Igor Kokoshkov started to coach Georgian basketball national team in year of 2008. Since then his team has qualified for the Division A playoffs after destroying all the opponents at home in Tbilisi. Belarus was the next and decisive step for the Georgian side to overcome in order to take part in European Championship qualifiers. Georgians did great in both, away and home matches, and accomplished their mission of going through to the Division A where its performance was just enough to beat all the experienced opponents but Belgium in the group. After finishing in the second place in Group C, Georgia should now prepare for the play-off that will take part next year so that the last competitor will fulfill the 16 team list of the 2011 Basketball European Championship which will take place in Lithuania.

If we divide the qualifying stage in the three parts, Division A was the second last one, which could be considered as semifinal. It should be noted that back in 1962 year when “Dinamo” Tbilisi won the European Champions League title it beat Bulgarian side “Akademika” in the semifinal in the both home and away match. It can be said that success against the Bulgarians in the semifinals for Georgian is a proposal for the overall success.

From the very beginning of the game it seems that Bulgarians arrived to Tbilisi for the victory. Visitors’ lead Philipp Videnov came out on the parquet hour and a half before that in order to “check out” the floor and the baskets. Nickoloz Tskitishvili was the first one to come out from the Georgian team on the floor in order to prepare for the match. He had a small dialogue with his Bulgarian colleague before other Bulgarians have joined Videnov on the floor. They needed to win desperately. Bulgarians were seeking for the revenge.

Serbian specialist Stanislav Peshinic was in the head of the Bulgarian basketball headquarters which were preparing were seriously for the upcoming clash. Peric is a well known coach who led former Yugoslavian and German teams to the European title. After that, he was the coach of the Serbia and Montenegro national team which won the gold medals of the world cup which was held in Indianapolis, USA in 2002. Peric’s team managed to beat the “Dream Team” USA in the final and brought gold medals at home. In the year of 2003 Peric was in the charge of Spanish side Barcelona. During his coaching period Barcelona won Euroleague, Spanish Cup, and Spanish championship title.

Besides that Belgium side, Georgian team had an also increased motivation of winning the match since we had a great opportunity of finishing in the second spot in case of winning this encounter. Moreover, finishing in the second spot would be an advantage for the Georgian side in a play-off stage, whereas Igor Kokoshkov’s team will be in a better position and play against weaker opponents.

The game opened with a precise pass from Zaza Pachulia for George Tsintsadze who brought first two points for the hosts. Unfortunately, Pachulia did not score any points until the midway into the second quarter of the game. Visitors looked more solid side, as they scored six straight three pointers before the break. This was a crucial part of their midpoint lead of 48:41. It was clear that Bulgarians will start shooting from the distance in the second half of the match. However Peric’s Serbian colleague Kokoshkov made a change in the defensive play of Georgia which helped our team to defend well against the Bulgarians and increase the game play in offense. Georgia score 16 points while allowing only 7 in the first 5 minutes of the third quarter. Fourth quarter was totally on the home side which led directly to the 32:20 win of the last 10 decisive minutes. Sanikidze, Pachulia, and Sanikidze won the crucial offensive rebounds which provoked Bulgarians to foul and drop over the foul limit. Victor Sanikidze’s great performance led our team to the 15 point advantage. The final score is 94:83 and another positive fact is that Georgian spectators have hope of Georgia’s better performance in the next year’s play-off round. Playing at 2011 Basketball European Championships is no longer utopia for us as we proved that we are a very solid side by beating Polish and Bulgarian side throughout the qualifying stage; the teams that were considered as group favorite before the campaign.

Italy is the most experienced team among the play-off competitors. Italian are two times European Champions and twice won the silver medals of the Olympic Games. It is now important to concentrate on the games that will be held in August of next year. We do hope that Georgia has a strength of qualifying for the Euro Basket 2011.

Igor Kokoshkov (Georgian national team Head Coach): “It was a very difficult game. Bulgaria was fighting for the win however we performed great in the second half. We won 5 matches in the group but it did not appear enough for us to qualify. Hopefully our positive attitude will hold on and the final ticket for the European basketball forum will be ours.”

Rosen Barchovski (Bulgarian national team Head Coach): “Both teams were in a very bad situation before that start of this game. Our aim was to overcome the opponent with a significant margin, so was Georgia’s aim. Match was processed in an even battle. Georgian played well especially in the second half. They played well defensively which was crucial part of their success.”

Georgia – Bulgaria 94:83 (24:19, 17:29, 32:20, 21:15)

Sport Palace. Tbilisi. Attendance: 8200

Georgia: Zaza Pachulia (14 pts. 12 rebs. 3 stl. 1 ast.), Georgia Tsintsadze (5 pts. 3 rebs. 4 ast. 2 stl.), Victor Sanikidze (27 pts. 11 rebs. 3 blk. 1 stl.), Taurean Green (11 pts. 3 ast.), Nickoloz Tskitishvili (8 pts. 5 rebs. 1 stl.), Manuchar Markoishvili (14 pts. 1 reb. 5 ast. 2 stl.), George Gamkrelidze (4 pts. 2 rebs. 2 ast. 1 stl.), Anatoly Boisa (1 reb.), George Shermadini (6 pts. 4 rebs.), Tornike Shengelia (5 pts. 2 ast.)

Head Coach: Igor Kokoshkov

Bulgaria: Kaloian Ivanov (14 pts. 12 rebs. 2 ast. 1 ast.), Philipp Videnov (12 pts. 5 rebs. 3 ast. 3 stl.), Earl Calloway (17 pts. 3 rebs. 3 ast. 2 stl.), Alexander Georgiev (12 pts. 5 rebs. 2 ast.), Nickolay Varbanov (6 pts. 4 rebs), Dejan Ivanov (4 rebs. 1 ast.), Chavdar Kostov (12 pts. 1 reb. 1 stl.), Stefan Georgiev (5 pts. 1 reb. 1 stl), Asen Velikov (2 pts. 1 reb. 1 ast.), Ivan Lilov (3 pts. 1 reb. 2 ast. 1 stl.).

Head Coach: Rosen Barchovski

Referees: Gianluca Matioli (ITA), Ademir Zuparovich (BHE), Alexander Gisich (Serbia)

Match commissar: David Dagan (Israel)

Belgium – Poland 70-67 (15:23, 18:16, 23:16, 14:12)

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

Gocha Kacharava