Basketball team in Thessaloniki, Greece
G.S. Iraklis Thessaloniki
(
Greek
:
Γ.Σ. Ηρακλ?? Θεσσαλον?κη?
,
Greek pronunciation:
[i?a'klis]
) is a Greek professional
basketball
team that is located in
Thessaloniki
. It serves as the senior men's basketball section of the
multi-sport club
of
G.S. Iraklis
. Iraklis currently plays in the second-tier level
Greek A2 Basket League
.
The team's colors are blue and white. Iraklis won the
Greek National Championship
in 1928 and 1935, and has also reached the
Greek Cup
final three times. Some of the greatest players in Greek, European and worldwide basketball have played for Iraklis over the years including:
Lefteris Kakiousis
,
Jure Zdovc
,
James Donaldson
,
David Ancrum
,
Walter Berry
,
Xavier McDaniel
,
Roy Tarpley
,
Nikos Chatzivrettas
,
Vasily Karasev
,
Lazaros Papadopoulos
,
Dimitris Diamantidis
and
Sofoklis Schortsanitis
.
History
[
edit
]
The Iraklis parent athletic club was founded in 1908, and initially featured
football
. The club was named after
Heracles
(or
Hercules
), the
mythical
Greek
demigod
. The basketball team of Iraklis was established in 1921.
[1]
Iraklis won the inaugural
Greek League
championship 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 made it to the semifinals of the
European 2nd-tier
level league
Cup Winners' Cup
.
[5]
Iraklis reached the semifinals of the
1994?95 FIBA European Cup
, where they competed against
Taugres
.
[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 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
European top-tier
level
European Champions' Cup
in the
1995?96 season
, and also competed in the
FIBA SuproLeague
during the
2000?01 season
.
Recent history (2005-present)
[
edit
]
In
2006
, Iraklis was
relegated
to the
Greek A2 Basket League
, after finishing 13th in the first-tier Greek League.
[8]
In 2010, after four seasons in the second-tier level Greek League, the team was
promoted
back up to the top-tier Greek Basket League.
[9]
After one season in the Greek top-tier level, 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 level of Greek basketball, the
Greek B Basket League
, in order to clear its debts.
[11]
[12]
[13]
The club was promoted to the
Greek A2 Basket League
in 2013, after finishing 2nd in its group, and after
Peristeri
failed to receive financial clearance to participate in the league.
[14]
In the
2018?19 season
, Iraklis won the promotion playoffs of the Greek A2 League, and was promoted up to the top level
Greek Basket League
, for the first time in 8 years.
[15]
During the
2019?20 season
, Iraklis is taking part in the
Greek Basket League
organized by the
Hellenic Basketball Federation
. The season started in October 2019 and was scheduled to end in June 2020. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the championship was terminated earlier. Iraklis took the 7th place with 29 points, having 9 wins and 11 losses in a total of 20 games. In the 2020?21 season, Iraklis returned to European competitions, taking part in the qualifying round of the
Basketball Champions League
and later on in the 2020?21
FIBA Europe Cup
where the club reached the Top16 round having 3 wins and 1 loss. In the
2020?21 season
Iraklis took the 10th place with 29 points, having 7 wins and 15 losses in a total of 22 games.
In European-wide competitions
[
edit
]
Honours and titles
[
edit
]
European competitions
[
edit
]
- Semifinalists (2):
1994?95
, 1996-97
Domestic competitions
[
edit
]
- Champions (2)
: 1927?28, 1934?35
- Runners-up (3): 1935?36, 1961?62, 1963?64
- Runners-up (3): 1980?81, 1993?94, 1995?96
- Champions (2)
: 1974?75, 1977?78
Home arena
[
edit
]
In earlier times, Iraklis played its home games at the
Thessaloniki Forum
. Iraklis currently plays its home games in the
Ivanofeio Sports Arena
, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,500.
[16]
The arena opened in 1987, and it was expanded to its current capacity in 1991. Ivanofeio is situated in the
Thessaloniki
city center, and it is owned by the
GS Iraklis
multi-sport club.
[17]
Supporters
[
edit
]
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.
[18]
The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the
Ultras Antiracist Festival
.
[19]
Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival.
[20]
[21]
Other minor supporters' clubs are
SFISE
,
Blue Boys
,
A.P.A.T.S.I.
, and
Iraklis Fan Club of Athens
.
[22]
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.
[23]
Players
[
edit
]
Current roster
[
edit
]
Iraklis B.C. roster
|
Players
|
Coaches
|
Pos.
|
No.
|
Nat.
|
Name
|
Ht.
|
Wt.
|
Age
|
|
F
|
3
|
|
Paparegkas, Nikos
|
2.00 m (6 ft 7 in)
|
|
29 ?
(
1994-07-31
)
31 July 1994
|
|
PG
|
5
|
|
Sokk, Sten
|
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
|
80 kg (176 lb)
|
35 ?
(
1989-02-14
)
14 February 1989
|
|
SG
|
7
|
|
Altinis, Kostas
|
1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
|
|
24 ?
(
2000-01-01
)
1 January 2000
|
|
G
|
8
|
|
Poulianitis, Marios
|
1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
|
|
26 ?
(
1998-01-01
)
1 January 1998
|
|
G
|
9
|
|
Prapas, Stergios
|
1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
|
|
22 ?
(
2002-02-17
)
17 February 2002
|
|
SF
|
10
|
|
Proiskos, Alexandros
|
1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
|
|
24 ?
(
2000-01-12
)
12 January 2000
|
|
F
|
11
|
|
Tachyridis, Prodromos
|
2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
|
|
20 ?
(
2004-03-26
)
26 March 2004
|
|
SF
|
15
|
|
Male?evi?, Nikola
|
2.03 m (6 ft 8 in)
|
91 kg (201 lb)
|
34 ?
(
1989-08-25
)
25 August 1989
|
|
F
|
19
|
|
Sprintzios, Michalis
|
2.05 m (6 ft 9 in)
|
|
19 ?
(
2005-02-09
)
9 February 2005
|
|
G
|
24
|
|
Carry, Sincere
|
1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
|
84 kg (185 lb)
|
24 ?
(
1999-09-15
)
15 September 1999
|
|
C
|
27
|
|
Kottas, Thomas
|
2.08 m (6 ft 10 in)
|
113 kg (249 lb)
|
28 ?
(
1996-04-27
)
27 April 1996
|
|
C
|
45
|
|
Sarikopoulos, Zisis
|
2.13 m (7 ft 0 in)
|
120 kg (265 lb)
|
34 ?
(
1990-03-31
)
31 March 1990
|
|
G
|
56
|
|
Mastrogiannopoulos, Sarantis
|
1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
|
87 kg (192 lb)
|
26 ?
(
1997-12-03
)
3 December 1997
|
|
|
- Head coach
- Assistant coach(es)
- Legend
- (C)
Team captain
- Injured
Updated: 18 May 2024
|
Depth chart
[
edit
]
Notable players
[
edit
]
Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at
FIBA
-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationalities 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.
|
- Greek internationals of Iraklis
-
Papadopoulos
played a total of six seasons with Iraklis, in 1996?2001, and 2003?2004.
-
Schortsanitis
played with Iraklis, from 2000 to 2003.
-
Dimitris Diamantidis
played with Iraklis, from 1999 to 2004.
Head coaches
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Official websites
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
- Head coach:
Pantelis Boutskos
- Assistant coaches:
Dionisis Aggelou &
Dimitris Papadopoulos
|
|
---|
|
Professional departments
| |
---|
Amateur departments
| |
---|
Facilities
| |
---|
Athletes
| |
---|
Supporters
|
- Autonomous Gate 10
- Iraklis Asvestochori Club
- Iraklis Athens Club
|
---|
Related
| |
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|
|
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|
Seasons
| |
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Current teams
| |
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Associated competitions
| |
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