Toko! Toko! Toko! Georgia stun France and make history
Toko Shengelia turned back the clock, Sandro Mamukelashvili locked down on D, and Georgia made history. Guerschon Yabusele was the only player France could rely on for most of the game. That wasn’t enough as Georgia qualified for the quarter finals of EuroBasket 2025.
If you’re going to make history, you might as well do it in style. Georgia, having never been past the round of 16 in EuroBasket history, took down one of the deepest talent factories in the world. Toko Shengelia and Sandro Mamukelashvili starred as the small but proud nation took down Guerschon Yabusele and France.
Yabu carries the load
It would be kind to describe France’s start to the game as lacklustre. For all their injuries, this is still a very talented roster. With the likes of Bilal Coulibaly and Theo Maledon starting, it was reasonable to expect something special to start this game.
Instead those in Riga watched as Toko Shengelia went vintage mode while Sandro Mamukelashvili adapted to a D first role. It was Georgia who looked the more fluid of the sides. Only one of the French players played like this was an elimination game of EuroBasket 2025.
Guerschon Yabusele was the reason France didn’t get in a big hole in this game. While effective defensively, his offensive fury in the first half screamed of a player frustrated by his fellow Frenchmen. In every aspect of the offensive game, he was the one guy making things work.
An evolving role
Most leaders aren’t born, they’re built. Guerschon Yabusele is proof of that. Through his failed first stint in the NBA to his at times fractious moments in Euroleague, he has been through the ringer. Yabu always came back stronger and his game has developed as a result.
He’s at his most comfortable in a supporting role, or at least where he can play off a false primary. That was the case with Mam Jaiteh at EuroBasket 2025. With the French front court riddled with injuries, Yabu looked like he’d have to be the primary focus. Jaiteh fitted into the pure 5 role nicely here, particularly as his main job was to facilitate Yabu.
With Yabusele the effective leader of this French side, something that would have been true regardless of the injury situation, it’s a good fit. For all of France’s problems, Guerschon Yabusele was giving them the resolve to compete.
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Mamu’s mission
The natural assumption for the outside observer coming into this game might have been that Sandro Mamukelashvili would be focused on guarding Guerschon Yabusele. The physical match-up makes a lot of sense.
Instead, Mamu was focused squarely on Bilal Coulibaly. The size and length mismatch that Coulibaly presented to Georgia’s other options meant Mamu had to focus on the rangy Frenchman. Instead, Toko Shengelia focused on Yabusele while Goga Bitadze led a sort of platoon approach to Mam Jaiteh.
This approach required a sacrifice from Mamukelashvili. His offensive opportunities were limited by the role but he still found a way to squeeze through for some big plays, albeit at an inefficient rate. Instead, Shengelia and Kamar Baldwin took on the bulk of the scoring load.
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Guerschon Yabusele was the lone bright spark for a France team that meekly exited EuroBasket 2025.
Which one of these is a NBA factory again?
The sheer volume of talent that France has sent to the NBA in recent years is undeniable. That almost all of them were frontcourt players is equally so. Still, the guards they had healthy here are serious Euroleague talents. This was a roster that should have been good enough to see off Georgia at EuroBasket 2025.
Instead we saw only Guerschon Yabusele provide anything approaching a display deserving of wearing a France jersey. The devil take order now. It was Sandro Mamukelashvili, Toko Shengelia, and a disciplined roster of Georgia heroes that were in charge.
Be it a veteran like Duda Sanadze, a man entering his prime like Goga Bitadze, or an import such as Kamar Baldwin, every man in red was playing with more poise than the bulk of the French roster. This wasn’t a matter of heart winning over talent, it was a team against a disjointed mess.
Toko! Toko! Toko!
France had the legs to somehow stay in this. Zaccharie Rissacher and Sylvain Francisco did the damage from deep. Elie Okobo got the job done inside. For all their disorder, France’s sheer rotation depth was creeping them over the line.
Toko Shengelia was having none of it. With Sandro Mamukelashvili continuing to fight defensively, the veteran leader took charge from deep. A big block by Goga Bitadze changed the tone of play as the game entered its final 2 minutes. With Kamar Baldwin at the line. Georgia closed it out.
France’s utter lack of ideas be damned. Guerschon Yabusele gave his all but this was not his day. Mamu, Toko, and the men of Georgia had deservedly defeated a giant.
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