Georgios Amerikanos

Georgios Amerikanos (alternate spelling: Giorgos) (Greek: Γιώργος Αμερικάνος; 21 December 1942 – 7 October 2013) was a Greek professional basketball player and basketball coach.[1] He was nicknamed Global, or Worldwide.[2] In honour of his great contributions to the club as a player, his number 10 jersey was retired by AEK Athens.[3][4]

Georgios Amerikanos
Personal information
Born(1942-12-21)21 December 1942
Nikaia, Piraeus, Athens, Greece
Died7 October 2013(2013-10-07) (aged 70)
Athens, Greece
NationalityGreek
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
Playing career1959–1977
PositionShooting guard
Number10
Coaching career1973–1987
Career history
As player:
1959–1975AEK Athens
1975–1977Apollon Patras
As coach:
1973–1974Aigaleo
1977–1978AEK Athens
1979–1980Apollon Patras
1986–1987AEK Athens
Career highlights and awards
As a player:
Medals
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Balkan Championship 0 2 2
Total 0 2 2
Representing  Greece
Men's basketball
Balkan Championship
Silver medal – second place 1963 Greece
Silver medal – second place 1969 Greece
Bronze medal – third place 1964 Romania
Bronze medal – third place 1967 Yugoslavia

Club career

Amerikanos was born in Nikaia and his parents were refugees from Asia Minor.He started playing basketball with the youth clubs of XAN Nikaias (YMCA). He then moved to the Greek club AEK Athens, where he would become one of the best players in the history of the club. With AEK, he won 6 Greek League championships (1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1970).

He also led the team to the final four of the FIBA European Champions Cup of the 1965–66 season, which was the first time that the EuroLeague ever used a final four system, thus leading a Greek team to a final four in the EuroLeague for the first time ever. He also led AEK to the championship of the 2nd-tier level Cup Winners' Cup of the 1967–68 season, which was the first European championship won by any Greek team.[5] He scored 29 points in the tournament's final game.

He was also the Greek League Top Scorer twice during his career, in 1965 and 1968. He also played with Apollon Patras.

National team career

Amerikanos was also a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team. In 68 caps played with Greece's senior men's team, he scored 1,076 points, for an average of 15.8 points per game. He played at the FIBA EuroBasket 1961 and the FIBA EuroBasket 1965, being Greece's leading scorer in both tournaments, with scoring averages of 15.5 points and 17.4 points per game.

He also played at the 1967 Mediterranean Games, five Balkan Championships (1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969), and the 1960 Pre-Olympic Tournament.

Coaching career

Amerikanos has also coached Ergotelis, Apollon Patras, AEK Athens, and Aigaleo. He led AEK to the final of the Greek Cup in 1978.

References
  1. Euroleague.net European basketball mourns legend Giorgos Amerikanos.
  2. FIBAEurope.com Basketball World Mourns Loss Of Amerikanos.
  3. Στην οροφή η φανέλα του Αμερικάνου (in Greek).
  4. Αποσύρεται το #10 του Αμερικάνου (in Greek).
  5. "All4Basketball.com Giorgos Amerikanos passed away!!". Archived from the original on 2014-07-27. Retrieved 2014-07-24.
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