View source for Faidon Matthaiou

{{Short description|Greek basketball player and coach}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name            = Faidon Matthaiou<br/>Φαίδων Ματθαίου
| image           = 06012009050 Fedon Mathaiou.jpg
| image_size      = 200px
| caption         = Matthaiou, in 2009.
| height_ft       = 
| height_in       = 
| weight_lb       = 
| birth_date      = {{birth_date|df=yes|1924|07|12}}
| birth_place     = [[Thessaloniki]], Greece
| death_date      = {{death_date and age|df=yes|2011|09|17|1924|07|12}}
| death_place     = Thessaloniki, Greece
| career_number   = 1
| career_position = [[Point guard]] / [[Center (basketball)|center]]
| career_start    = 1945
| career_end      = 1957
| years1          = 1945–1949
| team1           = [[Aris B.C.|Aris]]
| years2          = 1949–1955
| team2           = [[Panathinaikos B.C.|Panathinaikos]]
| years3          = 1955
| team3           = [[Panionios B.C.|Panionios]]
| years4          = 1955
| team4           = [[Sporting B.C.|Sporting]]
| years5          = 1955
| team5           = Panionios
| years6          = 1955–1956
| team6           = [[Pallacanestro Varese|Storm Varese]] 
| years7          = 1956–1957
| team7           = Aris
| coach_start     = 1955
| coach_end       = 1984
| cyears1         = 1955–1956
| cteam1          = Storm Varese
| cyears2         = 1960–1961
| cteam2          = [[Pallacanestro Virtus Roma|Virtus Aurelia]] 
| cyears3         = 1961–1969
| cteam3          = [[Greece national basketball team|Greece]]
| cyears4         = 1967–1976
| cteam4          = [[Olympiacos B.C.|Olympiacos]]
| cyears5         = 1976–1978
| cteam5          = [[Peristeri B.C.|Peristeri]]
| cyears6         = 1977–1979
| cteam6          = [[AEK B.C.|AEK]]
| cyears7         = 1983–1984
| cteam7          = [[PAOK B.C.|PAOK]]
| highlights      = 
'''As a player''':
* International Club Cup Tournament Top Scorer (1955)
* International Club Cup Tournament [[Most Valuable Player|MVP]] (1955)
* 3× [[Greek Basket League|Greek League]] champion (1950, 1951, 1954)
'''As a head coach''':
* 2× [[FIBA European Selection]] (1970, 1973)
* [[Greek Basket League|Greek League]] champion (1976)
* 2× [[Greek Basketball Cup|Greek Cup]] winner (1976, 1984)
* Greek 3rd Division champion (1978)
| stat1label      = 
| stat1value      = 
| stat2label      = 
| stat2value      = 
| stat3label      = 
| stat3value      = 
| medal_templates = 
{{MedalSport|Men's [[basketball]]}}
{{MedalCountry|{{bk|GRE}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[FIBA EuroBasket]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[EuroBasket 1949|1949 Egypt]]|}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Basketball at the Mediterranean Games|Mediterranean Games]]}}
{{MedalBronze|[[Basketball at the 1955 Mediterranean Games|1955 Spain]]|}}
}}

'''Faidon Matthaiou''',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418100052/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/faidon-matthaiou-1.html Sports-Reference.com Faidon Matthaiou.]</ref> (alternate spellings: Feidon, Fedon, Mathaiou, Mattheou; {{langx|el|Φαίδων Ματθαίου}}: 12 July 1924 – 17 September 2011<ref>[http://sports.in.gr/basketball/article/?aid=1231128854 Sports.in.gr «Έφυγε» σε ηλικία 87 ετών ο Φαίδων Ματθαίου {{in lang|el}}.]</ref>) was a Greek professional [[basketball]] player and [[basketball coach|coach]]. He was a [[center (basketball)|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 Olympic Games]]. As a [[rowing (sport)|rower]] at the [[Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's single sculls|1948 Summer Olympics]], and as a basketball player at the [[Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Summer Olympics]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418100052/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/faidon-matthaiou-1.html Sports-Reference.com Biography.]</ref>

Faidon Matthaiou is widely considered to be the [[Patriarch]] of Greek basketball.<ref>[http://www.esake.gr/el/36E01DC2 Οι κορυφαίοι των ελληνικών πάγκων: Φαίδων Ματθαίου	{{in lang|el}}.]</ref>

==Athletic career==
Born in [[Thessaloniki]], Greece, Matthaiou is considered to have been one of the greatest Greek athletes of all time. He was a multi-sport athlete that competed in the sports of [[volleyball]], [[water polo]], [[track and field]], [[rowing (sport)|rowing]], [[shooting sports|shooting]], [[cycling (sport)|cycling]], [[fencing]], [[tennis]], [[table tennis]], and [[basketball]], which was the sport that he was the most well-known for competing in.

He represented Greece in the [[Summer Olympic Games]] in two different sports. He competed at the [[Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's single sculls|1948 London Summer Olympic Games]] as a [[rowing (sport)|rower]], and also in the [[Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics|1952 Helsinki Summer Olympic Games]], as a basketball player.

==Club basketball career==
Matthaiou began playing professional basketball, as well as many other sports, with the Greek club [[Aris BC|Aris Thessaloniki]] in 1945. His father was [[Manthos Matthaiou]], who was the [[President (corporate title)|President]] of the [[Aris Thessaloniki|Aris Thessaloniki Sports Club]], who was killed in 1941, during the Italian air bombings of [[Thessaloniki]], during the [[Greco-Italian War]]. In 1949, Matthaiou transferred to the Greek club [[Panathinaikos BC|Panathinaikos Athens]]. He also played with the Greek club [[Panionios BC|Panionios Athens]], the [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] club [[Pallacanestro Varese|Varese]], and the Greek club [[Sporting BC|Sporting Athens]].

With Panathinaikos, Matthaiou won 3 [[Greek Basket League|Greek League]] championships, in the years 1950, 1951, and 1954. He also played at the International Club Cup Tournament (the forerunner of the [[EuroLeague]]) in 1955, at the Viareggio Tournament, where he was the leading scorer and [[Most Valuable Player|MVP]].<ref>[http://www.naftemporiki.gr/story/321837 Naftemporiki.gr Απεβίωσε ο Φαίδων Ματθαίου {{in lang|el}}.]</ref>

==National basketball team career==
Matthaiou played for the senior men's [[Greece men's national basketball team|Greek national team]], as one of its leading members in 44 games, and he scored a total of 539 points in those games, for a scoring average of 12.3 points per game. He also played in the very first official game of the Greek national team, which was played at the [[1949 FIBA EuroBasket]]. He was the team's leading scorer at that tournament, with 66 total points scored, while Greece also won the tournament's bronze medal. Matthaiou participated as a player in two [[FIBA EuroBasket]] tournaments, the [[1949 FIBA EuroBasket]], and also the [[1951 FIBA EuroBasket]],<ref>[http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.playerID_67762.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_1949.roundID_2242.teamID_291.html FIBAEurope.com Fedon Mattheou (Greece).]</ref> and also in the [[Basketball at the 1952 Summer Olympics|1952 FIBA Summer Olympics]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200418100052/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ma/faidon-matthaiou-1.html Sports-Reference.com Men's Basketball.]</ref>

==Basketball coaching career==
After his playing career ended, Matthaiou was the [[head coach]] of the senior men's [[Greece men's national basketball team|Greek national team]] at three [[FIBA EuroBasket]] tournaments, the [[1961 FIBA EuroBasket]], the [[1965 FIBA EuroBasket]], and the [[1969 FIBA EuroBasket]]. He also coached professional [[sports club|sport clubs]] of the [[Greek Basketball League|Greek League]], such as [[Olympiacos B.C.|Olympiacos Piareus]], [[AEK Athens B.C.|AEK Athens]], [[PAOK B.C.|PAOK Thessaloniki]], and [[Peristeri B.C.|Peristeri Athens]]. He also coached the [[Lega Basket Serie A|Italian League]] clubs [[Pallacanestro Varese|Storm Varèse]] and [[Pallacanestro Virtus Roma|Virtus Roma]].

Matthaiou was named as a coach of the [[FIBA European Selection]] team in the years 1970 and 1973. He won both the [[Greek Basketball Cup|Greek Cup]] title and the [[Greek Basket League|Greek League]] championship with Olympiacos, in 1976. In 1978, he won the Greek 3rd Division championship with Peristeri. He also won the Greek Cup title with PAOK, in 1984.

==Awards and accomplishments in basketball==

===Playing career===

===Clubs===
*3× [[Greek Basket League|Greek League]] Champion: (1950, 1951, 1954)
*Viareggio International Cup Tournament ([[EuroLeague]]'s predecessor) Top Scorer: (1955)
*Viareggio International Cup Tournament ([[EuroLeague]]'s predecessor) [[Most Valuable Player|MVP]]: (1955)

===Greece national team===
*[[1949 FIBA EuroBasket]]: {{bronze medal}}
*[[Basketball at the 1955 Mediterranean Games|1955 Mediterranean Games]]: {{bronze medal}}

===Head coaching career===

===Clubs===
*2× [[FIBA European Selection]]: (1970, 1973)
*2× [[Greek Basketball Cup|Greek Cup]] Winner: (1976, 1984)
*[[Greek Basket League|Greek League]] Champion: (1976)
*Greek 3rd Division Champion: (1978)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Basketball-Reference.com international player|faidon-matthaiou-1}}
*{{Olympedia|38080}}
*{{FIBA|new_id=165645|name=Fedon Mattheou|old_id=67762}}
*[https://www.fibaeurope.com/compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_1951.roundID_2243.playerID_67762.teamID_291.html Fedon Mattheou] at [[FIBA Europe]]
*[https://www.olympiacosbc.gr/en/history-en/oi-thryloi-tou-thrylou/3475-faidon-mathaiou-en.html Faidon Matthaiou] at [[Olympiacos Piraeus]]
*[http://www.esake.gr/el/36E01DC2 The top of the Greek bench: Faidon Matthaiou] {{in lang|el}}
*[https://www.basket.gr/playerview/?playercode=465&playername=ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΥ%20ΦΑΙΔΩΝheight=&position=&birthday=1924-07-12 Hellenic Basketball Federation Profile] {{in lang|el}}

{{Greece Squad Eurobasket 1949 - Bronze Medal}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matthaiou, Faidon}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Greek sportsmen]]
[[Category:AEK B.C. coaches]]
[[Category:Aris B.C. coaches]]
[[Category:Aris B.C. players]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Thessaloniki]]
[[Category:Centers (basketball)]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1955 Mediterranean Games]]
[[Category:Greece national basketball team coaches]]
[[Category:Greek basketball coaches]]
[[Category:Greek Basket League players]]
[[Category:Greek male rowers]]
[[Category:Greek men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece]]
[[Category:Mediterranean Games medalists in basketball]]
[[Category:Milon B.C. coaches]]
[[Category:Olympiacos B.C. coaches]]
[[Category:Olympic basketball players for Greece]]
[[Category:Pallacanestro Varese coaches]]
[[Category:Pallacanestro Varese players]]
[[Category:Panathinaikos B.C. players]]
[[Category:Panionios B.C. players]]
[[Category:P.A.O.K. BC coaches]]
[[Category:Peristeri B.C. coaches]]
[[Category:Point guards]]
[[Category:Olympic rowers for Greece]]
[[Category:Rowers at the 1948 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Sporting basketball players]]