Minas Gekos (alternate spelling: Gkegos) (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Μηνάς Γκέκος; born November 7, 1959 in

Kurtuluş Kurtuluş is a neighbourhood of the Şişli district of Istanbul that was originally called ''Tatavla,'' meaning 'stables' in Greek ( el, Ταταύλα). The modern Turkish name means "liberation", "salvation", "independence" or "deliverance". On ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey) is a Greek professional

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 ...

and a retired 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 (appr ...

player. At 6' 1" (1.87 m) in height, he played at the

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

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 positions in a regulation basketball game. A shooting guard's m ...

positions.

Professional club playing career

Gekos started his playing career with İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi in 1975. He later went to Greece, and joined

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 Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

, where he played until 1991. With AEK, 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 im ...

in 1981, and also played in the Greek Cup finals in 1978, 1980, and 1988. Then he continued his career with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

, from 1991 to 1994. As a member of the

roster, he won the Greek Cup in 1993, although he did not play in the final. Overall, he played in 4 Greek Cup Finals, and scored a total of 73 points in those games. He returned to

, for the last season of his career as a player (1994–95). In the top-tier level Greek League, he scored a total of 6,511 points, which is the 9th most total points scored in the competition, since the 1963–64 season.Τα “κανόνια” του ελληνικού Πρωταθλήματος: Μηνάς Γκέκος .
/ref> In the Greek A1 National League (which only counts Greek League games played since the 1986–87 season), he played in a total of 188 games, and scored 2,701 points.

National team playing career

Gekos played in 53

games A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...

with the senior men's

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 ...

. With Greece's senior national team, he played at the

EuroBasket 1979 The 1979 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1979, was the 21st FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. Twelve national teams affiliated with the International Basketball Federation entere ...

and the

EuroBasket 1983 The 1983 FIBA European Championship, commonly called FIBA EuroBasket 1983, was the 23rd FIBA EuroBasket regional basketball championship, held by FIBA Europe. It took place from 26 May to 4 June 1983 in France. Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), ...

. He also won gold medals at the 1979 Balkan Championship, and the

1979 Mediterranean Games The 1979 Mediterranean Games, officially known as the VIII Mediterranean Games, and commonly known as Split 1979, were the 8th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Split, Yugoslavia, from 15 to 29 September 1979, where 2,408 athletes (2,00 ...

Coaching career

After he retired from playing professional basketball, Gekos started his

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

career in 1995, when he became an assistant coach under Vlado Đurović and

Slobodan Subotić Slobodan "Piksi" Subotić ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Суботић, el, Σλόμπονταν Σούμποτιτς; born 15 August 1956) is a Slovenian professional basketball coach and former player. He last served as the head coach for Buduć ...

, in

. In 1997, he became an assistant coach, under Subotić, with

. He became 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 ...

Esperos Kallitheas Esperos (in el, Π.Ο.Κ. Έσπερος) is a sports club in Kallithea (within greater Athens, Greece), founded in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of the country (1941–44). History Started as a football club and participated during World Wa ...

, in 1999. He then became the head coach of

Apollon Patras :''The first version of this article has been based in the text of :el:Α.Σ. Απόλλων of the Greek Wikipedia published under the GFDL.'' A.S. Apollon Patras (Greek:''A.Σ. Απόλλων Πατρών'') is a multi-sports club that is ba ...

, in 2000. He next became head coach of

Papagou Papagou ( el, Παπάγου or Παπάγος ''Papagos'') is a suburb and municipal unit in the eastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. The town is named after Marshal Alexandros Papagos, a general who led the Greek Army in the Second ...

, in 2003. After that, he was

Panagiotis Giannakis Panagiotis Giannakis ( el, Παναγιώτης Γιαννάκης, ; born January 1, 1959), alternatively spelled Panayiotis Yiannakis or Yannakis, is a retired Greek professional basketball player and coach. As a player, he was primarily a poin ...

' assistant coach in

Maroussi Marousi or Maroussi ( el, Μαρούσι, also Αμαρούσιο ''Amarousio'') is a suburb in the northeastern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Marousi dates back to the era of the ancient Athenian Republic; its ancient name was Athmon ...

, and

Luka Pavićević Luka Pavićević ( sr-cyr, Лука Павићевић; born 17 June 1968) is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player. Most lately, he served as the head coach for Alvark Tokyo of the B.League. Professional career A point ...

's assistant coach in

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'') ...

. He then worked as the head coach of

, and Kolossos.

Awards and accomplishments

Achievements as a player

* 2×

Winner: (1981, 1993) * 3×

Runner-up: (1978, 1980, 1988) * 9th all-time leading scorer of the Greek Basketball Championship, with 6,511 total points scored in the Greek A National League (1963–64 season to present).

Achievements as an assistant coach

* 2× Greek League Champion: (1998, 1999)

References

External links

FIBA Europe Player ProfileHellenic Basketball Federation Player Profile

Τα “κανόνια” του ελληνικού Πρωταθλήματος: Μηνάς Γκέκος

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gekos, Minas 1959 births Living people AEK B.C. players AEK B.C. coaches Apollon Patras B.C. coaches Constantinopolitan Greeks Esperos B.C. coaches Greek basketball coaches Greek men's basketball players Greek Basket League players İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi B.K. players Kolossos Rodou B.C. coaches Panathinaikos B.C. players Panionios B.C. coaches Papagou B.C. coaches Basketball players from Istanbul Point guards Shooting guards Turkish people of Greek descent Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Greece Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 1979 Mediterranean Games People from Şişli