Faidon Matthaiou,[1] (alternate spellings: Feidon, Fedon, Mathaiou, Mattheou; Greek: Φαίδων Ματθαίου: 12 July 1924 – 17 September 2011[2]) was a Greek professional basketball player and coach. He was a center at the start of his career, and at the end of his career, he also played as a point guard. He wore the number 1 jersey throughout his career. He represented Greece twice at the Summer Olympic Games. As a rower at the 1948 Summer Olympics, and as a basketball player at the 1952 Summer Olympics.[3]
![]() Matthaiou, in 2009. | |||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Thessaloniki, Greece | 12 July 1924||||||||||||||||||||
Died | 17 September 2011 Thessaloniki, Greece | (aged 87)||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Greek | ||||||||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career | 1945–1957 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Point guard / center | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 1955–1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||
As player: | |||||||||||||||||||||
1945–1949 | Aris | ||||||||||||||||||||
1949–1955 | Panathinaikos | ||||||||||||||||||||
1955 | Panionios | ||||||||||||||||||||
1955 | Sporting | ||||||||||||||||||||
1955 | Panionios | ||||||||||||||||||||
1955–1956 | Storm Varese | ||||||||||||||||||||
1956–1957 | Aris | ||||||||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||
1955–1956 | Storm Varese | ||||||||||||||||||||
1960–1961 | Virtus Aurelia | ||||||||||||||||||||
1961–1969 | Greece | ||||||||||||||||||||
1967–1976 | Olympiacos | ||||||||||||||||||||
1976–1978 | Peristeri | ||||||||||||||||||||
1977–1979 | AEK | ||||||||||||||||||||
1983–1984 | PAOK | ||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||
As a player:
As a head coach:
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Medals
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Faidon Matthaiou is widely considered to be the Patriarch of Greek basketball.[4]
Professional career
editBorn in Thessaloniki, Matthaiou began playing professional basketball, as well as many other sports, with Aris in 1945. His father was Manthos Matthaiou, president of Aris Thessaloniki, who was killed in 1941 during Italian air bombings of Thessaloniki during the Greco-Italian War. In 1949, he transferred to Panathinaikos. He also played with Panionios, the Italian League club Pallacanestro Varese, and Sporting.
With Panathinaikos, he won 3 Greek League championships, in the years 1950, 1951, and 1954. He also played at the International Club Cup Tournament (the forerunner of the EuroLeague) in 1955, at the Viareggio Tournament, where he was the leading scorer and MVP.[5]
National team career
editMatthaiou played for the senior men's Greek national team, as one of its leading members in 44 games, and he scored a total of 539 points in those games, for a scoring average of 12.3 points per game. He also played in the very first official game of the Greek national team, which was played at the 1949 FIBA EuroBasket. He was the team's leading scorer at that tournament with 66 total points, while the Greece also won the tournament's bronze medal. He participated as a player in two FIBA EuroBasket tournaments, the 1949 FIBA EuroBasket and also the 1951 FIBA EuroBasket,[6] and also in the 1952 FIBA Summer Olympics.[7]
Coaching career
editAfter his playing career ended, Matthaiou coached the Greek national team at three FIBA EuroBasket tournaments, the 1961 FIBA EuroBasket, the 1965 FIBA EuroBasket, and the 1969 FIBA EuroBasket. He also coached professional sport clubs of the Greek League, such as Olympiacos Piareus, AEK Athens, PAOK Thessaloniki and Peristeri Athens. He also coached the Italian League clubs Storm Varèse and Virtus Roma.
He was named as a coach of the FIBA European Selection team in the years 1970 and 1973. He won both the Greek Cup title and the Greek League championship with Olympiacos, in 1976, and the Greek Cup title with PAOK in 1984.
Awards and accomplishments
editPlaying career
editClubs
edit- 3× Greek League Champion: (1950, 1951, 1954)
- Viareggio International Cup Tournament Top Scorer: (1955)
- Viareggio International Cup Tournament MVP: (1955)
Greece national team
edit- 1949 FIBA EuroBasket: Bronze
- 1955 Mediterranean Games: Bronze
Head coaching career
editClubs
edit- 2× FIBA European Selection: (1970, 1973)
- 2× Greek Cup Winner: (1976, 1984)
- Greek League Champion: (1976)
- Greek 3rd Division Champion: (1978)
References
edit- ^ Sports-Reference.com Faidon Matthaiou.
- ^ Sports.in.gr «Έφυγε»
σ ε ηλικία 87 ετώνο Φαίδων Ματθαίου (in Greek). - ^ Sports-Reference.com Biography.
- ^
Ο ι κορυφαίοιτ ω ν ελληνικών πάγκων: Φαίδων Ματθαίου (in Greek). - ^ Naftemporiki.gr Απεβίωσε
ο Φαίδων Ματθαίου (in Greek). - ^ FIBAEurope.com Fedon Mattheou (Greece).
- ^ Sports-Reference.com Men's Basketball.
External links
edit- FIBA.com Profile (archive)
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Faidon Matthaiou". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
- Hall of Game.gr Profile
- The top of the Greek bench: Faidon Matthaiou (in Greek)
- Hellenic Federation Profile (in Greek)