Joan Plaza Durán (born 26 December 1963) is a Spanish professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

. He coached

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

for three years, winning one

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

championship, and a

ULEB Cup EuroCup Basketball, commonly known as the EuroCup and currently called BKT EuroCup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual professional basketball club competition organized by Euroleague Basketball. The league is regarded as Euroleague Basketbal ...

(now called EuroCup) title.

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 Božidar "Boža" Maljković ( sr-Cyrl, Божидар "Божа" Маљковић; born 20 April 1952) is a Serbian former professional basketball coach and current president of the Olympic Committee of Serbia. He is one of the most successful b ...

, Plaza switched to

. When the Serbian coach left after a disappointing season, Plaza assumed the position of

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

. 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

(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 Lazaros Papadopoulos (Greek: Λάζαρος Παπαδόπουλος; born 3 June 1980) is a Greek former professional basketball player. He was listed at 7 ft (2.13 m) 265 lbs (120 kg), and he played the center position. During h ...

, 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 The EuroLeague Final Four is the final four format championship of the European-wide top-tier level EuroLeague professional club basketball competition. The Euroleague Basketball Company used the final four format for the first time in 2002, fo ...

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 The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

. After losing in the Liga ACB playoffs' second round to

TAU Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D commonly known as Saski Baskonia () and also simply as Baskonia, is a professional basketball team based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroLeague. History 1959–1969 ...

, Plaza was sacked, and he was replaced by the 4 times

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

champion head coach,

Ettore Messina Ettore Messina (born 30 September 1959) is an Italian professional basketball coach who is the head coach of Olimpia Milano of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA). He has won four EuroLeague championships as a head coach. Messina is regarded a ...

, 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 Unicaja is a Spanish savings bank based in Málaga and chartered as a caja de ahorros providing retail banking services. The banks full name is ''Monte de Piedad y Caja de Ahorros de Ronda, Cádiz, Almería, Málaga y Antequera'' after the ...

after beating

Valencia BC Valencia Basket Club S.A.D., commonly known as Valencia Basket (), is a professional basketball team based in Valencia, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the EuroCup, and his women's team was created in 2014 and promoted to Liga Femenin ...

in the Finals. Plaza became the third coach to have won multiple EuroCup titles. On November 30, 2020, he signed 1+1 year contract with Coosur Real Betis of the

. In June 2023, Plaza signed a two-year contract with

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. On January 25, 2024, he parted ways with the Greek club. On January 23, 2025, he signed with

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

of the Spanish

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left",

, align="left", 2007–08 , 20 , , 14 , , 6 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2008–09 , 20 , , 12 , , 8 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in quarterfinals , - , align="left", Žalgiris , align="left",

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 24 , , 14 , , 10 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2013–14 , 24 , , 11 , , 13 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2014–15 , 24 , , 8 , , 16 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2015–16 , 24 , , 11 , , 13 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2017–18 , 30 , , 13 , , 17 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left", Zenit , align="left", 2019–20 , 28 , , 8 , , 20 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 194, , 91, , 103, , , ,

Honours

;Unicaja * EuroCup (1): 2016–17 ;Real Madrid *

(1): 2006–07 *

(1): 2006–07 ;Žalgiris Kaunas *

Lithuanian Supercup The Lithuanian Supercup () or LFF Supercup is an annual football match contested between the champions of the previous A Lyga season and the holders of the Lithuanian Football Cup. It is organised by and named after Lithuanian Football Federation a ...

(1): 2012 *

Lietuvos krepšinio lyga Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL; ), also known as Betsafe LKL for sponsorship reasons, is the premier men's professional club basketball league in Lithuania. It is composed of 10 teams, and it is a member of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation. ...

(1) : 2013 ;Individual * AEEB Spanish Coach of the Year: 2007 * ACB Best Coach: 2008

References

External links

Joan Plaza
at acb.com
Joan Plaza
at euroleague.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaza, Joan Living people 1963 births AEK B.C. coaches Baloncesto Málaga coaches BC Andorra coaches BC Žalgiris coaches BC Zenit Saint Petersburg coaches Catalan basketball coaches Joventut Badalona coaches Liga ACB head coaches Real Betis Baloncesto coaches Real Madrid basketball coaches Spanish basketball coaches Spanish expatriate basketball people in Russia Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Greece Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania