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Jorge Sierra: In Georgia, where do you think you rank in terms of popularity among athletes? It's probably the soccer guy from PSG first and then you? Goga Bitadze: No, I'm last. Jorge Sierra: You're last? Goga Bitadze: Yeah, 100 percent. They don't like me back in my country. So yeah, I'm probably the last guy.
“We know GA. We know he’s here for us. He loves the city. He loves the team. We love him,” Green said. “We’re gonna play for him. He’s gonna play for us. “So, people are going to say whatever, outside noise, but we know what it is inside this locker room and the relationship we got and the team we got, so we’re just gonna continue to run with that and trust it.”
USA Basketball today announced the 12-man roster and coaching staff for the November 2025 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team, which will play Nicaragua in Managua, Nicaragua, and in College Park, Georgia, on Nov. 28 and Dec. 1, respectively. The 12 athletes slated to compete for the USA have professional experience in the NBA, NBA G League and internationally with six players having prior USA Basketball experience. The November 2025 USA Men’s World Cup Qualifying Team includes MarJon Beauchamp, Pedro Bradshaw, Garrison Brooks, Torrey Craig, Kessler Edwards, Kyle Guy, Nate Hinton, Brandon Knight, Jaden Shackelford, Javonte Smart, Jeremiah Tilmon and Ryan Woolridge.
The Spurs selected Castle with the fourth overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft out of Connecticut. The Covington, Georgia, native averaged 14.1 points, 4.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game in 81 games during the 2024-25 season. A global media panel of 100 voters chose Castle as NBA Rookie of the Year after he received 92 first-place votes, seven second-place votes and one third-place vote, giving him a total of 482 points. “It meant a lot. I put a lot of work in going into last [season],” Castle said. “So, to have that award, that took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. Now, I can just go out there and hoop.”
A $180,000 Range Rover customized for NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal was stolen in Georgia earlier this month, and law enforcement is still on the hunt for it. The Lumpkin County Sheriff's Office in northeast Georgia said investigators believe the SUV was taken from a local fabrication business and brought to the metro Atlanta area last week. The car was supposed to be transported to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the basketball star to use while he was in town for a Louisiana State University game, but it never arrived, CBS News Atlanta reported.
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Sheriffs from Georgia and Florida are partnering with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal to honor the four girls who died in an Aug. 30 house fire in North Carolina. The Henry County Sheriff’s Office, of Georgia, said the partnership is a joint donation that “fully covers the expenses associated with honoring the girls, lifting the financial burden from the grieving family.”
HoopsHype: Mamukelashvili said Georgia would have beaten France with Wemby on the team too. We have a follow-up on this developing story from Mamu: "(Wemby) didn't answer my call. I'm still heartbroken about it because I wanted to tell him (...) If you're watching this, hit my line, Vic."
The battle of Cinderella stories unfolded on Wednesday in Arena Riga, where Finland and Georgia faced off after stunning Quarter-Final upsets over Serbia and France, respectively. With a place in history on the line, Finland prevailed, earning their first ever trip to the Semi-Finals with a 93-79 win. On Friday, they will play the winner of the Germany vs Slovenia matchup.
While Lauri Markkanen had another inspiring performance (17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks), it was Mikael Jantunen who was the game hero for Finland. Against Serbia, he was impressive on the defensive end, taking over the duties of guarding Nikola Jokic, and this time around, it was his offense making the difference. Jantunen knocked down three three-pointers early on, finishing the game with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Finland were a +12 team with him on the floor.
Marc Stein: The @EuroBasket quarterfinals are set: Lithuania v Greece Türkiye v Poland Germany v Slovenia Finland v Georgia More NBA from me: https://tinyurl.com/3uasyd2p
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For the first time in their history, Georgia made it to the Eurobasket quarterfinals, beating stunned France in the Round of 16 with the final score being 80-70. Naturalized point guard Kamar Baldwin with 24 points, and captain Toko Shengelia also with 24 points and eight rebounds, made things happen, while Sylvain Francisco was the top scorer of France with 14 points.
As Sandro Mamukelashvili said about beating the Olympic silver medalists and some key shots and free throws missed by France in the end: “If they made it, it would be a totally different game, but God was looking over us. I feel like they just missed those and we came up with the rebound, but it was what a game for them and I wish them nothing but the best, but right now I can text Victor Wembanyama and tell him we just beat France and it’s too bad he was not here because we would beat them with him too”.
Italy had already secured qualification before the tip-off, but the game was a real battle for survival, decided by the young blood of both teams. When all was said and done, Italy got the 67-63 over Spain, which is in danger of ending the Eurobasket in two days. After this result, Italy is tied with Greece with a 3-1 record, which needs to beat Spain in the last round to secure the top spot in the Group C standings. If Spain loses to Greece and Bosnia beats Georgia, then Spain will finish 5th in the standings.
Sandro Mamukelashvili led Georgia to the 83-69 win over Spain in their Eurobasket opener for Group C with 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. It was the first-ever Eurobasket win of Georgia over Spain. Mamu was great, Goga Bitadze scored 15 points, sealing the deal in the end, Duda Sanadze added 11 points, while Georgia captain Toko Shengelia (photo) played in the game, despite being doubtful until the 11th hour, finishing with 13 points.