Guest: Joan Plaza, Spanish Professional Basketball Coach In this week's coaching conversation, Spanish professional basketball Joan Plaza joins the Basketball Podcast to share insights on modern coaching: Instilling confidence and empowerment. Joan Plaza is a Spanish professional basketball coach with an impressive track record. His coaching journey spans across various European teams, where he has consistently achieved success at the highest levels of the game. Plaza most recently was head coach of AEK in the Greek League and in the Basketball Champions League. Plaza began his coaching career at the basketball school he co-founded, EB Betsaida, and worked with the women’s team EB Santísima Trinitat and the small club CB Sant Adriá. During the 2000–01 season, he led his team to victory in the Spanish Under-20 championship. A veteran of 194 coaching appearances in the EuroLeague, spread between Zenit, Unicaja, Zalgiris, and Real Madrid. His most notable coaching stint was with Real Madrid, where he initially served as an assistant coach under Božidar Maljković. When Maljković departed, Plaza stepped up as the head coach. Under his leadership, Real Madrid achieved remarkable milestones, including thirteen consecutive Liga ACB wins and winning the ULEB Cup (now known as EuroCup) in the same season. Plaza was named the AEEB Coach of the Year. Plaza’s coaching journey continued with other prominent teams including Cajasol Sevilla, Unicaja Malaga, where he secured his second EuroCup title in the 2016–17 season., Zenit Saint Petersburg, and Real Betis. Breakdown 1:00 - Coaching Youth Basketball 2:30 - Sharing Experiences 7:30 - Modern vs Traditional Coaching Methods 10:30 - Player Development and Communication 17:00 - Assistance in Decision Making 20:30 - Building Confidence 27:00 - Creating Strategy and Goals 31:00 - Time Management 36:00 - Coaching Methods 40:00 - Game Plan and Priorities 48:00 - Coaching Philosophy and Passion 55:00 - Conclusion Joan Plaza’s Bio: Bio/Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Plaza Twitter: https://x.com/joanplazaduran Chris Oliver / Basketball Immersion Website: http://basketballimmersion.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bballimmersion?lang=en YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/basketballimmersion Facebook: https://facebook.com/basketballimmersion Immersion Videos: Check out all our all-access practice and specialty clinics: https://www.immersionvideos.com