Georgia announce World Cup arrival with rout of Cape Verde in clash of debutants

OKINAWA (Japan) - Georgia could not have announced their arrival to the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 any better by beating Cape Verde, 85-60, Saturday night at the Okinawa Arena here.

 

Turning point:  Giorgi Shermadini scored the Georgians' first World Cup points but Georgia struggled to find rhythm early and were trailing. Then, head coach Ilias Zouros brought in Goga Bitadze and Sandro Mamukelashvili in lieu of Shermadini and Duda Sanadze at the 4:43-mark of the opening quarter.

The youthful NBA tandem provided the needed spark in an instant, and the entire team shortly got going on offense. Guard Thaddus McFadden's three-pointer ignited their 9-0 run to establish a 20-11 advantage heading into the following quarter.

Cape Verde did stop the bleeding by nailing the second chapter's first basket behind Kenneti Mendes' floater but Georgia quickly responded with another 9-0 spurt for a 29-13 advantage, and the latter would never be stopped all the way to the final buzzer.

 

TCL Player of the Game: Tornike Shengelia spearheaded Georgia's balanced attack with a game-high 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, together with 7 rebounds.

 

Stats don't lie: Bitadze didn't shy away from the bright lights of basketball's biggest stage as the 24-year-old finished with 15 points, majority of which he made from the foul line as he went 9-of-10.

The Indiana Pacer also collected 11 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals without committing a turnover. Combined, he tallied an efficiency rating of 29 - the highest in the game - in less than 20 minutes. Dominating.

Bottomline: By winning the clash of World Cup debutants, Georgia have taken the early leadership of Group F, and will try to keep it that way against Luka Doncic and Slovenia on August 28.

They said: "I will say that this is a historical moment for Georgian basketball. It's our first win in the World Championship, first appearance. We are very happy, we are very satisfied. But we have to move on. This is only the first game of the tournament. We have in front of us Slovenia after today, we have to be focused. We need to start the work for that game." - Ilias Zouros, Head Coach, Georgia

"It was our first time in the World Cup, so we had a little bit of anxiety. In the beginning, we entered well in the match but we could see the anxiety showing up. But by the second half, I talked to the players and explained to enjoy the game, and the answer was positive. We have good signs for the next match." - Emanuel Trovoada, Head Coach, Cape Verde

Press conference:

 

FIBA