Lassi Tuovi is the new assistant coach of Virtus Bologna, which plays in the Euroleague.
– Lassi’s contract with Bologna is a great proof of Finnish coaching skills and also the best preparation for him for the future, says the head of coaching of the Basketball Association. Henrik Dettmann to the basket.fi website.
Tuovin, who last coached SIG Strasbourg at the club team level, was invited to Bologna by the team’s new head coach Luca Banchi.
Virtus Bologna fired the Spanish national team pilot who coached the team just over a week ago Sergio Scariolon and hired the Italian Banchi as his manager, who coached Latvia to a historic fifth place in the World Cup in August and September.
After signing a two-year head coach contract, Banchi contacted Tuovi and offered him the position of assistant coach.
– There was a quick need to build a coaching team, and he invited me to join. I had already thought for a long time that the next step in my career could be the duties of an assistant coach in a large organization in order to develop and seek new lessons for myself as well as for Finnish basketball, says Tuovi.
“It’s not worth living in your own bubble”
What makes the coaching story delicious is that Banchi was exactly the person who replaced Tuov at the helm of Strasbourg. The most fruitful two-and-a-half-year period ended in November last year.
– This illustrates well that coaching is teamwork. That’s why it’s worth building up as strong connections as possible, without thinking about what everyone is or where everyone has been. It’s a good indication that you shouldn’t live in your own bubble, but look around openly and see opportunities there, emphasizes Tuovi.
Tuovi says he always wanted to get to the hardest possible place to learn new things. Equally important to him is the fact that, as a coach, he is able to “collect things in a backpack” in order to help Finnish basketball forward.
According to Tuov, you can see from everything that the realities of Virtus Bologna are different from, say, his previous club, SIG Strasbourg.
– This is a big club. You can see it from the investment, the number of assistant coaches and the way the everyday goes here, as well as the way the players are treated here from breakfast onwards.
Own operating model for Virtus Bologna
Playing in the Euroleague, Bologna just had a victorious Supercup weekend. The series starts next Sunday. After that, Bologna will play matches at a pace of two or three games a week until next June.
– We certainly work in small groups, and not everyone focuses on everything. There are Italian coaches who know the local teams better. Knowledge must be shared all the time. The most important thing is to create your own operating model, where you have to challenge. There is definitely enough work for everyone here, emphasizes the Finnish coach.
Tuov already has a clear understanding of his own role in a famous basketball organization.
– The role of the first assistant coach is important in that you have to help the head coach and lighten his burden, which he does not have enough time for. From my point of view, it involves a lot of personnel coordination, so that the whole works as well as possible, and the responsible coach does not have to manage everyday life all the time.
Luka Banchi’s focus is first and foremost on the players and the team. Tuovive’s new job is rewarding, because he once ran similar things at Susijeng as Henrik Dettmann’s responsible assistant.
Tuovi believes that he will bring to the Italian club the kind of experience, observations and habits that he himself was able to draw from in Susijeng.
The basketball pilot from Lappeenranta states that when the coaching has been renewed at the beginning of the season, then the most important thing at the beginning is that the coaches are able to help and also listen to the players.
– You always learn a lot from the players and you also get knowledge from them. We already have a nice joke going on about the Serbian’s upcoming EC qualifying matches Ognjen Dobricrepresenting Denmark by Gabriel Lundberg and Georgian Turret Shengelian with.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 2000s, Virtus Bologna won nine Italian league and seven Italian Cup championships, as well as the 1998 and 2001 Euroleague championships.
– The club’s success goals are tough and the Euroleague brings a whole new dimension to this, enthuses Tuovi.