Panagiotis Vasilopoulos, commonly known asPanos Vasilopoulos (alternate spellings: Panayiotis, Vassilopoulos) (Greek: Παναγιώτης "Πάνος" Βασιλόπουλος; born February 8, 1984) is a Greek former professionalbasketball player who last served as an assistant coach forPeristeri of theGreek Basket League and theBasketball Champions League, under head coachVassilis Spanoulis. He is 2.05 m (6'83⁄4") tall.[1] He played at both thesmall forward andpower forward positions.
Vasilopoulos was born inMaroussi,Athens, and grew up at his hometown of Ano SamikoElis.He started to play basketball with the youth clubs of Ifitos Pyrgou. Later, he transferred to the youth clubs of Iraklis Pyrgou.[2]
Vasilopoulos began his pro career in 2001, withPAOK of theGreek League. He played with PAOK for four seasons, from 2001 to 2005. In the 2005 off season, he transferred from PAOK to joinedOlympiacos Piraeus.
Vasilopoulos was brought toOlympiacos in 2005, by George Garbolas, on a two-year contract. Garbolas believed in his abilities, and that he could help the team to win championships. On May 20, 2008, he extended his contract with Olympiacos for another 4 years, at a salary of€6 millioneurosnet income.[3] With Olympiacos, he won theEuroLeague andGreek League championships in 2012.
On February 8, 2012, Vasilopoulos suffered a season-ending leg injury, just after he had returned from a previous back surgery.[4] He was released byOlympiacos. Vasilopoulos then signed with theSpanish League clubValladolid, in September 2013.[5] He was released by Valladolid in December 2013, after suffering a knee injury.[6]
After being released byValladolid in December 2013, Vasilopoulos then signed with theamateur level Greek club Ermis Piraeus, in April 2014. He then returned to playprofessionally again, in theGreek top-tier levelGBL, withNea Kifissia.[7] Vasilopoulos then moved to the Greek clubKoroivos, for the2015–16 season.
Vasilopoulos next moved to the Greek clubKolossos Rodou, for the2016–17 season.[8] On July 26, 2017, Vasilopoulos signed with the Greek clubAris Thessaloniki, and played with them in theFIBA Champions League's2017–18 season.[9]
On January 19, 2018, Vasilopoulos moved toAEK Athens, for the rest of the season.[10] With AEK, he won the2018 Final of theGreek Cup, as well as theFIBA Champions League championship.
On July 27, 2018, Vasilopoulos signed a 2-year contract withPeristeri of theGreek Basket League, where he eventually became theteam captain. He averaged 7.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game during the 2019-2020 season. On August 17, 2020, he re-signed with Peristeri.[11] On August 20, 2021, he officially parted ways with the club after three seasons and retired from professional basketball.
In December 2021, Vasilopoulos joined the coaching staff ofMilan Tomić inPeristeri. In July 2022, he renewed his contract and stayed on as an assistant to his former national squad and Olympiacos teammateVassilis Spanoulis. On June 24, 2023, he parted ways with the club.
Vasilopoulos played with Greek national junior teams at the2004 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship, and also at the2005 FIBA Under-21 World Cup. With the Greek junior national teams, he also won the bronze medal at both the2002 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship, and at the2003 FIBA Under-19 World Cup.
Vasilopoulos was a member of the senior men'sGreek national basketball team that won the gold medal at theEuroBasket 2005, and the silver medal at the2006 FIBA World Championship. He also competed with Greece at theEuroBasket 2007, the2008 Summer Olympics, the2019 FIBA European World Cup qualification,[12] and the2019 FIBA World Cup.
Early in his career, Vasilopoulos was compared to the long-time Olympiacos playerGeorgios Sigalas. He is a player that can play either thesmall forward orpower forward positions, in both offense and defense. He can play in the post on offense, and can also pass well, and has 3 point range on his jump shot. In his playing prime, he was an excellent athlete, and was considered to be one of the best and most tenacious defensive players in Europe.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | PIR | Performance Index Rating |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | PIR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | Olympiacos | 21 | 1 | 20.1 | .482 | .510 | .731 | 4.8 | 1.0 | .6 | .6 | 7.2 | 8.1 |
| 2006–07 | 22 | 11 | 16.2 | .377 | .371 | .781 | 3.3 | 1.0 | .6 | .6 | 5.4 | 3.8 | |
| 2007–08 | 18 | 7 | 19.7 | .416 | .340 | .520 | 2.7 | .7 | .8 | .4 | 6.8 | 3.5 | |
| 2008–09 | 15 | 4 | 18.9 | .423 | .433 | .611 | 2.6 | .7 | .5 | 1.1 | 4.5 | 4.4 | |
| 2009–10 | 17 | 3 | 12.8 | .474 | .350 | .750 | 1.8 | .8 | .4 | .3 | 2.9 | 2.4 | |
| 2010–11 | 2 | 0 | 4.0 | .000 | — | .000 | .5 | — | — | .5 | 0.0 | -0.5 | |
| Career | 95 | 26 | 17.3 | .429 | .409 | .667 | 3.1 | .8 | .6 | .6 | 5.4 | 4.5 | |
Note: Only games in the primary domestic competitions are included. Therefore, games in cup or European competitions are left out.
| Year | Team | League | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | Koroivos | GBL | 26 | 23.1 | .423 | .365 | .688 | 5.4 | 2.6 | 1.2 | .4 | 6.0 |
| 2016–17 | Kolossos Rodou | GBL | 26 | 27.1 | .391 | .329 | .698 | 5.9 | 2.0 | 1.1 | .5 | 7.7 |
| 2017–18 | Aris | GBL | 12 | 28.0 | .400 | .356 | .733 | 5.8 | 1.8 | 1.2 | .7 | 7.8 |
| 2017–18 | A.E.K. | GBL | 11 | 16.1 | .333 | .250 | .857 | 2.8 | .9 | .5 | .4 | 3.6 |
| 2018–19 | Peristeri | GBL | 26 | 29.1 | .429 | .382 | .804 | 4.8 | 2.5 | 1.0 | .6 | 9.4 |
| † | Denotes seasons in which Panagiotis Vasilopoulos won theFIBA Champions League |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017–18 | Aris | 11 | 27.4 | .469 | .520 | .643 | 5.4 | 2.5 | .7 | 1.0 | 8.9 |
| 2017–18† | A.E.K. | 9 | 11.5 | .421 | .417 | .750 | 3.0 | .7 | .4 | .7 | 3.0 |
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