Panellinios B.C.

Main article: Panellinios G.S.
Panellinios Basket
Nickname The Club of the Olympic Winners
Founded 1929
Arena Panellinios Indoor Hall
Arena Capacity 1,700
Location Athens, Greece
Team colors Blue and White
         
Championships Greek Championships (6):
1929, 1939, 1940, 1953, 1955, 1957
A2 Championships (2):
(1987, 2004)
European Championships (2):
1955 Brussels Tournament
1956 San Remo Tournament
Website panelliniosac.gr
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Panellinios G.S. official Greek language logo.
The club's English logo.
The club's famous Discobolus seal

Panellinios B.C. (Greek: Πανελλήνιος K.A.E.) or Panellinios Basket, is a professional basketball club that is located in Athens, Greece. The club was founded in 1929, making it one of the oldest basketball clubs in Europe.

The name Panellinios can be translated as Pan-Hellenic in English, and can be interpreted to mean "The Greek Nation". B.C. stands for basketball club. So the club's name can be interpreted to mean "The National Basketball Club". The Greek multi-sports club Panathinaikos was founded by Panellinios athletes. The club was previously owned by the Greek businessman Minos Kyriakou.

History

The parent athletic club, Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos, was founded in Athens in 1891, making it one of the oldest sports clubs in Europe and had a team of gymnasts compete at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. The team's leader was Sotirios Athanasopoulos. Members included Nikolaos Andriakopoulos, Petros Persakis, Thomas Xenakis, and 29 others. The team placed second of the three teams in the parallel bars team event, earning a silver medal (retroactively awarded by the International Olympic Committee, as the awards at the first Olympic Games differed from the gold, silver, bronze format used later).

The Greek multi-sport club Panathinaikos was founded by Giorgos Kalafatis in 1908, when he and 40 other athletes decided to break away from Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos, following the club's decision to discontinue its football team. In 1929, the athletic association's basketball department, Panellinios B.C. Athens was founded, and that same year the club won the Athens basketball championship.

The "Golden Five" era

Panellinios has been the Greek League's champion 6 times in the years 1929, 1939, 1940, 1953, 1955, and 1957. The club would have likely won several more Greek championships during the 1940s but could not because the league was temporarily disbanded because of World War II. In the early 1950s era the team was called "The Golden Five" (or Chrysi Pentada in Greek) (Panagiotis Manias, Themis Cholevas, Kostas Papadimas, Mimis Stefanidis, Aristeidis Roubanis) and dominated not only Greek basketball, but European basketball in general. The Panellinios team headlined the Greek 1952 Olympics team. Although the Euroleague, then known as the European Champions Cup was not formed until the basketball season 1957–58, it is widely believed that had it been formed earlier that Panellinios would have won several Euroleague championships as many considered Panellinios the best team in Europe during the early to mid-1950s.

During that era, Panellinios took part in the biggest international 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 Olimpia Milano. Panellinios then won the 1955 Brussels Tournament, by defeating the Yugoslav League club Red Star Belgrade in the final, by a score of 91-67. Panellinios also won the 1956 San Remo Tournament, by defeating the Italian League club Virtus Bologna, by a score of 67-37.

In 1957, the European Champions Cup (now known as the Euroleague) was formed. By that time, the team of coach Nikos Nisiotis was coming to the end of the golden five era, as only 2 players of the golden five remained on the team. The club was eliminated from the competition after losing its series against Steaua SA Bucarest 2 games to 0, by scores of 63-60 and 75-72. The team was led in those years by the great scorer Antonis Christeas.

After the "Golden Five" era

The team stayed in the top Greek basketball division for 23 straight years, starting in 1963, when the league was re-formed into a new format. The club finished third in the Greek League in both 1970 and 1978. During this era, it was Vassilis Goumas that was the leader of the team.

The club also finished as the runner-up in the Greek Cup in 1987. Panellinios participated in the European FIBA Korać Cup and FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup competitions several times during the 1970s and 1980s.

Rise and return to First Greek Division

The club struggled in the 1990s, and was mired in the second and third divisions of the Greek lower leagues. New management came to the organization in 1999, when Minos Kyriakou took over the club, and the club would eventually again begin to establish itself as a strong presence in Greek basketball. In 2004, Panellinios returned to the top Greek League, led by Marijan Kraljević and the Soulis brothers.

In 2006, the team advanced to the playoff round of the Greek League, led by Dimitrios Tsaldaris, Damir Mulaomerović and Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, finishing 6th in the league after losing in the playoffs to Aris. In 2007, the club finished in 5th place in the league with players such as Mamadou N'Diaye, Michalis Pelekanos, Gary Trent, and Anthony Goldwire. The team lost to Panionios in the playoffs, but in finishing 5th in the Greek League qualified for the Eurocup competition for the first time in club history.

In 2010, the club moved from Athens, where it had been based for 81 years, to the city of Lamia.[1] In March 2010 Minos Kyriakou, withdrew from the club.[2]

Relegation and recent years

In the 2011–12 season, the Greek Professional Sports Committee stripped Panellinios of its professional licence, because the club faced economic problems. In addition, the club wasn't accepted by the lower tiers of the Greek basketball league system, and thus didn't play in any league during that season.[3][4] The next season, (2012–13), Panellinios played in the A ESKA Category (the First Athenian Regional Division).[5] But the team's presence in the league wasn't successful. It finished in last place, and was relegated to the B ESKA Category.

Arenas

Panellinios Indoor Hall
Panellinios flag

The club plays its Greek League home games at Panellinios Indoor Hall, a small arena with a capacity of 1,700.[6] and its Eurocup home games at either the 4,000 capacity Indoor Hall Peristeriou, or at the Hellinikon Olympic Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000.[7]

When the club moved to Lamia, its domestic Greek League and Eurocup home games were hosted at the Lamia Arena, which has a seating capacity of 5,000.[8]

Honors and titles

Total titles: 10

Domestic competitions

European competitions

Seasons

Season Greek League Greek Cup Europe Coach Roster
1928–29 Champion - - Nikos Nisiotis Christos Svolopoulos, Dimitris Sidiropoulos, Evagelinos, Sfikas, Spiridakis, Alexandros Sidiropoulos, Symeonidis, Skepers
1938–39 Champion - -
1939–40 Champion - -
1949–50 Finalist - -
1950–51 Finalist - -
1952–53 Champion - - Themis Cholevas, Panagiotis Manias, Kostas Papadimas, Mimis Stefanidis, Aristeidis Roubanis
1953–54 Finalist - -
1954–55 Champion - - Antonis Christeas
1956–57 Champion - - Antonis Christeas, Themis Cholevas, Kostas Papadimas, Mimis Stefanidis, Giorgos Moschos, Sakkelis, Mavroleon, Karvelas, Makrinikolas, Lekkas
1957–58 _ - Euroleague
Last 32
1969–70 3rd place _ _ Vassilis Goumas
1974–75 _ - Korać Cup
Last 32		 Vassilis Goumas
1975–76 _ Last 32 Korać Cup
Last 16		 Vassilis Goumas
1977–78 3rd place Last 16 Korać Cup
Last 16
1978–79 _ Last 8 Korać Cup
Last 32
1980–81 _ Last 16 Korać Cup
Last 32
1986–87 _ Finalist Nikos Pavlou Giannopoulos, Stamatis, Dakouris, Malach, Tsekos, Pandraklakis, Katsibas, Tsapralis, Kimonas Kokorogiannis, Zafiropoulos
1987–88 9th place Last 4 Cup Winners' Cup
Last 32
2004–05 12th place Last 16 - Manos Manouselis,
Kostas Petropoulos		 Gary Trent, Miroslav Berić, Aleksandar Ćapin, Bariša Krasić, Éric Struelens, Rick Rickert, Giorgos Maslarinos, Makis Dreliozis, Giorgos Bozikas, Roundy Garcνa, Tasos Kantartzis, Christos Liggos, Giannis Sakellariou, Alexis Tsamatos, Ilias Tsopis, Jitim Young, Ryan Robertson, Mikel Nahar, Jan-Hendrick Jagla, Vangelis Morfis, Kostas Tzialas
2005–06 5th place Last 16 - Argiris Pedoulakis Damir Mulaomerović, Jamel Thomas, Dylan Page, Britton Johnsen, Robert Gulyas, Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, Stevan Nađfeji, Dimitrios Tsaldaris, Tasos Kantartzis, Jovan Koprivica, Giorgos Maslarinos, Evangelos Morfis, Kostas Paschalis, Giannis Sakellariou, Ivan Tomas, Alexis Tsamatos, Ilias Tsopis, Juan Mendez, Christos Liggos, Alkiviadis Pappas
2006–07 5th place Last 16 - Vangelis Magiras,
Giorgos Kalafatakis		 Anthony Goldwire, Michalis Pelekanos, Nikos Oikonomou, Mamadou N'Diaye, Andrae Patterson, Malik Dixon, Nikos Argyropoulos, Dragan Ćeranić, Ioannis Georgallis, Sotirios Karapostolou, Stevan Nađfeji, Pantelis Papaioakim, Alekos Petroulas, Damir Rančić, Giannis Sakellariou, Gary Trent, Dubravko Zemljić, Agi Ibeja, Marko Jovanović, Panagiotis Spiliopoulos, Nikos Pappas
2007–08 6th place Last 4 ULEB Cup
Regular Season		 Ilias Zouros Anthony Grundy, Jurica Golemac, Lewis Sims, Georgios Apostolidis, Nikos Argyropoulos, Mamadou N'Diaye, Đuro Ostojić, Damir Rančić, Vangelis Sklavos, Márton Báder, Milan Dozet, Dimitris Kalaitzidis, Vangelis Karampoulas, Tre Kelley, Pantelis Papaioakim, Alekos Petroulas, Giannis Sakellariou, Melvin Sanders, Nikos Pappas
2008–09 6th place Last 8 Eurocup
Last 16		 Ilias Zouros Anthony Grundy, Jurica Golemac, Manos Papamakarios, Georgios Kalaitzis, Đuro Ostojić, Ivan Radenović, Vladimir Petrović-Stergiou, Nikos Makris, Dimitris Kalaitzidis, Giannis Sakellariou, Alekos Petroulas, Brad Newley, Stevan Nađfeji, Dimitrios Kompodietas, Mustafa Shakur
2009–10 4th place Last 8 Eurocup
Semifinals 		Ilias Zouros Ian Vougioukas, Đuro Ostojić, Efthymios Tsakaleris, Chris Owens, Josh Davis, Markos Kolokas, Devin Smith, Ioannis Georgallis, Alekos Petroulas, Manos Papamakarios, Kostas Charalampidis, Dimitrios Kompodietas, Roderick Blakney, Georgios Kalaitzis, Vassilis Xanthopoulos, Britton Johnsen
2010–11 12th place Last 8 Eurocup
Last 16 		Thanasis Skourtopoulos Torin Francis, Đuro Ostojić, Efthymios Tsakaleris, Steven Smith, Vangelis Sklavos, Markos Kolokas, Joseph Krabbenhoft, Georgios Kalaitzis, Ioannis Karathanasis, Manos Papamakarios, Samo Udrih, Dimitrios Kompodietas, Maurice Bailey, Vassilis Xanthopoulos, Andre Brown, Damir Rančić, Derrick Byars, Vlado Šćepanović

In Europe

Notable players

Notable coaches

References

  1. ↑ Talkbasket.net - Panellinios moves to Lamia.
  2. ↑ "Παραιτήθηκε ο Κυριακού από ΕΟΕ και Πανελλήνιο". enet.gr. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Όχι ΕΕΑ σε Πανελλήνιο, με 13 ομάδες η Α1!". sport24.gr. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Και πάλι εκτός ο Πανελλήνιος". sport-fm.gr. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  5. ↑ "Πανελλήνιος: Κατεβαίνει στην Α’ ΕΣΚΑ". onsports.gr. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Panellinios BC Official Site - Capacity:1,700
  7. ↑ Worldstadiums.com basketball seating capacity.
  8. ↑ fivb.ch - Greece Lamia Chalkiopoulio Sporthall 5,000.

External links

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