101 Greats of European Basketball

next stop would be Maroussi, but in 2004 he was back
on the national team bench for the 2004 Olympics in
Athens. Greece finished fifth, but the following year, in
Belgrade, it won the European title. In 2006, Giannakis
led Greece to a historic semifinal victory over Team USA
at the World Cup in Japan but had to settle for the silver
medal after falling to a great Spain team in the final.
From 2008 to 2010, Giannakis coached Olympiacos
and reached the EuroLeague Final Four twice. In 2009
the Reds fell to Panathinaikos in the semis in Berlin, and
in 2010 Olympiacos lost against Barcelona in the title
game in Paris. He also helped the Reds snap a long title
drought at home with the 2010 Greek Cup.
In 2008, Giannakis was rightfully selected by Euroleague
Basketball among the 50 Greatest Contributors to
the first 50 years of the European club competitions. He
is Panagiotis Giannakis, the dragon of Greek basketball.
Panagiotis Giannakis
After putting an end to his brilliant playing career,
Giannakis turned to coaching the Greek national team
and already at EuroBasket 1997 in Barcelona, he led
the team to the semifinals. He did the same one year
later at the 1998 World Cup in Athens. After that, he
coached Panionios and stayed there until 2002. His
101 greats of european basketball
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