Joan Plaza

Joan Plaza Durán (born 26 December 1963) is a Spanish professional basketball coach for Coosur Real Betis of the Liga ACB. He trained Real Madrid Baloncesto for three years, winning one Liga ACB championship, and an ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) title. In 2009, after a bad season, he was replaced in Real Madrid, by CSKA Moscow's successful coach, Ettore Messina.

Joan Plaza
Coosur Real Betis
PositionHead coach
LeagueLiga ACB
Personal information
Born (1963-12-26) 26 December 1963
Barcelona, Spain
NationalitySpanish
Coaching career2000–present
Career history
As coach:
2000–2005Joventut Badalona (assistant)
2005–2006Real Madrid (assistant)
2006–2009Real Madrid
2009–2012Cajasol
2012–2013Žalgiris
2013–2018Unicaja
2018–2020Zenit
2020–presentReal Betis
Career highlights and awards
As head coach
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Plaza and the second or maternal family name is Durán.

Coaching career

Joan Plaza began his career with the basketball school founded by him and his brothers, EB Betsaida. At the same time, he worked for the women's team EB Santísima Trinitat, as well as the small club CB Sant Adriá. In 1995, he at last became a new coach of Joventut de Badalona, where he worked as the youth and assistant trainer, until 2004. His greatest achievement was in the 2000–01 season, when his team won the Spanish Under-20 championship.

In the summer of 2004, following the wishes of the new coach Božidar Maljković, Plaza switched to Real Madrid. When the Serbian coach left after a disappointing season, Plaza assumed the position of head coach.

In the following season, Real Madrid won their first thirteen Liga ACB games in a row, giving Plaza a new record for a coach in his first season. The team also won the European-wide ULEB Cup (now called EuroCup) competition, and he was named the AEEB Coach of the Year.

In the 2007–08 season, Real Madrid signed Greek star Lazaros Papadopoulos, who failed to perform well during the whole season. The team lost in the first round of the Liga ACB playoffs, and didn't reach the EuroLeague Final Four for the 12th consecutive year. Madrid's 2008–09 season's team was reformed, but failed once again to reach the EuroLeague Final Four, or to perform well in the Spanish Cup. After losing in the Liga ACB playoffs' second round to TAU Cerámica, Plaza was sacked, and he was replaced by the 4 time EuroLeague champion head coach, Ettore Messina, on June 18. The following day, he signed a one-year contract with the Spanish club Cajasol Sevilla.

In the 2016–17 season Plaza won his second EuroCup title with Unicaja after beating Valencia BC in the Finals. Plaza became the third coach to have won multiple EuroCup titles.[1]

On November 30, 2020, he has signed 1+1 year contract with Coosur Real Betis of the Liga ACB.[2]

Coaching record
Legend
G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win-loss %

Note: The EuroLeague is not the only competition in which the team played during the season. He also coached in domestic competition, and regional competition if applicable.

EuroLeague
Team Year G W L W–L% Result
Real Madrid 2007–08 20146.700Eliminated in Top 16 stage
Real Madrid 2008–09 20128.600Eliminated in quarterfinals
Žalgiris 2012–13 241410.583Eliminated in Top 16 stage
Unicaja 2013–14 241113.583Eliminated in Top 16 stage
Unicaja 2014–15 24816.333Eliminated in Top 16 stage
Unicaja 2015–16 241113.458Eliminated in Top 16 stage
Unicaja 2017–18 301317.333Eliminated in regular season
Career1668383.500

Honours
Unicaja
Real Madrid
Žalgiris Kaunas
Individual

References
  1. "UNICAJA MALAGA: FACTS OF THE CHAMPION!". Eurocupbasketball.com. 6 April 2017.
  2. "Joan Plaza named Coosur Real Betis head coach". Sportando. November 30, 2020. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
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