By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Bayern Munich newly appointed head coach Andrea Trinchieri admitted to being somewhat stunned with the transfer moves that are made by EuroLeague clubs so far in the 2019-2020 offseason and during the coronavirus crisis.
Trinchieri, who officially became the head coach of the German powerhouse Wednesday (15/6), said that he’s “a little bit shocked” with a couple of blockbuster signings while accepting that Bayern will have to take an alternative route to reach its goal of presenting a competitive outfit in next season’s EuroLeague.
“I’m a little bit shocked. ‘Crisis – crisis – crisis, no money, no hopes.’ And then, boom! A lot of big trades, big names, big contracts,” Trinchieri said in a video interview for Bayern Munich. “We will need to go in a different way, a different direction. This doesn’t mean we aren’t going to compete. There are different ways we can do things.”
Some of the most notable summer signings include Barcelona acquiring former All-EuroLeague guard Nick Calathes plus CSKA Moscow getting former All-EuroLeague forward Tornike Shengelia and center Nikola Milutinov. Olimpia Milano has also been quite active in the market, by adding four-time EuroLeague champion/two-time DPOY Kyle Hines and former All-EuroLeague guard Malcolm Delaney, among others.
The “unofficial 2020 EuroLeague MVP” Shane Larkin is staying with Anadolu Efes as coach Ergin Ataman confirmed. Larkin, the leading scorer of the 2020 EuroLeague before the season’s cancelation, has signed a lucrative two-year deal with the Turkish powerhouse.
Bayern’s lineup is incomplete so far. Trinchieri can’t wait to see how the squad will be shaped in order to begin creating his game plans.
“I’m looking forward and I’m very excited to see how the team will look,” Trinchieri added. “On paper first. Then I’ll have to drag and drop this from the paper to the court. I never lose a game before playing. I want to play. Will the opponent be better? I’ll shake hands, say congrats, and then move to the next one. Right now? I dream for the best.”
Trinchieri, a once self-confessed “details maniac,” says he’s now undergone a kind of a necessary transformation as a coach in order to adapt to a new basketball reality, especially when it comes to the short-term lifespan of rosters nowadays.
“I changed a little bit. I started being like a maniac about the details. I don’t believe that now in 2020 you can have one style. I believe that the most important thing for a coach nowadays is to be flexible and to adapt with the roster. I’m like a tailor, you give me the material – I hope it’s silk or cashmere – and I have to make a perfect suit. There are things for which I won’t make a compromise: dedication, passion, commitment. But these are very general things. I’ll try to do my best to understand how to make the team play their best possible basketball. The cycle of the team changed a lot. It’s very short. You don’t keep players for a long time so you need to be flexible. You need to adapt. Darwin said that. You adapt, you survive.”
Photo: Partizan NIS via ABA League