Faidon Matthaiou

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 Olympics. As a rower at the 1948 Summer Olympics, and as a basketball player at the 1952 Summer Olympics.^[3]

Faidon Matthaiou
Φαίδων Ματθαίου

Matthaiou, in 2009.
Personal information
Born	(1924-07-12)12 July 1924 Thessaloniki, Greece
Died	17 September 2011(2011-09-17) (aged 87) Thessaloniki, Greece
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
1976–1977	Peristeri
1977–1979	AEK
1983–1984	PAOK
Career highlights and awards
As player: 3× Greek League champion (1950, 1951, 1954) As head coach: 2× FIBA European Selection (1970, 1973) Greek League champion (1976) 2× Greek Cup winner (1976, 1984)
Medals Men's basketball player Representing  Greece FIBA EuroBasket 1949 Egypt Mediterranean Games 1955 Spain

Faidon Matthaiou is widely considered to be the Patriarch of Greek basketball.^[4]

Professional playing career

Born 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 Cup Tournament (the forerunner of the EuroLeague) in 1955 at the Viareggio Tournament, where he was the leading scorer and MVP.^[5]

National team playing career

Matthaiou played for the Greece men's national basketball team, as one of its leading members for 44 games, and he scored a total of 539 points (12.25 points per game). He also played in the very first official game of the Greece men's national basketball team, which was played at the FIBA EuroBasket 1949. He was the team's leading scorer at that tournament with 66 points, while the Greece men's national basketball team also won the tournament's bronze medal. He participated as a player in 2 FIBA EuroBasket tournaments, the FIBA EuroBasket 1949 and the FIBA EuroBasket 1951,^[6] and also in the 1952 Olympic Basketball Tournament.^[7]

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Matthaiou coached the Greece men's national basketball team at three FIBA EuroBasket tournaments, the FIBA EuroBasket 1961, the FIBA EuroBasket 1965, and the FIBA EuroBasket 1969. He also coached professional sport clubs of the Greek League, such as Olympiacos, AEK, PAOK and Peristeri. He also coached the Italian League clubs Storm Varèse and Virtus Roma.

He was also named as a coach of the FIBA European Selection team in the years 1970 and 1973. He also won both the Greek Cup and the Greek League championship with Olympiacos in 1976, and the Greek Cup with PAOK in 1984.

Awards and accomplishments

Playing career

Clubs

• 3× Greek League Champion: (1950, 1951, 1954)
• Viareggio International Cup Tournament Top Scorer: (1955)
• Viareggio International Cup Tournament MVP: (1955)

Greece national team

• FIBA EuroBasket 1949:   Bronze
• 1955 Mediterranean Games:   Bronze

Head coaching career

Clubs

• 2× FIBA European Selection: (1970, 1973)
• 2× Greek Cup Winner: (1976, 1984)
• Greek League Champion: (1976)

References

2. Sports.in.gr «Έφυγε» σε ηλικία 87 ετών ο Φαίδων Ματθαίου (in Greek).
4. Οι κορυφαίοι των ελληνικών πάγκων: Φαίδων Ματθαίου (in Greek).
5. Naftemporiki.gr Απεβίωσε ο Φαίδων Ματθαίου (in Greek).
6. FIBAEurope.com Fedon Mattheou (Greece).

External links

• FIBA.com Profile (archive)
• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. . 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)