Georgian basketball national team’s performance in the 2011 European basketball championship has come to an end. Igor Kokoshkov’s team won 5 out of 8 matches in the group stage however, unfortunately, it was not enough for his team to qualify directly for the Euro Basket 2011. The reason why Georgia did not qualify for the tournament despite finishing in the second place is that according to the FIBA format only two best second placed teams out of three are eligible for qualifying. These teams are Macedonia and Israel since they have better goal difference compared to Georgia, +73 and +68 respectively; Georgia finished with a difference of +31. Basically, if Igor Kokoshkov’s team would have scored 38 more points in eight games played we had tournament’s final ticket in the pocket.
Georgia beat every single opponent in Tbilisi Sport Palace but Belgium national team which won the Group C. Belgium produced nothing special. In fact, they won all their home matches and returned with 2 crucial points from Tbilisi.
What is up next for us? We only know that the battles for the last place in the European Championships will be fought in August 2011 while the actual final tournament start on September the 3rd. There are 15 teams that already are qualified for the tournament. The last one will join upon the end of qualifying play-off stage. Georgia has every chance of becoming the team that will conclude the list of participants.
The format of play-off is yet to be decided. In the previous qualifying play-off stage, remaining 6 teams were split into two groups. Top two teams from each group faced each other in the two match duel. Last time it was France who managed to overcome Belgium and qualify for the Euro Basket 2009.
Perhaps next year the format will be identical: the worse second placed team (Georgia), all the third placed teams (Italy, Ukraine, Bulgaria), and top two fourth placed teams (Bosnia and Poland). However nothing has been decided officially yet. It is not excluded that FIBA will introduce all-new format.
Here are some comments that were made by the members of Georgian basketball national team:
Igor Kokoshkov (Georgian National Team Head Coach): “We are together since the month of July. It is hard to play so many games on a high level. Overall, I am happy with the performance of my team. They were debutants of Division A and proved that they can do a lot. Against Bulgaria they have produced a fighting spirit, played energetically and deserved to win. I have nothing to say but thanks to the boys.”
Zaza Pachulia (Georgian National Team Captain): “I am happy with the game against Bulgaria but I am not happy with an overall outcome since we could not managed to qualify for the European Championship. We played with such a high class teams for the first time; therefore we gained a huge experience. Journalists and spectators gained experience as well. There were some publications that negatively reflected on us however just like us – you also had to debut in broadcasting this kind of games. Hopefully, every of us will apply gained experience in the next year and everything will be great.”
George Gamkrelidze (Georgian National Team Player): “We knew that it is going to be a tough battle. Bulgaria is a serious team. We were relatively rested, played freely and made a breakthrough in the second half.”
Victor Sanikidze (Georgian National Team Player): “We have proved that we are Division A class team. I am sorry because of the fact that we lacked very little in order to qualify from the group. In despite of everything, we still have a chance of getting the final ticket. We will do everything to do so. Bulgaria became a victim of its own strategy: they wanted to win with a big margin. It would have been more appropriate for them if they would thought about just winning the match.”
2011 European Basketball Championship Qualifying Round. A Division
Group A
Italy 71 - 79 Israel
Montenegro 96 - 66 Latvia
Finland 60 - 74 Montenegro
Latvia 69 - 68 Italy
Israel 110 - 88 Latvia
Italy 82 - 73 Finland
Montenegro 71 - 62 Italy
Finland 84 - 83 Israel
Latvia 87 - 67 Finland
Israel 77 - 73 Montenegro
Israel 76 - 81 Italy
Latvia 84 - 90 Montenegro
Italy 109 - 93 Latvia
Montenegro 91 - 71 Finland
Finland 83 - 85 Italy
Latvia 56 - 92 Israel
Israel 85 - 71 Finland
Italy 72 - 71 Montenegro
Finland 90 - 93 Latvia
Montenegro 79 - 69 Israel
1. Montenegro - 6/2 - 645:561 – 14
2. Israel - 5/3 - 671:603 - 13
3. Italy - 5/3 - 630:615 - 13
4. Latvia - 3/5 - 636:722 - 11
5. Finland -1/7 - 599:680 - 9
Group B
Hungary 82 - 91 Great Britain
Ukraine 58 - 71 F.Y.R. of Macedonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina 86 - 76 Ukraine
F.Y.R. of Macedonia 78 - 44 Hungary
Great Britain 104 - 96 F.Y.R. of Macedonia
Hungary 74 - 70 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ukraine 80 - 71 Hungary
Bosnia and Herzegovina 80 - 84 Great Britain
Great Britain 90 - 76 Ukraine
F.Y.R. of Macedonia 70 - 56 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Great Britain 66 - 64 Hungary
Macedonia 71 - 55 Ukraine
Ukraine 87 - 69 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Hungary 85 - 82 Macedonia
Bosnia and Herzegovina 73 - 64 Hungary
Macedonia 75 - 56 Great Britain
Hungary 83 - 75 Ukraine
Great Britain 94 - 85 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ukraine 75 - 56 Great Britain
Bosnia and Herzegovina 83 - 71 Macedonia
1. Great Britain - 6/2 - 651:633 - 14
2.Macedonia – 5/3 - 614:541 - 13
3. Ukraine – 3/5 - 582:607 - 11
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3/5 – 602:620 - 11
5. Hungary – 3/5 - 567:615 - 11
Group C
Georgia 84 – 65 Poland
Portugal 59 – 67 Bulgaria
Poland 86 – 64 Portugal
Belgium 74 – 64 Georgia
Portugal 69 – 78 Belgium
Bulgaria 74 – 70 Poland
Georgia 73 – 57 Portugal
Belgium 74 – 69 Bulgaria
Bulgaria 79 – 83 Georgia
Poland 93 – 73 Belgium
Bulgaria 103 – 64 Portugal
Poland 67 – 58 Georgia
Georgia 63 – 86Belgium
Portugal 85 – 84 OT Poland
Poland 75 – 71 Bulgaria
Belgium 68 - 63 Portugal
Bulgaria 92 – 81 Belgium
Portugal 57 – 80 Georgia
Georgia 94 - 83 Bulgaria
Belgium 70 - 67 Poland
1. Belgium – 6/2 - 604:580 14
2. Georgia – 5/3 - 599:568 13
3. Bulgaria – 4/4 - 638:600 12
4. Poland – 4/3 - 607:579 11
5. Portugal – 1/7 - 518:639 9
