On the morning after dismissing head coach, Crvena Zvezda was ready with his replacement.
Zvezda brings Ioannis Sfairopoulos back to the EuroLeague
Article
2 Mins read
Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade has swiftly filled its vacant head coaching spot with Ioannis Sfairopoulos, whose Turkish Airlines EuroLeague pedigree its fans will understand immediately. Sfairopoulos, 56, signed a two-year deal. He replaces Dusko Ivanovic, whom Zvezda dismissed last evening after a 1-3 start in the EuroLeague.
Sfairopoulos arrives with most of eight seasons on EuroLeague benches behind him, split evenly between his first four with Olympiacos Piraeus and his last four with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. He will debut in the EuroLeague with Zvezda coaching in the Belgrade derby next Thursday against Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
His career record in the EuroLeague is 132-96, which breaks down to 76-46 with Olympiacos and 56-50 with Maccabi. His career 57.9% winning rate ranks ninth among head coaches with at least 100 EuroLeague games. As Sfairopoulos himself noted in a tweet after the announcement, his first EuroLeague game ever was a 57-72 win for Olympiacos over Zvezda before 20,000 fans in Belgrade.
Sfairopoulos led Olympiacos to a pair of runner-up finishes in the EuroLeague. In his first season in the competition, the Reds reached the 2015 championship game but fell to host Real Madrid. Similarly, they reached the 2018 final together only to lose to Fenerbahce in Istanbul.
Sfairopoulos then took over Maccabi bench early in the 2018-19 season with the team holding a 1-5 record and led the team to a 14-16 finish, one victory out of the running for the playoffs. The next season, Maccabi was tied for fourth place at 19-9 when the season was discontinued due to the pandemic. Maccabi finished a disappointing 13th with a 14-20 record in 2020-21, and the team was 12-12 in 10th place the following season when he was let go after a loss in the Israeli Cup.
Sfairopoulos was a two-time Greek League champion with Olympiacos and a three-time Israeli League champion with Maccabi. He was also coach of the year in both leagues, including twice in Israel.
Sfairopoulos began his coaching career in his native Thessaloniki with Apollon Kalamarias and PAOK. Between assistant coaching positions for Olympiacos, CSKA Moscow and the NBA's Houston Rockets, he was head coach of Kolossos Rhodes. Before joining Olympiacos early in the 2014-15 season, he spend two seasons at the head of the bench of Panionios Athens, compiling an 8-11 record in the EuroCup. He also served as assistant coach of the Greek national team most years between 2001 and 2010.