Tuomas Iisalo, Paris head coach, spoke to Basketball Sphere about the FIBA Champions League title with Bonn, and moving to Paris despite EuroLeague offers. He also touched on his basketball philosophy, with reference to the invitation of the “Dusan Duda Ivković” Basketball Clinic and which coaches had great impact on him.
“I will tell you a story. I watched the FIFA World Cup with my family. The kid’s attention was drawn to Kylian Mbappe, who was crying. He was disappointed to lose in the final. My wife said that he is very young, that he will have more opportunities. I had a different opinion.
I said that he had already achieved the greatest success as an athlete and that he would very likely not do the same again, considering how difficult it is to win the FIFA World Cup. The next time, we talked in a practice that when you get an opportunity like this, it’s very rare. That’s why you should make the best of it. We didn’t take any day for granted. If this is our season, we’ve tried to get everything out. That there is no ‘what if’ after that.”
“Drang nach Westen”
That May 14, 2023 will forever remain etched in the memory of Finnish strategist Tuomas Iisalo, who won the FIBA Champions League with Bonn, the first title in the club’s history. His speech after the final brought closer the philosophy he was guided by in order to reach success. He did everything to get the opportunity, enjoyed it and made the most of it. He left no room for “if”. It was already the first win, the second is reflected in the trophy, the result of such a mental approach.
There was something predictive in that speech. The mention of Mbappe and everything that the Paris Saint Germain first team represents as a global brand will soon become close to Iisalo. After the end of the season with Bonn, with which he also reached the Bundesliga final, the Finnish strategist decided to continue his career in Paris, a growing project that seeks to shape the new basketball reality of Europe, something that the EuroLeague has been thinking about for several years.
Drang nach Westen, as in this case describes the desire from Barcelona to expand the market to the Western part of Europe, implies Paris as the most significant factor, with a lot of potential. The path to the elite competition, at least this season, is clear for the French representative – with the EuroCup title. Iisalo represents the central figure of the ambitious Paris, who irresistibly advances towards that goal.
Without Bonn, there would be no Paris
Paris are currently in first place in Group A of the EuroCup, with a dominant record of 16-1, making them by far the best in the competition. The only defeat, the French team suffered against Besiktas on their home court, and recently got revenge with a convincing win, which proved that on the other side there is no team that has found a solution for, as Iisalo will call it in this interview, “basketball from the future” of Paris.
Such a Paris would not exist if there were not Bonn, which represents the core of the Finnish expert’s system in the French team. Team leader T. J. Shorts, Collin Malcolm, Sebastian Herrera, Tyson Ward, Michael Kessens and Leon Kratzer. All of them just a few months before lifted the FIBA Champions League title together. Now, they are hungry for a new trophy. Together with their coach, they embarked on a new challenge, which could raise their whole story to an even higher level.
“For me and my guys, it was the biggest thing we won – 32 teams started the competition. People don’t know how hard it is to win that, especially for a team that wasn’t projected for the top spot before it started, or couldn’t match the bigger teams in the competition on a budget.
When we saw that we had something special, we started thinking about things we can do now, not about the future. How can we be better and closer to something special today. We never said that our goal was to win the title. In the end, that’s what happened”, Tuomas Iisalo described the success in the FIBA Champions League, at the beginning of the conversation with Basketball Sphere.
About the dominant season in the EuroCup
Immediately afterwards, he reflected on what this achievement means to him at the present moment.
“It was a fantastic feeling and being able to share it all with those guys was a unique experience. We talked a lot that such opportunities do not come often. If you don’t seize the moment, if you don’t capitalize on it, you might wonder for the rest of your life what you could have done with that team, because you had a chance.
I am incredibly happy for the whole group, the players, the staff, the club, it is the first title in the club’s history. When you realize that you have done something that no one will ever be able to take away from you, when hard work pays off, it is truly unique. Now it’s a new season, new challenges and sport is all about what you did recently, so nobody remembers that anymore (laughs).”
Just a few months ago, Iisalo talked about the fact that a similar opportunity might never come again. Now he has a chance to achieve something even bigger with the new team. What is indisputable is that he could hardly have imagined a better beginning of a new chapter.
“I agree that we are on a positive path, but at the same time it is different to be on the path and to win something. It’s very rare to win something big. We have 20 teams in the EuroCup. Although we have the best score at the moment, it is not as if we are favorites to win against some other teams. If you look at the odds, they give us a 25-30 percent chance of winning. Obviously, we put ourselves in a great position, but it’s very difficult to get to the end. We always believe that with the daily work of the group we have, it can bring us to certain heights.”
Paris as a global brand
A number of factors influence the final ranking.
“Much is within our control. On the other hand, I would also make a comparison from last season. In the Bundesliga final, some key players were injured, others were suspended, while we were relatively healthy in the Final Four of the FIBA Champions League, and all of that also has an impact. The great thing is that we can be very satisfied with the situation we have put ourselves in and at the same time, it does not guarantee anything. We have to keep moving forward and working. And even then it will be very difficult, but possible.”
The comparison with Mbappe was not accidental. Paris Saint Germain, in which he is a superstar, represents a world-renowned product with which many identify. In basketball terms, Iisalo saw that Paris had similar ambitions and therefore it was not difficult for him to make a decision when he was thinking about a new environment.
“We were not able to keep the core of the team in Bonn. It was a situation where I realized it was time for a new challenge. Paris was the new challenge I was looking for. There were some other opportunities, but the potential in Paris is unique, in terms of a different type of thinking, how to build not only a basketball club, but also a global brand. Also, they told me that they value my experience and time in Bonn, leading the team not only in basketball, but also taking care of the daily culture and helping with recruiting.
There were many jobs available, but this one made a special impression on me. Also, my wife was on a foreign exchange student program in France and speaks French fluently, so there were also some things off the court in favor of that. I have a wife and three kids, Paris is a big city, you have many international schools, in which you can enroll, without changing the language, so it will be possible for kids to go and continue to study in German. For now, it seems like the right step.”
About the “basketball from the future”
Paris has ridicilous numbers in the EuroCup, when it comes to advanced statistics, according to the data of the analytical site 3StepsBasket. The French team is the best according to the offensive rating with an unreal 129.5 points per 100 possessions, while it is also the third best defense in the competition – allowing rivals 105 points per 100 possessions. On the statement that Paris is a true example of what is called modern basketball, Iisalo gives a different view.
“I hope not. Modern refers to something that is current. I hope we are moving in the right direction and playing what I call “basketball from the future”, with elements that are still not fully appreciated in the basketball community and in sports in general. There’s a lot of talk about positionless basketball, but the thing about basketball is analytics, which has made it better. It is important to appreciate more and more the things that make the difference, such as defensive or offensive rating.
In this way, certain types of players are valued more than others. For us, it’s all about improving the shot selections we have, the number of shots and maximizing the potential of those shots. On the other hand, in defense we try to minimize the number of shots taken by our rivals and the quality of those shots. Basketball is very simple in that sense. The biggest change in modern basketball is that players and coaches increasingly understand what it takes to win, how to play effective basketball.”
Iisalo about the changes brought by the new era
Then he described the term “basketball from the future” in more detail, which is the philosophy that is currently being followed, with a lot of success.
“Some things will not change in the future. The game will not slow down. If you look at all sports, the speed of decision-making, the speed of players is constantly increasing. The level of organization will not be worse. The thing of the past is the 80s and 90s, players who do what they want on the court, and teams live or die with them. It doesn’t exist anymore. Teams are highly organized.
The level of realization is high and I don’t see that they will be weaker. There is also the level of effort. It won’t be worse. In any team sport, the goals are getting more and more demanding in almost every league. This creates new requirements for players in terms of what physical condition they need to be in. These are all things that will not change, and by that I mean basketball from the future”, said Iisalo in the manner of a basketball professor.
Paris as Paris Saint Germain
Paris has been mentioned as a desire of the EuroLeague for several seasons. London always goes with them, and recently Dubai also entered the story. It is clear that the creation of a new system of elite competition, which will bring changes, is on the horizon. For all that, the French team is preparing in a big way and has certain arguments, when it comes to whether it belongs to the elite of European basketball.
“To understand the Paris project, you need to understand that Paris has produced the most high-ranking football and basketball professionals in the world, more than any other city. If you look at football, they produced the most players participating in the FIFA World Cups between 2006 and 2022, by far. Paris produces an incredible amount of basketball talent as well, which is reflected in the number of NBA players who are directly from France or the Paris region.
In Paris we also have a new arena, Adidas Arena, and our style of play is something our fans can be proud of. Not only because of the efficiency but also because of the effort with which the players play, as well as the pace, and the way basketball looks when we play it. The club is growing all the time and the goal is to progress. The idea of the club to climb in the European basketball hierarchy is clear.”
At basketball clinics – sometimes in the audience, soon a lecturer
All that led him to make Paris his next destination, regardless of offers from EuroLeague clubs.
“I wanted to focus on the Final Four of the FIBA Champions League, after that the Bundesliga playoffs started. There wasn’t much time for that, but I discussed all serious offers with my agent and he also told me that there was interest from the EuroLeague. We went through it all and in the end we chose Paris. It was a very good decision, as it seems so far. The whole family is very happy about the current situation.”
In addition to recognition in the form of a title in the FIBA Champions League, attention from the EuroLeague and a move to Paris, Iisalo received an invitation to be one of the lecturers at the famous “Dusan Duda Ivkovic” Basketball Clinic in Belgrade this summer (June 29-30). It is interesting that in the past he already attended the same event, when he followed numerous European and world experts from the stands.
“For me, it is the greatest honor considering all the clinics. I was at that clinic for the first time in 2014, when I had just retired as a player. It was very interesting, I remember seeing a lot of things from coach Igor Kokoskov, but the history of Serbian basketball and Belgrade as the epicenter of it is an incredible experience.
I played there with the national team against Serbia. That was the first time I was there, then I went in 2019. Aleksandar Dzikic and Pedro Martinez were lecturers and for me it is an incredible honor because of the invitation I received. I’m really looking forward to it and hopefully I’ll be ready to present something interesting to people.”
Tuomas Iisalo listened to a basketball clinic lecture in Belgrade 2014, and this year, he will be one of the lecturers. Stay tuned for the big interview with him on @BSphere7 🙌💯 pic.twitter.com/EKE1rS8dRZ
— Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) January 27, 2024
About the influence of numerous coaches on his game
When it comes to which Serbian experts have had the greatest influence on his coaching development, Iisalo has no doubt as to who is number one.
“It’s not a very difficult question. Zeljko Obradovic is the one coach that has always been ahead of the curve. People focus more on his tactics and success with clubs. Which is also important is the culture he was able to create in all the places he was. A win is expected in almost every game, which is something unique. Being able to do that over and over again, playing different styles of basketball, with different team structures, is an incredibly impressive thing. That he is still doing it at an extremely high level is incredible and that is the way he has influenced European and world basketball.”
Then he mentioned some other names from whom he gathered knowledge. From some as a coach, from others as a player.
“Some other coaches also had a great influence, such as Aito Garcia Reneses or Pedro Martinez, Italian coaches such as Andrea Trinchieri, Ettore Messina, Luca Banchi. From many countries, many different styles. What we try to do is incorporate the best of each. I was also very lucky as a player to play for Henrik Dettmann, Gordon Herbert, Mihailo Pavicevic, Jukka Toijala…
For someone who spent his entire playing career in Finland, that’s an impressive list of coaches. That all gave me the confidence to come this far and hopefully reach some higher goals in the future. I have been a coach for 10 years and I hope that in the next 10, I will learn at least half as much as I have so far”, Tuomas Iisalo concluded his interview to Basketball Sphere.