RIGA (Latvia) - He was there when they were still just a Division B team in 2009. He was there when they made it to their first FIBA EuroBasket 2011.
He was there when they had their hearts broken in 2015. He was there when they made it to their first ever FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2023.
Long story short, Tornike Shengelia is always there for Georgia.
I was feeling blessed, honestly.
"He's more important than me," coach Aleksandar Dzikic had a symbolic gesture after the game, breaking the protocol in the press conference and allowing the player to go first.
Shengelia just smiled, and started talking about the improbable win over France. He was so emotional, finding the right words was a struggle.
"The way I felt today, I cannot explain it. The only explanation is God. I'm so proud, honestly, very proud of my teammates. Everybody, man."
In fact, the right word was blessed.
"I was feeling blessed, honestly. Playing this many games in this many days, plus travel and playing like this today? It's not easy. I have no other explanation than what I just said."
Shengelia counted to 24 points with 8 rebounds on the day, knocking down two gigantic triples when France forced a tie late in the game, and icing the game from the free throw line.
Many underdogs would've crumbled under pressure, after blowing a nine-point lead in the final period of the game against France. Not Georgia, though.
"We never stopped fighting, never stopped believing," Shengelia described what it took to stay calm.
The correct description of the reaction on the floor would be: give Tornike the ball and let him cook.
"That's what Toko does. I've seen it, I'm not shocked by it, but it's great to see him come out and compete every single day and do what he does," Kamar Baldwin smiled.
While "blessed" might have been the word for Shengelia, "trust" would be the correct one for this Georgian generation.
They've had their fair share of ups and downs in this tournament alone. But you don't eliminate both the defending champions Spain and the reigning Finalists France by accident.
"If we go out and play with skills or only Xs and Os, there are not a lot of teams that we might beat," the 33-year-old explained.
"But if you combined that with the unity, fighting for each other, believing in each other, it doesn't matter if you have zero points or 20 points. You saw it today. Every time we played like that, we won the game. Every time we didn't, we lost the game."
With their leader finally getting to play the EuroBasket Quarter-Finals for the first time in his life, Georgia are not done yet.
As Shengelia said it himself, they are happy, but they aren't satisfied.
How could they be? They can smell it, that podium is just two wins away now.
FIBA