G.S. Iraklis B.C.

Gymnastikos Syllogos Iraklis Basketball Club (Greek: Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής Κ.Α.Ε., Greek pronunciation: [iɾa'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 top-tier level Greek Basket League.

Iraklis
Nickname	The Elder
Leagues	Greek Basket League Greek Cup
Founded	1921 (1921)
History	G.S. Iraklis B.C. (1921 – Present)
Arena	Ivanofeio Sports Arena
Capacity	2,500[1]
Location	Thessaloniki, Greece
Team colors	White and Blue
President	Theodoros Drakopoulos
Team manager	Giorgos Tsiaras
Head coach	Vangelis Ziagkos
Team captain	Dimitris Kalaitzidis
2019–20 position	7th
Championships	2 Greek Championships 2 Greek Second Divisions
Website	iraklis-bc.gr
Home Away

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, Walter Berry, Xavier McDaniel, Roy Tarpley, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Vasily Karasev, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Dimitris Diamantidis and Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

History

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.[2]

Iraklis won the inaugural Greek League championship in 1928.[3][4] To win the championship, Iraklis had to eliminate AEK Athens and Near East, before beating VAO in the championship game.[5] The team won its second Greek championship in 1935.[3] 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.[6]

Iraklis reached the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA European Cup, where they competed against Taugrés.[7] Iraklis won the first game 79–78, but lost the next two games, to be eliminated 2–1 in a best of three series.[7] In 1996, an Iraklis team led by former NBA players Xavier McDaniel and Roy Tarpley, reached the Greek Cup Final Four.[8] By beating Apollon Patras in the semifinal, Iraklis reached the final, where it then lost 85–74 to Panathinaikos.[8] 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)

In 2006, Iraklis was relegated to the Greek A2 Basket League, after finishing 13th in the first-tier Greek League.[9] 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.[10] After one season in the Greek top-tier level, Iraklis was again relegated down to the A2, with two matches left in the season.[11] 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.[12][13][14] 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.[15]

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.[16] 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.

Honours and titles

European competitions

• FIBA Saporta Cup

Semifinalists (2): 1994–95, 1996–97

Domestic competitions

Iraklis won the inaugural Greek Championship in 1928, and won it again, in 1935.

• Greek League

Champions (2): 1927–28, 1934–35

Runners-up (3): 1935–36, 1961–62, 1963–64

• Greek Cup

Runners-up (3): 1980–81, 1993–94, 1995–96

• Greek Second Division

Champions (2): 1974–75, 1977–78

Home arena

Main article: Ivanofeio Sports Arena

Ivanofeio Sports Arena.

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.[17] 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.[18]

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.[19] The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the Ultras Antiracist Festival.[20] Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival.[21][22] Other minor supporters' clubs are SFISE, Blue Boys, A.P.A.T.S.I., and Iraklis Fan Club of Athens.[23] 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.[24]

Players

Current roster

Iraklis B.C. roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age C 6 Kavvadas, Vassilis 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 120 kg (265 lb) 28 – (1991-12-28)28 December 1991 G 10 Fillios, Georgios 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 18 – (2002-02-10)10 February 2002 F/C 17 Georgalas, Fotios 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 19 – (2001-06-26)26 June 2001 G 21 Hanlan, Olivier 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 27 – (1993-02-15)15 February 1993 G/F Petanidis, Georgios 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) 17 – (2003-03-20)20 March 2003 PF Giouzelis, Georgios 2.04 m (6 ft 8 in) 24 – (1995-10-13)13 October 1995 G Verginis, Dimitrios 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 33 – (1987-05-15)15 May 1987 F/C Tsairelis, Michalis 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 111 kg (245 lb) 32 – (1988-02-23)23 February 1988 G/F Schizas, Stavros 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 93 kg (205 lb) 31 – (1989-01-10)10 January 1989 G Bowlin, Skyler 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 77 kg (170 lb) 31 – (1989-07-13)13 July 1989 G/F Suggs, Scott 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 30 – (1989-11-10)10 November 1989 F/C Daniel, Ed 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) 102 kg (225 lb) 30 – (1990-06-13)13 June 1990 F Moore, Mike 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 26 – (1994-05-30)30 May 1994 PG Childress, Brandon 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) 88 kg (194 lb) 22 – (1997-08-31)31 August 1997	Head coach Vangelis Ziagkos Assistant coach(es) Stavros Mykoniatis Petros Gaitatzis Legend (C) Team captain Injured Roster Updated: August 1, 2020

Depth chart

Pos.	Starting 5	Bench 1	Bench 2
C	Vassilis Kavvadas	Ed Daniel	Fotios Georgalas
PF	Mike Moore	Michalis Tsairelis	Georgios Giouzelis
SF	Scott Suggs	Stavros Schizas	Georgios Petanidis
SG	Olivier Hanlan	Dimitris Verginis	Georgios Fillios
PG	Skyler Bowlin	Brandon Childress

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Criteria
To appear in this section a player must have either: Played at least three seasons 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. Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

• David Ancrum (1987–92)
• Vangelis Angelou (1995–96)
• Walter Berry (1994–95)
• Roderick Blakney (2001–02)
• Steve Burtt Sr. (1995)
• Steve Bucknall (1996–98)
• Nikos Chatzivrettas (1997–02)
• Dimitris Diamantidis (1999–04)
• Byron Dinkins (1998–00)
• James Donaldson (1993–94)
• Justin Hamilton (2004–05)
• Savvas Iliadis (2002–05, 2011)
• Buck Johnson (1998–00)
• Lefteris Kakiousis
  (1987–97, 2004–05, 2009–10)
• Dimitris Kalaitzidis (2002–05, 2016–20)
• Georgios Karagkoutis (2000–02)
• Vasily Karasev (2000–01)
• Takis Karatzoulidis (1971–85)
• Manthos Katsoulis (1990–93)
• Xavier McDaniel (1995–96)
• Erik Meek (1996–97, 2001–02)
• Igor Milošević (2003–05)
• Aristeidis Moumoglou (1960–67, 1970–72)
• Dimitris Papadopoulos (1985–94, 1996–97)
• Lazaros Papadopoulos (1996–01, 2003–04)
• Vladimir Petrović-Stergiou (2009–11)
• Sotiris Sakellariou (1971–84)
• Sofoklis Schortsanitis (2000–03)
• Nikos Stavropoulos (1992–93)
• Roy Tarpley (1996)
• Christos Tsekos (1986–92)
• Jure Zdovc (1993–96)

• 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

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

Head Coach	From	To	Titles & Honors
Makis Piritidis	1979	1980
Efthimis Kioumourtzoglou	1980	1981	1 Greek Cup Finalist 1981
Michalis Giannouzakos	1987	1987
Soulis Markopoulos	1987	1990
- Steve Giatzoglou	1990 1996	1992 1996	1 Greek Cup Finalist 1996
Theodoros Rodopoulos	1992	1992
Ciko Awerbuck	1992	1992
Johnny Neumann	1993	1993
-- Dragan Šakota	1993 1998	1994 2000	1 Greek Cup Finalist 1994
- Slobodan Subotić	1994 1995	1995 1995
Tom Newell	1996	1996
Zoran Slavnić	1997	1997
Vangelis Alexandris	1997 2015
Makis Dendrinos	2000	2000
Lefteris Kakiousis	2004 2009	2005 2010
Jure Zdovc	2006	2006
Darko Russo	Nov 2010	Jan 2011
Georgios Kalafatakis	Jan 2011	Feb 2011
Chris Chougkaz	Feb 2011	Sep 2011
Makis Kalantaridis	Sep 2011	Oct 2011
Thodoris Albanis	Oct 2011	Mar 2012
Antonis Kyritsis	Mar 2012	May 2012
Dimitris Vatos	May 2012	Jul 2012
Thomas Kostopoulos	Jul 2012	Jul 2013
Dimitris Tsolakis	Jul 2013	Sep 2013
Stefanos Perkos	Sep 2013	Apr 2014
Giorgos Kyroudis	Apr 2014	Nov 2014
Giannis Damalis	Nov 2014	Mar 2015
Stefanos Perkos	Mar 2015	Oct 2015
Vangelis Alexandris	Oct 2015	Jan 2018
Lefteris Chatzikyriakidis	Jan 2018	Oct 2018
Kostas Mexas	Oct 2018	Jul 2019	promoted to Greek Basket League
Ioannis Kastritis	Jul 2019	Jan 2020
Ilias Kantzouris	Jan 2020	Jul 2020
Vangelis Ziagkos	Jul 2020	present

In European-wide competitions

Main article: G.S. Iraklis B.C. in international competitions

See also

• Basketball in Greece
• List of basketball clubs in Greece
• Greek basketball clubs in European competitions
• List of basketball clubs in Greece by major honours won
• Thessaloniki Forum

References

1. Γήπεδο: Ιβανώφειο Χωρητικότητα: 2500 (in Greek).
2. Tahidromos (11 November 1921). "formation of the first team". Tahidromos Voriou Ellados (in Greek). Parliament Library. Retrieved 16 June 2020.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
3. Giannopoulos, Nikos (4 June 2014). Η χρυσή βίβλος του ελληνικού πρωταθλήματος μπάσκετ (in Greek). contra.gr. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
4. Mpakolas, Giorgos (29 May 2015). Θεσσαλονίκη: Μπασκετομάνα ή φτωχομάνα (in Greek). EuroHoops.net. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
5. Ιστορία (in Greek). Iraklis BC. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
6. "Iraklis club history". Archived from the original on 2011-10-03. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
7. Maragousia, Antonia (16 April 2010). Ταξίδι στο χρόνο από το 1968 έως σήμερα (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
8. "Archived copy" Η ιστορία των τελικών Κυπέλλου Μπάσκετ (in Greek). pamesports.gr. 9 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. Κάθε χρονιά κι ένα μάθημα (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
10. Φινάλε με γιορτή στο Ιβανώφειο (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
11. Maragousia, Antonia (13 April 2011). Ηρακλής - Πανιώνιος: 52-59 (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
12. Διαλύεται η ΚΑΕ Ηρακλής (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
13. Αρχίζει ο σχεδιασμός για τη Β΄ Εθνική (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
14. "Οριστικά στη Β' Εθνική ο Ηρακλής". sport24.gr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
15. Loutsi, Alexandra (July 3, 2013). "Ηρακλής: Ανεβαίνει Α2". onsports.gr. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
16. "Τα συγχαρητήρια του ΕΣΑΚΕ σε Ιωνικό και Ηρακλή". novasports.gr (in Greek). Retrieved 6 June 2019.
17. Γήπεδο: Ιβανώφειο Χωρητικότητα: 2500 (in Greek).
18. Ivanofio Indoor Hall.
19. "Archived copy" Σύνδεσμοι ΑΘ10 (in Greek). Αυτόνομη Θύρα 10 Official site. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
20. Αντιρατσιστικό οπαδικό μήνυμα (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
21. Το περιοδικό της "Αυτόνομης" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
22. "SICK 'N' BLUE festival στο Ιβανώφειο" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
23. "Archived copy" Ανακοίνωση Συνδέσμων - ΓΣ - ΠΑΕ - ΚΑΕ (in Greek). Αυτόνομη Θύρα 10 Official site. 2 January 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
24. Τι έλαβαν όλες οι ομάδες στο "οπαδοψήφισμα" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.

External links

• Official Website (in Greek and English)
• Eurobasket.com Team Profile

Press

• Blue Arena