G.S. Iraklis B.C.

Gymnastikos Syllogos Iraklis Basketball Club (Greek: Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Κ.Α.Ε., Greek pronunciation: [iɾa'klis]) is a Greek professional basketball team that is located in Thessaloniki. It serves as the senior men's basketball section of the multi-sport club of G.S. Iraklis. Iraklis currently plays in the top-tier level Greek Basket League.

Iraklis
NicknameThe Elder
LeaguesGreek Basket League
Greek Cup
Founded1921 (1921)
HistoryG.S. Iraklis B.C.
(1921 – Present)
ArenaIvanofeio Sports Arena
Capacity2,500[1]
LocationThessaloniki, Greece
Team colorsWhite and Blue
         
PresidentTheodoros Drakopoulos
Head coachIlias Kantzouris
2019–20 position7th
Championships2 Greek Championships
2 Greek Second Divisions
Websiteiraklis-bc.gr
Active departments of GS Iraklis
FootballBasketball
(Men's)		Basketball
(Women's)
VolleyballWater PoloHandball
AthleticsSwimmingRugby
Ice HockeyJudoWrestling
BoxingFencing

The team's colors are blue and white. Iraklis won the Greek National Championship in 1928 and 1935, and has also reached the Greek Cup final three times. Some of the greatest players in Greek, European and worldwide basketball have played for Iraklis over the years including: Lefteris Kakiousis, Jure Zdovc, James Donaldson, Walter Berry, Xavier McDaniel, Roy Tarpley, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Vasily Karasev, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dimitris Diamantidis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

History

The Iraklis parent athletic club was founded in 1908, and initially featured football. The club was named after Heracles (or Hercules), the mythical Greek demigod. The basketball team of Iraklis was established in 1921.[2]

Iraklis won the inaugural Greek League championship in 1928.[3][4] To win the championship, Iraklis had to eliminate AEK Athens and Near East, before beating VAO in the championship game.[5] The team won its second Greek championship in 1935.[3] Also in the team's history, three times Iraklis finished in second place in the Greek Championship (1936, 1962, and 1964), three times Iraklis has been a Greek Cup Finalist (1981, 1994, and 1996), and two times Iraklis made it to the semifinals of the European 2nd-tier level league Cup Winners' Cup.[6]

Iraklis reached the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA European Cup, where they competed against Taugrés.[7] Iraklis won the first game 79–78, but lost the next two games, to be eliminated 2–1 in a best of three series.[7] In 1996, an Iraklis team led by former NBA players Xavier McDaniel and Roy Tarpley, reached the Greek Cup Final Four.[8] By beating Apollon Patras in the semifinal, Iraklis reached the final, where it then lost 85–74 to Panathinaikos.[8] Iraklis has also twice competed in the top European continental competitions. The club played in the European top-tier level European Champions' Cup in the 1995–96 season, and also competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season.

Recent history (2005-present)

In 2006, Iraklis was relegated to the Greek A2 Basket League, after finishing 13th in the first-tier Greek League.[9] In 2010, after four seasons in the second-tier level Greek League, the team was promoted back up to the top-tier Greek Basket League.[10] After one season in the Greek top-tier level, Iraklis was again relegated down to the A2, with two matches left in the season.[11] At the end of the season, Iraklis chose to play in the third-tier level of Greek basketball, the Greek B Basket League, in order to clear its debts.[12][13][14] The club was promoted to the Greek A2 Basket League in 2013, after finishing 2nd in its group, and after Peristeri failed to receive financial clearance to participate in the league.[15]

In the 2018–19 season, Iraklis won the promotion playoffs of the Greek A2 League, and was promoted up to the top level Greek Basket League, for the first time in 8 years.[16]

Honours and titles

European competitions
Semifinalists (2): 1994–95, 1996–97

Domestic competitions
Iraklis won the inaugural Greek Championship in 1928, and won it again, in 1935.
Champions (2): 1927–28, 1934–35
Runners-up (3): 1935–36, 1961–62, 1963–64
Runners-up (3): 1980–81, 1993–94, 1995–96
Champions (2): 1974–75, 1977–78

Home arena
Main article: Ivanofeio Sports Arena
Ivanofeio Sports Arena.

In earlier times, Iraklis played its home games at the Thessaloniki Forum. Iraklis currently plays its home games in the Ivanofeio Sports Arena, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,500.[17] The arena opened in 1987, and it was expanded to its current capacity in 1991. Ivanofeio is situated in the Thessaloniki city center, and it is owned by the GS Iraklis multi-sport club.[18]

Supporters

The most prominent supporters' club of the team is Aftonomi Thira 10 (meaning Autonomous Gate 10), a fan club with a total of 15 branches in Northern Greece.[19] The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the Ultras Antiracist Festival.[20] Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival.[21][22] Other minor supporters' clubs are SFISE, Blue Boys, A.P.A.T.S.I., and Iraklis Fan Club of Athens.[23] In a 2013 opinion poll, Iraklis was ranked as the 6th most popular basketball club in Greece, gathering 2.8% of the participating supporters' votes.[24]

Players

Current roster
Iraklis B.C. roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
PF 1 Manolopoulos, Sotirios 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 32 – (1987-11-16)16 November 1987
G/F 4 Tepić, Milenko 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 33 – (1987-02-27)27 February 1987
C 6 Kavvadas, Vassilis 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 120 kg (265 lb) 28 – (1991-12-28)28 December 1991
SG 7 Shuler, Jamal 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 91 kg (201 lb) 34 – (1986-01-11)11 January 1986
F/C 9 Davis, Alex 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1992-01-28)28 January 1992
SG 10 Fillios, Giorgos 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 18 – (2002-02-10)10 February 2002
PF 11 Kakaroudis, Kostas 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 111 kg (245 lb) 37 – (1983-05-02)2 May 1983
G/F 13 Zaras, Theodoros 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 32 – (1987-08-12)12 August 1987
G/F 15 Kalaitzidis, Dimitris (C) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 35 – (1985-02-15)15 February 1985
PF 17 Georgalas, Fotis 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 19 – (2001-06-26)26 June 2001
PG 21 Hanlan, Olivier 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 27 – (1993-02-15)15 February 1993
G 44 Gavin, Jimmy 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 28 – (1991-08-28)28 August 1991
G Nikolaidis, Giannis 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 21 – (1999-03-29)29 March 1999
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured
Updated: March 9, 2020

Depth chart
Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Vassilis Kavvadas Alex Davis
PF Sotiris Manolopoulos Kostas Kakaroudis Fotis Georgalas
SF Milenko Tepić Dimitris Kalaitzidis
SG Jamal Shuler Thodoris Zaras Giannis Nikolaidis Giorgos Fillios
PG Olivier Hanlan Jimmy Gavin Athanasios Tsoukas

Notable players

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

  • Greek internationals of Iraklis
  • Papadopoulos played a total of six seasons with Iraklis, in 1996–2001, and 2003–2004.
  • Schortsanitis played with Iraklis, from 2000 to 2003.
  • Dimitris Diamantidis played with Iraklis, from 1999 to 2004.

Head coaches
Jure Zdovc played for Iraklis between 1993–1996, and coached the team in the 2005–06 season.
Head Coach From To Titles & Honors
Makis Piritidis 1979 1980
Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou 1980 1981 1 Greek Cup Finalist 1981
Michalis Giannouzakos 1987 1987
Soulis Markopoulos 1987 1990
- Steve Giatzoglou 1990
1996		 1992
1996		 1 Greek Cup Finalist 1996
Theodoros Rodopoulos 1992 1992
Ciko Awerbuck 1992 1992
Johnny Neumann 1993 1993
-- Dragan Šakota 1993
1998		 1994
2000		 1 Greek Cup Finalist 1994
- Slobodan Subotić 1994
1995		 1995
1995
Tom Newell 1996 1996
Zoran Slavnić 1997 1997
Vangelis Alexandris 1997
2015
Makis Dendrinos 2000 2000
Lefteris Kakiousis 2004
2009		 2005
2010
Jure Zdovc 2006 2006
Darko Russo Nov 2010 Jan 2011
Georgios Kalafatakis Jan 2011 Feb 2011
Chris Chougkaz Feb 2011 Sep 2011
Makis Kalantaridis Sep 2011 Oct 2011
Thodoris Albanis Oct 2011 Mar 2012
Antonis Kyritsis Mar 2012 May 2012
Dimitris Vatos May 2012 Jul 2012
Thomas Kostopoulos Jul 2012 Jul 2013
Dimitris Tsolakis Jul 2013 Sep 2013
Stefanos Perkos Sep 2013 Apr 2014
Giorgos Kyroudis Apr 2014 Nov 2014
Giannis Damalis Nov 2014 Mar 2015
Stefanos Perkos Mar 2015 Oct 2015
Vangelis Alexandris Oct 2015 Jan 2018
Lefteris Chatzikyriakidis Jan 2018 Oct 2018
Kostas Mexas Oct 2018 Jul 2019
Ioannis Kastritis Jul 2019 Jan 2020
Ilias Kantzouris Jan 2020 present

In European-wide competitions
Main article: G.S. Iraklis B.C. in international competitions

See also

References
  1. Γήπεδο: Ιβανώφειο Χωρητικότητα: 2500 (in Greek).
  2. Tahidromos (11 November 1921). "Newspaper Tahidromos Voriou Ellados from 1921" formation of the first team (in Greek). Parliament Library. Retrieved 16 June 2020. Invalid |script-title=: missing prefix (help)
  3. Giannopoulos, Nikos (4 June 2014). Η χρυσή βίβλος του ελληνικού πρωταθλήματος μπάσκετ (in Greek). contra.gr. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. Mpakolas, Giorgos (29 May 2015). Θεσσαλονίκη: Μπασκετομάνα ή φτωχομάνα (in Greek). EuroHoops.net. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  5. Ιστορία (in Greek). Iraklis BC. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  6. "Iraklis club history". Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  7. Maragousia, Antonia (16 April 2010). Ταξίδι στο χρόνο από το 1968 έως σήμερα (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  8. "Archived copy" Η ιστορία των τελικών Κυπέλλου Μπάσκετ (in Greek). pamesports.gr. 9 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. Κάθε χρονιά κι ένα μάθημα (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  10. Φινάλε με γιορτή στο Ιβανώφειο (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  11. Maragousia, Antonia (13 April 2011). Ηρακλής - Πανιώνιος: 52-59 (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  12. Διαλύεται η ΚΑΕ Ηρακλής (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  13. Αρχίζει ο σχεδιασμός για τη Β΄ Εθνική (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  14. "Οριστικά στη Β' Εθνική ο Ηρακλής". sport24.gr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  15. Loutsi, Alexandra (July 3, 2013). "Ηρακλής: Ανεβαίνει Α2". onsports.gr. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  16. "Τα συγχαρητήρια του ΕΣΑΚΕ σε Ιωνικό και Ηρακλή". novasports.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  17. Γήπεδο: Ιβανώφειο Χωρητικότητα: 2500 (in Greek).
  18. Ivanofio Indoor Hall.
  19. "Archived copy" Σύνδεσμοι ΑΘ10 (in Greek). Αυτόνομη Θύρα 10 Official site. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. Αντιρατσιστικό οπαδικό μήνυμα (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  21. Το περιοδικό της "Αυτόνομης" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  22. "SICK 'N' BLUE festival στο Ιβανώφειο" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  23. "Archived copy" Ανακοίνωση Συνδέσμων - ΓΣ - ΠΑΕ - ΚΑΕ (in Greek). Αυτόνομη Θύρα 10 Official site. 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. Τι έλαβαν όλες οι ομάδες στο "οπαδοψήφισμα" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
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