AEL Limassol Basketball Club (), also known as TRIA EKA AEL for sponsorship reasons and commonly referred to as AEL, is the basketball team of the AEL multi-sport club, based in Limassol, Cyprus. Nicknamed "the Queen" of Cypriot Basketball, AEL is a founding member of the Cyprus Basketball Federation and in the years since, the club has established itself as one of the most successful basketball teams in Cyprus.
Throughout its history, the club has experienced two separate periods of near-total domestic dominance, which are generally referred to as the 'two golden ages'. The first golden age refers to the period lasting from 1980 until 1989, during which, under the leadership of player–coach Giorgos Thyrotos, the club won 12 domestic trophies. The second golden age (2002–2010) is widely considered to have been the most successful period in the club's history, as the club became the only sports club from Cyprus to have won a European trophy, having won the FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup in 2003. During this period, the club also set multiple Cypriot basketball records for the number of National Championships and Super Cups won in a row, and for the number of consecutive home-court victories achieved in EuroChallenge matches (25 in total). Overall, the club has participated in 56 competitive finals both domestically and internationally, from which it has won a total of 38 major trophies, consisting of 13 Basket League titles, 10 Cypriot Cups, 8 Super Cups, 1 FIBA Europe Challenge Cup, 4 Division B titles and 2 Division B Cups.
From the 2003–04 season until the 2009–10 season, AEL managed to advance to at least the knockout phase of the FIBA EuroChallenge in each season, with the 2008 and 2009 seasons being of particular note, as the club qualified for the Final Four phase of the tournament, finishing in 3rd and 4th place respectively. During these successful campaigns, AEL secured victories over several well-established European sides such as, Fenerbahçe, Virtus Bologna, ASVEL, PAOK BC, Real Betis, Bandırma B.İ.K., BC Spartak Saint Petersburg, PBC Lokomotiv Kuban, Paris Basket Racing, PBC Ural Great, Azovmash Mariupol, G.S. Iraklis Thessaloniki, Dexia Mons-Hainaut, BC Khimik, Liege Basket and CB Estudiantes.
Certain notable players that once played for the club include Georgios Thyrotos, Duane Woodward, Milutin Aleksić, Frankie King, Giorgos Palalas, Haris Mujezinović, Remon van de Hare, Bruno Šundov, JamesOn Curry, Kenny Gabriel, Karim Souchu, LaVell Blanchard, Goran Nikolić, Michael Antonio "Mike" King, Bryan Bracey, Michael McDonald, Michalis Kounounis, Ilian Evtimov, Goran Jeretin, Vassil Evtimov, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Giannis Giannoulis and Jerai Grant.
History
Founding, early years & First Golden Age (1966–1988)
The basketball department of AEL was founded in 1966 with Michalis Nikolaidis being the pioneer and coach and the club was one of the founding members of the Cyprus Basketball Federation. Nikolaidis, himself being a high school P.E. teacher, recruited various students (such as Georgios Thyrotos, Panikos Evzonas, Spyros Antoniou, Donis Kounounis, Andros Michaelides, Andreas Katsampis, etc.) which he considered suitable and formed the first basketball team of AEL, based in the open court "Oasis" located in Gladstonos Street, Limassol. Due to Nicolaides' methodical approach in his coaching style, he was able to produce a talented batch of basketball players. As a result, the first distinction for AEL came early on (in 1972), when they finished second in the Cyprus Basketball League, behind the most dominant team of that period, PAEEK Kyrenia.
In the following 1972–73 season, AEL progressed to its first Cyprus Cup final, losing to APOEL. Despite the fact that both opportunities to bring silverware to the club had failed, it was obvious that the foundations had been laid and the team was ready to take its next "great leap". The following year, in 1974, the team celebrated its first Cypriot Championship, with Dimitris Palalas, Lakis Silvestros, Giorgos Fotas and Michalis Loizidis slowly being added to the roster. In 1978 and 1980, the team completed the double, winning both the Cypriot Championship and the Cypriot Cup. The next batch of up and coming players that were to become the new stars of the team were Antonis Evzonas, Marios Thrasyvoulidis, Michalis Hadjineofytou, Stavros Stavrou, Marios Georgiou, Frikos Karagiannis, Melios Athanasiadis. With these players, AEL won three more doubles (1982, 1983, 1985) and rightfully earned the nickname "Queen" of Cyprus basketball.
From 1981 the technical leadership was taken over by captain George Thyrotos, who was both player and coach. Thyrotos became AEL's primary flag bearer for almost three decades, after having played for the club from 1967 until 1987, and, following his retirement as a player, he carried on as head coach until 1989. Throughout this period, Thyrotos managed to secure multiple major trophies for the club in each of these roles, which has led him to be often considered one of the team's greatest ever players. Indeed, AEL became the dominant team in Cyprus in the 1980s, a decade in which it won twelve major trophies in total (six national championships, four Cypriot Cups, and two Super Cups). Due to these unprecedented (as they were at the time) domestic successes, this has resulted in the time period between 1980 and 1989 being retroactively dubbed by the club itself as AEL's "First Golden Age". First Golden Age (1980–1988)SeasonCypriot Division ACypriot Basketball CupCypriot Super CupFIBA Saporta CupFIBA Korać Cup1979–80WinnersWinnersDNQ––––––1980–81PlayoffsWinnersQualifier 1981–82WinnersWinners–––1982–83WinnersWinnersQualifier1984–85WinnersKnockout round WinnersQualifier 1986–87WinnersRunners-upDNQ–––Qualifier 1987–88WinnersKnockout round Runners-upQualifier –––1988–89PlayoffsKnockout round WinnersQualifier Winners; Runners-up; Final Four or better; Last 16 or better; DNQ = Did Not Qualify
Decline, relegation & return to glory (1989–2001) By the early 1990s however, the team began to display signs of its decline, due in part to the retirements of the team's core player group as well as from the transfers of two of the club's star players, Antonis Evzonas and Frikos Karagiannis, who had been transferred to POL and Keravnos. Another factor which greatly influenced the team's decline was that other Cypriot teams started to sign foreign players and whilst AEL also participated in this practice, a string of poor signings ultimately brought the team to its knees - inevitably leading to the club's relegation to the second division at the end of the 1991–92 season.
Following this catastrophic setback, the club appointed team veterans, Stavros Grigoriou, Dimitris Palalas and Marios Thrasyvoulides, as the three-member ruling panel in charge of the team's technical leadership. Despite the fact that the vision of the ruling panel was oftentimes restricted by various external factors, the club nevertheless returned to the top-tier of Cypriot basketball the following year undefeated and in 1994 a major reconstruction effort commenced, with a strong focus on developing a robust team infrastructure, from which the talents of the next decade emerged, such as Georgios Palalas, Michalis Kounounis, Rakis Karagiannis, Lauris Hadjivassiliou and George Nikolaou.
By the summer of 1996, George Triantaphyllides was hired at the helm of the technical leadership. The fans of AEL, disappointed by the relegation of the football team, found "refuge" in the basketball team. The passion of George Triantaphyllides for basketball in combination with the unwavering support from the basketball club played a massive role in AEL's subsequent successes. Despite the seemingly abysmal start to millennium for AEL, the club nevertheless managed to close the decade with moderate success, by reaching the 1998–99 Cypriot Basketball Cup Final, against Keravnos B.C. Even though AEL lost the game by 78–49, the team's significant overhaul during the mid-1990s was finally beginning to yield results on the court and it was becoming all the more apparent that AEL was on the cusp of another "golden era".
Second Golden Age & various European successes (2002–2010)
The initial Dragan Raca era (2002–2005) In 2002, AEL appointed Dragan Raca as head coach, a former player of the club that had retired from playing at the end of the 2001–02 CBL season, with his managerial duties commencing from the start of the 2002–2003 season. As the season progressed, it was becoming all the more apparent that with Raca's coaching prowess, in combination with the technical abilities possessed by the club's three star players at the time, Konstantinos Perentos, Michalis Kounounis and Duane Woodward, AEL was a force to be reckoned with and a serious title contender at least on a domestic level. Against all odds, on 13 February 2003, AEL was crowned with its only European title after winning the newly established 2002–03 FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup (South Conference). AEL clinched the title with an astonishing record of 10 victories in 10 games. The victory signaled the beginning of the team's European successes in the years that were to follow and between 2002 and 2010, AEL enjoyed the most successful period in its history once again retaining its title as the "Queen of Cypriot Basketball". The particular tournament was only organised in this format for one season. It was thereafter merged with the FIBA Europe Champions Cup to form the FIBA Europe Cup (2003–2005). The list of winners of FIBA's Conference South include AEL, Aris B.C., PBC Academic, Tuborg Pilsener, Banvit.
Following their unexpected success in the Challenge Cup, they were awarded a berth in the FIBA Europe League and in the following season, AEL officially made their debut at the top level of FIBA Europe competitions. AEL retained the services of their previous season's top scorer in the Cup (Duane Woodward with an average 26.7 PPG) as well as the services of local up-and-coming star Konstantinos Perentos (with an average 12 PPG and 4 RPG in the previous season). AEL participated as Cypriot champions in the newly established FIBA Europe League whereby they qualified from the group phase after eliminating both Peristeri and Paris Basket Racing. However, the club was subsequently eliminated by Hapoel Tel Aviv in the Round of 16. Domestically AEL won the treble by winning the Cypriot Championship, Cypriot Basketball Cup and Cypriot Super Cup.They faced Keravnos in the championship final and despite a narrow 99–96 victory in the first game of the series, AEL were unstoppable in the second game which was held in front of a capacity crowd in Limassol as they defeated Keravnos 103–70. The third game proved to be the most significant of the series. AEL traveled to Nicosia knowing that an away win would almost certainly guarantee the second successive championship. The club once again rose to the occasion as they defeated Keravnos by 110–96. The final game of the Cyprus play-offs, as it proved to be, took place in Limassol on 16 April 2004. All 3.000 tickets for the game were sold-out several days in advance.
In 2004–05, AEL secured another double by winning both the Cypriot Division A and Super Cup. They also came close to repeating their previous achievement during the 2004–05 FIBA Europe League, but, despite being tied in victories with 4th-placed Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C., they were behind on points differential statistics and thus finished 5th (the top four teams qualify to the next round), and were eliminated from the competition in the group phase. During the 2005–06 FIBA EuroCup (when the competition changed format) AEL passed the first group round by finishing second, eliminating both PAOK BC and Kallev Tallinn. However, after reaching the tournament's round of 16, the team finished last in the group and were eliminated from that season's competition.