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AEK B.C.

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Further information: Athletic Union of Constantinople
AEK Athens BC
AEK Athens BC logo
LeaguesA1 ESAKE (HEBA),
EuroCup
Founded1924
ArenaAthens Olympic Sports Complex (capacity 18,700)
LocationAthens, Greece
Team colorsYellow and black
PresidentGreece Dimitris Drosos
Head coachGreece Vaggelis Aggelou
Championships2 Saporta Cups (1968, 2000)
8 Greek Championships (1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 2002)
3 Greek Cups (1981, 2000, 2001)
Websitewww.aekbc.gr

AEK BC (Greek: Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως – Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos), the Athletic Union of Constantinople, is a Greek sports basketball club based in the city of Athens, Greece. Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922).

History

AEK Athens Basketball is the most successful among A.E.K' athletic departments. The obvious reason is that AEK's basketball team was the first ever Greek team to win an international trophy in any team sports. AEK formed its basketball team in 1924. AEK won an unofficial championship played in Athens that was organized by the YMCA, in 1924-25. AEK is one of only three Greek clubs (the other two are Panathinaikos and Aris Thessaloniki) that have played every year of the 1st Greek Basketball Division, since 1963/64, which was later, in 1986/87 renamed to the A1.

AEK was the first ever Greek team to participate in the European Championships (now called the Euroleague) Final Four, back in the year 1966. The Final Four was held in Bologna. Two years later, AEK was the first ever Greek team, not only to reach a European Cup Final, but also to win a European title. That happened back in 1968, when on April 4, AEK defeated Slavia Prague by a score of 89-82 in front of 80,000 spectators (the Guinness world record in basketball attendance). In 1970, AEK reached the Cup Winners' Cup semifinals where the team was eliminated by Vichy Basket, France, in what turned out to be the last year of the first "Golden Era" of the club's history. And that's because AEK dominated Greek Basketball in the decade of the 1960s, by winning the Greek Championship 4 consecutive years in 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, as well as in 1968 and 1970. In all winning the Greek Championship 6 times in 8 years.

Over the next decades AEK lost its glamour, and managed to win only one trophy, the Greek Cup in the year 1981. In addition to winning the Greek Cup in 1981, AEK was also a finalist of the Greek Cup in the years 1976, 1978, 1980, 1988, 1992 and but failed to win it in each of those years.

AEK made a come back in the late 1990s, when the team played in six consecutive Greek Cup Final Fours in the years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, four consecutive Greek Cup Finals in the years 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and won the Greek Cup in the years 2000 and 2001. In 2002 AEK won the Greek Championship for the first time in 32 years, becoming the first team to win the Greek Championship after having lost the first two games of a 5 game playoff series. AEK lost the first two games of the series to Olympiacos, but managed to win the next 3 games and take the series and the title 3-2. AEK also reached the Greek Playoff Finals in the years 1997, 2003, and 2005, and the Greek Cup Semi-Finals in the year 2006.

In this same era, AEK again became a big level European basketball club. The team reached the European Championships' Final Four in Barcelona in 1998, and beat Benetton Treviso by a score of 67-66, before losing in the final to Virtus Bologna by a score of 44-58. In 2000, on April 11, AEK won their second international trophy, the Saporta Cup, by defeating Virtus Bologna 83-76. The next year, 2001, AEK reached the Euroleague semifinals, losing their playoff series there to TAU Cerámica in 3 straight games.

Crest and Colours

The crest of AEK Basketball Club bears the double-headed eagle (Greek: Δικέφαλος Αετός - Dikefalos Aetos) on a yellow background. When AEK was created by Greek refugees in the years following the Greco-Turkish War, the emblem and colours were chosen as a reminder of lost homelands; they represent the club's historical ties to Constantinople.

Titles (14)

International Achievements

Season Achievement Notes
European Champions Cup
1964-65 Quarter Finals eliminated by OKK Beograd, 85-78 in Athens, 84-101 in Belgrade.
1965-66 Final-four 4th place in Bologna. Lost 73-103 to Slavia Prague and 62-85 to CSKA Moscow.
Euroleague
1997-98 Final Defeated Benetton Treviso by 67-66 in SF, lost in the final by Kinder Bologna, 44-58 in Barcelona.
2000-01 Semi Finals eliminated by TAU Cerámica, 67-70, 65-90 in Athens, 62-76 in Vitoria.
2001-02 Top-16 2nd group phase with Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, Olimpija Ljubljana.
2004-05 Top-16 2nd group phase with Efes Pilsen, Benetton Treviso, Prokom Trefl Sopot.
Cup Winners Cup
1967-68 Winner won Slavia Prague, 89-82 in Athens.
1969-70 Semi Final eliminated by Vichy Basket, 60-78 in Vichy, 74-65 in Athens.
1971-72 Quarter Finals QF group stage with Red Star Belgrade, Olimpia Milano.
1988-89 Quarter Finals QF group stage with Zalgiris Kaunas, Cibona Zagreb, Bayreuth Basket.
Saporta Cup
1999-00 Winner Defeated Kinder Bologna, 83-76 in Lausanne.
Korac Cup
1973-74 Quarter Finals QF group stage with KK Split, APU Udine.
1977-78 Quarter Finals QF group stage with Partizan Belgrade, Niza Basket, Athletic Genova.


Notable Former Players

Former Basketball Coaches

Current Roster

AEK Athens BC roster
Players Coaches
Pos. Νο. Nat. Name Ht.
PF 4 United States Wesson, K'zell 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
SF 5 France Sy, Amara 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
SF 6 Greece Papanikolaou, Dimitris 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
SF 7 Greece Tapoutos, Christos 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
SG 8 Greece Kyritsis, Alexis 6 ft 5.5 in (1.97 m)
SG 9 Greece Hatzis, Nikos (C) 6 ft 4.75 in (1.95 m)
PF 10 Greece Barlos, Nikos 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m)
PG 11 United States Avery, William 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
PG 13 Bosnia and Herzegovina Vasiljević, Saša 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
C 14 Greece Harissis, Konstantinos 6 ft 10.5 in (2.10 m)
PG 15 Greece Sioutis, Giannis 6 ft 0.25 in (1.84 m)
SG 16 Greece Tsamis, Angelos 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m)
PF 17 Greece Simtsak, Vassilis 6 ft 9.5 in (2.07 m)
SG 18 Greece Iliopoulos, Giannis 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
Legend
  • (C) Team captain

Current Depth Chart

Position Starter Bench Reserve Inactive
C K'zell Wesson Vassilis Simtsak Konstantinos Harissis
PF Christos Tapoutos Nikos Barlos
SF Amara Sy Dimitris Papanikolaou (INJ)
SG Alexis Kyritsis Nikos Hatzis Giannis Iliopoulos Angelos Tsamis(INJ)
PG William Avery Saša Vasiljević Giannis Sioutis

References

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