsatsia’s commitment: our team lost to Hungary at the qualifying stage at first, then we were losing against Portugal. Losing that match would probably cost us Eurobasket ticket. However, we won miraculously in overtime – 91:90.
Patsatsia was in a starting five and finished this match with 14 points. He scored most of these points in the fourth period and overtime. His work was properly appreciated by head coach Igor Kokoshkov:
– The hosts had a huge advantage – they were playing freely without trouble. On the contrary, we needed to be psychologically ready after the Hungarian defeat. This affected the first 20 minutes, we were below by 23 points, but we fought to the end, expressed our fighting character and tied the game. Zaza Pachulia did a great job, Patsatsia played perfectly as well…
Mikheil Berishvili
Mikheil Berishvili should also remember the victory against Lithuania at the Eurobasket 2017. He has also been a huge contributor to the success – engaged in the game from the bench wonderfully.
– Georgian national team won convincingly. The main reason for success is team play. The starting 5 began well, but we have to emphasize the spares, they helped us a lot – Giorgi Shermadini, Duda Sanadze, Mikheil Berishvili… – said Ilias Zouros, who had no smile on his face that day.
By the way, Misha had a 9-year hiatus between the first and second official meetings in the Georgian national team. He was first called to the national team by Igor Kokoshkov in 2008: he played in the last seconds against Slovakia scoring a three-pointer at the last second – 101:78. The second official match was against Lithuania in 2017…
After the Eurobasket in Israel, Berishvili has become one of the key figures in the team: He played in all 12 matches in the 2019 World Cup qualifiers and Ilias Zouros has big hopes about him for the Eurobasket 2021 qualifiers as well.
Sandro Mamukelashvili
In June and July 2018, promising youngster Sandro Mamukelashvili played for the Georgian national team against Serbia and Austria. He currently defends the status of “Seton Hall” in the American College League and is one of the team leaders.
– When I was watching the matches of the Georgian national team, I wished to play in the form of a national team, but then it was impossible for some reasons. I am an American citizen. My parents told me that I had to decide for myself when I am 18, and they would support me in every way. Obviously, I decided to play for Georgia, with the help of the Basketball Federation all the issues with FIBA were resolved positively and I got a Georgian passport.
Sandro left for the United States in the summer of 2018 and as NBA players, he isn’t able to help the national team either – noone will let him go in the middle of the season. However, we have high hopes for him at the Eurobasket 2021.
You probably heard that Mamukelashvili flies like Viktor Sanikidze…
– Victor was my childhood favorite player in. My father would take me to all the matches of the national team, and while watching Tsintsadze-Sanikidze’s play, I would try to do the same at trainings.