Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C.

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Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C.
Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. logo
Nickname The Elder
Leagues Greek A2
Greek Cup
Founded 1924
History 1924 – Present
Arena Ivanofio Indoor Hall
Arena Capacity 2,443
Location Thessaloniki, Greece
Team colors White and Blue
         
President Theodoros Drakopoulos
Head coach Vangelis Alexandris
Championships 2 Greek Championships
Website iraklisbc.gr
Uniforms
Kit body unknown.svg
Home jersey
Kit shorts blanksides2.png
Team colours
Home
Kit body thinwhitesides.png
Away jersey
Kit shorts whitesides.png
Team colours
Away
Active departments of GS Iraklis
Football pictogram.svg
Basketball pictogram.svg
Basketball pictogram.svg
Football
Basketball (Men's)
Basketball (Women's)
Volleyball (indoor) pictogram.svg
Water polo pictogram.svg
Handball pictogram.svg
Volleyball
Waterpolo
Handball
Athletics pictogram.svg
Swimming pictogram.svg
Rugby union pictogram.svg
Athletics
Swimming
Rugby
30px
Judo pictogram.svg
Wrestling pictogram.svg
Ice Hockey
Judo
Wrestling
Boxing pictogram.svg
Fencing pictogram.svg
Boxing
Fencing

Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. (Greek: ΚΑΕ Ηρακλής Θεσσαλονίκης, Greek pronunciation: [iɾak'lis θesalo'nikis]) is a Greek professional basketball team that is located in Thessaloniki. It serves as the basketball section of the multi-sport club G.S. Iraklis. Iraklis will play in the Greek A2 for the 2015–16 season.

The team colors are blue and white. Iraklis has won the Greek National Championship in 1928 and 1935, and has also reached the Greek Basketball Cup final three times. Several international players have played for the club including: Dimitris Diamantidis, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Lefteris Kakiousis, Jure Zdovc, and Vasily Karasev, as well as NBA stars such as Roy Tarpley, Xavier McDaniel, and James Donaldson.

History

The parent athletic club was founded in 1908, and initially featured football. The club is named after Heracles (or Hercules), the mythical Greek demigod. The basketball team of Iraklis was established in 1924.[1]

Iraklis won the inaugural Greek Leaguechampionship in 1928.[2][3] To win the championship, Iraklis had to eliminate AEK Athens and Near East, before beating VAO in the championship game.[4] The team won its second Greek championship in 1935.[2] 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 has made it to the semifinals of the Cup Winners' Cup.[5]

Iraklis reached the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA European Cup, where they competed against Taugrés.[6] Iraklis won the first game 79–78, but lost the next two games to be eliminated 2–1 in a best of three series.[6] In 1996, an Iraklis team led by former NBA players Xavier McDaniel and Roy Tarpley, reached the Greek Basketball Cup final four.[7] By beating Apollon Patras in the semifinal, Iraklis reached the final, where it then lost 85–74 to Panathinaikos.[7] Iraklis has also twice competed in the top European continental competitions. The club played in the top-tier European Champions' Cup in the 1995-96 season, and also competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000-01 season.

In 2006, Iraklis was relegated to the Greek A2 Basketball League, after finishing 13th in the league first-tier Greek League.[8] In 2010, after four seasons in the second-tier Greek League, the team was promoted back up to the top-tier Greek Basket League.[9] After one season in the top-tier, Iraklis was again relegated down to the A2, with two matches left in the season.[10] At the end of the season, Iraklis chose to play in the third tier of Greek basketball, in order to clear its debt.[11][12][13] The club was promoted to the Greek A2 Basketball League in 2013, after finishing 2nd in its group, and after Peristeri failed to receive financial clearance to participate in the league.[14]

Home arena

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Iraklis plays its home games in the Ivanofio Indoor Hall, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,443.[15] Ivanofio is situated in the Thessaloniki city center, and it is owned by the GS Iraklis multi-sport club.[15]

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.[16] The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the Ultras Antiracist Festival.[17] Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival.[18][19] Other minor supporters' clubs are SFISE, Blue Boys, A.P.A.T.S.I., and Iraklis Fan Club of Athens.[20] 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.[21]

Roster

Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
C 4 Greece Stamatogiannis, Alexandros 2.10 m (6 ft 11 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1997-12-16)16 December 1997
F 5 Greece Kontopoulos, Leonidas 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1997-08-11)11 August 1997
G 7 Greece Mouratidis, Babis 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1986-05-10)10 May 1986
G/F 8 Greece Apostolidis, Georgios 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) 100 kg (220 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1984-06-22)22 June 1984
PG 9 United States DiNunno, Mike 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) 89 kg (196 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1990-01-29)29 January 1990
F 10 Greece Gioulekas, Sotirios 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 100 kg (220 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1979-11-28)28 November 1979
G 11 Greece Karagiolidis, Giannis 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1989-01-09)9 January 1989
G 12 Greece Kothras, Efthimis 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1981-01-01)1 January 1981
G 13 Greece Apostolidis, Apostolos 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1993-01-01)1 January 1993
F/C 14 Greece Mpenas, Stamatis 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1985-10-14)14 October 1985
C 15 Greece Despos, Dimitris 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 101 kg (223 lb) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1976-03-30)30 March 1976
G/F 16 Greece Taramas, Dimitris 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1996-01-01)1 January 1996
F 17 Greece Cheilaris, Dimitris 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) Script error: The function "age_generic" does not exist.(1990-08-18)18 August 1990
Head coach

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Updated: 18 October 2015

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:
  • Played at least one season for the club.
  • 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.
  • To perform very successfully during period in the club or at later/previous stages of his career.

Notable coaches

Jure Zdovc has played for Iraklis between 1993–1996, and coached the team in the 2005–06 season.

Honours

  • 17px Greek Championship
    • Winners (2): 1927–28, 1934–35
    • Runner up (3): 1935–36, 1961–62, 1963–64
  • Greek Cup
    • Runners-up (3): 1980–81, 1993–94, 1995–96

See also

References

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  5. Iraklis club history.
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External links

Press