Panionios B.C.

Panionios
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
Capacity 1,832
Location Nea Smyrni, Athens, Greece
Team colors          
President Stavros Alevrogiannis
Head coach Chris Chougaz
2017–18 position 12th
Championships 1 Greek Cup
Website panioniosbc.gr
Uniforms

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. Recent previous owners of the club were Elias Lianos, the founder of Proton Bank, Antonis Margetis, and Ion G. Varouxakis.

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.

Logos

History

Early years

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.

Rise of the club to prominence in Greek basketball

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]

Decline of the club

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 1,832. They have also used Glyfada Makis Liougas Sportshall, which has a capacity of 3,500.[5] They have also often played home games at the Hellinicon Olympic Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000.[6]

The municipality of Nea Smyrni has also approved the construction of a new modern-style multi-use indoor arena, Boban Janković Indoor Hall, named after Boban Janković, which will be built on the same location as the old Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall. The new arena is scheduled to be open for the 2021–22 season.

Roster

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

Panionios B.C. roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
C 1 United States Taylor, Jimmie 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 112 kg (247 lb) 23 – (1995-09-03)3 September 1995
SG 3 United States Berry, Davion 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 84 kg (185 lb) 26 – (1991-11-01)1 November 1991
G/F 5 Greece Dimitrakopoulos, Iasonas 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 18 – (2000-06-11)11 June 2000
F/C 6 United States Harris, Darnell 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb) 26 – (1992-02-02)2 February 1992
F 7 Greece Chougaz, Nikos 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 18 – (2000-10-04)4 October 2000
PG 9 United States Brown, Brandon 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 73 kg (161 lb) 27 – (1991-09-18)18 September 1991
SG 10 Greece Tolias, Vasilis 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 15 – (2002-10-30)30 October 2002
G 12 Greece Diplaros, Nikos (C) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 21 – (1997-06-28)28 June 1997
F 13 Greece Kamarianos, Nikos 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 92 kg (203 lb) 21 – (1997-03-21)21 March 1997
G 19 Greece Roumeliotis, Andreas 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) 18 – (2000-09-22)22 September 2000
G/F 21 Greece Kamperidis, Giorgos 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 19 – (1999-10-01)1 October 1999
SF 25 United States Singler, E. J. 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 28 – (1990-06-06)6 June 1990
F/C 33 United States Johns, Taylor 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 99 kg (218 lb) 24 – (1994-04-13)13 April 1994
Head coach
  • Greece Chris Chougaz
Assistant coach(es)
  • Greece Vaggelis Koutsokeras
Team Manager
  • Greece Christos Christodoulou
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: October 5, 2018

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2
C Jimmie Taylor Taylor Johns
PF Darnell Harris Nikos Chougaz
SF E. J. Singler Nikos Kamarianos Iasonas Dimitrakopoulos
SG Davion Berry Giorgos Kamperidis Vasilis Tolias
PG Brandon Brown Nikos Diplaros Andreas Roumeliotis

Retired numbers

[7]

Panionios B.C. retired numbers
N° Nat. Player Position Tenure Date Retired
4GreeceFanis ChristodoulouSF1983–1997
8Federal Republic of YugoslaviaBoban JankovićSF1992–1993

Honours

Total titles: 5

Domestic competitions

Runners-up (1): 1986–87
Winners (1): 1990–91
Runners-up (2): 1976–77, 1994–95
Winners (3): 1973–74, 1980–81, 2016–17
Winners (1): 2015–16

European competitions

Semifinalist (2): 1993–94, 1998–99

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 Tier Division Pos. W–L Greek Cup European competitions
2005–06
1
 Basket League
8th
Round of 16
2006–07
1
 Basket League
4th
Round of 16 3 FIBA EuroCup
QF
8–7
2007–08
1
 Basket League
3rd
Quarterfinals 2 ULEB Cup
L32
6–6
2008–09
1
 Basket League
6th
Semifinals 1 Euroleague
RS
3–7
2009–10
1
 Basket League
8th
Quarterfinals
2010–11
1
 Basket League
9th
Round of 16
2011–12
1
 Basket League
3rd
Round of 16
2012–13
1
 Basket League
3rd
Quarterfinalist 2 Eurocup
RS
2–4
2013–14
1
 Basket League
4th
Semifinalist 2 Eurocup
L32
6–10
2014–15
1
 Basket League
14th
Quarterfinalist
2015–16
3
 B Basket League 1st
2016–17
2
 A2 Basket League 1st
26–4
2017–18
1
 Basket League 12th
7–19

Notable players

Head coaches

Top players in games played and points scored in the Greek Basket League (since the 1992–93 season)

Panionios team leaders in games played and points scored, since the Greek Basket League became fully professional, starting with the 1992–93 season.

  • * Still active player with the team.
  • Last update: 10 October 2018
Rank Player Games Played
1. Greece Marios Batis 174
Rank Player Points Scored
1. Greece Georgios Diamantopoulos 2,676

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Panionios Athens - Welcome to 7DAYS EuroCup". www.eurocupbasketball.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  2. ↑ "Team Focus: Panionios On Telecoms". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  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. ↑ "Competition Engine - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL". www.euroleague.net. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  6. ↑ "World Stadiums - Stadiums in Greece". www.worldstadiums.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Οι αριθμοί στις φανέλες των παικτών του Πανιώνιου". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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