Georgia vs Spain Tips & Live Stream - Spain begins title defense against a familiar opponent

By Nemanja Dojcinovic

2 hours ago

Nemanja Dojcinovic 2 hours ago

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Spain begins EuroBasket 2025 defense against Georgia.
Key players include Spain's Santi Aldama and Georgia's Toko Shengelia.
Georgia seeks to improve from last campaign's poor performance.

Spain EuroBasket(Getty Image)

Georgia vs Spain Preview
Georgia Form & Team News
Spain Form & Team News
Head to Head

Georgia vs Spain Preview

Spain opens their EuroBasket 2025 title defense with a game against the national team of Georgia.

Will coach Sergio Scariolo’s squad justify their role as favorites at the start of the tournament, or can Georgia spring a surprise?

Georgia Form & Team News

Georgia had a disappointing campaign at the previous EuroBasket where they were one of the hosts.

In a group with Belgium, Spain, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Turkey, they managed only one win and finished in last place.

The draw has once again paired them with Spain, who beat them convincingly 90:64 at that tournament.

This time, Georgia will try to deliver a much more competitive performance.

This group of players has been together for a long time with only minor changes to the roster. The leader of the team is Toko Shengelia, who always gives more than 100% when playing for his country.

Alongside him, the main scoring option will be Toronto Raptors player Sandro Mamukelashvili, while the point guard role goes to naturalized American Kamar Baldwin, who replaced Thad McFadden in that position.

Their preparation games haven’t been impressive, but that doesn’t necessarily mean much.

Spain Form & Team News

Spain doesn’t have nearly as powerful a squad as in the past, but the last EuroBasket reminded us that they should never be underestimated.

Back then, they came from the shadows to win the gold medal, which they will now try to defend.

Compared to three years ago, they are missing the brain of the team, Lorenzo Brown, who decided not to participate.

Spain has not opted for another naturalized player, so more responsibility at the point guard position will fall on Alberto Diaz and the relatively inexperienced Sergio de Larrea.

In attack, the key player will be Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama, while the Hernangomez brothers are also expected to play major roles.

According to the latest reports, Real Madrid’s Alberto Abalde is out due to an injury in training, which is another headache for Sergio Scariolo since Abalde is a versatile player who can cover multiple positions.

Head to Head

Spain and Georgia also met in the World Cup qualifiers three years ago. Georgia won the home game after overtime, with Giorgi Shermadini among the best performers, scoring 18 points.

Verdict

Georgia v Spain

I am not sure about the true potential of this Georgia team, but I am not optimistic about Spain’s ceiling at this tournament either.

There are many question marks surrounding Sergio Scariolo’s squad, and I don’t expect them to have as easy of a task against Georgia as they did three years ago. I believe Toko Shengelia and his teammates will put up a much bigger fight.

Georgia +11.5

Asian handicap

@-117.65 - 3 Units

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