.jpg) Tomić in October 2019 | |
| KK Crvena zvezda | |
|---|---|
| Title | General manager |
| League | KLS ABA League EuroLeague |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1973-07-24)24 July 1973 (age 52) |
| Nationality | Serbian / Greek |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2.75 in (1.90 m) |
| Listed weight | 190 lb (86 kg) |
| Career information | |
| NBA draft | 1995:undrafted |
| Playing career | 1990–2006 |
| Position | Point guard |
| Number | 11, 8, 4 |
| Coaching career | 2004–present |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1990–1991 | Radnički |
| 1991–2005 | Olympiacos |
| 2005 | Aurora Basket Jesi |
| 2006 | Kolossos Rodou |
Coaching | |
| 2004 | Olympiacos (interim) |
| 2008–2018 | Olympiacos (assistant) |
| 2014 | Olympiacos (interim) |
| 2018–2019 | Crvena zvezda |
| 2021–2022 | Peristeri |
| 2023–2025 | Olimpia Milano (assistant) |
| 2025–present | Crvena zvezda (general manager) |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
As head coach:
As assistant coach:
| |
Milan Tomić (Serbian:Милaн Томић,Greek: Μίλαν Τόμιτς; born 24 July 1973) is a Serbian-Greek[1][2][3] professionalbasketballcoach and former player.
Tomić has spent almost all of his professional playing and coaching career inGreece, after he tookGreeknationality, under the name ofMilan Giannakopoulos (Greek: Μίλαν Γιαννακόπουλος).[4] During his playing years inOlympiacos, he became an idol among the team's fans. Still considered a legend to Olympiacos fans after his retirement as a player, he took an assistant coach's spot with the team, under thenhead coachPanagiotis Giannakis.
Tomić started his career playing forRadnički as a teenager, and made a name as a good young player. Summer 1991 set a fresh start for Olympiacos. New chairmanKokkalis appointedGiannis Ioannidis ashead coach, with a goal to put the team in European basketball's elite.
Ioannidis invited Tomić, among other young Serbs for a trial. The coach wasn't so impressed with Tomic's basketball skills or physical attributes, but liked the young boy's passion, cleverness, and will to win. So he offered him a spot on the team'sroster.
But for the transfer to be completed, Tomić had to take Greek citizenship, since only one non-Greek player was allowed at that time (that player wasŽarko Paspalj). At the time, givingBalkan players Greek citizenship was a common practice for Greek teams, and a lot of players did the same. Some famous examples arePeja Stojaković,Dragan Tarlać, andRasho Nesterović.
Due to some legal problems concerning his citizenship, he was not able to play for one season, so he made his debut for the Reds in 1992–93 season. It wasn't long before Tomić showed his value and potential and was named a starter. At the same time, the team was growing stronger under Ioannidis' guidance, and won theGreek League championship, despite the fact they had the home court disadvantage againstPanathinaikos, the team's arch-rivals, going into theplayoff finals.
Olympiacos also returned to European competitions, and reached theEuroLeague quarterfinals, with Tomić averaging 32.5 minutes and 8.3 points per game. The following two seasons, Tomić established his position as the startingpoint guard, while Olympiacos dominated theGreek League, winning both regular seasons and the playoffs, beatingPAOK in 1994, and Panathinaikos in the 1995 finals, respectively. Olympiacos also found European recognition by reaching two consecutiveEuroLeague Finals.
They lost both EuroLeague Finals, but the fact that they won against Panathinaikos in both semifinals was a big consolation for their fans. Tomić wasn't a leader in the statistics section, but he was the mind and soul of the team. The next season, 1995–96, wasn't a good one for Tomić individually.
The arrival ofDavid Rivers pushed Tomić on the bench, reducing his playing time. Still, he helped the team retain itsGreek League title. The 1996–97 season is perhaps the best in Olympiacos history.Dušan Ivković took over as head coach, and gave Tomić more playing time. Especially during the important last part of the season, when Ivković made him starting point guard, moving Rivers to theshooting guard position. The end of the season found Olympiacos as Greek League champions, EuroLeague champions, for the first time, andGreek Cup winners, making them the first Greek team to hold those titles simultaneously. Thus, they won the covetedTriple Crown. A few months later, Olympiacos participated in the1997 McDonald's Championship, and made it to the final, where they faced the reigningNBA champions, theChicago Bulls. Tomić was guardingMichael Jordan, and several funny incidents happened between them.
After having won everything the previous year, a lot of players left the team ofOlympiacos. One of them was the team'scaptain,Giorgos Sigalas. There was no doubt about who was the most suitable player to be the new captain.
Tomić was already acting as captain all those years. From the moment he was declared the new captain, he was dreaming of lifting up trophies for his team in the years to come. Unfortunately for him, that didn't happen for 4 years.
Olympiacos remained a top European team but wasn't capable of winning a title. They reached theGreek League finals twice, but lost, and also participated in the1999 EuroLeague Final Four, only to take the third place. On the contrary, Tomić evolved as a player. He was playing more, scoring more, and was a true captain on and off the court, as he became the Olympiacos fan's favorite player.
Olympiacos' chairman hiredLefteris Soumpotits ashead coach, for the 2001–02 season. Soumpotits brought along with him to the team, a young talentedpoint guard namedTheo Papaloukas. Papaloukas' presence reduced Tomić's playing time, but on the other hand, their rotation, and sometimes combination in the lineup, made the team better in matters of team-play, organization, passing, and defense.
Olympiacos won theGreek Cup, so Tomić's dream of raising a trophy, as ateam captain, in front of his team's fans, became reality. Later that season, Olympiacos facedPanathinaikos in theGreek League semifinals, having the home court disadvantage, and still managed to "sweep" them in two games. During the decisive second game's last minutes, Panathinaikos seemed to have the game's momentum.
When suddenly, a fight broke out, after a hardfoul. Moments later, all eyes turned to watch Tomić fighting against Panathinaikos' star playerDejan Bodiroga, whom was also the most hated rival player for fans of Olympiacos. The image of Tomić punching Bodiroga became an all-time favourite for Olympiacos' hardcore fans.
After the fight, Tomić, Bodiroga, and several other players were sent out of the game, but the game's momentum had changed, and Olympiacos won the game, and advanced to the league's finals againstAEK Athens. Olympiacos won the first two games, but AEK made a huge comeback and won the series.
After the 2001–02 season, many important players left the team ofOlympiacos. Tomić was still giving the team his best, but the quality of the team's roster had deteriorated. The 2003–04 season was even worse. The glory days of the past seemed so far away. Tomić performed way below his standards.
Olympiacos failed to beatAris in theGreek Cup's Final. In addition to that, the team was fighting for aGreek League playoff position. ChairmanKokkalis decided to firehead coachDragan Šakota, and to everyone's surprise, asked Tomić to take the empty spot on the bench. Tomić loved the team so much that he didn't question that decision and took the job. Under his reign as head coach, the team improved and played better, but was eliminated in the Greek League playoffs.
The season ended, and Tomic asked for a multi-year contract, so he would have the time to build a new winning team. The team's new directors didn't like his demands, and gave his head coaching position toMilan Minić. The new season started, and after some bad results, Minić was fired and replaced byJonas Kazlauskas.
Tomić was hardly given any playing time, while the team was constantly losing. Things got worse, when they lost 59-110 to the Turkish clubEfes, in aEuroLeague game. That was the biggest home loss in the team's history in European-wide competition. It was a big embarrassment for the Olympiacos fans, who were furious, and began swearing at players, coaches, and team directors. Only one of the team's names was chanted by the fans in a good way. The name was Milan Tomić. Surprisingly, Tomić was asked to leave the team a few days later. He did so without complaining, while the fans were shocked at watching their team lose its natural leader.
In January 2005,Lefteris Soumpotits took over as thehead coach of the Italian clubSicc Cucine Jesi, and he brought Tomić, who was afree agent at the time, along with him, to help save the team fromrelegation. Tomić played in 14 games for theItalian League team, averaging 9.8 points per game, but the team finished in last place in the league standings. Tomić made yet another effort to continue his playing career, and signed a contract with the Greek clubKolossos Rodou, in January 2006. The irony was that his debut game with Kolossos was against Olympiacos. When he entered onto the court, Olympiacos fans once again chanted his name. He only played in two games for Kolossos, and then he decided to retire because he felt he had nothing more to offer as a player.
Tomić studied and got a 1st gradebasketball coaching degree. In February 2008,Panagiotis Giannakis became the newOlympiacos head coach. Giannakis asked Tomić to be a part of the team's coaching staff, so he returned to his beloved team, as an assistant coach. In 2014, Tomić became the interimhead coach of Olympiacos, afterGeorgios Bartzokas resigned as the team's head coach,[5] untilIoannis Sfairopoulos became the team's new head coach.[6]
On 13 July 2018 Tomić was named a head coach from his hometownBelgrade-based teamCrvena zvezda. He signed a three-year deal.[7][8][9] He resigned on 22 October 2019.[10] He finished his stint with a 56–19 record.
In December 2021, Tomić took over the head coaching job forPeristeri of theGreek Basket League, replacingSotiris Manolopoulos.
Since July 2023 he is the assistant coach of Ettore Messina[11] in Olimpia Armani Milano[1]
Tomić has dual citizenship with bothSerbia andGreece. He lived the first 18 years of his life in Serbia and has since lived in Greece. He speaksSerbian,Greek, andEnglish fluently. His official Greek name is Milan Giannakopoulos (Greek: Μίλαν Γιαννακόπουλος).[12]
His son, Alexandros Tomits Liafou (born 2002), is a basketball player for theCrvena zvezda U16 team.
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crvena zvezda | 2019–20 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | Resigned |
| Career | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | ||