Tuomas Iisalo

Tuomas Iisalo

2019 as head coach of Merlins Crailsheim
Memphis Grizzlies
Position	Assistant coach
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1982-07-29) 29 July 1982 (age 42) Helsinki, Finland
Listed height	195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Listed weight	89 kg (196 lb)
Career information
Playing career	2000–2014
Position	Shooting guard
Coaching career	2014–present
Career history
As player:
2000–2003	Kouvot
2003–2006	Espoon Honka
2006–2009	Kouvot
2009–2011	Espoon Honka
2011–2012	Torpan Pojat
2012–2014	Espoon Honka
As coach:
2014	Finland U20
2014–2015	Tapiolan Honka
2016–2021	Crailsheim Merlins
2021–2023	Telekom Baskets Bonn
2023–2024	Paris Basketball
2024–present	Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player: Finnish Cup winner (2009) As head coach: EuroCup champion (2024) Champions League champion (2023) French League Cup winner (2024) EuroCup Coach of the Year (2024) Champions League Coach of the Year (2023) 2× Bundesliga Coach of the Year (2022, 2023) LNB Pro A Coach of the Year (2024)

Tuomas Iisalo (born 29 July 1982) is a Finnish basketball coach and former player. He is currently serving as the assistant coach of the Memphis Grizzlies in the NBA.

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.

Playing career

Iisalo (right) 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.^[1]

Coaching career

After the end of his playing career he was appointed as head coach of Tapiolan Honka and was an assistant with Finland U15.^[2]

Crailsheim Merlins

In March 2016, he moved to Germany and signed with Crailsheim Merlins in Basketball Bundesliga.^[3][4] The team had stuck 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.^[5]

At the end of the 2017–18 ProA season, Crailsheim were promoted back to Bundesliga as the runners-up.^[6][7] 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.^[5][8]

Telekom Baskets Bonn

In May 2021, Iisalo inked a two-year deal with fellow Bundesliga side Telekom Baskets Bonn.^[9] In 2022, he was named the Bundesliga Coach of the Year, after finishing 3rd in the regular season with Bonn.^[10] 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.^[11] In May 2023, he won the FIBA Champions League with Bonn and was presented with the FIBA Champions League Coach of the Year honours.^[12] He helped the Bonn team to a trip to the 2023 Bundesliga finals, where they eventually fell short to Ulm.^[13] Iisalo parted company with the Bonn outfit at the end of the 2022–23 season.^[14]

Paris Basketball

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.^[15][16]

In December 2023, Iisalo was named the head coach of the Team World (French: Team Monde) in the LNB All-Star Game.^[17] On 18 February 2024, Iisalo and Paris won the 2024 LNB Pro A Leaders Cup title, by beating Nanterre 90–85 in the final.^[18]

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.^[19][20] On 12 April 2024, Iisalo led Paris Basketball to win the 2023–24 EuroCup title, by beating JL Bourg-en-Bresse with 2–0 wins in the finals, and earning a place for the next season in the EuroLeague.^[21] 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.^[22][23] Iisalo led Paris also to the LNB Pro A Finals in June 2024, where they were eventually defeated by AS Monaco 3–1.^[24]

Memphis Grizzlies (assistant)

On 8 July 2024, Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA) confirmed the appointment of Iisalo to their first assistant coach position,^[25] making him the first Finnish-born coach ever in the NBA.^[26][27] On 7 November, he debuted as a head coach due to absence of Taylor Jenkins, leading Grizzlies to a 131–114 win over Los Angeles Lakers.^[28]

Coaching style

Iisalo with Merlins in a match against Mitteldeutscher in 2019

According to reports, the Iisalo style has been based on pace, many three-point shots and strong offensive rebounding.^[29]

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.^[30]

Personal life

Tuomas Iisalo's father worked as a foreign correspondent in East Berlin in the 1980s.^[29]

His younger brother Joonas is also a professional basketball coach. Their older sister Meri Valkama [fi] became a journalist who won the 2021 Helsingin Sanomat literature prize for the best debut novel in Finland with her book "Sinun, Margot", where she tells the story of a family in East Berlin.^[29] Their grandfather Aulis Iisalo fought in the Winter War and in the Continuation War, and was a candidate to receive a Mannerheim Cross.^{[31][32][33][34][35]}

Tuomas Iisalo is married and a father of three.^[36]

Coaching honours

• Paris Basketball
  • EuroCup: 2023–24
  • French League Cup: 2024
  • LNB Pro A runner-up: 2023–24
• Telekom Baskets Bonn
  • Champions League: 2022–23
  • Bundesliga runner-up: 2022–23
• Crailsheim Merlins
  • ProA runner-up: 2016–17, 2017–18

See also

• List of foreign NBA coaches

References

1. Tuomas Iisalo player profile, basket.fi
2. "Crailsheim Merlins - Herzlich Willkommen, Tuomas Iisalo!" (in German). Retrieved 2017-03-13.
3. "Ingo Enskat über sein Aus und den neuen Merlins-Coach", SWP.de (in German), 2016-03-15, retrieved 2017-03-13
4. "Tuomas Iisalo bleibt Headcoach der Merlins", SWP.de (in German), 2016-04-14, retrieved 2017-03-13
5. Hullu idea, joka toimi, Yle, 23 December 2022
6. "Rasta Vechta ist ProA Meister 17/18 – neuer Außenauftritt der 2. Liga ab Juli 2018". 2. Basketball-Bundesliga (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-06.
7. "Aufstieg für Vechta & Crailsheim". 2. Basketball-Bundesliga (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-06.
8. "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.
9. "Tuomas Iisalo ist der neue #HEARTBERG-Dirigent". www.telekom-baskets-bonn.de. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
10. "Boiling like Salin, glacial like Sasu". FIBA. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
11. "TJ Shorts named the MVP of the German BBL". Eurohoops. 2023-05-04. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
12. "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.
13. "BBL: Bonn beendet Traumsaison ohne Meisterschaft". Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (in German). 2023-06-17. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
14. ""Völlig nachvollziehbar": Erfolgstrainer Iisalo verlässt Bonn". Kicker (in German). 2023-06-21. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
15. Pitet, Gustave (2023-06-29). "Tuomas Iisalo : le coach qui gagne". Paris Basketball (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-29.
16. 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.
17. Suomalaisluotsille kova meriitti Ranskassa, Ilta-Sanomat, Juha Kanerva, 2 December 2023
18. Tuomas Iisalo ja Mikael Jantunen juhlivat cup-mestaruutta, Yle, 18 February 2024
19. EuroCup Coach of the Year: Tuomas Iisalo, Paris Basketball, euroleaguebasketball.net, 6 April 2024
20. Tuomas Iisalo EuroCupin vuoden valmentaja, Yle
21. Suomalaisten juhlaa Pariisissa – Tuomas Iisalo taas sankari, Ilta-Sanomat, 12 April 2024
22. Tuomas Iisalo Ranskan liigan Vuoden valmentajaksi, Yle, 13 May 2024
23. Paris Basketball sivusi Ranskan ennätystä, basket.fi, 6 May 2024
24. AS Monaco Basket 115, Paris Basketball 76, realgm.com, 12 June 2024
25. Tuomas Iisalon NBA-valmennuspestille sinetti, Yle, 8 July 2024
26. Vahvistus: Tuomas Iisalo tekee NBA:ssa suomalaista korishistoriaa, mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 8 July 2024
27. Tuomas Iisalo teki heti vaikutuksen NBA:ssa – päävalmentaja innostui suomalaisesta: "Briljantteja näkemyksiä", mtvuutiset.fi, MTV Oy, 1 October 2024
28. Tuomas Iisalo teki suomalaista NBA-historiaa – suhtautui äärimmäisellä tyyneydellä, Helsingin Sanomat, 7 November 2024
29. Zwei Brüder, ein Stil Stefan Koch - Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 6 November 2022. Accessed 11 May 2023.(in German)
30. BCB 24, ukts.rs
31. Sotasankari-isoisä lähetteli rajusti tappeleville veljeksille VHS-kasetteja, nyt Iisalot valmentavat Bundesliigan sensaatiota – ”Pitkällä aikavälillä tavoite on pitää perhe kasassa”, Yle, 16 December 2019
32. Sotasankarien sukua: Iisalot ovat tämän hetken kuumimmat koripallovalmentajat, Iltasanomat, 23 January 2017
33. Uskomaton Mannerheim-ristien veljessarja, Iltalehti, 8 December 2015
34. Ilmavalvontalotta Iisalo sai tulikasteen Stalinin syntymäpäivänä – löysi Tampereelle hyökänneet pommikoneet, Iltasanomat, 29 November 2015
35. Pentti Iisalon Mannerheim-risti Jalkaväkimuseon kokoelmaan – huima suoritus panssarintorjuntatykillä toi arvostetun kunniamerkin, Mikkelin Kaupunkilehti, 21 June 2023
36. Nuorena koristähtenä Tuomas Iisalo tunnettiin kolmosheittojensa vuoksi ”Loviisan pommittajana” – tänä keväänä hänet valittiin parhaaksi koripallovalmentajaksi Saksassa, Helsingin Sanomat, 29 July 2022