Pitino joins exclusive club as Greece head coach

Having taken up the post as Greece head coach, Rick Pitino has joined an exclusive list of foreign coaches to sit in the Ethniki hot seat.

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Nearly one year after his initial move to Greece to take up the Panathinaikos post, Rick Pitino is back in Greece as the new head coach of the Ethniki. Charged with steering Greece to the Olympics in 2020, Pitino will share coaching duties with Thanasis Skourtopoulos as the Ethniki opts for a new two-coach system for qualifying rounds and final tournaments.

Pitino was selected from a shortlist of coaches from around Europe with the likes of CSKA Moscow’s Dimitris Itoudis and Panathinaikos’ Argyris Pedoulakis ranking high in the Hellenic Basketball Federation’s (EOK) shortlist. Although there were plenty of rumours suggesting that the EOK was keen to sign a Greek coach, the federation ultimately opted to sign a foreign coach in Pitino.

Unlike football, foreign coaches of the Ethniki in basketball are far more rare. With his appointment, Pitino became just the fourth foreign coach in the history of the national team.

RICHARD DUKESHIRE

American head coach Richard Dukeshire was the first foreign head coach to be appointed in charge of the Ethniki when he initially took over the team’s reins in January 1972.

While his initial tenure lasted just over seven months, Dukeshire returned to the helm in 1975 before guiding Greece to the gold medal at the 1979 Mediterranean Games in Split. It was the first-ever triumph for the Galanolefki at the Mediterranean Games with the Ethniki causing a major upset with their win over the heavily-favoured hosts Yugoslavia.

Dukeshire, who passed away in 2012, sat in Greece hot seat for 107 games and finished with a 65-42 record as head coach.

JONAS KAZLAUSKAS

Dukeshire remained the lone foreign coach to coach the Ethniki until 2009 when the EOK appointed Lithuanian bench boss Jonas Kazalauskas.

A former coach of Olympiacos, Kazlauskas already had some familiarity with Greek basketball when he guided Greece to a bronze medal finish at EuroBasket 2009 in just his first tournament in charge.

Kazlauskas was also in charge of the Ethniki during the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey the following summer, but Greece’s push for a medal was cut short following a defeat to Spain in the Round of 16.

The disappointment in Turkey that summer saw an end to Kazlauskas’ tenure despite a 21-9 record over two summers in charge of the Ethniki.

ANDREA TRINCHIERI

Prior to Pitino’s appointment the last foreign head coach to sit in the Ethniki hot seat was Italian coach Andrea Trinchieri.

Appointed in January 2013, Trinchieri signed a two-year deal to coach the Ethniki at EuroBasket 2013 and guide the team to the 2014 FIBA World Championship. The latter would never become a reality, however, as Greece’s dreadful run at EuroBasket 2013 quickly spelt the end of Trinchieri’s tenure only for Fotis Katsikaris to step-in for the Italian coach.

by Peter Katsiris

Image Source: gazzetta.gr

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