It is good basketball custom for the loser to congratulate the opponent on their victory before making their first official statement. Andrea Trinchieri has had some practice with it this season, in the Euroleague and Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) he had to express himself a total of 33 times, more than ever during his time as coach of FC Bayern Munich. On Sunday evening he paid tribute to his Ulm colleague Anton Gavel for the 87:69 away win in the first playoff semi-final, a “deserved victory”, as he specified: “They kicked our butts.”
You’ve also heard the explanations that Trinchieri gave afterwards. He has too many newcomers on the team, players with no experience in this kind of knockout series. The Italian again lamented the lack of leaders in captain Vladimir Lucic, Augustine Rubit and Othello Hunter, and against Ulm he was joined by Corey Walden with a cold. Another leader who hasn’t always enjoyed the coach’s unwavering trust as the season progressed. In addition, the players lacked “mental discipline”, by which Trinchieri probably meant physical as well as psychological signs of wear and tear.
However, this coach’s rookie theory only applies to the three Americans Cassius Winston, Freddie Gillespie and Zylan Cheatham, otherwise he has a whole range of internationally experienced players in the squad. Especially in the German positions, his club has fulfilled his wish for top-class players. Niels Giffey, Nick Weiler-Babb and Andreas Obst have won the European Championship bronze medal in their portfolios in addition to many Euroleague games. Isaac Bonga is a German national player, Ognjen Jaramaz plays for Serbia, Elias Harris and Paul Zipser, who incidentally hasn’t been on the field for a second, also have international experience. And DJ Seeley was signed up for exactly these games because of his Euroleague experience, but stewed the entire quarter-final series on the bench. The 3-0 win against Göttingen had already revealed a number of weaknesses. In the second game, for example, Obst’s injury threw the Munich team so out of rhythm that they almost lost. And now there was an opponent bursting with strength on the floor, who had eliminated the dull master Berlin.
Ulm is riding a wave after beating champions Berlin, but Munich have more quality in their squad
Of course, Ulm is riding a wave, the Swabians also have a top-class Brazilian duo in playmaker Yago Dos Santos and NBA-experienced center Bruno Caboclo. And they are also better positioned in terms of width than ever before. Former Munich player Karim Jallow, who was unable to assert himself at Bayern, brings a lot of energy into the game. Brandon Paul is an experienced winger, while Robin Christen, German-Austrian Thomas Klepeisz and Philipp Herkenhoff, who has recently recovered from a year-long injury absence, also give coach Anton Gavel good options. But in terms of playoff experience, Ulm is not ahead of Munich.
Bayern Munich and their coach Andrea Trichieri (middle) looked tired and at a loss against Ulm.
(Photo: Heike Feiner/Eibner-Pressefoto/Imago)
It was also a Spanish teenager who guided the visitors to victory. Juan Nunez is only 18 years old, although he went through the youth program of Real Madrid, he was only conspicuous in youth teams. He didn’t let Bayern stop him, scored 19 points and ensured that Ulm always stayed in the game. Nevertheless, in the middle of the third quarter, Bayern were 62:56 ahead, and there were many indications that the game was going as expected. But three threes from Dos Santos were enough to throw the hosts completely off balance, as they did against Göttingen.
The Munich game immediately became hectic and flawed, and the team acted in a strangely headless manner. No game-changing impulses came from the bench either, Trinchieri mostly stuck to Winston in the build-up. Although he was the top scorer with 13 points, he still confirmed his rookie theory. In such situations, the 25-year-old playmaker tries to make decisions on his own and accordingly often gets bogged down in individual actions.
The Munich team appear battered, and Trinchieri, who otherwise exudes fighting spirit and aggressiveness in such situations, also makes a tired impression. But even if his departure after the season is said to be a done deal, you should never write Bayern Munich off too soon. Especially since a leader returns in game two on Tuesday (8:30 p.m., Audi Dome) in Walden.
