In one of the most emblematic scenes of world cinema, in “Casablanca”, Humphrey Bogart tells Ingrid Bergman an attack that became a classic…

“We always have Paris”

In their own film, Dimitris Diamantidis and Zeljko Obradovic will always have in their hearts (not Paris, preceded by Bozidar Malkovich and Dominic Wilkins, but) Athens, Berlin and Barcelona, ​​​​​​where they shared the new three of the six triumphs of Panathinaikos in the Euroleague…

However, the two will always have Thessaloniki in their hearts, Ivanofeio to be precise, where the Serbian coach felt his first love affair with the player who would later become the leader of his brigade…

This…capsule reached its climax on April 23, 2004 when Iraklis conquered Panathinaikos in the second game of the playoff semi-final series and defeated it 73-55.

Give Mitso an assist

In this match, Diamantidis really looked like he had come down from another planet and almost “written” a triple-double figure in his fortune, which by the way was never claimed to have been successful in his career!

When the final horn sounded, the Kastorian guard had 19 points in his stats with 4/10 two points, 2/4 three points and 5/7 shots, 14 rebounds, nine assists, six steals, one block, seven fouls won and two errors in 37 minutes and 23 seconds.

We’re talking about an epic look!

Three nights earlier at the Sporting Stadium, in Game 1 of the series, Thessalonians had defeated the…livers of the Greens, who won 61-57, with Diamantidis having 20 points (6/10d., 1/1tr., 5/6b .), five rebounds, two assists, three steals, five fouls won and four errors.

Iraklis drew 1-1, but in the third and decisive match on 27 April, Panathinaikos prevailed 68-47 to qualify for the final in which Maroussi was ‘wiped’ 3-0.

In the third semi-final, Diamantidis, like all of Iraklis, suffocated with 6 points (0/1d., 1/2tr., 3/4b.), three rebounds, three assists, five steals, six fouls won and four penalties. .

Of course, the later captain and current general manager of Panathinaikos was not unknown at the time, having played with the national team in Eurobasket, Bouros and Stockholm in September 2003.

Batiste made his debut

By the way, this wasn’t the first game in which Diamantidis caused big problems for the Greens…

In the premiere of the same season on October 4, 2003, the so-called Hercules played an important role in the 77-70 win as that game marked Mike Batiste’s debut with the green jersey.

In the second round game on December 27, 2003, Panathinaikos won 77-62, with Diamantidis having 20 points to his credit (4/6d., 2/6tr., 6/7b.), 10 rebounds, two assists , one block, three steals and six fouls.

Nine months earlier (March 22, 2003) “Giraios” had thrown the Greens back onto the canvas 79-78 in a match in which the then 23-year-old guard shone with 17 points (3/5d., 2/4tr ., 5 / 7b.), Nine rebounds, one assist, one steal, eight fouls won, but also six errors!

The start of the statistics

During the 2000-01 season, Diamantidis averaged 3.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

The following season (2001-02), he averaged 6.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals.

In the 2002-03 season, he increased to 11.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.5 steals.

In his last appearance for Iraklis (2003-04), he averaged 14.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.5 steals and 6.1 fouls won in an average attendance of 35 minutes and 38 seconds .

The 50,000 by Elliniadis and… Diamantakos of Thanasis

In the summer of 2004, Diamantidis became the object of Eternals’ desire, but Stavros Elliniadis could not raise the €50,000 for the…frontman that Iraklis was demanding to complete the transfer!

Another thing that Thanasis Giannakopoulos didn’t want, who rushed to finish the work in Pi and Fi, although he confused Mitsos’ last name and called him Diamantakos instead of Diamantidis!!!

A spooky victory for 52 years

Beginning with the 1963–64 season when the championship of A’ Ethniki Panathinaikos was introduced and Iraklis will face off for 98 tonight^that once with the Greens, who have the lion’s share of wins at 79-18, while the score in games on Athenian soil is 49-1!

The only away win of “Giraios” was recorded on April 11, 1970 with a score of 83-71 (Bogatsiotis 28, Vlachopoulos 20 – Kontos 28, Panagiotarakos 15).

Panathinaikos was last defeated by Thessaloniki 80-73 on February 16, 2005 in Ivanofio (Hamilton 20th, Apostolidis 12th, Stepanovic 19th, Tsartsaris 17th).

At this point, Diamantidis was wearing the green jersey with number 13 and, despite his best efforts (10p, 6r, 2nd, 2cl, 6f), was unable to win the team he was presented with on the field prevent playing field before the start in the international basketball galaxy…