Vangelis Alexandris

Evangelos "Vangelis" Alexandris (Greek: Ευάγγελος "Βαγγέλης" Αλεξανδρής; born February 2, 1951) is a Greek former international basketball player and coach.^[1] With a height of 1.82 meters, he played as a point guard and was nicknamed "The Tiger " due to his dynamic playing style. He is a notable figure of Greek basketball, who has won domestic and European honours at club level. His long-term presence and contribution to the sport exceeds 50 years. During his head coaching career, Alexandris won two European-wide club competitions, the FIBA Saporta Cup in the 2000–01 season and the FIBA Europe Champions Cup in the 2002–03 season.

Vangelis Alexandris
Βαγγέλης Αλεξανδρής

Alexandris coaching Iraklis, in 2016.
Personal information
Born	(1951-02-02) February 2, 1951 (age 73) Thessaloniki
Nationality	Greek
Listed height	5 ft 11.5 in (1.82 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
Playing career	1971–1988
Position	Point guard
Number	14
Coaching career	1992–present
Career history
As player:
1971–1980	Aris
1981–1985	PAOK
1986–1988	Iraklis Thessaloniki
As coach:
1992–1995	GS Larissa
1995	PAOK
1995–1997	Apollon Patras
1997–1998	Iraklis Thessaloniki
1998–1999	Irakleio
1999–2001	Maroussi
2001–2002	PAOK
2002–2004	Aris
2004–2006	Olympia Larissa
2006–2007	AEK Athens
2007	PAOK
2007–2008	Kolossos Rodou
2008–2009	Kavala
2009–2010	AE Larissa
2010–2011	Maroussi
2011–2012	Aris
2013	Kavala
2013–2014	Jordanian National Team
2014–2015	Panionios
2015–2018	Iraklis Thessaloniki
2018	Panionios
Career highlights and awards
As a player: Greek League champion (1979) Greek Cup winner (1984) Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer (1982) As a coach: FIBA Saporta Cup champion (2001) FIBA Europe Champions Cup champion (2003) Greek League games: 537 (2nd all-time) 5× Greek All-Star Game (1994, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2011)
Medals Men's Basketball Representing  Greece FIBA Europe U18 Championship 1970 Greece Under-18

Professional career

Club playing career

Alexandris began his basketball career in December 1965 at Anagennisi Thessaloniki, where his athleticism and talent quickly stood out, attracting the interest of many major teams. The promising youngster was approached by two great personalities of Thessaloniki basketball, Orestis Angelidis of PAOK and Anestis Petalidis of Aris, who recognized his sporting value and perspective. His wish was to play for Aris, a team he has supported since childhood. The transfer took place in 1970 and due to a prohibitive regulation of the time, Alexandris, along with Charis Papageorgiou who was also competing in Anagennisi, was forced to stay out of action for a year. Along the way he developed into one of the club's leading figures in the 1970s, with the highlight of his nine-year career at Aris winning the Greek Championship in 1979, captaining the team.^[2][3] In the decisive 85–82 victory over Olympiacos at home, Vangelis Alexandris was the game's leading scorer with 30 points and had 20/20 free throws. He left Aris in 1980 and after a one-year absence from competitive action (he came into conflict with the management of Aris and failed to stay free), he moved to rivals PAOK. Shortly before he signed with PAOK, his former Aris coach and teammate, Giannis Ioannidis, contacted him by phone and tried to convince him to return to Aris, but Alexandris refused. He wore the black and white jersey for four years and participated in two Cup finals. In 1982, he was the top scorer of the final with 22 points, but the trophy went to Panathinaikos who prevailed 65–63. In 1984, he competed in the "shaved heads" final, where PAOK beat Aris 74–70 and were crowned Greek Cup winners.^[4] Towards the end of his career, at the urging of Michalis Giannouzakos, he played for Iraklis, being one of the few basketball players who have worn the jersey of all three major teams of Thessaloniki.^[5]

National team playing career

With the Greek National Youth Team, he won the silver medal at the 1970 FIBA U18 European Championship held in Athens.^[6] In the final, where Greece was defeated by a clearly superior Soviet Union 48–80 at the Panathenaic Stadium, Alexandris was the team's leading scorer with 12 points. With the Greek Men's National Team, he competed in the 1972 Pre-Olympic Tournament^[7] and the EuroBasket 1983, recording a total of 73 appearances and 344 points.

Player profile

Alexandris was a complete point guard. Having a good athletic and physical infrastructure, he was fast, a good handler of the ball and he possessed both defensive and attacking qualities. Defensively, he was characterized by his determination and ability to mark effectively, significantly limiting opponents' play with scoring efficiency. He was also very capable at reading the game of play and stealing the ball. Offensively, he was a good play maker, attempted many drives towards the rim and showed great teamwork, providing many assists. As for his scoring ability, he could hit from medium or long range but more often chose to drive and shoot when he was closer to the rim. His coach Faidon Matthaiou and his teammate in the Greek National Team Vassilis Goumas, seeing his aggressive way of playing, gave him the nickname Tiger of Greek basketball, which accompanies him to this day.^[8]

Coaching career

Club coaching career

Vangelis Alexandris is one of the most noteworthy Greek basketball coaches and has won two European-wide club competitions. In 1992, after two consecutive promotions he led GS Larissa to the first tier Greek League and managed to avoid relegation in the following three seasons. In 1997, he guided Apollon Patras to the final of the Greek Cup (the first provincial team to appear in a Cup final), where it took the last shot of the game to lose in OAKA 80–78 to the very powerful Olympiacos of the time, who that season won the Triple Crown.^[9] His first European title came in 2001 when he coached Maroussi and won the FIBA Saporta Cup by defeating French side Élan Chalon 74–72 in the final held in Warsaw.^[10][11] In 2003, he won the FIBA Europe Champions Cup with Aris, after an 84–83 victory over the Polish Prokom Trefl at Thessaloniki.^[12]

Alexandris is the only one in history who has both playing and coaching career at the three major teams of Thessaloniki, Aris, PAOK and Iraklis. He has coached a total of 13 teams in the Greek Basketball League (with Panionios being the last in 2018) and with 537 games he is in 2nd place of all time. He was present in 5 Greek All-Star Games as a coach (two as a head coach, three as an assistant) and in 4 Final fours of the Greek Cup. Several Greek coaches with a remarkable career in the field of basketball, when they took their first steps in coaching, were members of the technical staff and assistant coaches of Vangelis Alexandris, such as Dimitrios Itoudis (1995 - PAOK), Dimitrios Priftis (2006 - AEK) and Sotiris Manolopoulos (2010 - Maroussi). According to Alexandris, his coaching philosophy is largely due to the patriarch of Greek basketball Faidon Matthaiou, who was his coach in the Greek National Team and PAOK and considers him as his mentor.^[13]

In recent years he has been the director of the basketball academies of Aetos Filyrou Thessaloniki.^[14]

National team coaching career

In May 2013, Alexandris was hired to coach the senior men's Jordanian national basketball team.^[15] He coached Jordan's team at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.

Career highlights and awards

As a player

Greek National Youth Team

• 1970 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship:  Silver

Aris

• Greek League champion: (1979)

PAOK

• Greek Cup winner: (1984)

As a head coach

Maroussi

• FIBA Saporta Cup champion: (2001)

Aris

• FIBA Europe Champions Cup champion: (2003)

Individual

• Greek Cup Finals Top Scorer: (1982)
• Greek League games as a head coach: 537 (2nd all-time)
• 5× Greek All-Star Game as a coach (two as a head coach, three as an assistant): (1994, 1997, 2003, 2006, 2011)

References

1. "Tiger among the all-time greats". basketa.gr (in Greek). 20 September 2018.
2. Vassilis Dermentzoglou. "The legendary Tiger of Aris BC". oiassoitouareos.gr (in Greek).
3. "Aris BC History". arisbc.gr.
4. "PAOK BC History". paokbc.gr.
5. "Players and coaches who were involved in all three major teams of Thessaloniki". esake.gr (in Greek).
6. "The first medal of the National Youth Team". basket.gr (in Greek).
7. "National Team's Pre-Olympic Tournaments (1972-1980)". basket.gr (in Greek).
8. Andreas Tsemperlidis (17 December 2020). "The Tiger of Greek Basketball". basketbook.gr (in Greek).
9. Giorgos Pantelis (13 April 2020). "Apollon Patras in the Greek Cup final 23 years ago". westbasket.gr (in Greek).
10. "Twenty years from the miracle of Maroussi". esake.gr (in Greek).
11. Nikos Linardos (17 April 2021). "The Maroussi Express!". athletestories.gr (in Greek).
12. "Aris winning the FIBA Europe Champions Cup in 2003". allstarbasket.gr (in Greek). 4 May 2020.
13. "The all-time great coaches: Vangelis Alexandris". esake.gr (in Greek).
14. "Vangelis Alexandris appointed technical director of the Aetos Filyrou basketball academies". northbasket.gr (in Greek). 2 April 2018.
15. "Alexandris to coach Jordanian NT". Court Side Newspaper. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• EuroCup Coaching Profile
• FIBA Coaching Profile
• FIBA.com Senior Profile
• FIBA.com Junior Profile
• FIBA Europe Profile
• Greek Basketball Federation Profile (in Greek)
• The top of the Greek bench: Vangelis Alexandris (in Greek)