Panionios B.C.

Panionios B.C.
Nickname Historic
Blue–Reds
Panthers
Leagues Greek Basket League
Greek Cup
Founded 1919
History Panionios G.S.S.
(1919–1992)
Chipita Panionios B.C.
(1992–1995)
Panionios B.C. Afisorama
(1995–1997)
Panionios B.C.
(1997–2005)
Panionios B.C. Forthnet
(2005–2009)
Panionios B.C.
(2009–Present)
Arena Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall
Arena Capacity 2,000
Location Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece
Team colors          
President Ion Varouxakis
Head coach Nikos Oikonomou
2016–17 position Greek A2 Basket League, 1st (Promotion)
Championships 1 Greek Cup
Website panioniosbc.gr
Uniforms
Home
Away

Panionios B.C. (Greek: Πανιώνιος KAE), known in European competitions as Panionios Athens[1] is the Greek professional basketball club that plays its home games in Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece. The club is also widely known as Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, or Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis, which is the Pan-Ionian Gymnastic Club of Smyrna. This is usually abbreviated to the club name of Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ. Panionios B.C. is the basketball department of the Panionios Gymnastic Club that is based in Nea Smyrni, Athens.

Panionios B.C. has been a long-time club of the top-tier level Greek Basket League, which is considered one of the best national domestic basketball leagues in Europe. Panionios B.C. has also competed in the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague. For sponsorship reasons, the club has also been known as Panionios On Telecoms, and Panionios Forthnet. The club is currently owned by Ion G. Varouxakis. Recent previous owners of the club were Antonis Margetis, and Elias Lianos, the founder of Proton Bank.

Some of the well-known players that have played with the club over the years have included: Faidon Matthaiou, Takis Koroneos, Fanis Christodoulou, Boban Janković, P. J. Brown, Panagiotis Giannakis, Henry Turner, Thurl Bailey, Travis Mays, Žarko Paspalj, Byron Dinkins, Mitchell Wiggins, Theo Papaloukas, Jure Zdovc, Laurent Sciarra, Nikos Chatzis, Giorgos Sigalas, Angelos Koronios, Dimos Dikoudis, Nikos Oikonomou, Stratos Perperoglou, Michalis Pelekanos, Ender Arslan, Miloš Vujanić, Alex Stepheson, Errick McCollum, and Tyrese Rice, among others.

History

Panionios G.S.S. logo

The basketball clubs' parent athletic union, the Panionios Gymnastic Club, was founded in 1890, in İzmir, Ottoman Empire (located today in the modern country of Turkey), making it one of the oldest sporting clubs in Europe. The sporting clubs' basketball department was founded in 1919. After the Greek military suffered defeat in the Greco-Turkish War in 1922, the club was transferred to the Athenian suburb of Nea Smyrni, in Greece.

The basketball department, Panionios B.C., began participation in the Greek Basket League starting in the 1928–29 season, and finished in second place in the league that year. Panionios B.C. finished in third place in the league the next year.

Panionios B.C. competed in the top-tier Greek basketball league, in consecutive years, from the 1981–82 season until the 2014–15 season. In the 1986–87 season, Panionios played in the championship finals series of the Greek League, losing out to Aris, and their two Greek basketball legends Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis (Giannakis would later go on to play for Panionios). In 1991, led by Fanis Christodoulou, the team won the Greek Cup title, by defeating PAOK by a score of 73-70. Panionios also played in the finals game of the Greek Cup in both 1977 and 1995. Ιn the 1993–94 season, after an exciting run in the European 3rd-tier level FIBA Korać Cup, and after scoring a couple of wins against Maccabi Elite in the quarterfinals, Panionios reached the semifinals, and played against PAOK Bravo. This marked the first civil conflict between Greek basketball clubs in European-wide competitions, ever.

The club finished in 3rd place in the Greek League in the 1995–96 season, under head coach Dušan Ivković, and thus qualified to the EuroLeague for the 1996–97 season. In the FIBA EuroLeague 1996–97 season, the team was coached by Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou. Two years later, in 1999, Panionios once again reached the semifinals of the FIBA Korać Cup, where they were again eliminated, this time from the super favorites of the tournament, FC Barcelona, which featured Sasha Djordjević.

In the Greek League 2007–08 season, Panionios, led by Ivan Zoroski, Giannis Kalampokis, and charismatic head coach Nenad Marković, finished in 3rd place in the Greek League. They came back from an 0-2 series deficit in the deciding best-of-five league third-place series against Maroussi, and won the series 3-2. That secured the team a place in the EuroLeague competition for the EuroLeague 2008–09 season. This marked the club's first EuroLeague appearance in more than a decade.[2]

After the 2014–15 season, Panionios was relegated to the Greek 2nd Division, after 33 consecutive seasons with a presence in the top-tier level Greek Basket League.[3] For the 2015–16 season, Panionios preferred to play in the third-tier level semi-pro Greek B Basket League, due to financial difficulties.[4] They were promoted up to the Greek 2nd Division for the 2016–17 season. They won the Greek 2nd Division title for the 2016–17 season, and were promoted back up to the top-tier level league.

Arenas

Helliniko Olympic Arena

Panionios plays its domestic Greek League home games at Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall, a small arena owned by the Nea Smyrni municipality, with a capacity of 2,000. They have also used Glyfada Indoor Hall, which has a capacity of 3,232. They have also often played home games at the Hellinicon Olympic Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000.[5]

The municipality of Nea Smyrni has also approved the construction of a new modern-style multi-use arena, Boban Janković Indoor Hall, built on the same location as the old Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall.

Roster

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Panionios B.C. roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
G/F 6 Greece Nikolakopoulos, Panagiotis 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 22 – (1994-08-24)24 August 1994
SF 7 Greece Pelekanos, Michalis 1.99 m (6 ft 6 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 36 – (1981-05-25)25 May 1981
SG 8 Greece Kapris, Fotis 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 18 – (1999-05-18)18 May 1999
G/F 9 Greece Sakellariou, Vangelis 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 28 – (1989-08-04)4 August 1989
PG 10 Greece Karidas, Sakis 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 37 – (1979-11-04)4 November 1979
G 11 Greece Michalos, Nikos 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 40 – (1977-05-21)21 May 1977
SF 12 Greece Billis, Sotiris 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 20 – (1996-11-14)14 November 1996
PG 13 Greece Matalon, Marios 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 28 – (1989-02-16)16 February 1989
C 14 Greece Melissaratos, Petros 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 23 – (1993-09-16)16 September 1993
PF 19 Greece Barlos, Nikos 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 38 – (1979-07-12)12 July 1979
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Greece Dimitris Mitsiakos
  • Greece Kostantinos Siskos
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Updated: 24 February 2017

Honours

Total titles: 5

Divisional competitions

Domestic competitions

European competitions

International record

Season Achievement Notes
Saporta Cup
2001–02 Quarter-finals eliminated by Anwil Włocławek, 83-74 (W) in Athens and 59-75 (L) in Włocławek
Korać Cup
1989–90 Quarter-finals eliminated by CSKA Moscow, 107-85 (W) in Athens and 53-106 (L) in Moscow
1992–93 Quarter-finals eliminated by Philips Milano, 78-79 (L) in Athens and 74-81 (L) in Milan
1993–94 Semi-finals eliminated by PAOK Bravo, 83-85 (L) in Athens and 64-82 (L) in Thessaloniki
1994–95 Quarter-finals eliminated by Stefanel Milano, 59-73 (L) in Milan and 82-73 (L) in Athens
1998–99 Semi-finals eliminated by FC Barcelona, 71-80 (L) in Athens and 61-91 (L) in Barcelona
EuroChallenge
2006–07 Quarter-finals eliminated 2-1 by Akasvayu Girona, 68-76 (L) in Girona, 82-73 (W) in Athens and 49-83 (L) in Girona

Season by season results

Season Greek Division Regular Season Finish Playoffs Finish Greek Cup Europe
2005–06 1st 8th 8th Round of 16
2006–07 1st 4th 4th Round of 16
2007–08 1st 4th 3rd Quarterfinals ULEB Cup R32
2008–09 1st 6th 6th Semifinals Euroleague RS
2009–10 1st 8th 8th Quarterfinals
2010–11 1st 9th - Round of 16
2011–12 1st 5th 3rd Round of 16
2012–13 1st 3rd 3rd Quarterfinals Eurocup RS
2013–14 1st 3rd 4th Semifinals Eurocup L32
2014–15 1st 14th (relegated) Quarterfinals
2015–16 3rd 1st (promoted)
2016–17 2nd 1st (promoted)

Notable players

Notable coaches

See also

References

  1. ↑ PANIONIOS ATHENS.
  2. ↑ Euroleague.net article on Panionios 2008-09 Euroleague team.
  3. ↑ "Έμεινε εκτός Α1 ο Πανιώνιος". star.gr. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  4. ↑ "Στην Α2 το Περιστέρι, στη Β’ ο Πανιώνιος". sport-fm.gr. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  5. ↑ Worldstadiums.com basketball seating capacity.
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