Memphis Grizzlies hiring French league coach Tuomas Iisalo, known for offense, to staff

The Memphis Grizzlies are making more changes to the coaching staff. This time, Memphis is heading to Europe for its latest addition.

Paris Basketball coach Tuomas Iisalo is joining the Grizzlies, the team announced on Sunday. BasketNews first reported the opportunity on Saturday. Iilaso, 41, is a Finland native and former professional basketball player.

Iisalo started his coaching career in 2014 and has been a steady riser in Europe. He was Bundesliga Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2023 for Telekom Baskets Bonn in the highest level of pro basketball in Germany. He then made the jump to Paris Basketball in the LNB Pro A, which is the top division of basketball in France that has produced many NBA players.

Paris Basketball won the Leaders Cup and EuroCup championship under Iisalo's leadership. Their season ended on June 12 in a loss to an AS Monaco team that had four players with NBA starting experience in the French league finals.

This is the latest move on the Grizzlies staff that signals a change in offensive philosophy. Last season, Memphis added Patrick St. Andrews in large part with hopes that he would help improve the Grizzlies halfcourt offense. Injuries didn't allow Memphis to fully see that process through.

"The style of play and how we go about teaching it is something we're going to emphasize," Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said in May. "... Offensively, we know we didn't get it going last year for a variety of reasons, but we have an idea of the type of style we want to play."

Iisalo will also come to Memphis as a highly regarded innovative offensive coach. His Paris Basketball squad led LNB Pro A with 86.8 points per game They attempted two more 3-pointers per game than any other team in the league and still finished with the highest shooting percentage on 2-point shots.

The Grizzlies will begin summer league action on Monday in Salt Lake City.

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Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Grizzlies hiring Tuomas Iisalo as assistant coach