Simone Pianigiani (born 31 May 1969) is an Italian 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.

Coaching career

Pro clubs

Pianigiani was appointed the head coach of the Italian League club

Montepaschi Siena Mens Sana Basketball Siena, also known as simply Mens Sana, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Siena. It is a section of the sports club Polisportiva Mens Sana, founded in 1871. Under the name Montepaschi Siena, derived from spon ...

before the 2006–07 season, and led his team to the Italian League championship in all six of his seasons on the bench. He was named the Italian League's Best Coach in 2007. The 2008–09 Italian League season was especially notable, as Montepaschi won the Italian SuperCup before the season, the

Italian Cup Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

at mid-season, and won the Italian League championship, by sweeping all three of their playoff series. In 44 Italian domestic games that season, they lost only once – at

Fortitudo Bologna Fortitudo Pallacanestro Bologna 103, commonly known as Fortitudo Bologna and currently known as Fortitudo Flats Service Bologna for sponsorship reasons, is a basketball club based in Bologna, Italy and currently plays in the second division. H ...

, in an Italian League game. As head coach in Siena, he reached the Euroleague Final Four twice (2008 and 2011). In the summer of 2012, he signed a two-year contract with Fenerbahçe Ülker. He resigned from his position as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Fenerbahçe Ülker in February 2013, citing personal issues. At the time of his resignation, the team was in the top spot of the

Turkish Basketball League Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The ...

; however, they were only in 7th place out of 8 teams in the top 16 stage of the

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 ...

. In June 2016, he signed a two-year contract with Hapoel Jerusalem. He led Hapoel to win the Israeli national championship and to reach the Eurocup semifinal. After one season, he parted ways with Hapoel, and signed a three-year contract with

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

. On 13 September 2020 Beijing Ducks announced Pianigiani as their new head coach, replacing Yannis Christopoulos. but already at the end of the year moved he from head coach position to consultant role. On June 13 2023

Cedevita Olimpija Košarkarski klub Cedevita Olimpija (), commonly referred to as KK Cedevita Olimpija or simply Olimpija, is a men's professional basketball club based in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The club competes in the ABA League and the Premier A Slovenian Bask ...

announced that Pianigiani signed a three-year contract with the Ljubljana side. Due to Pianigiani's health problems, the club and the head coach agreed to end their cooperation on January 1 2024 after a disappointing Eurocup season.

Italian national team

Pianigiani became the head coach of the senior men's

Italian national basketball team The Italy men's national basketball team () represents Italy in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). Italy has qualified for 38 EuroBasket tournaments, winning two gold medals ( ...

in 2009, which he coached until 2015. He coached Italy at the

EuroBasket 2011 EuroBasket 2011 was the 37th men's European Basketball Championship, held by FIBA Europe. The competition was hosted by Lithuania. This was the second time EuroBasket had been held in Lithuania, the country having also hosted the 1939 champions ...

, the

EuroBasket 2013 EuroBasket 2013 was the 38th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe. It took place from 4 September until 22 September 2013 in Slovenia. The number of participating teams was 24. France men's national basketball ...

, and the EuroBasket 2015.

Coaching record

EuroLeague

, - , align="left", Montepaschi , align="left", 2007–08 , 24 , , 17 , , 7 , , , , align="center", Won in 3rd place game , - , align="left", Montepaschi , align="left", 2008–09 , 20 , , 13 , , 7 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in quarterfinals , - , align="left", Montepaschi , align="left", 2009–10 , 16 , , 11 , , 5 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left", Montepaschi , align="left", 2010–11 , 22 , , 16 , , 6 , , , , align="center", Won in 3rd place game , - , align="left", Montepaschi , align="left", 2011–12 , 20 , , 13 , , 7 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in quarterfinals , - , align="left", Fenerbahçe , align="left", 2012–13 , 18 , , 7 , , 11 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in Top 16 stage , - , align="left",

Milano Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nearly 1.4 million, while i ...

, align="left", 2017–18 , 30 , , 10 , , 20 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , - , align="left",

, align="left", 2018–19 , 30 , , 14 , , 16 , , , , align="center", Eliminated in regular season , -class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan=2, Career, , 180, , 101, , 79, , , ,

Honors and titles

Head coach * Italian League Champion: 6 : Mens Sana Siena: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 :

: 2018 * Italian SuperCup Winner: 7 :Mens Sana Siena: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 :Olimpia Milano: 2017, 2018 *

Winner: 3 :Mens Sana Siena: 2009, 2010, 2011 * EuroLeague Final Four Participation: 2 :Mens Sana Siena: 2008, 2011 *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

Winner: :Fenerbahçe Ülker:

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

Champion: :Hapoel Jerusalem:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* Israeli League Cup Winner: :Hapoel Jerusalem:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Assistant coach *

Saporta Cup The FIBA Saporta Cup, founded as ''FIBA European Cup Winners Cup'', was the name of the second-tier level European-wide professional club basketball competition, where the domestic National Cup winners, from all over Europe, played against eac ...

Champion: :Mens Sana Siena: 2002 * Italian League Champion: :Mens Sana Siena: 2004 * Italian SuperCup Winner: :Mens Sana Siena: 2004–05 * EuroLeague Final Four Participation: 2 :Mens Sana Siena: 2003, 2004 Youth coach *Italian Youth Tournaments: Cadets: 2 :Mens Sana Siena: 2002, 2003 Juniors: 2 :Mens Sana Siena: 2004, 2005 Under 20: :Mens Sana Siena: 2006

References

External links

Simone Pianigiani
at euroleague.net
Simone Pianigiani
at legabasket.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Pianigiani, Simone 1969 births Living people Basketbol Süper Ligi head coaches Fenerbahçe basketball coaches Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. coaches Italian basketball coaches Mens Sana Basket coaches KK Cedevita Olimpija coaches Sportspeople from Siena