The game will be held 50 kilometers north from the capital Porto, near the city of Guimaraes – Fafe. Tipoff is scheduled on 00:30 Tbilisi time; therefore it will already be August 27th in Georgia. The first game between those two was played in Tbilisi. Back then Georgians ended up with a flying 16 point victory in front of nearly 10,000 spectators. Portugal played well only in the first quarter of that fixture. Afterwards Georgian advantage was solid and it reflected on the final score – 73:57.
Zaza Pachulia played one of his matches against Portugal finishing with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. Victor Sanikidze recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with 2 steals and 2 blocks. American Taurean Green scored 12, rebounded 5 and set up 3 in that game.
In the first game Georgian team beat Portugal in rebounds, grabbing 47 against 36. It should be noted that Portuguese played very aggressively and that is why Igor Kokoshkov’s team shot 44 times from the line out of which 32 tries were precise.
On the other hand Portugal celebrated their first and only victory in this tournament so far at home against the mighty Polish side. Moreover, in their last game they were ahead against Belgium with 27 second on the clock but could not hold on to the lead, however.
Portugal leader is American Heshimu Evans whose game average is 16.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.0 steal. During the triumph over Poland Evans dropped in 20 points, while in his last match against Belgium he increased his record scoring 25 and rebounding 9 times.
One of the Portuguese leaders Miguel Minava is injured and will not play against Georgia. This is a huge lack for the hosts as Minava is one of the best players among the others. His average is 4.8 assists per game which is in fact a fourth best result in the competition.
As of today, our team is currently in the fourth place in the Group C behind Belgium, Poland, and Bulgaria. In despite of this Georgia has a pretty good chance of finishing in a second place. In order for this to happen, Georgian side needs to win the remaining two matches, while Belgium needs to win at least one of its remaining two fixtures. The other thing that may not satisfy our conditions is other teams’ result in the other groups.
The competition format concludes that winners of groups A, B, and C will qualify for the tournament directly as well as the two best second placed teams among these groups. The remaining six teams (remaining second placed, 3 third placed, and top two fourth placed) will play for the last spot of the tournament against each other.
Unfortunately, Georgia has no more chance of finishing in the top spot of the Group; however, in order to place itself in the second position, one of the other groups second placed teams should have recorded four defeats, while Georgia needs to improve their point differential. Well, that will not be easy but it is possible.
Nevertheless, Georgian team has a high motivation of winning this one. Hopefully, after several days of rest along with the comfortable travel (first time our team traveled with a charter flight) Georgia will overcome tired Portugal which is going to play their third match in nine days.
This game’s live broadcast in scheduled on Georgian Public Broadcast.
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
1. Montenegro 5 1 495:420 11
2. Italy 4 3 558:544 11
3. Israel 4 2 517:453 10
4. Latvia 2 5 543:632 9
5. Finland 1 5 438:502 7
August 26th
Israel – Finland
Italy – Montenegro
August 29th
Finland – Latvia
Montenegro – Israel
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
1.Macedonia 5 2 543:458 12
2. Great Britain 5 1 491:473 11
3. Hungary 2 5 484:540 8
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 4 434:455 8
5. Ukraine 2 5 432:458 9
August 26th
Hungary – Ukraine
Great Britain – Bosnia and Herzegovina
August 29th
Ukraine – Great Britain
Bosnia and Herzegovina - Macedonia
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
1. Belgium 5 1 453:421 11
2. Poland 4 3 540:509 11
3. Bulgaria 3 3 463:425 9
4. Georgia 3 3 425:428 9
5. Portugal 1 6 461:559 8
August 26th
Bulgaria – Belgium
Portugal – Georgia
August 29th
Georgia – Bulgaria
Belgium - Poland
