Panagiotis Giannakis

Panagiotis Giannakis
Player information
Nickname	Dragon
birthday	January 1, 1959
place of birth	Athens , Greece
size	192 cm
position	Point guard
NBA draft	207, Boston Celtics , 1982
Clubs as active
1972–1984 Ionikos Nikeas 1984–1993 Aris Thessaloniki 1993–1994 Panionios Athens 1994–1996 Panathinaikos Athens
National team
1976-1996	Greece	351
Clubs as coaches
2001–2002 Panionios Athens 2002–2006 Marousi Athens 2008–2010 Olympiakos Piraeus 2012–2013 CSP Limoges 2017–2018 Aris Saloniki
National team as coach
1997–1998 Greece 2004–2008 Greece 2013–2014 China

Panagiotis Giannakis ( Greek Παναγιώτης Γιαννάκης ; born January 1, 1959 in Athens , Greece ) is a former Greek basketball player and coach. Alongside Nikos Galis , Giannakis is considered the best Greek basketball player of all time. He has received a variety of titles and awards. In 2008 Giannakis was named one of the 50 most important players in the history of the Europa League .

Player career

Giannakis, who played in the position of point guard and is also called a dragon by fans, began his career at Ionikos Nikeas, a club from Athens . At the age of only 13 Giannakis made the leap into the professional team there under the then coach (and current President of FIBA ​​Europe) Georgios Vasilakopoulos. In 1984 he moved to Aris Thessaloniki where he should have his most successful phase as a player. In addition to seven Greek championships (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991) and six cup victories (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992) Giannakis also won the European Cup Winners' Cup (1993). With Aris, who rose to the elite in European basketball under Giannakis and Galis, he also managed to qualify for the Final Four tournament for the European Cup three times in a row - but could not win the cup. In 1993 Giannakis moved to Panionios BC Athens for one season before signing a two-year contract with Panathinaikos Athens in 1994 . With Panathinaikos he won the cup again in 1996 and finally managed to win the European Cup in the fifth attempt. With 163 European Cup appearances, Giannakis, who also had four nominations for the European selection, is the record holder.

His national team career began Panagiotis Giannakis in the U16 selection, with which he won the Vice European Championship in 1975. In 1976, at the age of 17, he made his debut for the first time in a game against Czechoslovakia in the men's national team. Between 1976 and 1996 Giannakis took part in eight European championships, the 1994 basketball world championship and the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 20 years Giannakis came to 351 games, which also means the world record, and scored 5307 points. Giannakis celebrated his greatest success with the national team in 1987 when Greece defeated the Soviet Union in the final of the European Championship and was able to secure the title for the first time.

successes

• Greek champion : 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991
• Greek Cup Winner: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1996
• Cup Winners' Cup : 1993
• European Champion Clubs' Cup : 1996
• European Champion: 1987
• Vice European Champion: 1989
• U16 European Champion: 1975
• Gold medal at the Mediterranean Championships: 1979

Coaching career

Panagiotis Giannakis began his coaching career from 1997 to 1998 with the Greek national team, which he was able to lead to fourth place at the 1997 European Championship and the 1998 World Championship . In 2001 he took over the position at the Greek first division club Panionios BC Athens before moving to Marousi Athens a season later . Under Giannakis, who stayed with Marousi until 2006, the club rose to become one of the leading forces in the Greek league and produced players such as Vasilis Spanoulis . In 2004 Giannakis returned to the national team and led the team to fifth place at the Athens Olympic Games . In 2005 at the European Championships in Serbia he finally won the gold medal and thus became the first person to win this title both as a player and as a coach. In 2006 at the World Cup in Japan Giannakis was able to reach the runner-up in the World Cup with Greece after defeating the United States national team in the semifinals .

successes

• Greek Cup Winner: 2010
• European Championship : 2005
• Vice World Championship: 2006

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 40 years since Giannakis' debut in the national team (Greek)