EDisappointed, Andrea Trinchieri slipped off the floor at the end of a long evening, only minutes after the end with FC Bayern, the Italian then officially made what had actually been clear for weeks. “It’s over,” said the basketball coach and announced his departure from the big Munich club, “it was a great ride. Grazie e arrivederci.”
After three years, Trinchieri’s tenure came to a bitter end. His team failed in the semifinals of the play-offs with the 102:104 (92:92, 43:46) after extra time at ratiopharm Ulm not only after three games and thus in the fastest way, but also missed big chances. Andreas Obst missed the possible winning shot with the final siren, Bayern’s shoulders went down.
Trinchieri, former master maker from Brose Bamberg, took over the team in 2020 and quickly enjoyed success. The Bavarians have twice won the cup (2021, 2023) and twice (2021, 2022) as the first German representative to reach the play-offs of the EuroLeague. It shouldn’t be just with the championship title.
And so Trinchieri goes after the knockout of the favored runner-up in the seventh of the main round as an incomplete. “I think this group deserved a title more,” said the native of Milan in retrospect. He himself “has no regrets” and people could “name the label now for these three years. I did my best every day, made mistakes and corrected them.”
Managing Director Marko Pesic was grateful. “Andrea gave us his heart. But you also have to say that he’s had a lot of bad luck with injuries in the last two years,” explained the former German international. Trinchieri is “a professional who sees basketball as a calling and not as a job. I can only say positive things about him.” And yet he has to go. The Spaniard Pablo Laso, who will be in office at Real Madrid until the summer of 2022, has long been considered a possible successor at the always ambitious FC Bayern.
Also against Ulm there was a lack of prominent personnel. Captain Vladimir Lucic (hand), Othello Hunter (herniated disc) and Augustine Rubit (torn Achilles tendon) were unavailable as long-term injuries. Nevertheless, Bayern could have made the series exciting again.
After being 16 points behind (64:80/34th minute), they turned the game around and were leading 92:89 with 15 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. But the guests failed to foul tactically, Brandon Paul punished the mistake with a three-pointer, and overtime followed. Trinchieri’s tenure came to an end when the fruit basket didn’t fall, and the specialist’s three went just wide.
And so the head coach, never at a loss for a saying in figurative language, had to say goodbye. He did it in a fitting way: by criticizing the referees. “Some referees think they are the police: you park your car two inches over the line and they give you a ticket. But we’re not cars, this isn’t about parking.” The Bundesliga is losing a real guy.
