February 09, 2012
Olympiacos Piraeus BC 2008-09, team profile
Olympiacos Three consecutive trips to the Euroleague Quarterfinal Playoffs say more than enough about the high level of ambition at Olympiacos Piraeus. The fact that two of those playoff series ended for the Reds in the final game only assures they will keep pushing hard until they reach the Final Four again. The last time that Olympiacos did so was 1999 in Munich, Germany. That makes a tenth-anniversary return trip logical for the spring of 2009, since the next Final Four will be held in the German capital of Berlin. While it pursues that goal, Olympiacos has the winds of a great history at its back. The club was founded in the 1930s and won the first of its nine Greek League titles in 1949. It was in the 1990s that the Reds made their biggest mark. The middle of that decade was painted red, in Greece and around the continent, as head coach Ioannis Ioannidis led Olympiacos to four Greek League titles between 1993 and 1996, and to the Euroleague title game in 1994 and 1995. When Dusan Ivkovic came to the bench in 1997, the Reds promptly became the first Greek winner of a triple-crown – Greek League and Greek Cup and Euroleague titles – the latter by beating Barcelona 73-58 in Rome. Although they returned to the Final Four in 1999, a few years went by before the Reds won another trophy. The drought ended with a Greek Cup victory in 2002, when Olympiacos also reached the Greek League finals and came within a victory of the Euroleague Final Four.
2007-08 RESULTS
Euroleague
R. Season
7-7
Top 16
4-2
Quarters
1-2
Greek League
R. Season
22-4
Playoffs
Finalist
Cup
Finalist
With the exception of a spot in the Greek Cup final in 2004, the next two years were rather quiet. The Reds returned to prominence in 2005-06 by taking then-defending champion Maccabi Tel Aviv to three games in the Euroleague quarterfinals and going to the finals in the domestic playoffs. The 2006-07 season was just as exciting, although Olympiacos fell to Tau Ceramica in the Euroleague quarters and came up a victory short in the Greek League finals. The 2007-08 season was nearly identical. After legend Panagiotis Giannakis took the coaching reins at midseason, the Reds seemed even closer still to their Final Four dream, winning a thrilling playoff opener in Moscow before eventual Euroleague champion CSKA recovered to survive their quarterfinal series. Olympiacos also reached the last possible game before finishing as Greek League runner-up again. After so many close calls, there is no doubt in Piraeus that now is the time for Olympiacos to break through and begin collecting trophies again in 2008-09.eak though and to return to the Euroleague Basketball elite this season.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Euroleague.net
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