Sotirios Nikolaidis
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Sotiris "Sotos" Nikolaidis (; (born May 25, 1974, in
Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...
,
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
), is a retired Greek professional
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
player and current
basketball coach Basketball coaching is the act of directing and strategizing the behavior of a basketball team or individual basketball player. Basketball coaching typically encompasses the improvement of individual and team offensive and defensive skills, as wel ...
. During his
club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...
playing career, at a height of 1.86 m (6'1 ") tall, he played at the
point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...
and
shooting guard The shooting guard (SG), also known as the two, two guard or off guard,Shooting guards are 6'3"–6'7"BBC Sports academy URL last accessed 2006-09-09. is one of the five traditional basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game ...
positions.


Professional career

Nikolaidis started his youth basketball career in Greece, with HAN Thessaloniki. In 1995, he transferred to the
Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...
club
PAOK Thessaloniki PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...
, where he played for five years. With PAOK, he also played three seasons in Europe's top level competition, the FIBA EuroLeague ( 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00). Moreover, Nikolaidis also won the
Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...
title with PAOK, in 1999. In 2000, he moved to the Greek club
Maroussi Athens Maroussi B.C. () alternately translated as Marousi, Amaroussio, or Amaroussion, is a professional basketball club that is based in Maroussi, a northern suburb of Athens, Greece. The club's full name is Gymnastikos Syllogos Maroussi Basketball Clu ...
, and with them he won the European-wide secondary level
FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...
's 2000–01 season championship. Nikolaidis was the hero of the 2001 FIBA Saporta Cup Final, after he scored the game's two winning points, with
free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
s made 15 seconds before the end of the game. He also played in the Greek Basket League with
Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnastikos Syllogos Thessalonikis "Iraklis" (), commonly referred to as Iraklis Thessaloniki, is a multi–sporting club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. G.S. Iraklis Thessalonikis was founded on 29 November 1908 and i ...
,
AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...
, and
Rethymno Rethymno (also Rethymnon; ) is a city in Greece on the island of Crete. It is the capital of Rethymno regional unit, and has a population of more than 35,000 inhabitants (nearly 40,000 for the municipal unit). It is believed to have been built ...
. With AEK, he also played two seasons in Europe's top level
EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...
( 2003–04 and 2004–05). Nikolaidis then played with Ilysiakos Athens in the Greek 2nd Division, and in the
semi-pro ''Semi-Pro'' is a 2008 American sports comedy film. The film was directed by Kent Alterman in his directorial debut, written by Scot Armstrong, and produced by Jimmy Miller. It stars Will Ferrell, Woody Harrelson, André 3000 (credited as And ...
level Greek 3rd Division, with
Apollon Patras :''The first version of this article has been based in the text of :el:Α.Σ. Απόλλων of the :el:Κύρια Σελίδα, Greek Wikipedia published under the GFDL.'' A.S. Apollon Patras (Greek language, Greek:''A.Σ. Απόλλων Πατ ...
. He ended his
club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...
playing career in the Greek minor leagues, with HAN Thessaloniki.


National team career

With Greece's Under-16 junior national team, Nikolaidis won the silver medal at the
1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship The 1991 FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship (known at that time as 1991 European Championship for Cadets) was the 11th edition of the FIBA Europe Under-16 Championship. The cities of Kastoria, Komotini and Thessaloniki, in Greece, hosted the tourna ...
. He also played in one
cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...
(game) with the senior
Greek national basketball team The Greece men's national basketball team () represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for basketball in Greece. Greece is currently ranked 13th in the FIBA Wo ...
, in a game against
Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, at the
1999 FIBA EuroBasket qualification Qualification for the 1999 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1999 took place between 22 May 1996 and 28 February 1999.Alexandros and Apostolos also became professional basketball players.Olympiacos signs youngster Alexandros Nikolaidis.
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References


External links


Euroleague.net ProfileHellenic Basketball Federation Profile

Greek Basket League

Greek Basket League Profile

Eurobasket.com ProfileDraftexpress.com ProfileProBallers.com ProfileKapaSports Coach Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolaidis, Sotiris 1974 births Living people AEK B.C. players Apollon Patras B.C. players S.S. Basket Napoli players Greek basketball coaches Greek men's basketball players HANTH B.C. coaches HANTH B.C. players Ilysiakos B.C. players Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. players Lavrio B.C. coaches Maroussi B.C. players M.E.N.T. B.C. coaches P.A.O.K. BC players Basketball players from Thessaloniki Point guards Rethymno B.C. players Shooting guards