Dimitris Diamantidis

Dimitris Diamantidis, also spelled Dimitrios Diamantidis (in Greek: Δημήτρης Διαμαντίδης) (born May 6, 1980 in Kastoria, Greece) is a Greek professional basketball player. He started his youth career with his home team in Kastoria in 1994 at the age of 14 and stayed there for 5 years. Kastoria's gym was renamed "Dimitris Diamantidis" in his honour, because it was the first place where he played basketball. He is 198 cm (6'6") in height.

Player profile

Diamantidis is left-handed and he can play as a point guard, shooting guard and small forward. He can also play as a point forward. He has a big wingspan for his height, which has led to him being given the nickname of Octopus Man or The Octopus. He is generally a pass first play maker and an excellent catch-and-shoot 3 point shooter. He likes to post up smaller point guards. He is considered to be the best perimeter defensive player in the Euroleague; since the award Euroleague Best Defender was established in the 2004-2005 season, he has been winning the award every single season. He was named the Mister Europa European Player of the Year in 2007.

Professional career

Iraklis

In the summer of 1999, at the age of 19, he began his professional career when he transferred to Iraklis Thessaloniki and became a starting player there by his second season. Diamantidis helped to bring Iraklis, one of the oldest Greek teams back into prominence after the club had been struggling. With Iraklis, Diamantidis won the Greek League MVP award in the 2003-2004 season.

Panathinaikos

Diamantidis moved a big step up in his career with his move to Panathinaikos of Athens in 2004; a basketball powerhouse of the Greek League and also of the Euroleague. With Panathinaikos, he has won the Greek Championship 4 times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008), the Greek Cup 5 times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) and the Euroleague Championship 2 times (2007, 2009)

Diamantidis has won several individual trophies since joining Panathinaikos, such as the Euroleague Defensive Player of The Year 5 times (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09), the Greek League regular season MVP 4 times (2004, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008), the Greek League playoff MVP 3 times (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08), and the Euroleague Final Four MVP (Euroleague 2006-07). Dimitris was also named the 2007 Mr. Europa European Player of the Year and the MVP of the Greek Cup in 2009.

Due to these great individual and team successes, the president of Panathinaikos, Pavlos Giannakopoulos, has signed Diamantidis through the year 2010 at an annual fee of about €1.9 million euros net income.

Euroleague statistics

Euroleague official website, Dimitris Diamantidis' page.

SEASON	LEAGUE	TEAM	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2004-05	Euroleague	Panathinaikos	25	27.4	8.5	3.7	3.1	2.0	0.6
2005-06	Euroleague	Panathinaikos	23	30.1	8.7	4.5	2.9	2.3	0.8
2006-07	Euroleague	Panathinaikos	24	29.1	8.9	3.9	3.9	2.2	0.6
2007-08	Euroleague	Panathinaikos	19	31.0	8.5	5.3	3.3	1.8	0.7

Greek national team

Dimitris Diamantidis

Medal record
Men's Basketball
Representing Greece
FIBA World Championships
	2006 Japan	National team
European Championships
	2005 Serbia & Montenegro	National team

Dimitris is a member of the Greek national basketball team. With the national team of Greece he won the FIBA Europe 2005 European Championship. During the European Championship that year, he led the tournament in assists and he was selected to the all-tournament team. In the tournament semifinals against the French national basketball team, Diamantidis hit a game winning 3 point shot with Greece trailing by a score of 66-64 at the end of the game to give Greece the 67-66 victory and send them to the European Championship's final game.

He was also a member of the Greek national team that went on to win the silver medal the next year at the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan. He was a key defensive factor in Greece's historic 101-95 victory against Team USA in the semifinals.

Diamantidis was also a member of Greece's national team that competed at the 2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament, which was held in Athens, Greece. He has also been selected to play on Greece's national team for the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament in Beijing, China.

Diamantidis was also on the Greek teams that participated in the 2003 European Championship and the 2007 European Championship. With his national team he has also won the silver medal at the 2001 Mediterranean Games and the gold medal at the 2006 Stanković Continental Champions’ Cup. He has also won 6 Acropolis Tournaments with his national squad, being the Acropolis Tournament's MVP twice, in the years 2005 and 2006. He is currently the player with the most caps on the current Greek national team.

Awards and honours

Pro career

• 4-time Greek League MVP: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008
• 3-time Greek Playoffs MVP: 2006, 2007, 2008
• 4-time Greek Champion: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• 5-time Greek Cup winner: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• 5-time Euroleague Defensive Player of the Year: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• 1-time Greek League assist leader: 2007
• 2-time European Champion: 2007, 2009
• 1-time All-Euroleague First Team: 2007
• 1-time Euroleague Final Four MVP: 2007
• 1-time Mr. Europa European Player of the Year: 2007
• 1-time Greek Cup MVP: 2009

Greek national team

• Silver medal with Greece, 2001 Mediterranean Games
• 6-time Acropolis Tournament Champion with Greece 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• 2-time Acropolis Tournament MVP 2005, 2006
• Gold medal with Greece, 2005 European Championship
• 1-time Eurobasket assist leader: 2005
• 1-time All-Eurobasket Team: 2005
• 1-time Stankovic Cup Winner with Greece: 2006
• Silver medal with Greece: 2006 FIBA World Championship

External links

• Euroleague.net Profile
• Panathinaikos Profile
• Interbasket.net Profile
• Draftexpress.com Profile
• Eurobasket2005.com Diamantidis All First Team 2005 European Championship
• Basketpedya.com Profile