Dimitrios Diamantidis

Dimitrios Diamantidis
Player information
birthday	6th May 1980 (age 40)
place of birth	Kastoria , Greece
size	196 cm
Weight	88 kg
position	Point guard
Clubs as active
1994–1999 Kastoria 1999–2004 Iraklis Thessaloniki 2004–2016 Panathinaikos Athens
National team
2001-2010 2000	Greece Greece U 20	124 016

Dimitrios Diamantidis ( Greek Δημήτριος Διαμαντίδης , born May 6, 1980 in Kastoria ) is a former Greek national basketball player. The 1.96 m tall point guard was characterized above all by his defensive qualities and his versatility, was considered the best defensive player in Europe for years and was consequently voted best defender of the ULEB Euroleague six times .

With the national team of Greece he won the European championship in 2005 and reached the runner-up world championship in 2006. He was also able to win the ULEB Euroleague three times with Panathinaikos Athens as well as nine Greek championships and ten cup wins. During his 17-year professional career, Diamantidis was able to win 24 titles and is second behind Fragiskos Alvertis (25 titles) among the most successful Greek basketball players.

Diamantidis is one of the most important players in European basketball history. Although he never played in the US professional league NBA , he was considered one of the best players in the world. In the eternal leaderboards of the ULEB Euroleague, he leads the categories for the most assists, steals and total playing time. It also took first place in the category of personal individual ratings for all players.

At the beginning of 2008, Dimitrios Diamantidis was one of a group of 105 basketball players who were nominated by the Euroleague basketball and / or basketball enthusiasts to determine fifty important figures in basketball in Europe , active in the period 1958 to 2008 and subsequently in Madrid in May 2008 ( Spain ). All the nominated players played a particularly prominent role in the European Cup competitions of FIBA Europe and the Euroleague basketball and were each among the particularly prominent 'stars' of their national league teams.

Career

Diamantidis began his career in 1994 in his hometown of Kastoria before moving to the Greek professional league at Iraklis Thessaloniki in 1999 . In his second season with Iraklis Diamantidis established himself as a starting five player and was elected MVP of the Greek A1 Ethniki in 2004. In the summer of the same year he moved to Panathinaikos Athens , where he is still under contract today. With Panathinaikos, the building player managed the double in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013 and 2014 . In 2007 and 2009 he even managed the triple . In the 2007 final, he defeated Panathinaikos CSKA Moscow and was subsequently elected MVP of the match.

Diamantidis set a record when he took part in 245 games between Panathinaikos and the Greek national team between July 6, 2004 and August 11, 2007 and never missed a match.

On November 16, 2008 Diamantidis was only the fourth player in the A1 Ethniki to achieve 1,000 career assists . Only a few weeks later, on December 20 of the same year, he reached 500 career steals , also only the fourth player in the A1 Ethniki . On January 6, 2011, he overtook Angelos Koronios in the all-time leaderboard and has since led the category for given assists. On January 22, 2011, he overtook Koronios in the steals and also took the lead in this category.

After Fragiskos Alvertis retired in 2009, Diamantidis is the team captain of Panathinaikos.

On April 21, 2014 Diamantidis took the lead in the all-time list of best assistants in the ULEB Euroleague.

After the end of the 2015/2016 season, Diamantidis ended his active career. On June 9, 2016, Panathinaikos announced that they would no longer use the number 13 that Diamantidis had worn until then.

National team

Diamantidis in the 2012/2013 season

Diamantidis made his debut with the Greek national team at the Mediterranean Games on September 5, 2001. In a 101:56 victory over Lebanon, he scored six points. In 2005 he won the European basketball championship . Opponent in the final, which took place in Belgrade , was the German team around Dirk Nowitzki . Diamantidis finished this tournament as the best assist donor and was elected to the All-Tournament Team. In the semifinals against France he managed a three-point throw a few seconds before the end of the season at 64:66, which gave Greece the 67:66 victory and the final ticket. At the 2006 World Basketball Championship Diamantidis reached the final with Greece and won the silver medal there. On the way to the final, the Greek selection was the only team to defeat the national team from the United States .

With Greece Diamantidis also took part in the Olympic Games in 2004 and 2008 , was able to win the Stanković Cup once and the Acropolis tournament seven times .

Diamantidis announced his resignation from the national team on September 4, 2010 after being eliminated in the World Cup round of 16 against Spain.

Play style

Diamantidis was considered a versatile player who could be used in many positions. In addition to his actual position, he often played as a shooting guard or small forward at Panathinaikos . Thanks to his athleticism and his ability to defend and defend against larger players, he was occasionally set up in the position of power forward , as a so-called point forward , especially by his former coach Željko Obradović . Diamantidis was considered the best European defensive player during his playing days and was named best player in this category by the ULEB Euroleague six times (five of them in a row). His defensive qualities also gave him his nickname 3D , which is the abbreviation for Dimitrios Diamantidis Defense . Due to his arms, which are above average in relation to his height, and the resulting high rate of steals, Diamantidis was occasionally referred to in the Greek media as Octopus or Spiderman .

successes

• Greek champion : 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014
• Greek Cup Winner : 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
• ULEB Euroleague : 2007 , 2009 , 2011
• European Championship : 2005
• Stanković Cup : 2006
• Vice World Champion: 2006
• Silver medal at the Mediterranean Championships: 2001

Awards

• Sportsman of the year (Greece): 2007
• MVP of A1 Ethniki : 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014
• Greek Playoffs MVP: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014
• Acropolis Tournament MVP : 2005, 2006
• MVP of the Euroleague Finals: 2007, 2011
• MVP of the ULEB Euroleague season 2010/2011
• Greek Cup Final MVP: 2009, 2016
• Euroleague All-Decade Team 2000-2010
• Euroleague All-Decade Team 2010–2020
• ESAKE: Best Team of the Year: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016
• ULEB Euroleague best defender: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011
• A1 Ethniki best defender : 2011
• All Euroleague First Team: 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013
• European Championship All-Tournament Team: 2005
• European Championship 2nd Team: 2005
• Participation in the Greek All Star Game: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014
• Participation in the U-20 European Championship: 2000
• Participation in European championships: 2003, 2005, 2007
• Participation in world championships : 2006, 2010
• Participation in the Olympic Games: 2004, 2008

statistics

Legend
GP	Matches played ( Games Played )	GS	Games from the beginning ( Games started )	MPG	Graduated minutes per game ( Minutes per game )
FG%	Throw rate from the field ( field goal percentage )	3P%	Throwing quota three-point throws ( 3-point field-goal percentage )	FT%	Free throw rate ( free-throw percentage )
RPG	Rebounds per game ( rebounds per game )	APG	Assists per game ( assists per game )	SPG	Steals per game ( steals per game )
BPG	Blocks per game ( blocks per game )	PPG	Points per game ( points per game )	PIR	Personal index rating
	Title win			FAT	Career record

championship

season	team	GP	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1999-2000	Iraklis Thessaloniki	9	.250	0	.750	1.9	0.7	0.9	0	1.8
2000-2001	Iraklis Thessaloniki	23	.336	.219	.591	2.4	1.7	0.8	0.3	3.3
2001-2002	Iraklis Thessaloniki	31	.445	.391	.700	4.6	1.7	2.8	0.4	6.2
2002-2003	Iraklis Thessaloniki	26th	.420	.280	.699	5.5	4.9	2.5	0.8	12.0
2003-2004	Iraklis Thessaloniki	35	.443	.333	.792	6.3	2.9	1.4	0.3	14.8
2004-2005	Panathinaikos Athens	37	.523	.358	.706	4.8	3.4	1.8	0.5	8.1
2005-2006	Panathinaikos Athens	34	.467	.433	.816	4.1	3.0	2.5	0.3	8.6
2006-2007	Panathinaikos Athens	36	.527	.468	.750	4.3	4.9	1.8	0.6	8.9
2007-2008	Panathinaikos Athens	36	.481	.412	.896	4.6	3.6	2.0	0.7	8.8
2008-2009	Panathinaikos Athens	27	.561	.538	.848	3.2	3.9	1.1	0.5	8.2
2009-2010	Panathinaikos Athens	30th	.543	.455	.802	4.2	4.9	1.6	0.5	9.0
2010-2011	Panathinaikos Athens	35	.456	.410	.872	2.3	4.4	1.2	0.2	8.7
2011–2012	Panathinaikos Athens	33	.537	.438	.847	2.4	4.4	1.2	0.3	10.2
2012-2013	Panathinaikos Athens	30th	.427	.412	.815	3.3	5.1	1.2	0.4	10.5
2013-2014	Panathinaikos Athens	35	.498	.402	.871	2.1	4.5	1.0	0.2	9.3
2014-2015	Panathinaikos Athens	31	.436	.407	.771	2.4	5.5	0.9	0.3	8.1
2015-2016	Panathinaikos Athens	32	.383	.333	.849	2.9	4.0	1.3	0.3	6.4
total		520				3.7	3.9	1.6	0.4	8.8

ULEB Euroleague

season	team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2004-2005	Panathinaikos Athens	25th	20th	27.4	.544	.467	.709	3.7	3.1	2.0	.6	8.5	12.5
2005-2006	Panathinaikos Athens	23	22nd	30.1	.492	.269	.785	4.5	2.9	2.3	.8th	8.7	13.1
2006-2007	Panathinaikos Athens	24	24	29.1	.489	.460	.780	3.9	3.9	2.2	.6	8.9	14.3
2007-2008	Panathinaikos Athens	19th	19th	30.9	.484	.435	.769	5.3	3.3	1.8	.7	8.5	15.1
2008-2009	Panathinaikos Athens	21st	12	27.3	.486	.441	.863	4.4	3.1	1.5	.5	8.5	14.0
2009-2010	Panathinaikos Athens	12	9	26.7	.559	.516	.738	2.9	3.3	1.5	.3	9.4	13.7
2010-2011	Panathinaikos Athens	22nd	21st	30.5	.433	.370	.872	3.9	6.2	1.6	.1	12.5	18.5
2011–2012	Panathinaikos Athens	23	21st	30.0	.448	.425	.882	3.7	4.8	1.5	.5	11.5	16.4
2012-2013	Panathinaikos Athens	27	25th	31.5	.368	.315	.712	3.4	5.8	1.4	.4	8.1	13.1
2013-2014	Panathinaikos Athens	29	27	31.2	.324	.283	.763	2.4	6.2	1.4	.1	8.9	12.8
2014-2015	Panathinaikos Athens	27	27	27.3	.410	.379	.814	2.3	5.9	.9	.3	8.0	12.1
2015-2016	Panathinaikos Athens	26th	1	21.2	.459	.376	.827	2.3	4.2	.8th	.2	7.2	10.3
total		278	228	28.7	.442	.375	.795	3.5	4.5	1.6	.4	9.0	13.7

Web links

• Dimitrios Diamantidis - player profile on Euroleague.net

swell

1. ↑ Assist statistics on www.euroleague.net
2. ↑ Steal statistics on www.euroleague.net
3. ↑ Playtime statistics on www.euroleague.net
4. ↑ Index rating statistics on www.euroleague.net
5. ^ NN: The All-Time Player Nominees. ( Memento of January 2, 2015 on the Internet Archive ) Archived from EuroLeague website; Barcelona, ​​January 2, 2015. Accessed February 2, 2019.
6. ↑ Report on basketblog.gr ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Report on www.gazzetta.gr
8. ↑ Report on www.gazzetta.gr
9. ↑ Report on www.euroleague.net (English)
10. ↑ Panathinaikos withdraws number 13
11. ↑ Report on Diamantidi's resignation on www.sentragoal.gr ( Memento of the original of September 7, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.