Qualified Team Focus - Georgia: McFadden, Shengelia, Shermadini and co. ready for more history

MIES (Switzerland) - The draw for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, presented by Wanda, will be held in Manila, Philippines, on April 29. It is now time to meet the 32 teams that try to become World Champions in a few months.

Here is the number 32 team in the FIBA World Ranking Men, presented by Nike, World Cup debutants Georgia.

 

How did they qualify

Georgia started their European Qualifiers campaign hoping to reach the World Cup for the first time. And it was the second attempt for the country's Greek coach Ilias Zouros, who has been in charge of the Georgian team since 2016. The Crusaders had a colossal effort by their big three of Thad McFadden, Giorgi Shermadini and Toko Shengelia. And Georgia's fight for the World Cup was so tight, they advanced despite a loss in their final decisive game.

 

Georgia's campaign started in November 2021 with a thrilling 88-83 home win over Ukraine in Group G as McFadden, Shermadini and Shengelia combined for 66 points. The window finished with an 89-61 road loss to Spain. The February 2022 window saw McFadden dominate with 50 combined points in two wins over North Macedonia - 91-70 at home and 79-65 on the road. 


The summer started with a 79-66 loss to Ukraine in Latvia despite McFadden's 22 points and 21 points from Shengelia. But the June/July 2022 window saw one of Georgia's greatest victories in history. With a crowd of 8,500 fans opening the new Tbilisi Arena, Georgia knocked off reigning world champions Spain 82-76 in overtime. The game featured 22 lead changes and in addition to the big three collecting 46 points and 16 assists, Rati Andronikashvili scored 17 points.

 

Starting the Second Round Group L, Georgia wasted a 16-point lead at home against Netherlands in the August 2022 window but McFadden, Shermadini and Shengelia combined for 53 points and Sandro Mamukelashvi added 10 points and 10 rebounds in a 77-66 victory. Georgia could not get a second win though, losing at Italy 91-84 despite Goga Bitadze tallying 19 points and 13 rebounds and George Tsintsadze dishing out 11 assists.

The FIBA EuroBasket 2022 took center stage in September 2022 and co-hosts Georgia managed just a 1-4 record in the First Round - a double-overtime win over Turkey. The first game of the November 2022 window laid the foundation for Georgia reaching the World Cup as Shengelia had 27 points and 11 rebounds in an 88-85 win at Iceland. Georgia dropped the second game in the window 85-84 to Italy at home in front of 8,121 supporters.

 

That set the stage for the final window in February 2023 and the big three combined for 67 points in a narrow 88-80 win at Netherlands. That meant Georgia could afford a three-point loss at home to Iceland in the final qualifying game and still make history. Some 10,000 fans showed up at the Tbilisi Arena and witnessed their iconic trio totalling 60 points which proved just enough in an 80-77 loss with 15 lead changes to reach the World Cup.

 

Best result at the World Cup

Georgia will be making their first appearance at the World Cup after long establishing themselves in Europe. The eastern Europeans have made five straight appearances at the FIBA EuroBasket, including co-hosting the event in 2022. Their best finish of 11th place came at their debut in 2011 and the country has yet to record more than two wins in a single tournament.

Last World Cup appearances

While Georgia have become regulars at EuroBasket, the country had only participated in one World Cup qualification campaign before the 2023 European Qualifiers. Coach Zouros guided his team out of the First Round of the 2019 qualifiers but then finished fourth of six teams in the Second Round to just miss out on China 2019.

Players to watch

On June 12th, Georgia announced the best roster possible for the World Cup.

Gearing up for Group F opponents Slovenia, Cape Verde and Venezuela in Okinawa, Georgia's charge will be spearheaded by Tornike Shengelia and Georgi Shermadini, two of the best to ever wear the national team jersey.

Both have been leading players in Europe in recent times. Shermadini was named Player of the Year in Spain's Liga Endesa this season after a superb performance for Lenovo Tenerife. Shengelia did, from 2012-14, have a spell in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls but is best known for being a star with Baskonia, CSKA Moscow and Virtus Bologna.

Joining the two heavyweights will be veteran guard Duda Sanadze, NBA duo Goga Bitadze and Sandro Mamukelashvili and point guards Thaddus McFadden and Rati Andronikashvili.

Bitadze spent the better part of four seasons with the Indiana Pacers, starting in 2019, before being traded in March to Orlando.

Mamukelashvili averaged team highs of 15.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game at last year's EuroBasket for Georgia. Having joined the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, he was waived by the club on March 1 and then claimed by San Antonio a couple of days later.

 FIBA