Georgia on Gilas’ mind

There’s a classic blues song “Georgia On My Mind” that was recorded in 1930 as a tribute to the US state and eventually inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame twice. Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Tom Jones, The Righteous Brothers, The Spencer Davis Group and Michael Bolton were among the artists who did versions of the song. That’s how popular it was and still is.

In the context of Gilas’ campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Latvia, coach Tim Cone has another Georgia on his mind. Gilas will play its second OQT game against Georgia on July 4 and the outcome could decide whether or not the Philippines advances to the semifinals on July 6.

Georgia is where former NBA center Zaza Pachulia comes from. Pachulia played for seven teams in 16 NBA seasons up to 2018-19, earning a reputation as a physical enforcer. In Game One of the 2017 Western Conference Finals, Pachulia stuck out his foot in Kawhi Leonard’s landing spot and caused a severe ankle injury that sidelined The Claw for the rest of the series. The 6-11, 270-pound Pachulia is Georgia’s role model in basketball and the team that Gilas will face is expected to be loaded with bruising Pachulia-types. Even Georgia’s pudgy Serbian coach Aleksandar Dzikic looks like a roughhouser.

Although Georgia’s roster isn’t finalized, it appears NBA veterans 6-10, 250-pound Goga Bitadze, 24, 6-9, 240-pound Toko Shengelia, 32 and 6-9, 240-pound Sandro Mamukelashvili, 25, will lead the frontline in Latvia. Also in the list are 7-1, 265-pound Giorgi Shermadini, 35 and 6-4 naturalized player Joe Thomasson of Wright State, Ohio. Since failing to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Georgia has made two big changes, bringing in Dzikic to replace Ilias Zouros as head coach and Thomasson to take over from previous naturalized player Thad McFadden. Early this year, Georgia lost to Denmark by six and Serbia by 13 in the EuroBasket qualifiers but played without Bitadze and Mamukelashvili so the team is determined to bounce back in full force. The ticket to Paris is now what’s on Georgia’s mind.