Joans Plaza Recalls Zalgiris Tenure
Former basketball coach Joans Plaza recounted his 2012–2013 coaching tenure with BC Žalgiris in a recent podcast appearance on The Triple Crown, detailing how top European basketball figures warned him against taking the job. Plaza became the first Spanish specialist to coach a non-Spanish EuroLeague club when he signed with the Lithuanian team, 15min.lt reported.
The team opened the EuroLeague regular season with a 5-0 record and finished the C group at 8-2. However, financial instability soon hit the organization. Plaza recalled that the club began delaying salary payments and the owner fled, though the team still secured the domestic league championship and he earned LKL Coach of the Year honors before returning to Spain.
Calls to Obradović, Messina, and Bertomeu
Before accepting the position in Kaunas, Plaza weighed the career move by reaching out to established basketball figures at 23:30. He called Željko Obradović, Ettore Messina, and Jordi Bertomeu, asking them directly what he should do given the need for a fast decision. All three gave him the exact same warning not to go there.
Plaza noted that his primary association with the club before arriving was Arvydas Sabonis. Despite the warnings from his peers, he decided to travel to an unfamiliar country without knowing the local language. He quickly became a favorite among Žalgiris supporters, aided in part by the local popularity of his fiction novel Angelina’s sheets published during that period.
Joans Plaza Coached Žalgiris in the EuroLeague
When did Joans Plaza coach Žalgiris?
Plaza coached the Kaunas club during the 2012–2013 season, marking his first stint outside of Spain in the EuroLeague.
How did Žalgiris perform in the EuroLeague under Plaza?
The team started the group stage with five consecutive wins and finished the C group with an 8-2 record before financial problems emerged.
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