Konstantinos "Kostas" Mourouzis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Μουρούζης; May 10, 1934 to June 11, 2014), also known as Dinos Mourouzis ( el, Ντίνος Μουρούζης), was a Greek professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. His nickname was, "The Fox of the Bench".

Playing career

Club career

Mourouzis started playing youth

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 ...

basketball in Greece, with the youth clubs of Triton, in 1945, and made the club's men's senior team in 1948. He also played in the top-tier level Italian League, with Sporting Club Gira Bologna, in the mid to late 1950s.

National team career

Mourouzis played with the senior

Greek national basketball team The Greece men's national basketball team ( el, Eθνική Oμάδα Καλαθοσφαίρισης Ελλάδος) represents Greece in international basketball. They are controlled by the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body for ...

in 24 games, averaging 10.1 points per game. With Greece, he won the bronze medal at the

1955 Mediterranean Games The 1955 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the II Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Barcelona 1955, were the 2nd Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Barcelona, Spain over 10 days, from 15 to 25 July 1955, where 1,135 athl ...

. He also played at the 1960 Pre-Olympic Tournament, and the

EuroBasket 1961 The 1961 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1961, was the twelfth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Nineteen national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation ...

Coaching career

Clubs

Mourouzis began working as a

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 ...

in 1959, with the Greek club Triton. As the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

club Panathinaikos, he won 6 Greek League championships (1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974). He also led Panathinaikos to the semifinals of the European-wide second-tier level FIBA Cup Winners Cup (later called

FIBA Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta 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 each other. The competition was organized by FIBA E ...

), in the 1968–69 season, and to the semifinals of the European-wide top-tier level FIBA European Champions Cup (later called EuroLeague), in the 1971–72 season. After coaching

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadel ...

, he moved to

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

. With Olympiacos, he won the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

title in 1977, and both the Greek League championship and the Greek Cup title in 1978. In the 1978–79 season, he led Olympiacos to a 6th-place finish in the FIBA European Champions Cup ( EuroLeague).

Greek national team

Mourouzis was also the

of the senior

. He was Greece's head coach at the

1973 EuroBasket The 1973 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1973, was the eighteenth FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Venues Group stage Group A – Badalona Group B – Barcelona Knocko ...

Personal life

Mourouzis died in Athens, Greece, on June 11, 2014.Mourouzis Passes Away.
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References

External links

Hellenic Federation Player Profile

A special game for Kostas Mourouzis

The top of the Greek bench: Kostas Mourouzis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mourouzis, Kostas 1934 births 2014 deaths AEK B.C. coaches Greek basketball coaches Greek men's basketball players Greek Basket League players Olympiacos B.C. coaches Panathinaikos B.C. coaches Basketball players from Athens Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Basketball players at the 1955 Mediterranean Games