Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C.

Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C.
Nickname The Elder
Leagues Greek A2
Greek Cup
Founded 1924
History 1924 – Present
Arena Ivanofeio 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
Home
Away
Active departments of GS Iraklis
Football
Basketball (Men's)
Basketball (Women's)
Volleyball
Waterpolo
Handball
Athletics
Swimming
Rugby
Ice Hockey
Judo
Wrestling
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 national team 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

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

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 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 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 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.[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]

Home arena

Main article: Ivanofeio Indoor Hall

Iraklis plays its home games in the Ivanofeio Indoor Hall, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,443.[15] 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.[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]

Players

Current rosters

Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht. Wt. Age
PF 4 Greece Angelakopoulos, Vasilis 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 37 – (1979-08-24)24 August 1979
SG 5 Greece Giannakidis, Michalis 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) 95 kg (209 lb) 28 – (1988-04-06)6 April 1988
G 6 Greece Totsios, Kostas 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 38 – (1978-08-07)7 August 1978
G 7 Greece Onasoglou, Thodoris 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
G/F 9 Greece Chrysopoulos, Savas 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 27 – (1989-04-26)26 April 1989
G 10 Greece Gagaloudis, Ioannis 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) 86 kg (190 lb) 38 – (1978-08-22)22 August 1978
F/C 13 Lithuania Rutkauskas, Ronaldas 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) 98 kg (216 lb) 24 – (1992-09-03)3 September 1992
F 14 Greece Cheilaris, Dimitris 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) 26 – (1990-08-18)18 August 1990
G/F 15 Greece Kalaitzidis, Dimitris 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) 80 kg (176 lb) 31 – (1985-02-15)15 February 1985
C 16 Serbia Raičević, Miroslav 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) 113 kg (249 lb) 35 – (1981-07-13)13 July 1981
C 17 Greece Despos, Dimitris 2.09 m (6 ft 10 in) 101 kg (223 lb) 40 – (1976-03-30)30 March 1976
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured

Roster
Updated: 8 October 2016

Depth chart

Pos. Starting 5 Bench 1 Bench 2 Bench 3
C Ronaldas Rutkauskas Dimitris Despos Miroslav Raičević
PF Vasilis Angelakopoulos
SF Savas Chrysopoulos Dimitris Cheilaris
SG Kostas Totsios Michalis Giannakidis Thodoris Onasoglou
PG Giannis Gagaloudis Dimitris Kalaitzidis

Notable players

To appear in this section a player must have either:

Notable coaches

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

Honours

See also

References

  1. ↑ Οι σημαντικές στιγμές στο πέρασμα των χρόνων (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  2. 1 2 Giannopoulos, Nikos (4 June 2014). Η χρυσή βίβλος του ελληνικού πρωταθλήματος μπάσκετ (in Greek). contra.gr. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Mpakolas, Giorgos (29 May 2015). Θεσσαλονίκη: Μπασκετομάνα ή φτωχομάνα (in Greek). EuroHoops.net. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Ιστορία (in Greek). Iraklis BC. 27 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Iraklis club history.
  6. 1 2 Maragousia, Antonia (16 April 2010). Ταξίδι στο χρόνο από το 1968 έως σήμερα (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  7. 1 2 Η ιστορία των τελικών Κυπέλλου Μπάσκετ (in Greek). pamesports.gr. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Κάθε χρονιά κι ένα μάθημα (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  9. ↑ Φινάλε με γιορτή στο Ιβανώφειο (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  10. ↑ Maragousia, Antonia (13 April 2011). Ηρακλής - Πανιώνιος: 52-59 (in Greek). sport24.gr. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Διαλύεται η ΚΑΕ Ηρακλής (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  12. ↑ Αρχίζει ο σχεδιασμός για τη Β΄ Εθνική (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 1 August 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  13. ↑ "Οριστικά στη Β' Εθνική ο Ηρακλής". sport24.gr. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Loutsi, Alexandra (July 3, 2013). "Ηρακλής: Ανεβαίνει Α2". onsports.gr. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  15. 1 2 Ιβανώφειο (in Greek). stadia.gr. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  16. ↑ Σύνδεσμοι ΑΘ10 (in Greek). Αυτόνομη Θύρα 10 Official site. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  17. ↑ Αντιρατσιστικό οπαδικό μήνυμα (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 4 July 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  18. ↑ Το περιοδικό της "Αυτόνομης" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  19. ↑ "SICK 'N' BLUE festival στο Ιβανώφειο" (in Greek). Bluearena.gr. 25 May 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  20. ↑ Ανακοίνωση Συνδέσμων - ΓΣ - ΠΑΕ - ΚΑΕ (in Greek). Αυτόνομη Θύρα 10 Official site. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
  21. ↑ Τι έλαβαν όλες οι ομάδες στο "οπαδοψήφισμα" (in Greek). gazzetta.gr. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
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