Aris TT Bank team profile
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 Aris TT Bank has played a crucial role in the development of Greek basketball from a little known sport to the pride of a nation. Aris won seven of its 10 domestic titles between 1985 and 1991, relying on a pair of players who changed Greek basketball for good: Nikos Galis and Panagiotis Giannakis. Galis was an offensive talent like few ever seen in Europe, while Giannakis provided experience and know-how in an explosive combination. They were the heart and soul of Aris in its golden age, and eventually led their national team to the 1987 European Championships title on Greek soil, turning Greece into a true basketball country. Thessaloniki had been a basketball city ever since 1919. Aris founded its basketball section three years later and by 1930 won its first league title. It took Aris nearly 50 years to repeat that success, as Vangelis Alexandris and Haris Papageorgiou led the team to the Greek League title in 1979. Soon, Aris was to established itself forever as a pillar of Greek basketball, when Galis arrived and changed the history of the game in Greece forever. Aris won as many as 81 consecutive domestic games between 1985 and 1988, and reached the 1985 Korac Cup semifinals. While winning the Greek League-Cup trophy doubles in 1988, 1989 and 1990, Aris also took Greek basketball another step forward by reaching three consecutive Euroleague Final Fours. Aris won its last title in 1991, but Galis soon left the team and the dynasty was over.
2006-07 RESULTS | Euroleague | | Greek League | R. Season | 21-5 | Playoffs | Semis |
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Even so, Aris won the 1993 Greek Cup and also conquered its first-ever European trophy, the 1993 Saporta Cup, in what was the last European game for Giannakis with Aris. The team needed four years to add another title, when Panagiotis Liadelis and Piculin Ortiz helped Aris take the 1997 Korac Cup over Tofas Bursa. Aris managed to win the 1998 Greek Cup title in epic fashion, overcoming a shortage of players to knock off Panathinaikos and AEK to win the title. Several quiet years followed, but the team bounced back in 2002-03 to win the FIBA Champions Cup as Will Solomon starred against Prokom Trefl Sopot. Aris extended its recent success with another Greek Cup title in 2004 and a ULEB Cup final appearance in 2006, losing against Dynamo Moscow. Last year, Aris not only returned to the Euroleague for the first time since 1992, but also managed to advance to the Top 16. It also finished third in Greece for the second consecutive season, securing a second straight Euroleague berth. Backed by its legions of passionate fans, Aris remains the pride of a basketball nation that owes this club the respect it earned on court through the decades.
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Euroleague.net
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