Wikipedia

Tuomas Iisalo

Tuomas Iisalo (born 29 July 1982) is a Finnish basketball coach and former player. He is currently serving as head coach of Paris Basketball of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroCup.

Tuomas Iisalo
2019 as head coach of Merlins Crailsheim
Paris Basketball
PositionHead coach
LeagueLNB Pro A
EuroCup
Personal information
Born (1982-07-29) 29 July 1982 (age 41)
Helsinki, Finland
NationalityFinnish
Listed height195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight89 kg (196 lb)
Career information
Playing career2000–2014
PositionShooting guard
Coaching career2014–present
Career history
As player:
2000–2003Kouvot
2003–2006Espoon Honka
2006–2009Kouvot
2009–2011Espoon Honka
2011–2012Torpan Pojat
2012–2014Espoon Honka
As coach:
2014Finland U-20
2014–2015Tapiolan Honka
2016–2021Crailsheim Merlins
2021–2023Telekom Baskets Bonn
2023–presentParis Basketball
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As head coach:

Standing at 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in), Iisalo played as shooting guard during his playing career. He also played for the Finnish national basketball team.

Early life

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Tuomas Iisalo's father worked as a foreign correspondent in East Berlin in the 1980s.[1]

Both Tuomas and his younger brother Joonas later became professional basketball coaches. Their sister Meri Valkama became a journalist who won the 2021 prize for best debut novel in Finland with her book "Sinun, Margot" where she tells the story of a family in East Berlin.[1]

Playing career

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Iisalo playing for Kouvot in 2007

Iisalo started his playing career in 2000 with Kouvot in Korisliiga. As a player, Iisalo also represented Korisliiga clubs Espoon Honka and Torpan Pojat. He won the Finnish Cup with Kouvot in 2009.

In his early career, he played for various Finnish youth national teams, and later played 58 games with the Finland senior national team.

Iisalo retired after the 2013–2014 season.[2]

Coaching career

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After the end of his playing career he was appointed as head coach of Tapiolan Honka and was an assistant with Finland U15.[3]

Crailsheim Merlins

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In March 2016, he moved to Germany and signed with Crailsheim Merlins in Basketball Bundesliga.[4][5] The team had stucked in the bottom of the table and eventually he couldn't save the team for the relegation, but extended his deal with Merlins for the upcoming 2016–17 season in ProA. A fellow Finnish coach Vesa Vertio was named his assistant.[6]

At the end of the 2017–18 ProA season, Crailsheim were promoted back to Bundesliga as the runners-up.[7][8] In the early 2019, his brother Joonas Iisalo accompanied him as an associate coach of the team. In the following seasons in the top-tier, they managed to establish the club in the Bundesliga, and in 2020–21 they guided the Merlins to their first ever Bundesliga playoff berth, with one of the lowest budgets in the league.[6][9]

Telekom Baskets Bonn

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In May 2021, Iisalo inked a two-year deal with fellow Bundesliga side Telekom Baskets Bonn.[10] In 2022, he was named the Bundesliga Coach of the Year.[11] Iisalo repeated as the Bundesliga Coach of the Year in the 2022–23 campaign.[12] In May 2023, he won the FIBA Champions League with Bonn and was presented with the FIBA Champions League Coach of the Year honours.[13] He helped the Bonn team to a trip to the 2023 Bundesliga finals, where they eventually fell short to Ulm.[14] Iisalo parted company with the Bonn outfit at the end of the 2022–23 season.[15]

Paris Basketball

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On June 29, 2023, Paris Basketball of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroCup, announced the appointment of Iisalo as a head coach on a three-year deal.[16][17]

In December 2023, Iisalo was named the head coach of the Team World (French: Team Monde) in the LNB All-Star Game.[18] On 18 February 2024, Iisalo and Paris won the 2024 LNB Pro A Leaders Cup title, by beating Nanterre 90–85 in the final.[19]

On 6 April 2024, Iisalo was voted the EuroCup Coach of the Year, leading Paris to the 2024 EuroCup Finals with a record-tying 20 wins and only one loss, with the highest team average (98.4 points per game) in the EuroCup history.[20][21] On 12 April 2024, Iisalo led Paris Basketball to win 2023–24 EuroCup title, by beating JL Bourg-en-Bresse with 2–0 wins in the finals.[22] On 13 May 2024, Iisalo was named the Coach of the Year in LNB Pro A, after leading Paris to the record streak of 25 consecutive games unbeaten.[23][24] Iisalo led Paris also to the LNB Pro A Finals in June 2024, where they were eventually defeated by AS Monaco 3–1.[25]

Coaching style

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According to reports, the Iisalo style has been based on pace, many three-point shots and strong offensive rebounding.[1]

In late June 2024, Iisalo was one of the coach lecturers in the Basketball Coaching Clinic Dusan Ivkovic in Belgrade, Serbia, teaching offense through variable big men and speaking about evolution of his pick and roll defense.[26]

Coaching honours

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Zwei Brüder, ein Stil Stefan Koch - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 November 2022. Accessed 11 May 2023.(in German)
  2. ^ Tuomas Iisalo player profile, basket.fi
  3. ^ "Crailsheim Merlins - Herzlich Willkommen, Tuomas Iisalo!" (in German). Retrieved 2017-03-13.
  4. ^ "Ingo Enskat über sein Aus und den neuen Merlins-Coach", SWP.de (in German), 2016-03-15, retrieved 2017-03-13
  5. ^ "Tuomas Iisalo bleibt Headcoach der Merlins", SWP.de (in German), 2016-04-14, retrieved 2017-03-13
  6. ^ a b Hullu idea, joka toimi, Yle, 23 December 2022
  7. ^ "Rasta Vechta ist ProA Meister 17/18 – neuer Außenauftritt der 2. Liga ab Juli 2018". 2. Basketball-Bundesliga (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  8. ^ "Aufstieg für Vechta & Crailsheim". 2. Basketball-Bundesliga (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  9. ^ "HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim - Historisch! HAKRO Merlins schlagen Bonn und qualifizieren sich erstmals in der Vereinsgeschichte für die Playoffs! Freitag kommt der MBC". hakro-merlins.com. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  10. ^ "Tuomas Iisalo ist der neue #HEARTBERG-Dirigent". www.telekom-baskets-bonn.de. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  11. ^ "Boiling like Salin, glacial like Sasu". FIBA. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  12. ^ "TJ Shorts named the MVP of the German BBL". Eurohoops. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
  13. ^ "Succétränaren Tuomas Iisalo lotsade uppstickaren Bonn till titeln i Champions League-basketen: "Ni kan kalla oss mästare"". svenska.yle.fi (in Swedish). Retrieved 2023-05-16.
  14. ^ "BBL: Bonn beendet Traumsaison ohne Meisterschaft". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). 2023-06-17. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
  15. ^ ""Völlig nachvollziehbar": Erfolgstrainer Iisalo verlässt Bonn". Kicker (in German). 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
  16. ^ Pitet, Gustave (2023-06-29). "Tuomas Iisalo : le coach qui gagne". Paris Basketball (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-29.
  17. ^ Hyyppä Emma, Vuolle Jouko (2023-06-29). "Menestysvalmentaja Tuomas Iisalo pääsee Pariisissa nauttimaan luksuksesta: "Aivan uskomattoman näköinen kompleksi" – palkkakin kelpaa". YLE (in Finnish). Retrieved 2023-07-08.
  18. ^ Suomalaisluotsille kova meriitti Ranskassa, Ilta-Sanomat, Juha Kanerva, 2 December 2023
  19. ^ Tuomas Iisalo ja Mikael Jantunen juhlivat cup-mestaruutta, Yle, 18 February 2024
  20. ^ EuroCup Coach of the Year: Tuomas Iisalo, Paris Basketball, euroleaguebasketball.net, 6 April 2024
  21. ^ Tuomas Iisalo EuroCupin vuoden valmentaja, Yle
  22. ^ Suomalaisten juhlaa Pariisissa – Tuomas Iisalo taas sankari, Ilta-Sanomat, 12 April 2024
  23. ^ Tuomas Iisalo Ranskan liigan Vuoden valmentajaksi, Yle, 13 May 2024
  24. ^ Paris Basketball sivusi Ranskan ennätystä, basket.fi, 6 May 2024
  25. ^ AS Monaco Basket 115, Paris Basketball 76, realgm.com, 12 June 2024
  26. ^ BCB 24, ukts.rs
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