BC Mgzavrebi ( ka, საკალათბურთო კლუბი არმია), also known as Mgzavrebi Tbilisi, is a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

club based in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, that plays in the Georgian Super Liga. The club was affiliated to the Georgian Ministry of Defense.

History

Armia traces its roots to the first army sports club of

, which was formed in 1937 and went on to win the USSR basketball championship twice, in 1944 and 1946. A reformed Army Sports Club (ASK) then participated in the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

national championship for three seasons, between 1996 and 1999. The current club was re-established in 2010, and made its debut in the Superliga on November 6 of that year. Coached by Levan Moseshvili, they established themselves as the strongest team in the country straight away, winning the championship title by defeating

TSU Tbilisi TSU Tbilisi is a Georgian association football club. The club played in Umaglesi Liga from 1996 until 2001, and withdrew from Pirveli Liga in 2004. The club represent Tbilisi State University Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University ( ka, ...

3-1 in the play-off finals. They also won the Georgian Cup, and the Georgian Super Cup that year. For the 2011–12 season, the coaching role was taken up by former player and club captain Kote Tugushi. The club signed a number of high-profile foreign players, including some with

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

experience, such as

Sundiata Gaines Sundiata Kofi Gaines (born April 18, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who is a free agent. He played college basketball at the University of Georgia. High school career Gaines attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, ...

Jeremy Richardson Jeremy Terrell Richardson (born March 1, 1984) is an American professional basketball player. He is a 6'7", 210 lb. swingman and he has played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Memph ...

and

Guillermo Diaz Guillermo Diaz may refer to: * Guillermo Díaz (footballer, born 1926), Chilean footballer * Guillermo Díaz (footballer, born 1930) (1930–1997), Chilean footballer * Guillermo Díaz (wrestler) (born 1964), Mexican Olympic wrestler *Guillermo Dí ...

. Armia competed on international stage in

EuroChallenge FIBA EuroChallenge (called the FIBA Europe League in 2003–05, and FIBA EuroCup in 2005–08) was the 3rd-tier level transnational men's professional continental club basketball competition in Europe, from 2003 to 2015. It was organized and run ...

competition, where they were narrowly eliminated at the group stage. However, they convincingly retained the Superliga title by finishing the regular season without a loss, and defeating BC Olimpi 3-1 in the play-off finals. They once again completed a clean sweep of trophies by winning the Cup and the Super Cup. The club went into the 2012-13 season with a strong squad that included experienced international players such as

Curtis Millage Curtis Millage (born May 4, 1981) is an American professional basketball player for who last played for AZS Koszalin of the Polish Basketball League. He played college basketball for Arizona State. At and , he usually plays as a point guard, but ...

Marcus Faison Marcus Vondell Faison (born February 18, 1978) is a Belgian-American former professional basketball player. He played Division I basketball for Siena College prior to his professional career.http://sienasaints.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/01 ...

and Lamayne Wilson. Nevertheless, Armia were once again eliminated at the group stage of EuroChallenge. A decision by the Ministry of Defence to reduce its funding of the club led to the departure of all foreign players in December. With an all-Georgian squad, Armia still managed to finish in a respectable 3rd position in the Superliga play-offs. However, the club ended the season without a major domestic trophy for the first time since its reformation in 2010.

Season by season

Roster

{{Basketball roster footer , head_coach = * {{player, , Georgia ,

Anatoli Berishvili Anatoli ( el, Ανατολή) is a town and a former municipality in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southe ...

, asst_coach = * {{player, , GEO, Nikoloz Tsintsadze

External links

Official websiteTeam Profile
Basketball teams in Georgia (country) Sport in Tbilisi Basketball teams in the Soviet Union