Armenak Alachachian Explained

Armenak Alachachian
Birth Date:25 December 1930
Birth Place:Alexandria, Egypt
Death Place:Toronto, Canada
Nationality:Soviet / Russian / Armenian
Height Ft:5
Height In:9.25
Weight Lb:165
Career Position:Point guard
Career Number:6
Career Start:1948
Career End:1966
Coach Start:1966
Coach End:1970
Years1:1948–1954
Team1:SKIF Yerevan
Years2:1955–1957
Team2:Burevestnik Almaty
Years3:1958–1966
Team3:CSKA Moscow
Cyears1:1966–1968
Cteam1:CSKA Moscow (assistant)
Cyears2:1968–1970
Cteam2:CSKA Moscow
Highlights:As player:

As head coach:

Armenak Misakovich Alachachian (alternate spellings: Alachachyan, Alatchatchan, Alajajian) (Armenian: Արմենակ Միսակի Ալաջաջյան, December 25, 1930  - December 4, 2017) was an Armenian-Soviet basketball player and coach. During his club playing career, the point guard reached European stardom with CSKA Moscow and the senior men's Soviet Union national team. He was the first person to ever win a EuroLeague title, as both a player and a head coach.

Club career

Whie he was the team captain, Alachachian helped CSKA Moscow win its first EuroLeague championship in 1961. He added a second EuroLeague championship with CSKA in 1963, and he reached another EuroLerague Final in 1965, before retiring.

National team career

As a player of the senior men's Soviet national team, Alachachian won four gold medals at the FIBA EuroBasket. As he won the 1953 EuroBasket, the 1961 EuroBasket, the 1963 EuroBasket, and the 1965 EuroBasket. He also won a Summer Olympic Games silver medal, which he won at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Coaching career

Aleksandar Gomelsky, who was at the time CSKA Moscow's sports director, assigned Alachachian to the club's head coach position in 1968. Alachachian would go on to lead the team to the Euroleague championship in 1969. Alachachian thus became the first person to win the title as both a player and a head coach.

See also

References