Following the departure of Joan Plaza, Zalgiris has already started the search for his replacement. BasketNews.lt reports that former Zalgiris coach Ilias Zouros is the top candidate for the job with assistant Oliver Kostic being the second one.
Zouros himself confirmed that Zalgiris is showing interest in his services and expressed his wish to make a return to Kaunas. Zalgiris didn’t get in touch with Zouros yet but the meeting is expected to take place in Treviso in Adidas camp.
The former Greek national team coach took charge of Zalgiris on January, 2011 but was suddenly fired after the opening Euroleague game the following season. He then continued his club-career in Turkey with Anadolu Efes before being replaced by Oktay Mahmuti.
The environment will be different this time around, if Zouros re-joins Zalgiris. His first reign in Kaunas was overshadowed with the pressure from the former owner Vladimir Romanov who insisted that the 47-year-old coach would rotate the players during the games in a pre-set order.
Although the future of Zalgiris for the next season is still unclear considering the club’s financial situation, the possible return of Ilias Zouros is a sign that the club will have a stronger roster than it was first expected.
Despite not having the freedom of coaching that most of his colleagues do, Zouros managed to win three titles in 2011 with Zalgiris: LKL, LKF Cup and BBL.
