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.
7. Pablo Laso
Nationality: Spanish
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 7 (2011-ongoing)
Teams: 1
Real Madrid (2011-ongoing)
EuroLeague trophies: 1 (2015)
Final Four appearances: 4 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2017)
EuroLeague games: 203
Record (W-L): 142-61 (70%)
He’s among the best coaches of the last decade in the EuroLeague. With him at the helm, Real Madrid returned at the top of Europe in 2015 after 20 years.
Aside from that, he presents to the European fans an extremely aggressive and impressive team that combines success with spectacle. This season he led the Whites to the Final Four for the fifth time in seven years, when in the pre-Laso era the Madrilenos had just four appearances in 23 seasons.
6. Georgios Bartzokas
Nationality: Greek
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 6 (2009-2010, 2012-2014, 2015-ongoing)
Teams: 5
Maroussi (2009-2010)
Olympiacos (2012-2014)
Lokomotiv Kuban (2015-2016)
Barcelona (2016-2017)
Khimki (2017-ongoing)
EuroLeague trophies: 1 (2013)
Final Four appearances: 2 (2013, 2016)
EuroLeague games: 171
Record (W-L): 98-73 (57.3%)
Coach Bartzokas has the know-how to lead the teams he takes over on very good courses, his most important achievement being the EuroLeague trophy in 2013 with Olympiacos.
His task was even more difficult if we consider that he took over the Reds as defending champions when he was called to replace the great Dusan Ivkovic.
In the 2015-2016 season, he masterfully directed Lokomotiv Kuban’s course to their first and so far only EuroLeague Final Four in their history, while this season he led Khimki to their first-ever appearance in the playoffs, something he almost achieved with the little-known Maroussi team in the 2009-2010 season.
5. Xavi Pascual
Nationality: Spanish
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 11 (2007-ongoing)
Teams: 2
Barcelona (2007-2016)
Panathinaikos (2016-ongoing)
EuroLeague trophies: 1 (2010)
Final Four appearances: 5 (2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014)
EuroLeague games: 277
Record (W-L): 198-79 (71.5%)
He’s the only coach who has 11 consecutive appearances in the playoffs of the EuroLeague. That is the period between 2005 and 2011, during which Pascual kept Barcelona in Europe’s Top 8, while he also won a EuroLeague trophy and had five appearances in the Final Four with them.
In the last two seasons, he has been Panathinaikos‘s coach and he wants to lead their return to the Final Four of the competition since 2012.
4. Pini Gershon
Nationality: Israeli
Seasons in the EuroLeague: 7 (2003-2010)
Teams: 2
Maccabi Tel Aviv (2003-2006, 2008-2010)
Olympiacos (2006-2008)
EuroLeague trophies: 2 (2004, 2005)
Final Four appearances: 3 (2004, 2005, 2006)
EuroLeague games: 144
Record (W-L): 98-46 (68.1%)
From 2000 to today, he has coached a EuroLeague team for seven seasons and has a little less than 100 wins in the competition. Even so, he’s one of three coaches with two or more titles in the competition!
In fact, he got those in back-to-back wins with Maccabi Tel Aviv in the two years between 2003 and 2005, while the following year he reached the final against CSKA Moscow. His stint in Olympiacos included two appearances in the playoffs, while his return to the Israeli team wasn’t as successful.
At this time, he’s not on any team’s bench, though he hasn’t retired yet.