_by_Sandro_Halank%25E2%2580%2593070.jpg) Bartzokas, while coachingOlympiacos Piraeus, in 2022 | |
| Olympiacos | |
|---|---|
| Position | Head coach |
| League | Greek Basketball League EuroLeague |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1965-06-11)June 11, 1965 (age 59) Athens, Greece |
| Listed height | 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Listed weight | 90.9 kg (200 lb) |
| Career information | |
| High school | 1st Marousi |
| NBA draft | 1987:undrafted |
| Playing career | 1981–1992 |
| Position | Power forward /center |
| Coaching career | 1987–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1981–1992 | Maroussi |
| As coach: | |
| Pefki | |
| Vrilissia Basket | |
| 2000–2004 | GS Kifissias |
| OFI Irakleio | |
| 2003–2006 | Maroussi (assistant) |
| 2006–2009 | Olympia Larissa |
| 2009–2010 | Maroussi |
| 2010–2012 | Panionios |
| 2012–2014 | Olympiacos |
| 2015–2016 | Lokomotiv Kuban |
| 2016–2017 | FC Barcelona |
| 2017–2019 | Khimki |
| 2020–present | Olympiacos |
| Career highlights and awards | |
As head coach:
| |
Georgios Bartzokas (alternate spellings: Giorgos, George, Mpartzokas) (Greek:Γιώργος Μπαρτζώκας, born June 11, 1965) is a Greek former professionalbasketball player, and the current headbasketball coach forOlympiacos of theGreek Basketball League (GBL) and theEuroLeague. During his career as ahead coach, Bartzokas (a.k.a. Chess player) has won numerous titles. With the Greek club Olympiacos Piraeus, he won the World Club Championship title, as he won the2013 edition of theFIBA Intercontinental Cup. He also won the championship of Europe's premiere club competition, theEuroLeague, at the2013 EuroLeague Final Four, with Olympiacos. Bartzokas has been named theEuroLeague Coach of the Year three times, as he won the award in the years2013,2022, and2023.
Bartzokas was born on 11 June 1965, inAthens,Greece. At a young age, he first played the sport offootball. In 1977, at the age of 12, he began playing the sport of basketball, with theyouth teams of the Greek basketball clubMaroussi Athens. He remained in Maroussi's youth teams until 1981.
After spending four years with theyouth teams of Maroussi Athens, Bartzokas joined Maroussi's senior men'sclub in 1981, at the age of 16. Bartzokas, a 2.00 m (6'7") tallpower forward-center, made his senior level debut in theGreek 2nd Division (B) league, during the 1981–82 season. Bartzokas went on to play club basketball withMaroussi Athens, in both theGreek 2nd Division (A2) andGreek 3rd Division (B) leagues, until 1992. During his tenure with the club, he was the team's leading scorer andteam captain.
Bartzokas' playing career ended at the age of 27, after he had suffered seriousknee injuries to both of his legs. He first suffered a torn right kneeACL injury, and then later on he also suffered a torn left knee ACL injury. Prior to his knee injuries, the Greek clubsAEK Athens andOlympiacos Piraeus had considered signing him.
Bartzokas originally began working as an assistantbasketball coach in Greece, in 1987, at the age of 22, while he was still also actively playing club basketball. After he retired from his playing career, Bartzokas first worked as ahead coach in the Greek clubsPefki, Vrilissia Basket,GS Kifissias, andOFI Irakleio. With Vrilissia Basket, he earned two leaguepromotions. With Kifissias, he earned one league promotion.
In 2003, while he was still coaching Kifissias, Bartzokas also began working as an assistant coach in thetop-tier levelGreek First Division, with his former playing club,Maroussi Athens. Bartzokas worked as an assistant with Maroussi, under the team's head coach at the time,Panagiotis Giannakis, from the2002–03 season to the2005–06 season. With Maroussi, Bartzokas was a finalist of the European-wide third-level competition, theFIBA Europe League, in the2003–04 season. He was also a2003–04 Greek League season finalist, and a 2006Greek Cup finalist with Maroussi.
Prior to the 2006–07 season, Bartzokas signed on as thehead coach of the Greek clubOlympia Larissa. That same season with Olympia, he managed to reach the playoffs of the2006–07 Greek Basketball League. That was the first time in the club's history that they had made the league's playoffs. Olympia Larissa eventually finished in seventh place in the league overall. As a result, Bartzokas was named the 2007Greek League Coach of the Year. Bartzokas then repeated the Greek League playoffs qualification with Olympia the next year, during the2007–08 season.
For the 2009–10 season, Bartzokas became the head coach of the Greek clubMaroussi Athens.[1] Under Bartzokas' leadership, Maroussi managed to qualify for the Top 16 Phase of theEuroLeague's2009–10 season. In Greek domestic competition, Maroussi finished in third place in theGreek League's2009–10 season. Bartzokas was named theGreek League Best Coach of that same season.[2]
Bartzokas became the head coach of the Greek clubPanionios Athens, prior to the 2010–11 season. Panionios finished theGreek League 2010–11 season in ninth place. In the following season, under the guidance of Bartzokas, Panionios finished in third place in theGreek League's2011–12 season. As a result, Bartzokas was named the 2012Greek League Coach of the Year.
Bartzokas became the head coach of the GreekEuroLeague clubOlympiacos Piraeus, in June 2012, prior to the 2012–13 season.[3] With Olympiacos, Bartzokas won the2012–13 season's championship of the EuroLeague, at the2013 London EuroLeague Final Four, where Olympiacos'Vassilis Spanoulis was named the 2013EuroLeague Final Four MVP. In the process, Bartzokas became the first Greek coach in history to win the championship of the EuroLeague.[4]
After winning the EuroLeague championship, Bartzokas was named the 2013EuroLeague Coach of the Year.[5] With Olympiacos, Bartzokas also managed to win the championship of theFIBA Intercontinental Cup, which is the official World Club Championship. He led Olympiacos to the world club title at the2013 Intercontinental Cup, where they defeated the champions of the 2013FIBA Americas League, the BrazilianNBB clubPinheiros, in atwo game,aggregate score series, by a score of 167–139. Olympiacos'Spanoulis was named the 2013FIBA Intercontinental Cup MVP. Bartzokas was named theEurobasket News All-Europe Coach of the Year in 2013.
On July 5, 2015, Bartzokas signed a 2-year deal with the Russian clubLokomotiv Kuban of theVTB United League and theEuroLeague.[6] In the EuroLeague, he coached the team to its first-everFinal Four appearance, as they qualified to the2016 EuroLeague Final Four, after they beat the SpanishLiga ACB clubFC Barcelona, by a series score of 3–2, in the2016 EuroLeague Playoffs.[7] Bartzokas was named theVTB United League Coach of the Year, of the2015–16 season.
On July 8, 2016, Bartzokas signed a three-year contract with the SpanishACB teamFC Barcelona.[8] With Barça, Bartzokas won the 2016Catalan League championship. After one season with the club, Barcelona parted ways with him.[9]
On June 30, 2017, Bartzokas returned to theVTB United League, in order to become the new head coach of the Russian clubKhimki Moscow Region. He signed a two-year contract with the club.[10] With Khimki, Bartzokas won theGomelsky Cup tournament in 2017. On 21 January 2019, Bartzokas left Khimki, after his contract with the club was terminated.[11]
On January 10, 2020, Barzokas returned to the Greek clubOlympiacos Piraeus, after he signed a2+1⁄2-year deal with them. After two months as the club's head coach, the2019–20 season was cancelled, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic situation. In the following 2020–21 season, Bartzokas tried to rebuild the team's roster, afterKostas Sloukas returned to the team. However, Olympiacos didn't qualify for the playoff round of theEuroLeague's2020–21 season. In the 2021–22 season, Bartzokas won the2022 Greek Cup title with Olympiacos. That was Bartzokas' first Greek national domestic title. Shortly after that, he also won the2022 Greek League championship. While in theEuroLeague's 2021–22 season, he qualified with Olympiacos to the2022 Belgrade Final Four, in which they finished in the fourth place. Bartzokas was named the 2022EuroLeague Coach of the Year.
Barztokas won the2022 Greek Super Cup title. After that, Bartzokas led Olympiacos to the2023 Greek Cup title, and to the2023 Greek League championship. He was named the 2023Greek League Coach of the Year. Olympiacos also made it to the2023 EuroLeague Final Four, where they were ultimately defeated by the Spanish clubReal Madrid, by a score of 79–78, in theEuroLeague Final. Bartzokas was named the 2023EuroLeague Coach of the Year.
Bartzokas also won the2023 Greek Super Cup and2024 Greek Cup titles.
Bartzokas' family hails from the Greek village of Kentriko,Arta. His father Andreas (1925–2015), was a member of the GreekKKE political party, and he was apolitical prisoner during the 1950s and 1960s.[12]
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win-loss % | ||
Note: TheEuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maroussi | 2009–10 | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | Eliminated in Top 16 stage |
| Olympiacos | ||||||
| 2012–13 | 31 | 22 | 9 | .710 | WonEuroLeague Championship | |
| 2013–14 | 29 | 20 | 9 | .690 | Eliminated in quarterfinals | |
| Lokomotiv Kuban | 2015–16 | 31 | 21 | 10 | .677 | Won in 3rd place game |
| Barcelona | 2016–17 | 30 | 12 | 18 | .400 | Eliminated in the regular season |
| Khimki | 2017–18 | 34 | 17 | 17 | .500 | Eliminated in quarterfinals |
| Olympiacos | 2019–20 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | Eliminated in Regular Season |
| 2020–21 | 34 | 16 | 18 | .471 | Eliminated in Regular Season | |
| 2021–22 | 28 | 19 | 9 | .679 | 4th place | |
| 2022–23 | 34 | 24 | 10 | .706 | 2nd place | |
| 2023–24 | 34 | 27 | 15 | .643 | Won in 3rd place game | |
| Career | 278 | 187 | 130 | .585 | ||
