Basketball coach Martin Schiller and his dream of the NBA

Martin Schiller is doing well, he is a positive-thinking person and head coach of the table leader in the basketball Euroleague. But that summer he found himself trapped in a dead end. After three years of excellent work in the G-League, the NBA’s development league, Corona seemed to be blocking the 38-year-old’s next career step. In 2017, Schiller took over as coach of the Salt Lake City Stars, the farm team of Utah Jazz, which he transformed from the worst team in the league into one of the best within three seasons.

Last season he won the Winter Showcase with the Stars and had the second best record of all teams at the end of the season. For this he was named “Coach of the Year”. A position as assistant coach in the NBA would have been the deserved and logical next stop. But the pandemic ensured that hardly anything moved in the summer. Schiller was unsure whether he should stay in the G-League for a fourth year, where the working conditions are difficult and the wages are poor.

The league is a stepping stone on which you shouldn’t stay too long. The coach was surprised and disappointed that no offer came from Germany. After all, he is a “child of the Bundesliga”, was an assistant coach at Artland Dragons from 2010 to 2015 and then worked in the same role in Ludwigsburg for two years. Since Schiller also repeatedly acted as an assistant for the German men’s national team (most recently at the World Cup), it would actually have been understandable if a German team had tried to find the successful coach.

Interview via video phone call

While the basketball teacher was pondering what to do next, a request from Lithuania came out of nowhere. Zalgiris Kaunas, the flagship club of the basketball-crazy country and seeded Euroleague participant, called him in July. In the video calls, Schiller made such a good impression that those in charge presented him with a contract offer within two days. For Schiller, who was born in Vienna and grew up in Hamburg since he was six, it was an opportunity that he did not miss. With his wife and two young daughters, he packed their bags in Utah and threw himself into the new task. Although he first had to put his NBA dream on file, a head coach position in the Euroleague is higher than an assistant coach position in the American professional league.

Schiller has all the requirements to become one of the greats in the coaching guild. He is a disciplined worker, has great knowledge and understanding of basketball and has clear conceptual ideas, which he consistently pursues and communicates. He knows how to lead a group and makes good decisions even under pressure. The management in Kaunas was aware of all this when they made the choice for the Austrian and gave him a two-year contract.

Quiet and level-headed

Nevertheless, hardly anyone at Zalgiris expected such a fantastic start to the season: After six match days, the Lithuanians are leaders in the Euroleague with five wins and only one defeat, although they operate with one of the lowest budgets and have been placed in the lower third of the table by all experts. Schiller and Zalgiris Kaunas have written a success story so far. Away, the team is still unbeaten, won all four games in foreign halls, with three times before the final quarter.

It is precisely these comeback qualities that reflect Schiller’s mentality of remaining calm and level-headed, making adjustments within the given framework, waiting for the chance and then taking advantage of it. The new coach managed to step out of the great shadow of his predecessor Sarunas Jasikevicius, who had moved to Barcelona, ​​within a very short time. When he is out and about in town with his family, he is spoken to and congratulated on his work.

This Friday at 7pm (live on MagentaSport) Kaunas welcomes the regained Real Madrid royal for the “Game of the Week”. In the spot with which the Euroleague advertises this game, Schiller plays a decisive role together with the two-time Euroleague champion and real coach Pablo Laso. The two trainers meet at eye level in the truest sense of the word. This also shows the standing Schiller has achieved in just one month of the Euroleague.