Zurab Talakvadze

Goga Bitadze is raising to occasion

Georgia is one of the Cinderella stories of this Eurobasket. Filled with some big talent and lacking the depth, Georgia dethroned Spain, fought hard with Italy, got beaten bad by Greece, rolled through Cyprus and lost a hard fought battle to Bosnia and the iron man Nurkic. But, for the God’s sake, Georgia went to the do or die stage and in play offs faces France.

Georgia still has the great captain Tornike Shengelia, who has some serious health concerns. Georgia still has man on the rise Sandro Mamukelashvili. Georgia still does not have a true point guard and this team has one of the best tall man of this graveyard, Goga Bitadze. Who blocks like a beast. Who scores with ease. Who can hit a game winner from any given distance. And, who can two quickest fouls on planet Earth. Well, that is Goga. Like him or not, Bitadze mostly delivers.

This Eurobasket gave us a different Bitadze. More mature, more expanded in his repertoire, more matured in all. Bitadze gives you some trouble in areas, never predicted for him or from him before. He added a three pointer, which he should have done before. This is a huge addition to his team. And we are no talking only about GNT. We do mean Oralndo Magic. A team on a rise, but desperate in shooting from long distance. Oraldno made some splashy moves during the summer acquisitions, when they added Desmond Bane and Tyus Jones, but still, team badly needs some good long distance shooting from their bigs. So, here comes Goga. An accurate shooter inside the paint and an iproved one from the long distance. Enjoy, And we do mean it.

Last year, Goga had only 51 attempts from outside the eight feet. Not that much. He was living and dying in the paint and he was effective when given a ball. This Bitadze is opening up his spots and gives you more headache. This Bitadze is a real threat. Goga is turning the page and becoming more lethal.

Look at his stats.

Goga is leading Georgia with 18.3 points per game. Goga is leading the team in efficiency with 19.3.

Goga is the leading rebounder for Georgia with 6.8 and Bitadze is second with 1.0 steals.

And we did not even mention his 2.0 blocks per game. Only a tall guy from Iceland Tryggvi Hlinason is blocking more (2.4). Goga is quietly having the best international tournament of his life and one of the best for GNT.

So, as we await for a game versus France, we still cherish the pearls, that Bitadze is giving us. For now, he is the MVP of team Georgia.

Let the show continue.

Goga is real.