By Special Correspondent/ info@eurohoops.net
“What I do for the Georgian National Team is what I love to do”.
When you start like this, it’s easy to understand the context. Toko Shengelia has been an NBA player, a EuroLeague star, and a leader on and off the court.
However, if there’s something even more important for him, then without a doubt, it’s the Georgian national team: “It is in line with my values and what I believe I should do for my country. No one forces me to do something. It comes from within me; I feel it, and that is why I do it”.
That’s the answer you will get from most players, who are sacrificing their summers for the banner of their country. And in Europe, there’s a special kind of pride involved, starting from childhood.
As Toko explains: “I have felt this way since I was a little kid. When I was a kid, we didn’t have access to the Internet, we didn’t know so much about the EuroLeague, the NBA, and videos weren’t as accessible as they are today. So, my dream while growing up was one and only: To play for my country’s National Team, to hear the national anthem. Every time I closed my eyes, I dreamed of these scenes that I am living now… When I heard the national anthem for the first time while wearing the national team jersey, I felt more proud than ever… It was an emotional moment. When I was 16, it was the first time I put on the jersey… Do you know what I did? I was at home and I looked at myself in the mirror. It was too big on me, so big that it looked like a burqa. I’ll tell you the truth: I felt like I was a superhero. It’s really hard to describe these feelings. And that was the first of many times that followed that I felt the same”.
After all, playing for the national team also makes you a better player. “I think my basketball career wouldn’t have been the same if I hadn’t played for the National Team”, admits Shengelia. “To be honest, when I was younger, the fact that I was called up to the national teams wasn’t a big surprise. I was one of the most talented players of my generation, but not that strong. You know how things are at that age. In a way, you know it, you sense whether you’re going to choose it or not. The big shock was when I was called up to the men’s National Team for the first time”.
It’s something that Toko will never forget.
“At that time, I was playing in the youth teams of Valencia, and one day the coach came and found me in my room, saying: ‘Toko, the letter from the Georgian Federation has arrived. They are calling you to the National Team.” I replied, “Ok, thank you very much”. I thought it was another invitation for the junior national teams. But the man did not leave and insisted: “Toko, did you understand what I said? The request from Georgia has arrived. They are calling you to the senior National Team. You are in the selection”. I took the letter from his hands and I could not believe it. Literally the whole night, I could not sleep for a second”.
A duty, a legacy, and no sleep
For Toko Shengelia, committing to the National Team is a no-brainer. So why does he things like this? “I don’t think I have an answer. In our days, it was a dream for every little kid to play for the National Team. I want to set an example for all the young players today to understand how important it is for them and for our country to have the goal and to play for the National Team. I am afraid that today, this feeling, this bond has subsided. I want to send them the message that they need to succeed and play for the National Team. I also do it for my teammates. I want to convey to them that I like to do this, and I will ask you to do the same. If I don’t do it, how can I ask anyone else? I want to be an example for them, but also for the young players, to understand that it is a great and very emotional experience. I would like to see them sacrifice for our country”.
This didn’t happen overnight, and Shengelia had the previous generation of Georgian basketball players who showed him this path: “Before us, there was another generation of players who set the bar high. We have to set it even higher. We qualified for the first time in a World Cup, and our goal is to show that there is no limit. There is nothing we cannot do. My dream is, with or without me, for our team to qualify one day for the Olympic Games. I want everyone to believe that we can do it. Ten years ago, no one could have predicted that we would even think about going to the World Cup. And yet, we did it. This is the message: We can do anything, and I consider it my responsibility to send this message, but also to support it as much as I can with my actions”.
That’s why the tight schedule doesn’t change much for him, even if he admits that last November was a real test for his commitment: “The FIBA window last November was really difficult for me. First we played against Fenerbahçe and I left the same day to go to Finland where we were playing the very next day. Immediately after that, we went to Georgia. There’s something crazy about all this: During this whole journey from Italy to Finland, I didn’t manage to sleep a single minute. I played the game the next day without having slept at all for one day. If you watch the game, you’ll know from the first minutes that something is wrong. But in the end, some blessing appeared from heaven, and we won the way we did”.
So what exactly happened to sleepless Toko and Georgia? “The game started, and I was trying to play as well as I could and with my usual style. My goal was to get closer to the basket, but it wasn’t possible, because inside the basket things were too tight. At some point, coach Dzikić caught up with me and said: “Toko, it doesn’t work like that. It doesn’t work. So you need to adjust”. So, right after that, I started using my shot. I missed the first 2-3 shots, but nevertheless, I felt really good. Then I hit the target on four 3-point shots in a row, which was not so very often for me. And everything went its way. But it wasn’t the only time that everything seemed like an adventure. When I was playing with Virtus against Baskonia, I had to play with my team and then travel to Denmark and then to Georgia. I played two games in a few hours and then another one that followed. Adrenaline flows in these situations, and it is really hard to sleep”.
Being a role model and not an idol
Shengelia has led the Georgian national team to their best results ever, however, he also credits a whole generation of players for this, former coaches, Greek Ilias Zouros and his predecessor, Serbian Igor Kokoskov, as well as the current coach of the Georgian national team, Alexander Dzikic: “This generation of players led by Zaza (Pachulia), Victor Sanikidze, Giorgi Tsintsadze, Manuchar Markoishvili, Vladimir Boisa, Nikoloz Tskitishvili set the example and we owe them a lot. Ilias Zouros has been a big part of the history of Georgian basketball for the last 10 years. Just like Kokoskov. With them, we started to change, to raise the bar, to grow, and we have played in five Eurobasket so far, one more to come this summer, and also we managed to compete in the World Cup. And we grew a lot. Coach Zouros is a huge part of our history. He is not just a great coach; he is a great person, and for me, he means a lot on a personal level. We shouldn’t forget about coach Dzikic. During his first years as a coach, he manage to lead us in the Eurobasket and this a great success and we are hoping to achieve even more things with coach Dzikic by our side”.
However, there’s one regret, a game that Toko would like to play again from Eurobasket 2025: “I would really like to play again the game against Lithuania in Lille, in the Eurobasket Round of 16. We felt really good as a team. We were playing really great. Of course, Lithuania is a great team, too. That night, Jonas Masiulis had scored 34 points. We were up by 11 points, but in the end, we lost. If you ask me which game I would like to play again with the National Team, this is the one. We could have been to the quarterfinals”.
Maybe that’s why the Georgian National Team Captain wants to be a hardworking role model and not an idol, making it hard for him to hear compliments for being part of the National Team: “When a conversation like this starts, I don’t like it. I don’t like being idolized for doing my job… I always try to close the conversation before it gets too far. That’s who I am as a person. For me, it’s impossible for someone not to want to play for the national team. I want to, and I thank God for allowing me to do it. When the time comes and I stop, there will be all these trips from the past that will accompany me”.
The only time he feels comfortable with being an idol is when this kind of admiration comes from the younger generations: “Sometimes, I hear stories from others about the fact that some kids consider me an inspiration for them… It’s great because suddenly the kids started dreaming… If I can change a child’s dream, that’s more than enough for me. I want to touch as many lives as I can in a positive way, and I’ll try to do it in the best way possible for me. I want to have a positive impact on my country, on society, and young kids”.