President Ion Varouxakis Championships 1 | Arena Capacity 2,000 Founded 1919 | |
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Nickname HistoricBlue–RedsPanthers 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) Leagues Greek A2 Basket League, Greek Basketball Cup | ||
Panionios basketball 1994 95
Panionios B.C. (Greek: Πανιώνιος KAE), known in European competitions as Panionios Athens 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.
Contents
- Panionios basketball 1994 95
- History
- Arenas
- Honours
- Divisional competitions
- Domestic competitions
- European competitions
- References
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. The club is currently owned by Ion G. Varouxakis. Recent previous owners of the club were Antonis Margetis, and Elias Lianos, the founder of Proton Bank.
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, Nikos Chatzis, Giorgos Sigalas, Angelos Koronios, Dimos Dikoudis, Nikos Oikonomou, Stratos Perperoglou, Ender Arslan, Alex Stepheson, and Tyrese Rice, among others.
History
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.
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.
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. For the 2015–16 season, Panionios preferred to play in the third-tier level semi-pro Greek B Basket League, due to financial difficulties. They were promoted up to the Greek 2nd Division for the 2016–17 season.
Arenas
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 2,000. They have also used Glyfada Indoor Hall, which has a capacity of 3,232. They have also often played home games at the Hellinicon Olympic Arena, which has a capacity of 15,000.
The municipality of Nea Smyrni has also approved the construction of a new modern-style multi-use arena, Boban Janković Indoor Hall, built on the same location as the old Nea Smyrni Indoor Hall.
Honours
Total titles: 4