Basketball in Greece
Basketball 'in Greece' erupted with the win of the Greece men's national basketball team at the 1987 EuroBasket in Athens, which caused a general basketball craze in the country. Since then, the Greece men's national teams have achieved consistent international success, leading Greece to join Russia, Serbia, Croatia, Italy, Spain, France, and Lithuania in the circle of European basketball powers. In addition to the Greece national team's triumph in 1987, they won the gold medal at the 2005 EuroBasket, silver medals at the 1989 EuroBasket, and the 2006 FIBA World Cup, and the bronze medal at the 2009 EuroBasket.
At the professional club level, the Greece men's basketball clubs have, in European-wide Cup competitions, organized under both FIBA and EuroLeague Basketball, won 19 European championships, 10 of which have been won in the 1st-tier level EuroLeague competition, as well as three world club championships at the FIBA Club World Cup, bringing the total amount of international titles won by Greek men's clubs to 21. At the women's professional club level, Athinaikos won the title of the 2nd-tier EuroCup, in 2010.
History
The early years of the sport in Greece
The sport of basketball has a long history in the country of Greece, having first come to the country in the year 1910. The first official championship of the Greek League, then called the Panhellenic Championship, was contested as regional champions playing against each other to decide a winner, starting with the 1927–28 season.The great Greek athlete, Faidon Matthaiou, is considered to be the patriarch of the sport in the country. He was the country's first great player in the sport. He led Greece's senior national team to the bronze medal at the 1949 EuroBasket, in the first tournament it competed in, right after the national team had been formed. Matthaiou would go on to become one of the best players in Europe in the 1950s.
The 1950s
The first great club team in the history of Greek basketball was the Greek League club Panellinios. Panellinios featured 5 great players, known as the "Golden Five", or "The Fabulous Five": Themis Cholevas, Dinos Papadimas, Mimis Stefanidis, Panos Manias, and Aristeidis Roubanis. The Golden Five, and its head coach, Nikos Nisiotis, was considered to be one of the best teams in Europe at the time in the 1950s, as it won the invitational European club tournament 2 out of 3 years, and made the final in the other year. The invitational European club tournament was the forerunner tournament of the EuroLeague.During that era, Panellinios took part in the biggest international club tournaments in Europe, the predecessors of the EuroLeague that were then held instead of the EuroLeague tournament. The club advanced to the final of the 1954 San Remo Tournament, which they lost 81–74 to the Italian League club Borletti Milano. Panellinios then won the 1955 Brussels Tournament, by defeating the Yugoslav League club Crvena zvezda in the final, by a score of 91–67. Panellinios also won the 1956 San Remo Tournament, by defeating the Italian League club Minganti Bologna, by a score of 67–37.
Nisiotis is credited by most as being mainly responsible for the development of the sport in Greece in the 1930s and 1940s. Panellinios also featured the great scorer Antonis Christeas.
The Spanoudakis brothers, Ioannis and Alekos, who were players of Olympiacos, were among the first early important pioneers of the modern style sport in the country. Boston Celtics players Bob Cousy, and the Greek American player Lou Tsioropoulos, came to Greece in the 1950s, and gave teaching clinics on what the Celtics were doing, and how they were playing the game at the time. The Spanoudakis brothers learned directly from them, and were among the first players in Greece to incorporate much of the American style of basketball, and to begin playing a brand of basketball in Greece that incorporated many of the moves and plays that they had been shown by the Celtics players.
The 1960s
In the 1963–64 season, the top men's basketball Greek League formed into a national league system for the first time. Up until that point, the Greek men's national basketball championship had been contested by teams locally at the regional level, with the champions of each regional level then playing against each other. With the start of the 1963–64 season, a true nationwide league system, called the Alpha National Category, was formed for the first timeThe next great club team in men's Greek basketball was AEK, which became the first Greek team to win a European trophy in any sport. AEK was led by great players such as: Georgios Amerikanos, Georgios Trontzos, who was the second 7 footer to play for Gonzaga University, Christos Zoupas, and Antonis Christeas, who had also been a part of the great Greek Panellinios teams of the 1950s.
AEK made it to the 1966 Final Four of the FIBA European Champions Cup of the 1965–66 season, which was the first time that the EuroLeague ever used a final four system, thus becoming the first Greek team to ever play in a final four in the EuroLeague. AEK also won the championship of the European-wide 2nd-tier level Cup Winners' Cup of the 1967–68 season, which was the first European trophy won by any Greek sports team. In the final game against Slavia VŠ Praha, which took place in Pangrati, Athens, at Panathenaic Stadium, the attendance was 80,000 people seated in the stadium, and 40,000 people standing, with an additional 3,000 police officers to keep order.
AEK won 5 Greek League championships in the decade of the 1960s, in a sequence of 4 in a row and 5 out of 6, surrounded by an earlier Greek League championship in 1958, and another later one in 1970. Making it a total of 7 Greek League championships won in 11 seasons for the club in that era.
The next great individual Greek player was Georgios Kolokithas, who was considered to be one of the greatest scorers in European basketball in his time in the 1960s. He was the Greek League Top Scorer 3 times, in the years 1964, 1966, and 1967. He was also the EuroBasket Top Scorer twice, in the years 1967 and 1969. He was named to the FIBA European Selection in 1970. After the great career that he had, Kolokithas was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991.
The Greek Women's League began with the 1967–68 season.
The 1970s
The decade of the 1970s was dominated at the men's top club level by Panathinaikos, as they won the Greek Basket League championship in 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, and 1977. In total, the club won 6 Greek League championships during the 1970s. During this era, the club featured famous Greek players such as: Georgios Kolokithas, Apostolos Kontos, Dimitris Kokolakis, Memos Ioannou, and Takis Koroneos.Olympiacos also won 2 Greek League championships during the 1970s, winning the title in both 1976 and 1978. The club featured famous Greek players like Steve Giatzoglou and Georgios Kastrinakis, as well as players like Georgios Barlas, Paul Melini, and Pavlos Diakoulas. In 1976, the first official men's Greek Cup tournament was held. Olympiacos dominated the Greek Cup in its early years, as they won the first 3 editions of the tournament. Previously, two Attica State Cup tournaments had been held in the years 1967 and 1971, with AEK winning both of those tournaments.
Aris finished the decade by winning its first Greek League championship since 1930, in 1979. Aris was led by the great scorer of the time, Charis Papageorgiou. The great Greek scorer Vassilis Goumas, had the best years of his career in the '70s.
The 1980s
"The Emperor" dynasty of Aris
The decade of the 1980s began with another run of dominance by Panathinaikos in men's club basketball. They won the first 3 championships of the decade. In 1983, Aris won the Greek League championship, being led by its legendary scorer Nikos Galis. Panathinaikos won the championship again in 1984, beginning the decade by winning 4 of the first 5 Greek League championships.Panathionaikos' great team to begin the decade of the 1980s, featured players like: Apostolos Kontos, Dimitris Kokolakis, Takis Koroneos,
David Stergakos, Memos Ioannou, and Liveris Andritsos. After that, the legendary Aris Greek League dynasty of the 1980s, which was called, "The Emperor" rose.
Aris won the Greek League championship in every remaining year of the decade, and also won the first two championships of the 1990s. Aris also dominated the Greek Cup in the last half of the decade, as they won it in 1987, 1988, and 1989, and added two of the first three cups of the 1990s as well. Aris also had good success on the European-wide level in this era, as they made it to the top-tier level EuroLeague Final Four in 3 straight years, 1988 EuroLeague Final Four, 1989 EuroLeague Final Four, and 1990 EuroLeague Final Four.
During these years, Aris was coached by Giannis Ioannidis, and was led by the legendary Greek players Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis. During the club's dynasty, it also featured players like: Lefteris Subotić, Nikos Filippou, Vangelis Vourtzoumis, Vassilis Lipiridis, Georgios Doxakis, Manthos Katsoulis, and Michalis Romanidis. At one point during Aris' Greek League dynasty, the club was so dominant, that it won 80 consecutive games in the top-tier level Greek League, from 1985 to 1989.
The rise of the Greece men's national team
The Greece men's national basketball team qualified for the 1986 FIBA World Cup, and finished the tournament in 10th place. The top 10 world finish in 1986, was a prelude to the long success that was to come for the Greece men's national team. The next year, Greece hosted the 1987 EuroBasket, and the Greece national team won the tournament's gold medal. During the tournament, they had wins over the legendary 1980s European national teams of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Greek basketball player Nikos Galis was named the tournament's MVP.Greece then won the silver medal at the next EuroBasket tournament, 1989 EuroBasket. Over the two EuroBasket tournaments of 1987 and 1989, Greece had a total of four wins against the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. This established Greece's senior men's national team, as one of the top 4 best national teams in the world at the time, along with the USA, Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia. During this era, Greece's senior national team was led by great players like Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Panagiotis Fasoulas, and Fanis Christodoulou.