By Kostas Giataganas/ info@eurohoops.net
The EuroLeague is reaching its high point after the finale of the regular season and the playoffs that follow, with eight teams continuing to compete for the Final Four and the title!
In a season with so many upsets, coaches were among the protagonists, as half of the teams in the competition went ahead with replacing theirs. Which of them presented the best “versions” of their teams? Who are the coaches whose teams played the best basketball, who of them turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and who among those that took over during the season managed to change the team’s image for the better?
Eurohoops presents the candidates for the Best Coach of the season in the EuroLeague and you can go ahead and vote.
ZELJKO OBRADOVIC
Fenerbahce | March 9, 1960 | Serbia
In his sixth season in Fenerbahce, Obradovic continues to maintain his team at the highest possible level. This season, he’s doing something that he hadn’t done in the previous two seasons with the new format: lead his team to the top spot in the regular season. The multi title-winning coach of nine trophies achieved this with extremely well worked basketball, a sign of how consistent and coherent the Turkish champions appeared in the “marathon” season. Their next goal, of course, is a fifth consecutive appearance in the Final Four, a fourth consecutive final and a second trophy win after 2017.
DIMITRIS ITOUDIS
CSKA Moscow | September 8, 1970 | Greece
His fifth season in Moscow and the goals are still the same for Dimitris Itoudis. Under his instructions, CSKA want nothing less than the top spot, with the Muscovites finishing in second place in the regular season. This happened with performances and wins that came through excellent basketball, as we’ve grown accustomed to by the Army Team in Itoudis’s time, but also with some unexpected defeats. Perhaps it’s the first time in recent years that CSKA had some ups and downs during the regular season, but those can be used by Itoudis as good… fertilizer now that the most crucial part of the season is coming, with the aim of repeating the triumph of 2016.
PABLO LASO
Real Madrid | October 13, 1967 | Spain
Having the most years on the bench of the same team is not something that happens by chance, especially when we’re talking about Real Madrid. Pablo Laso is in his 8th season in Madrid, most in a row than any other active coach in the EuroLeague and, for one more season, he has presented a team with endless solutions that can play excellent basketball. In addition, let’s not forget that, while Laso has been at the WiZink Center, two EuroLeague trophies have been won – the last one a few months ago in Belgrade – and the Madrilenos are not willing to hand over the reins so easily.
ERGIN ATAMAN
Anadolu Efes | January 7, 1966 | Turkey
In his second season in Efes, Ergin Ataman has presented the most improved team of the season compared to the last one. From being at the bottom last season, not only did they get into the Top 8, they even won the home court advantage and have now set sail for the quite bigger goal: returning to the Final Four after 18 years and what would be their first in the modern era. Undoubtedly Efes’s amazing improvement is not only a result of the quite considerable units they have on the court, something they had in previous seasons too, but even more of their coach, who wants still more.