Georgia men's national basketball team

This article is about the men's team. For the women's team, see Georgia women's national basketball team.

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.

Georgia

FIBA ranking	24 (26 November 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
Home Away
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.

History

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

Main article: 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

Main article: 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

Main article: 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

Main article: 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

Main article: 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.

Competitive record

FIBA World Cup World Cup Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1950 to 1990 Part of Soviet Union 1994 Did not enter Did not enter 1998 Did not qualify EuroBasket served as qualifiers 2002 2006 2010 2014 2019 12 5 7 2023 16th 5 2 3 12 7 5 2027 To be determined To be determined Total 1/8 5 2 3 24 12 12 Olympic Games Olympic Games Qualifying Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1948 to 1988 Part of Soviet Union 1992 Did not enter Did not enter 1996 2000 Did not qualify Did not qualify 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2 1 1 Total 0/9 2 1 1

EuroBasket EuroBasket Qualification Year Position Pld W L Pld W L 1947 to 1991 Part of Soviet Union 1993 Did not enter Did not enter 1995 1997 Did not qualify 15 6 9 1999 13 2 11 2001 5 2 3 2003 11 6 5 2005 Division B 6 4 2 2007 Division B 8 6 2 2009 Division B 10 9 1 2011 11th 8 2 6 8 5 3 2013 17th 5 1 4 8 6 2 2015 15th 6 2 4 6 4 2 2017 17th 5 2 3 6 5 1 2022 21st 5 1 4 6 4 2 2025 To be determined To be determined Total 5/14 29 8 21 102 59 43

Results and fixtures

  Win   Loss

2024

23 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	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)

Denmark  v  Georgia

26 February 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	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)

Georgia  v  Serbia

2 July 2024 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Group stage	Georgia	55–83	Latvia	Riga, Latvia
19:00 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 13–17, 11–28, 17–16, 14–25
	Pts: Mamukelashvili 14 Rebs: Bitadze 6 Asts: three players 2	Boxscore	Pts: Strautiņš 18 Rebs: Mejeris, Šmits 7 Asts: Žagars 6	Arena: Arena Riga Attendance: 8,955 Referees: Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Wojciech Liszka (POL), Luis Castillo (ESP)

Georgia  v  Latvia

4 July 2024 2024 Olympic Qualifying Tournament – Group stage	Philippines	94–96	Georgia	Riga, Latvia
15:30 (UTC+3)	Scoring by quarter: 17–28, 26–27, 31–19, 20–22
	Pts: Brownlee 28 Rebs: Brownlee 8 Asts: Brownlee 8	Boxscore	Pts: Mamukelashvili 26 Rebs: Bitadze 11 Asts: Thomasson 8	Arena: Arena Riga Attendance: 531 Referees: Ademir Zurapović (BIH), Omar Bermúdez (MEX), Kerem Baki (TUR)

Philippines  v  Georgia

21 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Finland	83–90	Georgia	Espoo, Finland
18:30 (UTC+2)	Scoring by quarter: 25–20, 23–23, 15–19, 20–28
	Pts: Nkamhoua 22 Rebs: Nkamhoua 10 Asts: Maxhuni 10	Boxscore	Pts: Shengelia 24 Rebs: Phevadze 7 Asts: Shengelia 5	Arena: Espoo Metro Areena Attendance: 4,243 Referees: Gvidas Gedvilas (LTU), Ventsislav Velikov (BUL), Zdenko Tomašovič (SVK)

Finland  v  Georgia

24 November 2024 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Georgia	81–64	Finland	Tbilisi, Georgia
19:00 (UTC+4)	Scoring by quarter: 17–21, 21–19, 17–13, 26–11
	Pts: Shengelia 25 Rebs: Baldwin 9 Asts: three players 6	Boxscore	Pts: Nkamhoua 11 Rebs: Valtonen 7 Asts: Seppälä 6	Arena: Tbilisi Arena Attendance: 8,000 Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Geert Jacobs (BEL), Juozas Barkauskas (LTU)

Georgia  v  Finland

2025

Georgia  v  Denmark

21 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Georgia	vs.	Denmark	Georgia
		Boxscore

24 February 2025 EuroBasket 2025 qualifiers	Serbia	vs.	Georgia	Serbia
		Boxscore

Serbia  v  Georgia

Team

Current roster

Roster for the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers matches on 21 and 24 November 2024 against Finland.^[12]

Georgia men's national basketball team roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Age – Date of birth Height Club Ctr. G 2 Luka Liklikadze 21 – (2003-07-14)14 July 2003 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Tkibuli Orbi PG 4 Rati Andronikashvili 23 – (2001-03-19)19 March 2001 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) VEF Rīga SF 6 Kakhaber Jintcharadze 31 – (1993-07-16)16 July 1993 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Al-Rayyan PF 7 Beka Burjanadze 30 – (1994-01-03)3 January 1994 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Coruña C 9 Giorgi Shermadini 35 – (1989-04-02)2 April 1989 2.17 m (7 ft 1 in) Tenerife SG 10 Duda Sanadze 32 – (1992-07-25)25 July 1992 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) Anorthosis PF 12 George Korsantia 26 – (1998-01-11)11 January 1998 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) Kutaisi SF 15 Aleksandre Phevadze 26 – (1998-04-15)15 April 1998 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) TSU PF 23 Toko Shengelia (C) 33 – (1991-10-05)5 October 1991 2.07 m (6 ft 9 in) Virtus Bologna PG 27 Luka Maziashvili 24 – (2000-10-27)27 October 2000 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Amra Gagra G 30 Mate Khatiashvili 16 – (2008-11-07)7 November 2008 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) Baskonia PG 44 Kamar Baldwin 27 – (1997-09-15)15 September 1997 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) Baskonia	Head coach Aleksandar Džikić Assistant coach(es) Anatoli Boisa Manuchar Markoishvili Legend (C) Team captain Club – describes last club before the competition Age – describes age on 21 November 2024

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Giorgi Shermadini	Beka Burjanadze
PF	Tornike Shengelia	George Korsantia
SF	Aleksandre Phevadze	Kakhaber Jintcharadze
SG	Duda Sanadze	Luka Liklikadze	Mate Khatiashvili
PG	Kamar Baldwin	Rati Andronikashvili	Luka Maziashvili

Head coach history

• 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)

Past rosters

2011 EuroBasket: finished 11th among 24 teams^[14]

4 Giorgi Gamqrelidze, 5 Vladimir Boisa, 6 Anatoli Boisa, 7 Zaza Pachulia (C), 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^[15]

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^[16]

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^[17]

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^[18]

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^[19]

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)

Head-to-head record

As of 24 November 2024 Record by opponents Opponent Played Wins Losses  Albania 2 2 0  Australia 2 0 2  Austria 13 8 5  Azerbaijan 2 2 0  Belgium 6 2 4  Bosnia and Herzegovina 8 4 4  Belarus 11 8 3  Bulgaria 8 3 5  Cameroon 1 0 1  Canada 1 0 1  Cape Verde 1 1 0  Central African Republic 1 1 0  Croatia 2 1 1  Cyprus 2 1 1  Czech Republic 11 4 7  Denmark 5 3 2  Egypt 2 1 1  England 3 1 2  Estonia 7 4 3  Finland 9 5 4  France 3 0 3  Germany 6 0 6  Great Britain 1 1 0  Greece 9 1 8  Hungary 5 1 4  Iceland 4 2 2  Ireland 4 4 0  Israel 11 6 5  Italy 13 0 13  Iran 1 1 0  Jordan 1 1 0  Latvia 11 6 5  Lithuania 8 2 6  Luxembourg 8 7 1  North Macedonia 9 6 3  Moldova 1 1 0  Montenegro 4 2 2  Netherlands 9 5 4  Philippines 1 1 0  Poland 7 2 5  Portugal 7 6 1  Romania 8 7 1  Russia 5 1 4  Serbia 7 3 4  Slovakia 7 5 2  Slovenia 5 0 5  Spain 4 1 3  Sweden 7 3 4   Switzerland 3 2 1  Tunisia 1 0 1  Turkey 5 1 4  Ukraine 10 7 3  Venezuela 1 1 0  Wales 1 1 0 Total: 54 countries 284 138 146

Record against teams at the EuroBasket Team Pld W L PF PA PD Belgium 1 1 0 81 59 +22 Bulgaria 1 0 1 69 79 −10 Croatia 2 1 1 147 135 +12 Czech Republic 1 0 1 79 95 −16 Finland 1 0 1 73 87 −14 Germany 1 0 1 57 67 −10 Greece 2 0 2 128 152 −24 Israel 1 1 0 104 91 +13 Italy 1 0 1 69 71 −2 Lithuania 2 1 1 160 162 −2 North Macedonia 2 1 1 153 140 +13 Netherlands 1 0 1 72 73 −1 Poland 1 1 0 84 67 +17 Russia 1 0 1 58 65 −7 Slovenia 3 0 3 211 238 −27 Spain 1 0 1 59 83 −24 Ukraine 2 1 1 150 141 +9 Total: 17 countries 1754 1805 −51 Notable results Date Status Team Result Team 22 July 2004 Friendly  Russia 71–87  Georgia 16 August 2013 Friendly  Serbia 71–75  Georgia 10 September 2015 EuroBasket 2015  Croatia 58–71  Georgia 5 August 2017 Friendly  Lithuania 70–81  Georgia 23 August 2017 Friendly  Greece 71–72  Georgia 24 August 2017 Friendly  Serbia 66–68  Georgia 31 August 2017 EuroBasket 2017  Lithuania 77–79  Georgia 23 February 2020 EuroBasket 2022 Qualification  Serbia 90–94  Georgia 4 July 2022 2023 FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers  Georgia 82–76 (OT)  Spain 4 September 2022 EuroBasket 2022  Georgia 88–83 (2OT)  Turkey

Kit

Manufacturer

• 2015–present: Spalding^[20]

Sponsor

• 2015: Natakhtari^[20]
• 2019: Georgian Railway

See also

• Sports portal
• Georgia (country) portal

• Sport in Georgia
• Georgia women's national basketball team
• Georgia men's national under-20 basketball team
• Georgia men's national under-18 basketball team
• Georgia men's national under-16 basketball team

References

1. "FIBA Ranking Presented by Nike". FIBA. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
2. "Montenegro, Georgia promoted to Division A - TalkBasket.net". TalkBasket.net. 10 September 2009. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
3. "Georgia | EuroBasket (2011) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
4. "Georgia | EuroBasket (2013) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
5. "Georgia – Croatia | EuroBasket (2015) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
6. "Lithuania – Georgia | EuroBasket (2015) | FIBA Europe". www.fibaeurope.com. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
7. "Georgia during the EuroBasket 2017 Qualifiers". Retrieved 17 September 2016.
8. "Georgia battle past Lithuania, exact revenge for 2015 loss". Retrieved 31 August 2017.
9. "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2017". Retrieved 6 September 2017.
10. "FIBA Europe delegation visits Tbilisi to see progress of new arena". FIBA. 1 April 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
11. "Georgia to build a new sports complex for European Basketball Championship". Retrieved 31 July 2019.
12. "Georgia during the EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers in November 2024". Retrieved 21 November 2024.
13. "1994 წლის 20 მარტი – საქართველოს კალათბურთელთა ნაკრების დაბადების დღეა / ევრობასკეტი 1997". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 5 April 2023.
14. "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2011". Retrieved 12 September 2011.
15. "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2013". Retrieved 9 September 2013.
16. "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2015". Retrieved 13 September 2015.
17. "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2017". Retrieved 6 September 2017.
18. "Georgia at the EuroBasket 2022". Retrieved 7 September 2022.
19. "Georgia at the 2023 FIBA World Cup". Retrieved 3 September 2023.
20. Georgia | EuroBasket 2015 – PHOTO GALLERY^[usurped], eurobasket2015.org. Retrieved 22 October 2015.

External links

• Official website (in Georgian)
• Georgia FIBA profile
• Georgia National Team – Men at Eurobasket.com