Finally, Andrea Trinchieri’s collar burst. During the first half, the impulsive coach of the basketball team at FC Bayern Munich followed the action without emotion, as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. His team acted completely insecure, strangely lethargic, the defensive was always at least one step too slow. The players from Zenit St. Petersburg were allowed to move to the basket or take free throws, some of which were completely unhindered, most of which also crossed the target. So Trinchieri saw exactly what he didn’t want to see: his team picked up on the poor performance that had caused her to lose 70:73 in Kazan two days earlier. Nothing to see of the required reaction, no resistance, in the first quarter Bayern went down with 16:31 points. The fact that the temperature of the Munich trainer then rose into the unhealthy range was due to the significant increase in performance. In the second half, Munich had fought their way back close to success, a few controversial referee decisions, which were not the cause of the 71:79 defeat, made the Italian lose composure in the final seconds – which was punished with a technical foul .
The second away game in distant Russia was contrary to the game just 48 hours before in Kazan, when Munich dominated the first half and unnecessarily gave up the game. In the former capital of the tsarist empire, Bayern showed an underground first quarter, bit their way back into the game until half-time and were dominant after the break. Only the result was the same: Again the guests suffered an avoidable defeat and are now under pressure early in the season with their four out of four games. The Euroleague season still has 30 games in store, but given the recently increased quality on the top floor of European basketball, a 4-0 start is already a decent mortgage. The next game at Zalgiris Kaunas is therefore already of great importance, because the Lithuanian series champion started just as modestly as the German cup winner.
Nick Weiler-Babb fights in defense, Darrun Hilliard and Corey Walden hit from a distance – but then their strength dwindles
Thursday’s opponent St. Petersburg was drawn into the playoffs like Bayern in the previous year, and the team, like Bayern’s, was further strengthened. Which is because, unlike the rest of the continent, the club should be happy about the increased gas prices, because the main sponsor of Zenit is the Russian energy giant Gazprom. Numerous NBA-experienced players could be attracted, and the squad is made up almost exclusively of top-class European players, which was demonstrated above all by Jordan Mickey in the first quarter. Miami Heat, Khimki Moscow and Real Madrid were his last employers, now the American scored as many points in the first ten minutes as the entire Munich team: Zenit led 31:16. But Bayern improved, which was mainly due to the fact that “we then played like a team,” as Trinchieri noted. Especially on the defensive, the discipline to which the Italian attaches elementary importance, the guests increased, with defense specialist Nick Weiler-Babb leading the way. No opponent is too big for the Munich, no opponent too muscular that he could not slow him down. The 25-year-old Texan bites into his task like a terrier and pulls his colleagues along with him. At the break, the connection was made (35:43), after the change, Bayern set the tone. Which in turn was due to the additions Corey Walden (20 points) and Darrun Hilliard, top scorer with 24 points. Both are players who consistently score at the highest level, before the last quarter they put their team in the front with 60:54 thanks to their distance throws.
It was not enough again, because again Trinchieri played with a small rotation, his protagonist lost his strength in the final phase. Actors like Jason George, Marvin Ogunsipe or Gavin Schilling lack the experience at this level, Djedovic is not yet fully in his power, the missing Leon Radosevic, Andreas Obst and above all Vladimir Lucic are sorely missed. The Serb was voted one of the top five Euroleague starters last season, Lucic is the player who makes the difference for Bayern. Trinchieri knows that, of course, but he can’t change it. In addition, despite all the absences, he has enough quality in the squad to tear more. Because in addition to the Russian duet, the first opponent Tel Aviv was also beatable, only Barcelona presented themselves clearly better. This is what Trinchieri is likely to be most angry about.