By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Galatasaray announced via a video that coach Andreas Pistiolis signed a contract extension with the club through 2025. Pistiolis had joined the team on a two-year deal last March to become a head coach for the first time in his career after several years as an assistant at such clubs as Panathinaikos Athens and CSKA Moscow.
After Pistiolis joined Galatasaray, the Turkish side went on to finish the 2021-22 BSL regular season with a 7 – 0 record. This streak was extended in the playoffs with a 2-0 sweep over Bahcesehir in the quarterfinals and a win over reigning EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes in Game 1 of the semifinals. Galatasaray ultimately fell to Efes but the Greek coach’s work with the team overall made an impression to the club’s management and fans.
Pistiolis began his career as an assistant to Zeljko Obradovic at Panathinaikos in 2005. He stayed with the Greens until 2012 after being a member of the team that won the EuroLeague championships of 2007, 2009 and 2011.
In 2013, Pistiolis became an assistant to Dimitris Itoudis (who also coached under Obradovic at Panathinaikos) at Banvit Bandirma. As a part of Itoudis’ staff he became an assistant coach at CSKA where he won two more EuroLeague titles in 2015 and 2019.