BC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, საკალათბურთო კლუბი ,,დინამო’’) 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 that is 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 Superliga The Georgian Basketball Super League ( ka, საკალათბურთო სუპერლიგა, Sakalatburto Superliga), also known as the Georgian Top League, is the highest professional basketball league in Georgia. The first season ...

. It is one of the oldest and most successful basketball clubs of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, having won numerous national titles and the 1962 FIBA European Champions Cup ( EuroLeague). The club's traditional colors are blue and white.

History

BC Dinamo was established in 1934 as the basketball division of the

Dynamo Sports Society Dynamo, also Dinamo, (; , Belarusian: Дынама, ka, დინამო) was a sports and fitness society created in 1923 in the Soviet Union. The society was an association of multi-sport clubs whose members were drawn from the NKVD and, a ...

. During the 1950s and the 1960s, it was one of the leading teams of the USSR. During this period, the club won the

Soviet League The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

championships 4 times, the

Soviet Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS (Moldova ...

3 times, and finished in medal positions (top 3) of the league championship a further 8 times. In

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

, Dinamo reached the final of the FIBA European Champions Cup (the predecessor of the current EuroLeague), where they were defeated by

Rīgas ASK Rīgas Armijas Sporta Klubs was a professional basketball club that was based in Riga, Latvia. History Rīgas ASK was founded in 1931, and started playing in the Latvian Basketball Championship. In the years that Latvia was controlled by the Sovi ...

in 2 games. Two years later, they once again reached the final of this competition, and on that occasion, they were crowned as Europe's best team by defeating

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in a one-off game in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

. The club's coach at that time was the legendary

Otar Korkia Otar Korkia (Georgian: ოთარ ქორქია, russian: Отар Михайлович Коркия; May 10, 1923 – March 15, 2005) was a Georgian professional basketball player and coach. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players, ...

, who had earlier starred for the club as a player, and was voted as one of

FIBA's 50 Greatest Players FIBA's 50 Greatest Players (1991) is the list of the 50 greatest players in the history of FIBA international basketball, as selected in the year 1991, by FIBA Magazine. The list was created in honor of the 100th anniversary of the creation of the ...

in 1991. Dinamo also reached the final of the

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA ...

(FIBA's second-tier level competition) in

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

, where they were defeated by

Slavia VŠ Praha USK Praha, ( cs, Univerzitní Sportovní Klub Praha, University Sports Club Prague), formerly known as Slavia VŠ Praha ( cs, Slavia Vysoké Školy Praha), is a Czech professional basketball club that was founded in 1953 in the city of Prague. ...

. Dinamo became the very first winners of the independent Georgian championships in 1991. In total, they have won 4 Superliga titles and one Georgian cup. Failure to attract major sponsorship saw the club struggle for a long spell in the 2000s. However,

Bank of Georgia , logo = Bank of Georgia logo.png , image = , image_size = , image_caption = Bank of Georgia , type = PLC , traded_as = , area_served = Georgia , key_people = Mel Carvill(Non-Executive Chairman) Archil Gachechiladze ( CEO) , industry ...

became the club patrons in 2011, President of the club was former National team captain Vakhtang Natsvlishvili which allowed the squad to be strengthened with foreign imports, and more ambitious targets to be established for the future. The success finally materialized in the 2013–14 season, with Dinamo making their first appearance in the play-off finals for over a decade, and winning the title in a convincing manner. In October 2018, two-time

NBA champion The National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals is the championship series for the NBA held at the conclusion of its postseason. All Finals have been played in a best-of-seven format, and are contested between the winners of the Eastern Con ...

Zaza Pachulia Zaza Pachulia ( ka, ზაზა ფაჩულია; born Zaur Pachulia; February 10, 1984) is a Georgian professional basketball executive and former player who is a basketball operations consultant for the Golden State Warriors of the Nati ...

and former basketball player Shio Khetsuriani purchased the team.

BC Dinamo Tbilisi in international competitions

Honours

Domestic competitions

* USSR Premier League : Winners (4): 1949–50, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1967–68 : Runners-up (4): 1947, 1960, 1961, 1969 *

USSR Cup The Soviet Cup, or USSR Cup (russian: Кубок СССР),, be, Кубак СССР, uz, СССР Кубоги, kk, КСРО Кубогы, ka, სსრკ თასი, az, ССРИ кубоку, lt, TSRS taurė, ro, Cupa URSS (Moldova ...

: Winners (3): 1949, 1950, 1969 : Runners-up (2): 1953, 1973 *

: Winners (6): 1990–91, 1991–92, 2002–03, 2013–14, 2016–17, 2017–18 : Runners-up (6): 1995–96, 1996–97, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2014–15, 2015–16 * Georgian Cup : Winners (3): 2004, 2015, 2016

European competitions

* EuroLeague : Winners (1): 1961–1962 : Runners-up (1): 1959–1960 : Semi-finalists (1): 1962–1963 *

: Runners-up (1): 1968–69 : Semi-finalists (1): 1969–70

Players

Current roster

Head coaches

* Muhhamed Tachi

References

External links

bcdinamotbilisi.ge სკ დინამო თბილისი, 1934

Eurobasket.com Team Profile

Superleague.ge Team Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi Basketball teams established in 1934 Basketball teams in Georgia (country) Basketball teams in the Soviet Union EuroLeague-winning clubs