Zurab Talakvadze

Bad day for Georgian NT

It was one of those, forgettable evenings in the history of Georgian basketball. In the first game of World Cup qualification, Georgia was beaten in Tbilisi by Ukraine 92:79. The arrival of team captain Tornike Shengelia, who was playing on a short rest, did not help either. Ukraine was better in almost every area.

This was the last game in NT uniform played in Georgia  for a local legend, Giorgi Shermadini. He will retire after the next game in Spain, but for now, Giorgi deserves all the praise and love from all the fans and the country in general. Thank you, big fella for the love of this game, for your endless passion and guts that you showed during all these years. Shermadini will have 203 games under his belt in GNT uniform when he says the final Good Bye. What a legend.

Now, back to the game. Shengelia was coming after a game in Euroleague, where his Barcelona battled and beat Lyon, but Tornike flew back immediately and was short on rest. It did show the ill effect in his game, as Tornike was not his usual self, did not dominate, but still finished with some nice stat line (17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists). He missed some shots (overall, just 5/16 from the field), but this was far from his best self all in all.

Georgia was torched on a fast break and did not have an answer for the energy of Oleksandr Kovliar, who finished with a massive 31 points, 6 boards and 6 dimes. Kovliar was destructive from the get go and had game of his life in his respectful NT career.

Georgia started fast and was leading by as much as 10 points, but Ukraine did crawl back. Kovliar was scoring and grafting for the visitors, while others did their job. Georgia made only 25/67 field goals and allowed Ukraine to dictate the game from the second quarter on.

Duda Sanadze was a bright spot for the hosts, as he tortured Ukraine with 22 points, 5 three pointers and some timely scoring. But it was not enough for the win. All small details went in favor of Ukraine and Georgia did not have chance to come back.

All in all, bad day for Georgia, who plays next Spain in Spain in two days. Shengelia is expected to play and Georgia will try to avoid a second defeat in as many games.