The Magic Insider

Goga Bitadze has green light to shoot from anywhere

Will Bitadze's red-hot summer in FIBA ball translate to more threes for the Orlando Magic?
MANDATORY CREDIT: Ryan Kaminski-Orlando Magic On SI

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Goga Bitadze has “The Green Light”

Advancing to the 2025 FIBA Eurobasket Final Four, Goga Bitadze led Georgia to its most successful tournament run in the country’s history.

During this run, Bitadze led the team in scoring (just under 16 PPG) and blocks (just under 2 BLK)

Another impressive trait Bitadze brought back to the center of everyone’s attention is his readymade 3pt jump shot, knocking down 36% of his 22 3pt jumpers, with clean looking form to boot.

Orlando Magic President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman brought up during the press conference that Goga was a stretch-big prospect coming out of the draft; could Goga's 3pt effectiveness in international hoops and neverending work ethic launching threes in the gym translate to production from downtown in his Magic role this upcoming season?

When I asked Goga about his current 3pt shooting confidence and if he plans to let more shots fire from deep next year on the Orlando Magic, he shared he has the green light:

“I’ve been confident, it maybe doesn’t look like it, but yeah, I’ve been confident. Because I put the work in, every single year it’s the same thing. Everybody knows I have good mechanics if we get into the details. I come in here and if somebody looks at my workout, I’m a shooter, and I proved that on Eurobasket.

So now, last year I proved myself I can be a winner, I can actually have a huge role with the team and help the team win games now I think I have that little bit of extra confidence. Maybe I can take a shot or two and it’s not gonna be, nobody has ever said to me, I’ll be honest with you, “don’t shoot the 3”, nobody has ever said that. Jamahl never said that, or anybody around the team.


So I have that green light from them to take them. Not crazy shots, pull out the top, not to take stepbacks or something (laughs), but a wide open three, it’s gonna be a different game for everybody, gonna space the floor well.

Me seeing myself still hitting those shots in Eurobasket and being a good shooter, I think it brings extra confidence and it’s gonna translate to here as well.”
Goga Bitadze

Go-Gogadget, Splash Goga


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Ryan Kaminski
RYAN KAMINSKI

Ryan is a basketball scout data analyst who has been covering the Orlando Magic, NBA, and NBA Draft with a focus on roster building strategy, data analytics, film breakdowns, and player development since 2017. He is credentialed media for the Orlando Magic along with top high schools in Central Florida where he scouts talent in marquee matchups at Montverde Academy, IMG Academy, Oak Ridge, and the NBPA Top-100 Camp. He generates basketball data visualizations, formerly with The BBall Index. He has two B.A.s from Florida State University in Business Management and Business Marketing. Twitter/YouTube/Substack: @BeyondTheRK