LIMASSOL (Cyprus) - They had lost all six of their warm-up games. Their brightest stars limped into the tournament under clouds of doubt. By every metric, Georgia were supposed to struggle in the Group of Death.
And yet here they are, roaring into FIBA EuroBasket 2025 with the unbreakable pride of Sakartvelo in their veins, toppling none other than the reigning champions Spain to open their campaign.
Georgia had not won a game all summer before beating the four-time champions Spain 83-69 to start Group C play.
We showed our character, our Georgian spirit, our togetherness and resilience.
They dropped their first two warmup games behind closed doors in Riga against Israel and Estonia before a 23-point loss at Lithuania. That was followed by a loss in Poland and then two more defeats in Czechia.
"0-6 is a bad result, I'm not gonna lie, but we showed our character our Georgian spirit, our togetherness and resilience and this is the outcome," said Beka Burjanadze.
"People know we went 0-6 in preparations games, and it was hard for us to stay positive. We had not won a game together all year. But it paid off. We played tough teams to get us ready," added NBA center Goga Bitadze.
Part of the reason for the losses was head coach Aleksandar Dzikic never having his full roster together. A number of players missed a game here or there and Dzikic at times even had only eight players to work with during practice.
Captain Tornike Shengelia, the team's heart and soul, missed the entire preparation due to a heart arrhythmia, remaining in Barcelona for medical checkups.
"I will not lie that after losing six games, the guys were not feeling that great. All I wanted to do was help them believe again in themselves, ourselves and each other," Shengelia said.
"The coach had to go through a lot, a lot of s**t. One day, one game, two guys are out, another game three guys out ... If he's not a coach he would be a great psychologist."
Dzikic only had one practice with his full squad - and that came in Cyprus.
Shengelia was a question mark for the game as was NBA power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, who was dealing with an ankle injury.
"(Shengelia) playing, Kid (Mamukelashvili) playing, that's their decisions. I don't push my players to play," Dzikic said at the post-game press conference. "You should see the report from our medical team. It's funny."
The coach wanted to make sure and mention the medical staff for their work, saying: "What they do is incredible. What they are doing is incredible. They are doing miracles."
Dzikic laughed when asked if he expected Shengelia to play 20 minutes while the captain himself nodded and said: "I did."
Dzikic answered: "Two of my guys their duty was to hold him on the bench because that's who he is. My job is to not allow him that."
But that is the heart of Shengelia and the rest of the Georgians. And the first upset is in the books.
FIBA