News
Article
Shengelia and Georgia get off to dream World Cup start

Shengelia and Georgia get off to dream World Cup start

Artikel

26 August 20234 Lesezeit

Geoff Gillingham

Editorial Manager

Georgia and Virtus Segafredo Bologna's Tornike Shengelia gets to the basket under pressure from Cape Verde and Real Madrid's Walter Tavares at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Everything was set up for this to be the day of Edy Tavares and Cape Verde, as the Real Madrid center's nation made its highly anticipated first-ever appearance at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. However, it was another World Cup debutant that ended up stealing the show, with Tornike Shengelia's Georgia defeating Cape Verde 60-85 in Okinawa, Japan.

In the first game of Saturday's World Cup action, Shengelia and his Georgia teammates recovered from a slow start to come away with a dominant win, sending a message to the rest of Group F – which includes Cape Verde, Slovenia and Venezuela – in the process.

Shengelia remains Georgia's star

Shengelia, who averaged 9.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists for Virtus Segafredo Bologna in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague last season, led the way in scoring for Georgia after posting a game-high 16 points. He grabbed 7 rebounds and dished 1 assist, too.

For years, Shengelia has been the poster boy of Georgian basketball, picking up the baton from Zaza Pachulia, and he didn't disappoint in front of a decent-sized crowd inside Okinawa Arena. Although the 31-year-old had just 2 points in the first quarter, with Georgia overcoming an early 8-2 deficit to lead 11-20 after 10 minutes, he scored 7 second-quarter points – taking his tally to 9 in total – as the European nation swelled its advantage to 22-48 at the halftime interval.

With Georgia ahead by 26 points heading into the second half, Shengelia and his teammates did a good job of managing the scoreboard, with the Virtus star adding another 5 points in the third quarter and 2 in the fourth to finish with 16 points overall. What's more, Georgia was able to rest Shengelia for the final 5:39 minutes of the game after the team had made it a 47-76 ballgame.

Learning from EuroBasket 2022

Georgia competed at EuroBasket 2022 for the fifth time in its history last summer, but Shengelia missed out after picking up a shoulder injury that also saw him miss the first five rounds of the 2022-23 EuroLeague season. Nevertheless, the Virtus forward was around the team for the tournament and attempted to offer his advice wherever possible.

"[I'm trying] to be the voice and encourage the players," Shengelia told BasketNews. "For many of them it's their first EuroBasket, especially at home. For many of them it could add pressure, and I try to turn this pressure into motivation for them. I try to help in the mental aspect of the game."

"He's a leader and a captain of the team," added Georgia head coach Ilias Zouros. "He knows how to talk with the players, we need him, and it's very important that he's here supporting the team."

Shengelia's teammates ended up failing to get out of the group phase at EuroBasket 2022, so with that in mind, Saturday's performance against Cape Verde was particularly special. The 10-season EuroLeague stalwart not only got a chance to play in a memorable game in Georgia's history, but he also got to display his leadership qualities on the court, having had to watch on from the sidelines one summer ago.

With Shengelia playing like this and complemented by the likes of 2018-19 EuroLeague Rising Star winner Goga Bitadze, Sandro Mamukelashvili and veteran captain Giorgi Shermadini, Georgia will hope that this is the start of a magical World Cup run. Next up for Shengelia and his teammates is a game against Slovenia – the favorites in Group F – on Monday, but if Saturday's game against Cape Verde is anything to go by, Luka Doncic and co. should be in for a tricky ride.