Basketball: Paris accomplishes “something unique” by winning the Eurocup, savors its coach

Tuomas Iisalo, coach of Paris Basketball with “tremendous progress” since its creation in 2018, declared wanting to accomplish something “unique in European basketball”, looking ahead to the next Euroleague for which the club is qualified after its title Friday in the Eurocup.

You win the Eurocup after a perfect continental season (22 victories and one defeat)... Since the start of the season, we have been on a mission to get this title: we know that the only way to reach the highest level of basketball (the Euroleague) is to win the Eurocup. This put a lot of pressure on the management, on the team.

How does it feel to do it with a young team? The perception is more that we have experienced players who are used to winning. However, we are the second youngest team in the Eurocup this year. We try to develop as quickly as possible by stimulating her every day in training with difficult challenges, so that the matches are as easy as possible. The key is the collective trust that we all have, the players, in their teammates: “If I do my job and the next one does too, then we will succeed.” And the trust the players have in the staff. I am very proud of this group.

What does this title represent for this young club? A dazzling progression. I don't know if there is an equivalent in the history of European basketball, thanks to all the work (of American shareholders) Eric Schwarz and David Kahn. When they presented the project to me last summer, they told me that they needed a little something more, they trusted me and gave me the keys to the sports part. It wasn't easy because I can be presented as having a difficult character. The victory in the Leaders Cup, the Eurocup title, the inauguration of the Arena (mid-February), 13,000 people at Bercy against Monaco (in January): we are doing something unique. At the start of the season, I called my friends in Finland and told them: “There is so much talent in this country, such a basketball culture in Paris, we can do something special.” And we will continue. Next season (in the Euroleague) an even bigger challenge awaits us, with more matches, more money needed for flights, hotels, having a larger squad. But we will take up the challenge because we want to achieve something unique in European basketball. But now, I don't want to think about the future, just drink, smoke cigars. Sometimes you have to sit back, enjoy and look at what you have accomplished. The rest will come in time.