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Antonis Fotsis
Antonis Fotsis (alternate spelling: Antonios Fotsis) (Greek: Αντώνης Φώτσης; born April 1, 1981 in Maroussi, Athens) is a Greek professional basketball player. He is a 2.09 m (6 ft 10 ¼ in) power forward. He currently plays with Panathinaikos and captains the Greek national basketball team.
Fotsis began his career as one of the biggest talents in Europe, while playing at the youth level. He is good at blocking shots, a top offensive rebounder, and an excellent 3 point shooter especially for a power forward. He plays a physical style defensive game and is a specialist at finishing with dunks off of lob passes and on the fast break. He has also captained the senior men's Greek national team. He is considered to be the best Greek basketball player in the power forward position of all time and one of the best players in recent basketball history along with Dimitris Diamantidis , Vasilis Spanoulis and Giannis Bourousis. Pro career Europe Fotsis began his professional career in 1996 with the Greek A1 League club Ilisiakos. He then transferred to the Greek club Panathinaikos (PAO) in 1997. He got little playing time in his first 2 seasons with Panathinaikos, but he managed to become one of the team's key players during the 1999-00 season. With Panathinaikos, he won the Euroleague Championship that same season. One year later, he became a starter on the Panathinaikos team that made it to the FIBA Suproleague finals. After spending the 2001-02 season in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies, he returned to Panathinaikos for the 2002-03 season, and became one of the team's leaders. With PAO, he won both the Greek Cup and the Greek Championship that year. In 2003, he moved to the Spanish ACB League club Real Madrid. With Real Madrid, he was one of the key contributors on the teams that made it to the Eurocup Finals in 2004, and won the Spanish Championship in 2005. In 2005, he then transferred to the Russian Superleague club Dynamo Moscow. With Dynamo Moscow, Fotsis was one of the two leaders of the Russian team, along with fellow Greek player Lazaros Papadopoulos. Fotsis won the Eurocup Championship in 2006 with Dynamo. One year later, he reached the Euroleague quarterfinals with Dynamo, where his team lost to Panathinaikos. On March 21, 2007, in a winner-take-all Euroleague 2006-07 season showdown with Italian A League power Benetton Treviso, for second place in their Top 16 group and a place in the quarterfinals, Fotsis scored 22 points and set a single-game ULEB Euroleague record with 24 rebounds, helping Dynamo score a 68-65 overtime win.[2] In 2008, he returned to Panathinaikos. It was his second return to the club and he was a key player for the team as they won the coveted Triple Crown during the 2008-09 season. Fotsis was a key contributor to the Triple Crown winners with his good defensive play and clutch baskets.He also played more minutes than any other green player in the final four. In the 2009-10 season, Panathinaikos won the Greek Championship. That same season, Fotsis was named the Greek League MVP of the month for the month of April.He played more minutes than any other green player during Euroleague season.[3] NBA Fotsis was selected by the Vancouver Grizzlies (which where relocated to Memphis right after the draft) in the 2nd round (48th overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft.[4] In his one and only season in the NBA, he appeared in 28 games for the Grizzlies during the 2001-02 NBA season, averaging 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. He scored a career high 21 points against the Orlando Magic on January 19, 2002.
Fotsis was a member of the senior men's Greek national basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2005 FIBA European Championship, the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, and the bronze medal at the 2009 FIBA European Championship. He became the captain of Greece's senior national team in 2009. Awards and accomplishments Pro career * Nike Hoop Summit All-World Team: (1998)
* 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship: Bronze Medal
1. ^ Euroleague.net Spanoulis interview.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/"
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