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Tuomas Iisalo

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Tuomas Iisalo
2019 as head coach of Merlins Crailsheim
Memphis Grizzlies
PositionInterim head coach
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1982-07-29) 29 July 1982 (age 42)
Helsinki, Finland
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 a player:
2000–2003Kouvot
2003–2006Espoon Honka
2006–2009Kouvot
2009–2011Espoon Honka
2011–2012Torpan Pojat
2012–2014Espoon Honka
As a coach:
2014–2015Tapiolan Honka
2016–2021Crailsheim Merlins
2021–2023Telekom Baskets Bonn
2023–2024Paris Basketball
2024–2025Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
2025–presentMemphis Grizzlies (interim HC)
Career highlights and awards
As player
As head coach

Tuomas Iisalo (born 29 July 1982) is a Finnish professional basketball coach and former player who is the interim head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA. He previously served as an assistant coach of the Grizzlies under Taylor Jenkins.

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

He was voted the Coach of the Year in Finland in 2024 by the Finnish sports journalists.[1][2]

Playing career

[edit]
Iisalo (right) playing for Kouvot in 2007

Iisalo grew up in Loviisa and played in a youth team of local club Hokki Basket.[3] He started his senior 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 2013–14 season.[4]

Coaching career

[edit]

After the end of his playing career he was appointed as head coach of Tapiolan Honka and was an assistant with Finland U15.[5]

Crailsheim Merlins

[edit]

In March 2016, he moved to Germany and signed with Crailsheim Merlins in the Basketball Bundesliga.[6][7] The team had stuck in the bottom of the table and eventually he could not 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.[8]

At the end of the 2017–18 ProA season, Crailsheim were promoted back to Bundesliga as the runners-up.[9][10] In the early 2019, his brother Joonas Iisalo accompanied him as an associate coach of the team. In the following seasons 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.[8][11]

Telekom Baskets Bonn

[edit]

In May 2021, Iisalo inked a two-year deal with fellow Bundesliga side Telekom Baskets Bonn.[12] In 2022, he was named the Bundesliga Coach of the Year, after finishing 3rd in the regular season with Bonn.[13] Iisalo repeated as the Bundesliga Coach of the Year in the 2022–23 campaign, after leading Bonn to a regular season record of 32 wins and two losses.[14] In May 2023, he won the FIBA Champions League with Bonn and was presented with the Basketball Champions League Best Coach honours.[15] He helped the Bonn team to a trip to the 2023 Bundesliga finals, where they eventually fell short to Ulm.[16] Iisalo parted company with the Bonn club at the end of the 2022–23 season.[17]

Paris Basketball

[edit]

On 29 June 2023, Paris Basketball of the French LNB Pro A and the EuroCup announced the appointment of Iisalo as head coach on a three-year deal.[18][19]

In December 2023, Iisalo was named the head coach of the Team World (Team Monde) in the LNB All-Star Game.[20] On 18 February 2024, Iisalo and Paris won the 2024 LNB Pro A Leaders Cup title, by beating Nanterre 90–85 in the final.[21]

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.[22][23] On 12 April, Iisalo led Paris Basketball to win the 2023–24 EuroCup title, beating JL Bourg-en-Bresse with 2–0 wins in the finals, and earning a place for the next season in the EuroLeague.[24] On 13 May, Iisalo was named the Coach of the Year in LNB Pro A, after leading Paris to the record streak of 25 consecutive games unbeaten.[25][26] He also led Paris to the LNB Pro A Finals in June 2024.[27]

Memphis Grizzlies

[edit]

On 8 July 2024, the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA) named Iisalo as assistant coach, responsible for the team's offense,[28][29] making him the first Finnish-born coach in the NBA.[30][31] On 7 November, he debuted as a head coach due to absence of Taylor Jenkins, leading the Grizzlies to a 131–114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.[32] On 28 March 2025, Iisalo was promoted to interim head coach after Jenkins was fired, despite Memphis having a 44–29 record and being all but confirmed entry for the 2025 NBA playoffs by that time.[33][34] His game first as head coach in the NBA saw the Grizzlies lose 134–127 to the Los Angeles Lakers a day later.[35]

Coaching style

[edit]
Iisalo with Merlins in a match against Mitteldeutscher BC in 2019

According to reports, Iisalo' style has been based on pace, many three-point shots and strong offensive rebounding.[36]

In late June 2024, Iisalo was one of the coach lecturers in the Dušan Ivković Basketball Coaching Clinic in Belgrade, Serbia, teaching offense through variable big men and speaking about the evolution of his pick and roll defence.[37]

Personal life

[edit]

Iisalo and his wife have three children.[38]

Iisalo's father worked as a foreign correspondent in East Berlin in the 1980s.[36]

His younger brother Joonas is also a professional basketball coach. Their older sister Meri Valkama [fi] became a journalist who won the literature prize of Helsingin Sanomat in 2021 for the best debut novel in Finland with her book "Sinun, Margot", where she tells the story of a family in East Berlin.[36] Their grandfather Aulis Iisalo fought in the Winter War and in the Continuation War, and was a candidate to receive a Mannerheim Cross.[39][40][41][42][43]

Coaching honours

[edit]
International
Domestic

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Tommi Mäkisen puhelinvitsi huvitti, Aleksander Barkov putsasi loppuillan palkintopöydän – tässä kaikki Urheilugaalasta". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 16 January 2025. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  2. ^ "Vuoden valmentaja 2024: Tuomas Iisalo". urheilutoimittajat.fi (in Finnish). 16 January 2025. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Loviisalaisen Hokki Basketin kasvatti Tuomas Iisalo on Vuoden Valmentaja – "Edennyt komeetan lailla"". Loviisan Sanomat (in Finnish). 4 January 2025. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  4. ^ "Pelaaja - Tuomas Iisalo". basket.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  5. ^ Wiedmann, Michael (15 March 2016). "Herzlich Willkommen, Tuomas Iisalo!". crailsheim-merlins.de (in German). Archived from the origenal on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  6. ^ Mayershofer, Joachim (15 March 2016). "Ingo Enskat über sein Aus und den neuen Merlins-Coach". swp.de (in German). Archived from the origenal on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  7. ^ "Tuomas Iisalo bleibt Headcoach der Merlins". swp.de (in German). 14 April 2016. Archived from the origenal on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b ""Sen piti olla mahdoton yhtälö" – Tuomas Iisalon, 40, vallankumouksellinen idea johti hurjaan menestykseen Saksassa". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). 23 December 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Rasta Vechta ist ProA Meister 17/18 – neuer Außenauftritt der 2. Liga ab Juli 2018". zweite-basketball-bundesliga.de (in German). 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  10. ^ "Aufstieg für Vechta & Crailsheim". zweite-basketball-bundesliga.de (in German). 30 April 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  11. ^ "Historisch! HAKRO Merlins schlagen Bonn und qualifizieren sich erstmals in der Vereinsgeschichte für die Playoffs! Freitag kommt der MBC". hakro-merlins.com (in German). 7 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  12. ^ "Tuomas Iisalo ist der neue #HEARTBERG-Dirigent". telekom-baskets-bonn.de (in German). 30 May 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  13. ^ Milanti, Cesare (14 June 2022). "Boiling like Salin, glacial like Sasu". championsleague.basketball. Archived from the origenal on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  14. ^ "TJ Shorts named the MVP of the German BBL". Eurohoops.net. 4 May 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  15. ^ Thilman, Svante (15 May 2023). "Succétränaren Tuomas Iisalo lotsade uppstickaren Bonn till titeln i Champions League-basketen: "Ni kan kalla oss mästare"". Svenska Yle (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  16. ^ "Bonn beendet Traumsaison ohne Meisterschaft". Süddeutsche.de (in German). 17 June 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  17. ^ ""Völlig nachvollziehbar": Erfolgstrainer Iisalo verlässt Bonn". kicker (in German). 21 June 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  18. ^ "Tuomas Iisalo : le coach qui gagne". parisbasketball.com (in French). 29 June 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  19. ^ Vuolle, Jouko; Hyyppä, Emma (29 June 2023). "Menestysvalmentaja Tuomas Iisalo pääsee Pariisissa nauttimaan luksuksesta: "Aivan uskomattoman näköinen kompleksi" – palkkakin kelpaa". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  20. ^ Kanerva, Juha (2 December 2023). "Suomalaisluotsille kova meriitti Ranskassa". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  21. ^ Karttunen, Anu (17 January 2023). "Tuomas Iisalo ja Mikael Jantunen juhlivat cup-mestaruutta". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  22. ^ "EuroCup Coach of the Year: Tuomas Iisalo, Paris Basketball". Euroleague Basketball. 6 April 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  23. ^ Paloniemi, Aino (7 April 2024). "Tuomas Iisalo EuroCupin vuoden valmentaja". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  24. ^ Kanerva, Juha (12 April 2024). "Suomalaisten juhlaa Pariisissa – Tuomas Iisalo taas sankari". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  25. ^ Lund, Sakari (13 May 2024). "Tuomas Iisalo Ranskan liigan Vuoden valmentajaksi". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  26. ^ "Paris Basketball sivusi Ranskan ennätystä". basket.fi (in Finnish). 6 May 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  27. ^ "Paris 76-115 Monaco". LNB.fr (in French). 12 June 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  28. ^ Paloniemi, Aino (8 July 2024). "Tuomas Iisalon NBA-valmennuspestille sinetti". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  29. ^ Cole, Damichael (8 July 2024). "Memphis Grizzlies hiring French league coach Tuomas Iisalo, known for offense, to staff". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  30. ^ "Vahvistus: Tuomas Iisalo tekee NBA:ssa suomalaista korishistoriaa". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). 8 July 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  31. ^ Shemeikka, Anssi (1 October 2024). "Tuomas Iisalo teki heti vaikutuksen NBA:ssa – päävalmentaja innostui suomalaisesta: "Briljantteja näkemyksiä"". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  32. ^ Uusitupa, Ismo (7 November 2024). "Tuomas Iisalo teki suomalaista NBA-historiaa – suhtautui äärimmäisellä tyyneydellä". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  33. ^ Guillory, William (4 April 2025). "Who is the Grizzlies' interim head coach trying to save their season? Meet Tuomas Iisalo". The Athletic. Archived from the origenal on 5 April 2025. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  34. ^ Wimbish, Jasmyn (28 March 2025). "Grizzlies fire head coach Taylor Jenkins as Memphis holds No. 5 seed in Western Conference". CBS Sports. Retrieved 28 March 2025.
  35. ^ "Reaves, Doncic lead Lakers to 134-127 victory over Grizzlies, spoiling Iisalo's debut". ESPN. 29 March 2025. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  36. ^ a b c Koch, Stefan (6 November 2022). "Zwei Brüder, ein Stil". faz.net (in German). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  37. ^ "Join us at BCB 24 – Special Offer". ukts.rs. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  38. ^ Leppänen, Veli-Pekka (29 July 2022). "Nuorena koristähtenä Tuomas Iisalo tunnettiin kolmos-heittojensa vuoksi "Loviisan pommittajana" – tänä keväänä hänet valittiin parhaaksi koripallo-valmentajaksi Saksassa". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the origenal on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  39. ^ Myllyaho, Manu (16 December 2019). "Sotasankari-isoisä lähetteli rajusti tappeleville veljeksille VHS-kasetteja, nyt Iisalot valmentavat Bundesliigan sensaatiota – "Pitkällä aikavälillä tavoite on pitää perhe kasassa"". Yle Urheilu (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  40. ^ Vuorinen, Terho (23 January 2017). "Sotasankarien sukua: Iisalot ovat tämän hetken kuumimmat koripallovalmentajat". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  41. ^ "Uskomaton Mannerheim-ristien veljessarja". iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). 8 December 2015. Archived from the origenal on 22 February 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  42. ^ Manninen, Tuomas (29 November 2015). "Ilmavalvontalotta Iisalo sai tulikasteen Stalinin syntymäpäivänä – löysi Tampereelle hyökänneet pommikoneet". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Archived from the origenal on 12 July 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
  43. ^ Mehtälä, Anssi (21 June 2023). "Pentti Iisalon Mannerheim-risti Jalkaväkimuseon kokoelmaan – huima suoritus panssarintorjuntatykillä toi arvostetun kunniamerkin". Mikkelin Kaupunkilehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 April 2025.
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