By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
In a pregame press conference before the NBA Berlin Game 2026 presented by Tissot, the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies, Tuomas Iisalo, compared his current job with previous European experience as the play-caller of several teams, including his Basketball Champions League and BKT EuroCup championship campaigns with Telekom Baskets Bonn in 2023 and Paris in 2024.
“The rules are different. The court is bigger. Playing time is longer. Some of the rule interpenetrations are different. That changes,” he initially stressed.
The Helsinki native went on to specifically share his view from a coaching perspective.
“You have the talent level of the best offensive players, I’d say ridiculous,” he said on coaching his players in the NBA.
“In Europe, you can get away with playing these base coverages, base defenses. Night in, night out, you can be pretty solid with those, whereas that would get you into trouble against a lot of teams, if you are predictable, against the best teams,” he added.
Iisalo also went into huge variations in preparing his team.
“This year, I think we had one week before the first game. And then the games just roll on, and you start playing. During the season, there is very little time to practice, whereas in Europe, you are afforded at least four weeks of preseason. You can kind of get the team into rhythm,” he mentioned.
Furthermore, he talked about the different approaches between NBA and European teams.
“In Europe, you can see how many coaches get fired. In the EuroLeague, I think seven have either been fired or resigned because you also have to win right away. So, the timeframes that the organizations work with are much shorter in Europe, partly because of emotions, and secondly because of the contract lengths, which are longer in the NBA. So, you are actually able to have longer processes in the NBA,” he said.
Coach Iisalo breaks down the differences he’s seen between coaching internationally in Europe and coaching in the NBA.
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Following Thursday’s meeting with the Orlando Magic in Berlin’s Uber Arena, a rematch follows in London’s The O2 Arena on Sunday. Both sides will return to a normal schedule across North American cities for the remainder of the 2025-26 Regular Season.
Entering the European stretch, the Grizzlies sit tenth in the Western Conference standings, at the bottom end of the Play-In zone, on a 17-22 record.