VITORIA-GASTEIZ (FIBA EuroBasket 2017) – If Georgia star forward Toko (Tornike) Shengelia was given one wish ahead of Tuesday afternoon's FIBA EuroBasket 2017 Draw, he would not use it to choose his team's opponents in the group stage, but rather the place where he would like to play against those opponents, whoever they might be.

"I would pick Israel because we know there are a lot of Georgians who live there, unlike Finland," Shengelia told FIBA.com. "Fans will come to the gym to see us and they will make us feel at home. When fans are on your side cheering you on, making you feel their support, it is an amazing feeling.

"So the more Georgians we have in the stands, the better it will be for us. We had an amazing atmosphere at the home games during the Qualifiers in the summer and I really cannot describe what a great sensation it was for us, the players."

"If we are healthy, if every player arrives in good condition, I think we will be considered to be one of the strong teams. And if we are healthy, I would not mind being in a strong group because at the end of the day it is one game at the time and all you have to do is play 100%, put in everything you have.

"You can have a hard time against a weaker team if you don't play as you should and you can beat a strong team if everyone plays well on the day. Besides, it's fun to play against the big teams, it's fun to compete against the great players."

In the event the 25-year-old forward gets his wish on Tuesday and Georgia are drawn in the Tel Aviv group, they will have to go up against Lithuania, who are Israel's partner federation in the 2017 tournament.

The Baltic side had marked the FIBA EuroBasket 2015 campaign of Shengelia and his team-mates, as Georgia and Lithuania clashed in what was by far the most memorable Round of 16 match-up and one of the most enjoyable games of basketball in living memory.

Georgia finished however on the wrong end as Shengelia fouled out prematurely and Jonas Maciulis came up with an outlandish 34-point display for Lithuania to emerge 85-81 winners. Three days later, they would reach the title game against Spain.

Many felt then that Georgia deserved to go through to the Quarter-Finals, but met the wrong opponent at the wrong time. Shengelia says while that might be true, it will not change his approach to the 2017 tournament.

"We still remember what happened in the game against Lithuania because it was really tough on us," Shengelia said. "Even though we competed until the end and we came so close, in the end we did not qualify and it was very difficult to accept for all of us.

FIBA