Panionios
Panionios logo
NicknameHistoric
Blue–Reds
Panthers
LeaguesGreek 2nd Division
Greek Cup
Founded1919
HistoryPanionios G.S.S.
(1919–present)
ArenaMilon Indoor Hall
Capacity1,300
LocationNea Smyrni, Greece
Team colorsRed and Blue
   
Main sponsorCosmorama
PresidentThodoris Mikropoulos, Panagiotis Iliadis
Team managerFanis Christodoulou
Head coachAris Lykogiannis
Team captainDimitris Verginis
ChampionshipsGreek Cup (1)
Retired numbers8, 4
Websitepanioniosbc.gr

Panionios B.C. (Greek: Πανιώνιος KAE), known in European competitions as Panionios Athens[1] is the Greek professional basketball club that is based in Nea Smyrni, and that plays its home games in Palaio Faliro, 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.

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, as well as several other sponsorship names.

Some of the well-known players that have played with the club over the years have included: Faidon Matthaiou, Takis Koroneos, Makis Dendrinos, Dimitris Fosses, Kostas Missas, Fanis Christodoulou, Giannis Giannoulis, 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, Georgios Sigalas, Angelos Koronios, Dimos Dikoudis, Nikos Oikonomou, Georgios Diamantopoulos, 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 Tel Aviv 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 their head coach at the time, 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, under the ownership of Elias Lianos, the founder of Proton Bank, 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 of Greece, the semi-pro level 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 of the 2016–17 season, and were promoted back up to the top-tier level league, for the 2017–18 season. Due to financial difficulties, Panionios was demoted down to the Greek 3rd Division, prior to the 2020–21 season.

Panionios in international competitions

Arenas

Helliniko Olympic Arena

Panionios played its domestic Greek League home games at "Artakis" Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall, a now demolished 1,832-seat arena that was owned by the Nea Smyrni municipality. They used the arena from its opening in 1979 to 2006, and from 2009 to its close in 2019.[5] From 2006 to 2009, the club used the Helliniko Olympic Arena, which was built for the 2004 Summer Olympics, and has a capacity of 15,000, as its home arena.[6] At various times, the club has also used the National Athletic Center Glyfada Makis Liougas, which has a capacity of 3,232.[7]

In 2019, the club moved into the Sofia Befon Palaio Faliro Indoor Hall for the 2019–20 season.[8][9][10] The arena seats 1,204 people.[11] It was opened in 2017.

The municipality of Nea Smyrni has begun the construction of a new modern-style multi-use indoor arena, called the Boban Janković Indoor Hall, named after Boban Janković, which is being built on the same location as the old Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall. The new arena is scheduled to be open for the 2022–23 season. The club will play at a smaller arena in Nea Smyrni neighborhood, Andreas Varikas Indoor Hall, until its new arena is completed.

Retired numbers

[12]

Panionios B.C. retired numbers
N° Nat. Player Position Tenure
4GreeceFanis ChristodoulouSF/PF1983–1997
8Federal Republic of YugoslaviaBoban JankovićSF1992–1993

Current roster

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

Panionios roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.NameHt.Wt.Age
G/F 0 United States Berrick, Jean Louis 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) 90 kg (198 lb) 24 – (1999-07-07)7 July 1999
PG 1 Greece Skandalos, Christos 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) 29 – (1995-01-12)12 January 1995
PG 2 Greece Christou, Nikos 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 17 – (2006-02-12)12 February 2006
PG 3 Greece Serbia Milentigievits, Iakovos 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 82 kg (181 lb) 27 – (1997-01-11)11 January 1997
PG 5 Greece Dimitrakopoulos, Iasonas 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 26 – (1997-06-11)11 June 1997
G/F 6 Greece Papadionisiou, Stathis 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) 31 – (1992-09-15)15 September 1992
F/C 7 Greece Antonakis, Tasos 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 31 – (1992-02-09)9 February 1992
F 13 Greece Chalaris, Stelios 2.05 m (6 ft 9 in) 31 – (1992-05-22)22 May 1992
C 14 Greece Kaklamanakis, Dimitris 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 29 – (1994-01-25)25 January 1994
C 15 Greece Vougioukas, Ian 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) 127 kg (280 lb) 38 – (1985-05-31)31 May 1985
G 17 Greece Afentoulidis, Vasilis 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 19 – (2004-01-17)17 January 2004
PG 28 Greece Verginis, Dimitris (C) 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 36 – (1987-05-15)15 May 1987
G 33 Greece Vafeiadis, Manos 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 26 – (1997-11-21)21 November 1997
C 34 Greece Virlas, Panagiotis 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (1999-03-30)30 March 1999
F 44 Ukraine Greece Sergienko, Yevhen 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 30 – (1994-01-01)1 January 1994
PG 88 Greece Gikas, Nikos 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) 81 kg (179 lb) 33 – (1990-11-22)22 November 1990
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Greece Spyros Karadimas
  • Greece Konstantinos Limnaios
Athletic trainer(s)
  • Greece Stratos Tsampis
Team Manager
  • Greece Giannis Dalles
Team Captain
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: 7 October 2023

Honours and titles

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
  • Greek UNICEF Basketball Cup
Winners (2): 2022–23, 2023-24

European competitions

Semifinalist (2): 1993–94, 1998–99

Other competitions

  • Athens, Greece Tournament
Winners (1): 2011

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 League 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
2018–19
1
 Basket League 10th
8–18
2019–20
1
 Basket League 12th
6–14

Notable players

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

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

Greece:

Europe:

USA:

Rest of Americas:

Africa:

Oceania:

Head coaches

Head Coach Years
Greece Michalis Kyritsis
1982–1983, 1987–1988
Greece Makis Dendrinos
1983–1987, 1997–1998
Greece Serbia Vlade Đurović
1988–1993
Greece Kostas Missas
1993–1994, 2002
Serbia Dušan Ivković
1994–1996
Greece Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou
1996–1997
Greece Slovenia Lefteris Subotić
2000–2001
Greece Panagiotis Giannakis
2001–2002
Greece Georgios Kalafatakis
2002–2004, 2017
Greece Memos Ioannou
2004–2006
Greece Nikos Linardos
2006
Montenegro Luka Pavićević
2006–2007
Greece Minas Gekos
2007
Bosnia and Herzegovina Nenad Marković
2007–2008, 2009–2010
Serbia Alex Trifunović
2008–2009
Greece Georgios Bartzokas
2010–2012
Greece Thanasis Skourtopoulos
2012
Greece Ioannis Sfairopoulos
2012–2014
Greece Vangelis Alexandris
2014–2015
Greece Chris Chougaz
2015, 2018
Greece Vangelis Ziagkos
2015–2016, 2017–2018
Greece Nikos Oikonomou
2016–2017, 2018–2019
Greece Vassilis Fragkias
2018–2019
Greece Ioannis Livanos
2019
Greece Linos Gavriel
2019–2020

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.

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. ↑ Κλειστό της Οδού Αρτάκης: Κάτι παραπάνω από ένα γήπεδο (in Greek).
  6. ↑ "World Stadiums - Stadiums in Greece". www.worldstadiums.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Competition Engine - Welcome to EUROLEAGUE BASKETBALL". www.euroleague.net. Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. ↑ Το κλειστό γήπεδο "Σοφία Μπεφόν" στο Π. Φάληρο θα είναι η νέα έδρα του Πανιωνίου (in Greek).
  9. ↑ Video από τα εγκαίνια του Κλειστού Γυμναστηρίου ΣΟΦΙΑ ΜΠΕΦΟΝ (long version) (in Greek).
  10. ↑ Τα εισιτήρια του Πανιώνιου για τον πρώτο αγώνα στο κλειστό Π.Φαλήρου “Σοφία Μπεφόν” (pic) (in Greek).
  11. ↑ Αυτό είναι το νέο Κλειστό Γήπεδο του Παλαιού Φαλήρου (in Greek).
  12. ↑ "Οι αριθμοί στις φανέλες των παικτών του Πανιώνιου". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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