Georgian basketball

[Dato2]

Davit Ustiashvili:"We have Chance of Going Through the Next Stage"

There is not weak team in final stage of Eurobasket 2011, but there is a little difference between them. For example leadership of FIBA considered the teams of the following countries equal: Germany, Lithuania, Montenegro and Belgium, which are seeded in the third seed. But it is noteworthy that team of Belgium is weaker in compare with other teams. Luck plays big role in ballot and Georgian National Team was lucky that its rival is Belgium, in other way our opponent would be Lithuanian team, which hosts this tournament. Georgian team will compete in D group, Russian National Team is our rival from the second seed, Belgian National Team is opponent of Georgian National Team from the third seed. As for the opponent from the 4th seed, it is Italian National Team, which has a little unsuccessful period now.
Davit Usitashvili head coach of MIA, finalist of Georgian Cup and assistant of Igor Kokoskov head coach of Georgian National Team gave an interview to “World Sport”.
- Most of Georgian specialists and fans consider that Georgian National Team was seeded in comparatively weak group. Do you agree with this opinion?
There is no weak team at final stage of European Championship. In spite of this the group where is seeded Georgian team is not bad group and it was quite possible to have rather strong opponent team.
- How do you think, which teams have chance of going through the next stage?
- Slovenian and Russian National Teams have chance of taking the first and the second places
- Do you know possibilities of all the opponents of Georgian National Team?
Most of all I know possibilities of our rivals Belgian, Bulgarian and Ukrainian teams. Belgium and Ukraine were playing in qualifying round of European Championship with us. We did not have official match against Ukrainian team, but we played sparring matches against each other. We have never played against Slovenian team. As for Russian National Team, we held sparring match and beat them 87:71 on July, 2004 in the city of Italy, San Georgo. But it was long time ago and Russians have another team now.
- There are not new players in Georgian National Team for several years…
Everyone is welcome in Georgian National Team, but it does not mean that everyone who has wish of playing there will become member of team. Firstly they have to show their possibilities in their clubs.
- Your team’s rival is “Army” on February 1 at Georgian Cup…
Unfortunately, Davit Imnadze central striker of MIA will not be able to play due to leg’s injury. In spite of this MIA will do its best to win this title first in its history.
- How would you estimate chances of MIA and “Army”
My estimation is 50/50.

 

[rikhardur2]

Georgia On Tskitishvili’s Mind

By Jeff Taylor

Nikoloz Tskitishvili was not wearing a smile on his way to the team bus after playing in what turned out to be his last game for Spanish club Lagun Aro GBC, at Power Electronics Valencia on Sunday.

None of the players from the San Sebastian team were after their 84-75 defeat, a fifth consecutive loss.

Tskitishvili's demeanor changed instantly, though, when a certain subject was raised.

"Nikoloz, are you looking forward to playing for Georgia at the EuroBasket?"

The 27-year-old stopped, grinned and began chattering like there was no tomorrow.

"Unbelievable," he said to Basketball World News.

"I've been in the national team for 12, 13 years.

"I started when I was like 15 years old.

"We kept trying hard and hard and we were close, but never made it.

"Then, out of nowhere - boom!

"We hear ‘You guys are in the EuroBasket' and everybody was happy."

Georgia did come very close to qualifying last summer but finished second in EuroBasket Division A, Group C to Belgium with five wins in eight games.

It wasn't good enough to make it to Lithuania, but then FIBA Europe announced they were increasing the 16-team field by eight.

It was as if the sun had finally broken through the clouds.

"We got a little big lucky with the FIBA Europe decision," Tskitishvili said.

"Now there are 24 teams.

"But we've been fighting for this for a long time."

Hard Games Ahead

There will be no easy games in Group D, with Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Belgium set to compete with Georgia for a top-three spot that will clinch a place in the next round.

The Georgians had better not be taken lightly.

Atlanta Hawks center Zaza Pachulia led the team last summer in scoring at 15.8 points per game while Viktor Sanikidze was the team's leading rebounder at 9.4 per contest.

Manuchar Markoishvili, Gran Canaria's Taurean Green - a naturalized Georgian - and George Tsintsadze also got big minutes last year for Georgia.

"We're good," Tskitishvili said.

"We have a lot of talent.

"When we get together, we work hard. We have a good coach also, Igor Kokoskov.

"Okay, we have some tough games like Russia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Belgium, but at least we've got a chance.

"It depends on us and what kind of shape we're in. We're going to try our best."

The NBA experiment

Tskitishvili has something in common with Pachulia.

He also played in the NBA.

Tskitishvili was the fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft but his career across the Atlantic didn't evolve as he'd hoped.

He returned to Europe before the 2006-07 campaign and has had stops in Russia, Spain and Italy.

"I really enjoyed America," he said.

"I had some hard times as a rookie.

"I was disappointed in myself because I thought I could do better but, other than that - I loved living there.

"I want to go back and visit in the summer.

"When I look back, I'm always thinking I should have waited to go until I was older and had developed more.

"But the opportunity was huge and you could never say no."

Looking Forward

Tskitishvili turns 28 on April 14.

He had some good games this season for Lagun Aro but didn't play much in their last three outings.

"Things could be better," he said.

"Much better.

"I'm working on my game now and hopefully next year, I'll be somewhere where I can contribute and play more."

On Tuesday, club and player decided to part ways.

Lagun Aro announced in a statement: "GBC and the player Nikoloz Tskitishvili today reached an agreement to terminate the contract of Georgian player. The club wishes him well in his future career."

http://www.fibaeurope.com/coid_zk0fXxJEJ9657JNvkDxZI3.articleMode_on.html

 

[Dato2]

Hope this info is true

Reports:Jeremy Pargo may receive a Georgian Passport - Apr 19, 2011 (by Nikloz Arveladze)
American guard Jeremy Pargo (188-PG-86, agency: Priority Sports, college: Gonzaga) may receive a Georgian Passport according to reports in Georgia.
Reports says that the Georgian federation are considering naturalizing Pargo so he will play for Georgia in Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania.
Pargo,who plays for Israeli champions - Maccabi Tel-Aviv and led the team to the Euroleague final four in Barcelona in May after having a great season averaging 13ppg,3.5rpg and 3.9ap.
The guard was voted for Euroleague MPV of March after leading his team to a 3-1 playoffs victory over Spanish outfit Caja Laboral and the ticket to the Final four.
Current naturalized player for the Georgian team is American guard Taurean Green (185-G-85, college: Florida) who plays for Spanish team Gran Canaria.Green led Georgia to this summer Eurobasket after averaging 11ppg,2.4rpg and 2.5apg in the Eurobasket qualifying round.
Georgia already had Naturalized several American players as Shammond Williams,Tyrone Ellis,Malvin Sanders and Green.
It may be seen if Green will continue and play for Georgia in The Eurobasket or Pargo will replace him in the Naturalized position.

http://www.eurobasket.com/Georgia/basketball.asp?NewsID=223923

 

[Xristos]

Georgia lost to Austria, this match was not taken seriously according to both head coaches. The official match is today

Gamkrelidze (1), A. Boisa (6), V. Boisa (7), Pachulia (10 points, 10 rebounds), Tsintsadze (7), Sanikidze (9), Tskitishvili (9), Haynes (7 points, 3 assists), Shengelia

Any link for the game today?

 

[CKR132]

Tornike Shengelia is drawing interest from several NBA scouts.

 

[rikhardur2]

All-Star Game 2012

All-Star Game 2012

Legionaries 137 Locals 125

 

[rikhardur2]

Armia achieve 2011/2012 title defense

Olimpi - Armia 67:91 (1-3)

Armia achieve 2011/2012 title defense in Georgia. The Winner of the Regular season won the series over Olimpi to triumph in the country.
Armia led from the first minutes and controlled entire game increasing their lead in each quarter. They made 17-of-19 free shots (89.5 percent) during the game. Armia outrebounded Olimpi 41-25 including 29 on the defensive glass. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. Worth to mention a great performance of American point guard Ben Woodside (180-PG-85, agency: Priority Sports, college: N.Dakota St.) who helped to win the game recording 20 points and 8 assists and the other American import swingman Jeremy Richardson (200-G/F-84, college: Delta St.) who added 18 points and 5 rebounds during the contest. At the losing side the former international forward Mikheil Berishvili (205-F-87, agency: Regeneracom Sports) responded with 20 points and 5 assists and Serbian center Ilija Milutinovic (211-C-88, agency: Global Sports Plaza, college: Oakland) scored 9 points and 7 rebounds.
Last year Armia triumphed in the country winning the series 3-1 over TSU. The last game finished with 65:61 for Army that brought them gold medals.

Olimpi: Mikheil Berishvili 20, Giorgi Gamqrelidze (183-G-86, agency: Interperformances) 15, Ilija Milutinovic 9
Armia: Ben Woodside 20, Jeremy Richardson 18, Will Thomas (203-PF-86, agency: Two Points) 15

http://www.eurobasket.com/Georgia/basketball.asp?NewsID=272342

 

[JRS Bonnet2]

Georgia NT (preliminary roster):

In Spanish: http://www.acb.com/redaccion.php?id=95562

Luke Zeller & Ricky Hickman. I did not see that coming.

 

[rikhardur2]

Luke Zeller & Ricky Hickman. I did not see that coming.

Even the news mentions "addition", as if this was a club or something. When will FIBA stop this? Both Zeller and Hickman never touched Georgian soil for sure and might not even know where the country is (maybe they thought it's American Georgia and said "Yes!" in a blink of an eye).

 

[Dato2]

FIBA allows having one naturalized guy in a roster. Therefore, we do not need to seek Georgian roots or some mystic spiritual connections to add the player. The fact that it is legal and equally applies to all countries is the best argument for me. Explanations like ,,he already lives in a country for years", "he is dating local girl", ,,his grandfather's close friend's neighbor was the national of my country" and etc. is less convincing.

P.S. Hope Hickman will at least partially compensate absence of Zaza.

 

[rikhardur2]

FIBA allows having one naturalized guy in a roster. Therefore, we do not need to seek Georgian roots or some mystic spiritual connections to add the player. The fact that it is legal and equally applies to all countries is the best argument for me. Explanations like ,,he already lives in a country for years", "he is dating local girl", ,,his grandfather's close friend's neighbor was the national of my country" and etc. is less convincing.

P.S. Hope Hickman will at least partially compensate absence of Zaza.

Dato, the thing is that rule has been totally twisted. The fact that FIBA allows one foreigner does not equal finding a foreigner at all costs just because you need a stronger player, even if he doesn't know where your country is. That's a club, not an NT. There's a difference. The rule, like in any other sport, was made to allow foreign players with some kind of attachment to a country to be able to play for that country. What we're seeing is totally unacceptable and it's even criminal, as even country rules regarding naturalisation are bypassed. It's a shameful, criminal and unfair behaviour. FIBA is to blame.
More, mercenaries come to mind: we pay you, you are one of us, regardless of anything. Just money. Ridiculous.

 

[macleopard132]

Dato, the thing is that rule has been totally twisted. The fact that FIBA allows one foreigner does not equal finding a foreigner at all costs just because you need a stronger player, even if he doesn't know where your country is. That's a club, not an NT. There's a difference. The rule, like in any other sport, was made to allow foreign players with some kind of attachment to a country to be able to play for that country. What we're seeing is totally unacceptable and it's even criminal, as even country rules regarding naturalisation are bypassed. It's a shameful, criminal and unfair behaviour. FIBA is to blame.
More, mercenaries come to mind: we pay you, you are one of us, regardless of anything. Just money. Ridiculous.

Totally agree with you. I hope FIBA gets a wake-up call soon and alters this rule. Things have already gotten out of hand - it's time to clean up the mess.

 

[auris12]

I am sure that this rule was made originally with intentions in mind ,especially knowing that migration and assimilation is a real thing ,and happens quite often nowadays- but as every exception,it can be exploited. Fiba,as an non political organization,should stay away from judging eligibility and vetoing who might or might not so be suitable candidate to obtain one's countries citizenship.No guidelines can cover all nuances too.
So my understanding is this - it is either get rid of this rule altogether(no naturalized players at all),or to introduce some damage control -like age/time limitations.
Like no player older than 25 can obtain the right to play for nt team(unlikely),or to introduce time limits like in other sports (2 years or so from obtaining citizenship).
Maybe introducing some quotas too - like no more than two players every 5 years.
But i am sure all the lawyers would have a field day with my propositions
So all in all ,it sucks

 

[Dato2]

Dato, the thing is that rule has been totally twisted. The fact that FIBA allows one foreigner does not equal finding a foreigner at all costs just because you need a stronger player, even if he doesn't know where your country is. That's a club, not an NT. There's a difference. The rule, like in any other sport, was made to allow foreign players with some kind of attachment to a country to be able to play for that country. What we're seeing is totally unacceptable and it's even criminal, as even country rules regarding naturalisation are bypassed. It's a shameful, criminal and unfair behaviour. FIBA is to blame.
More, mercenaries come to mind: we pay you, you are one of us, regardless of anything. Just money. Ridiculous.

Perhaps, my understanding of naturalization is different. I believe, that reason for it was raising competitiveness of tier 2 teams and to make basketball even more popular globally. To this end, I think this rule was successful. Moreover, even elite basketball nations started naturalization. Georgia, which is not most successful basketball country plays only one naturalized player, while stronger teams sometimes have 2-3 in their squad.
P.S. Georgian basketball Federation has never paid for naturalization.