Tuomas Iisalo, the newly appointed interim head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, brings a successful coaching background from Europe, including accolades and championships in the EuroCup, FIBA Basketball Champions League, and German League.
The Memphis Grizzlies have promoted Finnish assistant Tuomas Iisalo to the interim head coach role for the remainder of the 2024-25 season after parting ways with head coach Taylor Jenkins.
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Miami HeatIisalo, 42, has a strong European coaching background. He joined the Grizzlies last off-season after impressing the organization with his work at Paris Basketball in the EuroCup, where he not only won a championship but also secured promotion to the EuroLeague while leading a record-breaking offense and up-tempo play.
Before coaching, Iisalo had a successful 14-season playing career as a shooting guard in Finland, where he won the 2009 Finnish Cup. He began his coaching journey right after retiring, first with Tapiolan Honka.
A year later, he moved to Germany to coach Crailsheim, where he spent five seasons, guiding the team from the second division to a fifth-place finish in the top league during the 2020-21 season.
Iisalo then took charge of Telekom Baskets Bonn, leading them to a third-place finish in the German League and a championship win in the FIBA Champions League in 2023, where they also finished as runners-up in Germany.
He earned the title of German League Coach of the Year in both 2022 and 2023, as well as the same honor in the FIBA Champions League for the 2022-23 season.
Known for making his practices intense, Iisalo believes that it helps his players perform better in games. This coaching style contributed to six players following him from Bonn to Paris in the summer of 2023, easing the transition to the EuroCup.
Iisalo was the first Finnish coach to be named EuroCup Coach of the Year.
More in-depth look at Tuomas Iisalo and his style of play:
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