Bonn, coached by Tuomas Iisalo, won’t be able to celebrate the Champions League victory for long, as its season continues already on Wednesday.
Joel Sippola,
Antti-Jussi Sipilä
– I got really emotional. I have never experienced such an emotional storm after a single basketball game.
This is the atmosphere of the basketball coach Tuomas Iisalo, whose coached German club Bonn won the sport’s Champions League championship on Sunday. In the final match played in Malaga, Bonn defeated Israel’s Hapoel Jerulasem 77–70.
Iisalo continues that when the championship was decided, he went through several things in his mind.
– I went through all the moments in fast-forward. How much work and how much sacrifice the players and families have made for this moment. There was an award for this incredible team, which is truly unique.
Bonn’s mark in this season’s Champions League was staggering. It only lost twice.
The story leading up to the championship was amazing. Its initial group was called the “death group” because of the really tough teams.
The continuation block was also very tough. Several top clubs fell along the way, such as the Spanish Malaga in the semi-finals.
– It was not the easiest route to the championship. Every experience made us stronger and united us.
Iisalo describes his team as a unique and young group.
– The players were ready to commit and understood that such opportunities are very rare in sports and life. I am extremely happy and grateful that we received an award that we can remember for the rest of our lives.
Everyday life continues immediately
Iisalo celebrated winning the Finnish Cup in his playing career, but otherwise the big wins have eluded the 40-year-old Finn. Now it shook properly.
The championship means a lot to Iisalo personally.
– Championships eluded me very strongly in my playing career. It was something that stuck with me after my playing career ended. I have tried to fix it in my coaching career. This is a balm for wounds.
However, everyday comes quickly. Bonn, who won the regular season of the German Bundesliga, opens the playoffs on Wednesday.
Before that, the team does very short restorative exercises.
– The most important thing is to get the body physically in a state where recovery can start better. After the game there were a lot of extra interviews and we were late at the hotel celebrating the achievement. Tomorrow begins the actual preparation against the very strong Chemnitz for Wednesday’s game, says Iisalo.