Profile picture: Gabi Chachashvili

By: Omar Arian
 

Gabi Chachashvili (known as Chacha) was not chosen to be the first Israeli Welcome of Hapoel "Bank Yahav" Jerusalem for the 23/24 season. Gabi, who came to our league about two years ago in Hapoel Galil Elion and was chosen to be the discovery of the season in the Winner League, went to Europe this season to play in the German Bamberg, and he returns to Israel and to Hapoel more mature, better, and more prepared.

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Beyond the potential, the young age, and the long-term gospel that Gabi brings to Hapoel—even here and now—Chachashvili is an important and high-quality asset. So what is the skill set that he comes with? Let's start, of course, especially in the era of coach Aleksandar Dzikic, precisely with the defense. Gabi is an active center with young and fast feet and very high defensive fighting abilities. This ability helps him disturb and harass even stronger and taller centers than him and prevent them from receiving the ball, even before they threaten the basket. something like this:


The mobility advantage of Chacha is that, with its help, he knows how to cover up his other disadvantages, and Gabi also knows how to exploit and leverage it. In defense, Chachashvili's ability to guard nimble, fast, and deadly guards through good footwork and impressive agility is a tremendous advantage for any defense. A defense that knows it can rely on its center to deal with every player on the field at the defensive level is a defense that is hard to pass. And Gabi gives her this confidence:

 

Also on the offensive side, Gabi's skill set is wide and varied. Pick-and-roll, transition offense, passing ability, off-ball movement, and even post-up moves. Such diversity, in itself, is deadly and useful for any team. If we still have to put our finger on two central abilities in Chachashvili's tool set, they would be the ability to lock in the paint and the pick-and-roll game.
 

Locking in the paint—that movement where the tall "locks" his guard behind the back and opens up a free passing lane for the ball handler—is one of the most useful and trendy elements in modern basketball. This ability—to locate the exact position, the locking angle, the right mismatch, and "stab" the moment—is a rare one. Gabi, with a rare combination of an impressive physical structure and high basketball IQ, does it in a great way. something like this:

In the pick-and-roll game, the goal of any offense, especially one that plays with Chachashvili as its center, is to make it as mobile, fast, and sharp as possible. From there, you can count on Gabi to know the right technique and the right movement to get the ball to the right places. Therefore, Chacha finds himself mainly in side pick-and-roll moves (pick-and-roll on the side of the court) when the entire side of the court is free and has the space for an accurate and easy roll. Master class:

So as you can see, Chachashvili is one of the most complete and high-quality centers that can be found in the Israeli market. Defense, fighting, offense, and above all, diversity. It seems that he is more than suitable to open Hapoel Jerusalem's welcome season for 23/24.