Joonas Iisalo (born 5 January 1986) is a Finnish

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

coach and former player. He most recently served as head coach of the MLP Academics Heidelberg. Standing at , Iisalo played as shooting guard during his playing career. He capped for Finnish youth national teams on many occasions.

Early life

Joonas Iisalo's father worked as a foreign correspondent in

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as West Berlin. From 13 August 1961 u ...

in the 1980s.Zwei Brüder, ein Stil
Stefan Koch -

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

, 6 November 2022. Accessed 11 May 2023. Both Joonas and his older brother Tuomas later became professional basketball coaches. Their sister Meri Valkama became a journalist who won the 2021 prize for best debut novel in Finland with her book "Sinun, Margot" where she describes the story of the Iisalo family.

Coaching career

Joonas coached as an associate head coach to his brother Tuomas for the

Crailsheim Merlins The Crailsheim Merlins, for sponsorships reasons named Hakro Merlins Crailsheim, is a professional basketball club based in Crailsheim, Germany. Established in 1986, the club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), the highest professional leag ...

and for the

Telekom Baskets Bonn Telekom Baskets Bonn, also known as Baskets Bonn, is a German professional basketball club that is based in Bonn, Germany. The club plays in the Basketball Bundesliga, which is the highest level pro basketball league in Germany. The club's spon ...

. For the 2022–23 season, he switched teams to become head coach of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

competitor MLP Academics Heidelberg. On 27 September 2023, he extended his contract with Heidelberg, signing a deal until the end of 2025–26 season.

Coaching style

According to reports, the Iisalo style has been based on pace, many three-point shots and strong offensive rebounding.

Personal

Joonas Iisalo is married and has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iisalo, Tuomas Living people 1986 births Basketball players from Berlin Finnish basketball coaches Finnish expatriate basketball people in Germany Finnish men's basketball players Kouvot players Shooting guards Tapiolan Honka coaches Telekom Baskets Bonn coaches USC Heidelberg coaches