Panionios B.C.

Panionios B.C.
Nickname	Historic Blue–Reds Panthers
Leagues	Greek A2 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
Capacity	2,000
Location	Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece
Team colors
President	Ion Varouxakis
Head coach	Nikos Oikonomou
2015–16 Greek B Basket League position	Greek B 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 Greek Basket League, which is considered one of the best domestic basketball leagues in Europe. Panionios B.C. has also competed in the 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, Nikos Chatzis, Giorgos Sigalas, Angelos Koronios, Dimos Dikoudis, Nikos Oikonomou, Stratos Perperoglou, Ender Arslan, Alex Stepheson, 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.

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, on top of 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 PF 5 Noeas, Petros 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 29 – 20 June 1987 G/F 6 Nikolakopoulos, Panagiotis 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 22 – 24 August 1994 SF 7 Pelekanos, Michalis 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 35 – 25 May 1981 PG 8 Matalon, Marios 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 27 – 16 February 1989 G/F 9 Sakellariou, Vangelis 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 27 – 4 August 1989 PG 10 Karidas, Sakis 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 37 – 4 November 1979 G 11 Michalos, Nikos 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 39 – 21 May 1977 SF 12 Billis, Sotiris 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 20 – 14 November 1996 C 14 Melissaratos, Petros 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 103 kg (227 lb) 23 – 16 September 1993 F/C 15 Dimitriadis, Tasos 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) C 16 Alihodzic, Fahro 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 118 kg (260 lb) 27 – 25 August 1989 PF 19 Barlos, Nikos 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 109 kg (240 lb) 37 – 12 July 1979	Head coach Nikos Oikonomou Assistant coach(es) Dimitris Mitsiakos Kostantinos Siskos Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: 2016-7-26

Honours

Total titles: 4

Divisional competitions

• Greek 2nd Division
  • Winners (2): 1974, 1981

• Greek 3rd Division
  • Winners (1): 2016

Domestic competitions

• Greek League
  • Runners-up (1): 1987
• Greek Cup
  • Winners (1): 1991
  • Runners-up (2): 1977, 1995

European competitions

• Korać Cup
  • Semifinals (2): 1994, 1999

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	Division	Regular	Play-off	Cup	Europe
2005–06	1st	8th	8th	Round of 16
2006–07	1st	4th	4th	Round of 16
2007–08	1st	4th	3rd	Quarter-finals	ULEB Cup R32
2008–09	1st	6th	6th	Semi-finals	Euroleague RS
2009–10	1st	8th	8th	Quarter-finals
2010–11	1st	9th	-	Round of 16
2011–12	1st	5th	3rd	Round of 16
2012–13	1st	3rd	3rd	Quarter-finals	Eurocup RS
2013–14	1st	3rd	4th	Semi-finals	Eurocup L32
2014–15	1st	14th	(relegated)	Quarter-finals
2015–16	3rd	1st	(promoted)

Notable players

Dimitrios Stamatis Nikos Barlos Dimitrios Verginis Theo Papaloukas Panagiotis Giannakis Fanis Christodoulou Christos Christodoulou Takis Koroneos Giorgos Gasparis Giorgos Bosganas Giorgos Karagoutis Panagiotis Kafkis Nikos Chatzis Stratos Perperoglou Vassilis Kikilias Angelos Koronios Christos Tapoutos Nikos Oikonomou Faidon Matthaiou Nikos Linardos Giorgos Sigalas Giannis Sioutis Giorgos Kalaitzis Tzanis Stavrakopoulos Vangelis Angelou Ioannis Giannoulis Georgios Diamantopoulos Savas Iliadis Dimitris Marmarinos Makis Dreliozis Makis Dendrinos Dimitris Mavroeidis Dimos Dikoudis Giannis Kalampokis Alexandros Sigkounas Vassilis Xanthopoulos Ioannis Georgallis Andreas Kanonidis Dimitris Papanikolaou Theodoros Karamanolis Marios Batis Charis Giannopoulos Vangelis Sklavos Kostas Missas

Vassilis Kavvadas Nikos Pappas Gaios Skordilis Christos Saloustros Alexis Kyritsis Ioannis Athanasoulas Vassilis Symtsak Ioannis Athinaiou Georgios Bogris Dimitrios Agravanis Miroslav Marinos-Raitsevits Dušan Šakota Vlantimir Giankovits Dušan Jelic Koutsopoulos Miroslav Pecarski Alexi Giannoulias Thurl Bailey Luke Hancock Gabe Pruitt P.J. Brown John Hudson Kennedy Winston Byron Dinkins Ed Stokes William Avery Toby Bailey Henry Turner Andre Hutson Rashad Wright Gerry McNamara Chris Owens Randolph Keys Chris Jent Donnell Harvey John Wallace Antonio Harvey Jeff McInnis Travis Watson Mark Landsberger Mateen Cleaves Ruben Douglas Mitchell Wiggins Lonny Baxter

Amal McCaskill Rod Sellers Paul Shirley Travis Mays Aaron Miles Travon Bryant Jon Diebler Billy Keys Errick McCollum Landon Milbourne T.J. Carter Kevin Langford Chris Booker Mark Payne Tyrese Rice Levon Kendall Boban Janković Žarko Paspalj Dragan Lukovski Branko Cvetković Vladimir Micov Zoran Erceg Dejan Borovnjak Uroš Duvnjak Stephen Arigbabu Ender Arslan Jure Zdovc Brad Newley Antanas Kavaliauskas Nenad Marković Joao Santos Laurent Sciarra Guy-Marc Michel Goran Nikolić Kristaps Valters Vassil Evtimov Nikoloz Tskitishvili Chinemelu Elonu

Notable coaches

• Panagiotis Giannakis
• Kostas Missas
• Nikos Linardos
• Michalis Kyritsis
• Makis Dendrinos
• Memos Ioannou
• Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou
• Georgios Bartzokas
• Thanasis Skourtopoulos
• Minas Gekos
• Giannis Sfairopoulos
• Vangelis Alexandris
• Nikos Oikonomou
• Lefteris Soumpotits
• Dušan Ivković
• Vlade Đurović
• Alex Trifunović
• Nenad Marković

See also

• Panionios F.C.
• Panionios G.S.S.

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.

External links

• Panionios B.C. Official Website (Greek)
• Eurobasket.com Team Page
• Greek Basket League Team Page
• EuroCup Official Team Page
• Euroleague.net Panionios B.C. Team Profile
• Panionios Panthers Club (Greek)
• Women Panionios B.C. at Eurobasket.com
• Πανιώνιος - Κολοσσός Ρόδου, Στιγμιότυπα και Συνεντεύξεις στο Κλειστό της Νέας Σμύρνης (Greek)
• http://www.nstv.gr/Panionios-Kolossos-Rodou-stigmiotypa-kai-synedefksis-sto-kleisto-tis-nea-smyrnis (Greek)