A Legendary back-to-back

Legends are written by legendary teams and Olympiacos basketball is one of them. It has its own special place in the European “pantheon”, having won the title three times, while it is among the only four teams in the history of the competition since the Final Four was established in the modern era, in 1989, that has achieved back-to-back titles. The others are Jugoplastika (1989, 1990, 1991), Maccabi Tel Aviv (2004, 2005) and Anadolu Efes (2021, 2022).

From Istanbul and Printezis’ unique “hook shot” against CSKA, to London and Spanoulis’ three-point bombardment against Real Madrid, with Giorgos Bartzokas on the bench as Dusan Ivkovic’s successor.

However, the Reds’ achievement is even more special than the other European teams, as they managed to win the title in 2012 with Ivkovic the “maestro” on the bench and Vassilis Spanoulis on the court, but most importantly, with a new philosophy that would dominate European basketball in years to come – all the while avoiding a return to the “barren years”.

Olympiacos is one of only four teams in the history of the Euroleague that have won the European title in consecutive years.

Changes and a return

It was June 27, 2011 shortly after the final of a championship lost to Panathinaikos, with Olympiacos much aggrieved with both the refereeing and the federation, that the announcement of the Angelopoulos brothers, the team’s owners, crashed like a thunderbolt from the blue:

“All these years we have been fighting a ‘system’ which stubbornly reacts, constantly undermining our efforts to win what our team and our fans deserve… Because of this, and having exhausted the possibilities afforded by ethics, law and reason, we leave our beloved Olympiacos and Greek basketball in disgust, with pain in our hearts.

“We thank all those who believed in us, supported us and battled at our side”.

Ivkovic and Spanoulis were still under contract with the team, with the latter bearing surprised witness to these events just a year after his transfer from Panathinaikos, which had changed the history of the Piraeus Club.

As fate would have it, the Angelopoulos brothers changed their minds and followed another philosophy, different from the early years and the massive outlays they had made, especially after 2009 when they also acquired the shares held by Socrates Kokkalis. They lowered the budget and compiled a roster with several young and promising Greek players. They even brought Printezis back from Malaga.

Top players such as Papaloukas, Teodosic, Bourousis and Jamon Gordon departed, and with the exception of Lazaros Papadopoulos and Pero Antic, the team was stocked with new blood. Sloukas, Mantzaris and Katsivelis were added alongside Papanikolaou, while two rookies came in to replace the other two foreign players, Kalin Lucas and Matt Howard.

The club had gone 14 years without a championship, ever since the historic “triple crown” they had won in 1997 under “professor” Ivkovic, who stayed at the helm with the new side in 2011. After all, he had a talent for working with young guys, as well.

It was the season when, apart from the already great Vassilis Spanoulis, the legend of Giorgos Printezis was being created, Costas Sloukas and Kostas Papanikolaou were establishing themselves with the Reds and a “pocket Hercules”, Kyle Hines, who was discovered by Ivkovic and his partner Vangelis Angelou, took off, with Olympiacos plunking down a mere 250,000 euros to acquire him from Bamberg.

Ups and downs

The team had its ups and downs, and around Christmas they acquired Joey Dorsey and Acie Law, a move that definitively changed the course of the year. Dorsey, who even missed layups as a Basconia player, became the team’s defensive stalwart, with the coaches often taking on the role of sports psychologists to keep him alert.

The Reds made it into the top 16 and, via Turkey, qualified for the quarter-finals behind the mighty CSKA, where they lost twice outright. Yet the stage was set for a future match-up. Siena was the last obstacle before the Final Four and then came the absolute triumph with victories over Barcelona in the semi-final in Istanbul.

The comeback of the decade came in the final against CSKA with Printezis’ signature “jump-hook” for a one-time point victory: 62-61. Only seconds earlier, the Reds had fouled Ramūnas Šiškauskas, who went to the line for two free-throws.

“Think he’ll miss one?” Sloukas asked Antic on the bench. His answer was clear: “No chance”.

But Šiškauskas missed both, something he hadn’t done in consecutive free throws in 11 years! And thus, history came to be written.

At halftime, Ivkovic had skillfully placed Spanoulis right up front, because he knew he could hold out. The younger players led the counterattack after the 28^th minute and their 19-point deficit (53-34) was whittled away with a 28-8 run in the last 10 minutes. The Istanbul saga was complete. Papanikolaou had scored nine points in the semi-final and 19 in the final without missing a shot. Sloukas, Mantzaris from close range, and Spanoulis with Printezis were the perfect pairings.

At a brief celebration that evening in the center of Istanbul, Ivkovic, along with his wife Nena and his associates, played the role of “truant officer” and rounded up the players and brought them back to the hotel: the Greek championship finals were starting in a few days and Olympiacos had pressing engagement in Greece, as well as against some of Europe’s top teams.

A coaching ‘seminar’

Everything seemed ideal, but Ivkovic left in the summer as he couldn’t accept another budget cut. Giorgos Bartzokas succeeding him and Dorsey also departed. However, the team defeated Cedevita Olimpija and continued into the round of 16, only for upheavals to strike again.

In the playoffs with Efes, a ball slap by Gordon at the end of the 4th game tied the series (2-2). The Turkish team surged ahead by 15 points (38-23) at the Peace & Friendship Stadium, but Spanoulis and Printezis soon restored order and Olympiacos were soon heading to another Final Four, this time in London.

It was there the fans witnessed a coaching “seminar” by Bartzokas, with Olympiacos reaching its back-to-back triumph by playing at a low tempo against CSKA Moscow in the semi-finals, winning mainly with defense, and two days later scoring 100 points against Real Madrid, winning at a pace that suited the Spanish team.

It was the ultimate triumph for Olympiacos, which had essentially managed to change the entire philosophy then prevalent in European basketball and establish another style on which the other teams would now try to build.

The Reds did it their way and made history—again!