Dimos Dikoudis
Quick Facts
Biography
Dimosthenis "Dimos" Dikoudis (alternate spellings include: Demosthenis, Demos, Ntikoudis) (Greek: Δημοσθένης "Δήμος" Ντικούδης; born June 24, 1977 in Larissa, Greece), is a retired Greek professional basketball player. He is 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) tall, and he played as a power forward-center.
Professional playing career
Dikoudis started playing football at the age of 10, and later he was involved in Taekwondo. After two years of martial arts, he started playing basketball in his school team. With his school, he won the city championship, which was his first title, and right after that, he joined his first club, Perseas of Larissa. He played there until age 18, and he won four city and state championships there. With this club, he also won a national title, and was a member of the all state team.
In 1995, he signed his first contract with Olympia Larissas. He played there for three seasons, one in the semi-professional Greek National B League, and two in the professional Greek 2nd Division. He was the leading scorer and leading rebounder in the Greek 2nd Division in both seasons, and the MVP of the Greek 2nd Division in the last season. He was also a member of the Greek Under-21 national team at that time.
In 1998, he signed a contract with the top-tier level Greek League club AEK Athens, and he played there for five seasons. As a member of AEK, he won the FIBA Saporta Cup, the Greek League championship, and two Greek Cups. He was voted the Greek League Best Young Player for the 1999–00 season, and the Greek League MVP for the 2001–02 season.
In 2003, he decided to leave Greece, and he signed with the Spanish League club Valencia. He played there for a year, and after that, he moved to CSKA Moscow, where he won the Russian Championship and the Russian Cup (the first in the history of the club). With CSKA that season, he played at the Final Four of the EuroLeague, which was held at Moscow, and was won by Maccabi Tel Aviv, which featured another player from Larissa, Nestoras Kommatos (he was a co-player with Dikoudis in Perseas).
In 2005, he returned to Valencia, and he played in the finals of the Spanish Cup. In the summer of 2006, he returned to Greece, and signed with Panathinaikos. With Panathinaikos, he won the Triple Crown in the 2006–07 season.
In December 2008, he joined Panionios. After joining Panionios, he became one of only two Greek players in history, along with Ioannis Giannoulis, to compete in the EuroLeague with 4 different teams. In July 2009, he moved to Aris Thessaloniki. After seven years, he returned to AEK Athens. In September 2011, he signed a one-year deal with PAOK.
Greek national team
With the Greek National Team, Dikoudis made his debut on November 24, 1999, against the Estonian National Team. As a member of the senior men's Greek national team, he played at the EuroBasket 2001 at Turkey, the EuroBasket 2003 at Sweden, and at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games of Athens. On September 25, 2005, he won the gold medal at the EuroBasket 2005, with the Greek national team.
On September 3, 2006, he won the silver medal at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He also played at the EuroBasket 2007.
Managerial career
Dikoudis was appointed President of the Panhellenic Association of Paid Basketball Players (P.S.A.K.) in September 2006, with his term of office expiring in October 2010. Dikoudis became the Sports Director of the Greek League club AEK, in 2013.
Awards and accomplishments
Pro career
- 2x Greek 2nd Division Eurobasket.com Player of the Year: (1997, 1998)
- 2x Greek 2nd Division Top Rebounder: (1997, 1998)
- 2x Greek 2nd Division Top Scorer: (1997, 1998)
- Greek 2nd Division MVP: (1998)
- Greek League Best Young Player: (2000)
- 4x Greek Cup Winner: (2000, 2001, 2007, 2008)
- Saporta Cup Champion: (2000)
- 5x Greek League All-Star: (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008)
- 3x Greek League Champion: (2002, 2007, 2008)
- Greek League MVP: (2002)
- Greek League Finals MVP: (2002)
- Russian Cup Winner: (2005)
- Russian League Champion: (2005)
- EuroLeague Champion: (2007)
- Triple Crown Champion: (2007)
Greek national team
- 5x Acropolis Tournament Champion: (2000, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008)
- EuroBasket 2005: 01 ! Gold
- 2006 Stanković Continental Champions’ Cup: 01 ! Gold
- 2006 FIBA World Championship: 02 ! Silver