Giatras named Coach of the Year in Basket League

Makis Giatras, who steered Promitheas Patras to the final of the Basket League, has been named Coach of the Year by ESAKE.

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This season, Promitheas became the first team outside of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki to qualify for the Basket League final, as the Patras-based organisation defeated PAOK and AEK in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. Promitheas were subsequently swept by a rampant Panathinaikos side in the decisive series.

On Thursday, ESAKE revealed that Makis Giatras has been named the Coach of the Year in the Basket League, with the 47-year-old having created history with Promitheas. This was only Promitheas’ third season in the top flight after earning promotion in 2016.

The voting process was held in three stages. Firstly, fellow Basket League coaches cast their votes, with Giatras finishing in first place with 38.46% ahead of Rick Pitino (Panathinaikos) who gained 19.23%. Secondly, media representatives voted, as Giatras earned 65.31% of the votes compared to 12.24% given to both Pitino and Argyris Pedoulakis (Peristeri BC).

Interestingly, fans voted in favour of Pitino (42.67%) instead of Giatras (29.69%), but his victories in the other two categories allowed the latter to win.

Giatras commented on the triumph:

“This is a great moment in my career which justifies the effort which I have put in. At the same time, it’s extra motivation for me to continue working hard and achieving bigger goals. I want to emphasise that this wouldn’t have been possible without my fellow coaches and my players. I express my sincere thanks to them. Also, I would like to dedicate this award to all coaches in local leagues, because I want them to chase their dreams!”

Giatras has been the head coach of Promitheas in two seperate spells since 2013. In the upcoming 2019/2020 season, Promitheas will compete in the EuroCup for the first time in history, a competition which serves as the understudy to the EuroLeague.

by Shaun Nicolaides

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