Olympiacos has left its mark on the history of Greek and European basketball. Its greatest moments include its first championships in 1949 and 1960 with the Spanoudakis brothers, the “triple crown” in 1997, and the back-to-back Euroleague titles in 2012 and 2013.
Of course, the great team assembled by Faidon Matthaiou and continued by Kostas Mourouzis with 1976’s undefeated championship and the Club’s first Double in the sport, was another special period for basketball at Olympiacos, and Greek basketball would never be the same. Then, of course, there was the second double in 1978, too.
The Red and White team of the 1970s was one of the best in the history of both Olympiacos and Greek basketball, winning two championships and four Cups at home between 1976 and 1980, along with numerous successes in Europe.
In 1977 Giatzoglou, Kastrinakis, Mellini and Diakoulas pulled off the biggest victory ever against Panathinaikos, 110-68, playing away, in fact, for the Cup. The Reds’ coach was Kostas Mourouzis, who was loudly jeered by the Greens’ fans as a “traitor”, as he was previously the coach for Panathinaikos.
The beginning
It all began in 1967, when Matthaiou took over an Olympiacos team that was languishing in the second division and promptly earned promotion into the top league. Initially, the team hovered around 4th and 5th place in the league, with AEK and Panathinaikos monopolizing the two top spots in the championships between 1964 (when the first division began) and 1975. Over these 11 seasons, the Greens won seven times and the Yellow-and-Blacks five.
In the meantime, Olympiacos’ reins had been assumed by the great Nikos Goulandris, with the “golden football team” of that era winning successive championships and cups.
Faidon Matthaiou, who had already been with the team for a few years, now has access to resources he needs and starts to unearth “sports treasures” among the large Greek diaspora in the United States.
Because, from the mid-60s onward, and for more than a decade, Greek teams only have one avenue open to them for meaningful pro development: finding talented players with Greek roots in America.
This is due to the 12-year rule which is then in force, whereby players cannot transfer to another team without their club’s consent until 12 years have elapsed, along with other difficulties complicating transfers in amateur sport.
So Greek teams had started to bring players in from the United States, with Panathinaikos hitting the jackpot with Chris Kefalos and AEK Athens with Thanasis Christoforou.
With Nikos Goulandris there to provide the financial support he needs, Matthaiou worked wonders. Steve Giatzoglou, the first and one of the greatest of the golden generation of Greek Americans, arrives in the middle of the 1971-72 season; nicknamed “the lion”, he will lead Olympiacos on the court in the years to follow. He started playing basketball at the University of Connecticut under the name Steve Young and would play for many teams until he transferred to Olympiacos from a Lebanese team in 1972.
He is followed by Giorgos Kastrinakis and Pavlos Diakoulas, while the quartet of expatriates is completed a little later with the arrival of the playmaker Paul Mellini.
A resounding return to form
Olympiacos entered into contention for the championship over the course of a five-year period that is completely dominated by Panathinaikos (five consecutive championships, 1971-1975). In 1975, Olympiacos defeats the Greens comfortably 73-60 at home in Piraeus; when Panathinaikos then loses to AEK Athens, and the championship is theirs for the taking. But then a loss to PAOK (77-75) towards the end of the season costs Olympiacos dearly, as the team has to defeat the Greens at the Leoforos Alexandras court in a championship final. In a dramatic game, the Greens prevailed 63-61; having then won comfortably at home against Aris and PAOK, thus they win their 5th consecutive championship with a one-point difference over Olympiacos, who are now back in earnest.
Matthaiou and his players swear an oath: the championship will be theirs next season. And they keep their word, as 1976 will be a milestone in the history of the club and Greek basketball.
An invincible gathering of great players (Rammos, Kokorogiannis, Kastrinakis, Diakoulas, Giatzoglou, Tsantalis, Barlas, Garonis, Mellini, Spanos, Sismanidis) win the first double in the history of Olympiacos going 22-0 in division play and 5-0 in the Cup, finishing that magical year undefeated. In fact, the championship was a walkover and none of the games were even close. Olympiacos left Aris and Panathinaikos trailing six points in their wake with six defeats each.
Here are the undefeated champions’ full results for the season (the home team’s score is listed first):
Against AEK (89-72 and 62-51); Aris (75-69 and 78-71); Iraklis (96-71 and 74-69); Ionikos Nikaia (92-88 and 78-66); Marousi (85-70 and 83-74); Panathinaikos (101-74 and 72-65); Panellinios (88-63 and 77-68); Panionios (101-70 and 70-58); PAOK (82-59 and 80-41); Sporting (72-65 and 72-56); and HANTh (YMCA) (72-66 and 68-50).
Steve Giatzoglou’s talent in offence was the team’s trademark
The first Cup
The new Greek Cup format at the time involved 90 teams in all. To keep costs down, the northern and southern teams couild only play other teams from their respective regions until the Final 16, when they all play together.
The draw for Round 4 in the southern group promises excitement to the full, with a knock-out derby at the so-called “Tomb of the Indian” (the fans’ nickname for Panathinaikos’ mostly subterranean indoor arena at the Leoforos Alexandras site in central Athens— taken from Fritz Lang’s film The Indian Tomb) between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos in their first meeting in the new competition. The Reds win 64-60, making it three wins out of three that season against their biggest rivals.
Panathinaikos play without Kefalos and Koronaios, who are both suspended, and 17-year-old Memos Ioannou made his debut. Olympiacos’ top three scorers are Giatzoglou (11 points), Kastrinakis (12 points) and Diakoulas (12 points). In the next round, Olympiacos wipes the floor with Aiolos Tavros away (68-50) before securing another walkover at home against Demokritos (87-70) in the quarterfinals. The semifinals are the only game that season in which Matthaios’ team looked in real danger of losing. However, they end up defeated Iraklis in Thessaloniki at the BAO arena 73-71, with Kastrinakis (22 points) and Diakoulas (16 points) leading the scoring for Olympiacos against the amazing Kostas Bogatsiotis (21 points), who later made history as a member of the Olympiacos coaching staff—in the year of the Red and White’s triple crown (1997), no less, beside Dusan Ivkovic. On this occasion, Bogatsiotis almost beats Olympiacos single-handedly, but a crucial missed layup and two missed free throws prove decisive. At a derby where Kostas Rigas threatens to stop the game if the fans don’t stop hurling insults from the stands.
On July 12, 1976, in the final at Glyfada’s indoor court, Olympiacos defeats AEK 81-69 and is the first team to win the Greek Basketball Federation’s newly instituted Cup. Kostas Mourouzis is the most dangerous opponent on the opposition bench.
The game was supposed to have been played at the Panathenaic Stadium, but the handing over of the flame for the 1976 Olympic Games was scheduled for the following day. The next four finals ((through to 1980) would be played at the ancient venue, though, with Olympiacos winning three and losing just once—to Panathinaikos in 1979.
The teams for that first final are:
- Olympiacos (Matthaiou): Kastrinakis 20, Giatzoglou 19, Diakoulas 18, Mellini 11, Barlas 7, Rammos 2, Sismanidis 2, Spanos 2, Garonis, Kokorogiannis.
- AEK (Mourouzis): Giannouzakos 18, Kontos 13, Tsoskounoglou 10, Kantelis 10, Papadatos 10, Trontzos 6, Nesiadis 2, Nydriotis, Apostolidis, Katerouliotis.
That season Olympiacos will go on to reach the quarterfinals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup. The great Charlie Yelverton, formerly of the Portland Trail Blazers, plays with Olympiacos in its European games.
A historic victory
In 1977, Giatzoglou, Kastrinakis, Mellini and Diakoulas played starring roles in Olympiacos’ 110-68 victory over Panathinaikos, the largest margin in the rivals’ history. That they did so away, and in a Cup game, makes their achievement even more impressive. The Reds are now coached by Kostas Mourouzis, the “fox” who formerly sat on the Panathinaikos bench and comes in for a torrent of abuse from the Green fans for his ‘treachery’.
The Panathenaic Stadium was packed with 20,000 fans that night (June 1, 1977), though fewer than 10,000 had actually bought a ticket—which isn’t surprising, given how expensive they were at 80 drachmas.
Led by the amazing Greek-American playmaker Paul Mellini (24 points), and with Giorgos Kastrinakis (22 points) dominating throughout, Olympiacos won an easy victory. However, the Panathinaikos fans really lay into coach Mourouzis.
The Reds are already 30 points up by the 23rd minute (61-31). When the clock stopps for the end of the game, the difference has risen to a staggering 42 points, by far the biggest margin ever recorded in the history of Olympiacos-Panathinaikos derbies.
“It’s a result that will be remembered for 50 years,” Steve Giatzoglou said just before the celebrations begin.
The only player who stands out on the Panathinaikos side that night is an 18-year-old kid by the name of Memos Ioannou. Rumors have it that several players had, at the urging of Chris Kefalos, decided to play loose to “punish” the management for travel expenses still owed to the players. If this is true, and it’s by no means certain that it is, it certainly doesn’t reflect well on any of the players, especially given the significance of the derby.
Olympiacos go on to win the trophy, defeating Esperos Kallithea (131-66), Aris (48-46), Iraklis (95-65) and Panionios in the final, 103-88.
The second Double
Just one year later, in 1978, Olympiacos celebrates its second double in three years (and in its history). A win at the “Tomb of the Indian” in a thrilling game against Panathinaikos more or less decides the league title. The Reds lead 72-70 and win a foul (Kefalos on Giatzoglou) with 3 seconds left on the clock. They choose free throws rather than a throw-in from the sideline. When Giatzoglou misses both, Apostolos Kontos sends the game into overtime with a basket launched from under his own basket! The Reds win 81-77 in overtime and win the championship and later the Cup (83-72 against AEK in the final).
In 1979, the team shows that it’s still on the up and up by reaching the final round of the Champions Cup, even if they do end up in last place in the final 6 with just a single victory, over Maccabi (79-77). The last title that great Olympiacos team wins is the 1980 Cup (85-80 against AEK).
