By Stelios Toromanidis / info@eurohoops.net
If the players are the protagonists in the “movie” of a basketball game, the coach is the… director. He is the absolute coordinator of everything we see taking place in a fast pace on the courts, and the person who envisions the team’s course to the Final Four and the trophy.
Fortunately or unfortunately, in professional sports, everything is judged by the result and coaches know this better than anyone. They bear the brunt when things get tough, while they receive less than what they should of the spoils when success comes. But this is the job of the coach. Hundreds of coaches have taken part in the modern era of Europe’s top club competition, with the aim of taking their teams to the top and becoming prominent. Ten of them didn’t just try, they made it, and the result was the payoff for their labors, the fans’ recognition and our own praise.
From 2000 to today, there have been eight different teams that have won the competition and ten coaches that led them to this achievement. Eurohoops presents those ten, along with some interesting stats. Who has the most trophies? Who has the most wins? Who has the most appearances? Who has the highest win average?
All the answers are on the list that follows, which is in the form of a countdown. The ranking was made according to:
- The conditions under which they reached their accomplishments
- The number of their trophies
- The number of their Final Four appearances
- Personal distinctions
*All of the following data concerns the modern era of the EuroLeague (2000-2017).
10. Svetislav Pesic
Nationality: Serbian
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 7 (2002-2004, 2010-2011, 2013-2016, 2017-2018)
Teams: 3
Barcelona (2002-2004, 2018)
Valencia (2010-2011)
Bayern Munich (2013-2016)
EuroLeague trophies: 1 (2003)
Final Four appearances: 1 (2003)
EuroLeague games: 109
Record (W-L): 59-50 (54.1%)
One of the most successful coaches of the last 30 years in Europe. On his record of achievements (aside from titles at the international level with Serbia and Germany) he has three different European trophies on a club level, since, aside from the 2003 EuroLeague he won with Barcelona, he also won the 1995 Korac Cup with Alba Berlin and the 2007 FIBA EuroCup with Girona.
He’s in tenth place of our picks because aside from the year he led the Blaugrana to the title in front of their fans, he didn’t manage to get into the phase of the Top 16 on any other occasion.
He has been back on the Catalans’ bench since February 2018 and he wants to win another Spanish championship after the one in 2004.
9. Dimitris Itoudis
Nationality: Greek
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 4 (2014-ongoing)
Teams: 1
CSKA Moscow (2014-ongoing)
EuroLeague trophies: 1 (2016)
Final Four appearances: 3 (2015, 2016, 2017)
EuroLeague games: 128
Record (W-L): 103-25 (80.5%)
He’s the coach with the highest win average in the modern era of the EuroLeague. He took over CSKA Moscow in 2014 and since then he has won one trophy in the competition, while in a few days, in Belgrade, he will be appearing in the fourth Final Four in a row. He’s one of only seven coaches with more than 100 wins in the competition (2000-today).
Before starting his career as head coach, Itoudis was Zeljko Obradovic‘s right hand in Panathinaikos for 13 years (1999-2012), reaching five EuroLeague titles.
8. David Blatt
Nationality: American/Israeli
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 10 (2001-2003, 2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2016-2017)
Teams: 4
Maccabi Tel Aviv (2001-2003, 2010-2014)
Benetton (2005-2007)
Efes (2007-2008)
Darussafaka (2016-2017)
EuroLeague trophies: 1 (2014)
Final Four appearances: 3 (2002, 2011, 2014)
EuroLeague games: 232
Record (W-L): 137-95 (59.1%)
One of the most seasoned coaches in the EuroLeague and third in terms of appearances. He won the trophy in 2014 with Maccabi Tel Aviv, in a Final Four in which they were the absolute outsiders against CSKA Moscow, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
He counts a total of three appearances in the Final Four, while this season he led Darussafaka to a 7DAYS EuroCup title, thanks to which the Turkish team secured their return to the EuroLeague next season.