Goga Bitadze surprised with his performance in the Olympic qualifying tournament.
A special situation was seen in the basketball Olympic qualifiers, when Georgia tried to keep its dream of the Olympics alive. Georgia NBA star Goga Bitadze tried to make his own basket so that Georgia could qualify for the Paris Olympics. In the last seconds, Bitadze tried to make a basket in his own head against the Philippines so that the match would go to overtime and Georgia could try to get another Olympic spot.
Gerogia led the match with two points when the match ended in the Philippines Chris Newsome missed the free throw.
Bitadze intended to put the ball directly back into the basket, but failed. Georgia would have needed a 19-point win from the match.
An American basketball journalist drew attention to the matter, for example Blake Silverman.
– This was crazy, Silverman described in X.
Despite Bitadze’s effort, Georgia won the match 96–94.
Bitadze’s effort was desperate in the sense that breaking a 19-point lead in five minutes of overtime would have been difficult. According to the official rules of basketball, own basket is not accepted if you do it on purpose. If you make your own basket on purpose, it counts towards the opponent’s score.
Bitadze, 24, has played in the NBA for five seasons. He represented the Orlando Magic last season. Senteri scored five points per game with an average of 15 minutes of playing time. Bitadze is currently the second NBA player from Georgia. The other one is Sandro Mamukelashvili.
The Philippines sensationally beat Latvia in their first match of the Olympic qualifiers and advanced to the next round thanks to it. In the qualifying semifinals, the Philippines will face Brazil. Latvia and Cameroon will play in the second semi-final. Only the winner of the tournament advances to the Paris Olympics.