Trinchieri suggests EuroLeague format change, ideas to improve European basketball / News - Basketnews.com

Bayern Munich's head coach, Andrea Trinchieri, has proposed major changes to the current structure of European basketball, including revamping the EuroLeague format, eliminating the FIBA windows system, and ultimately reshaping the European basketball calendar.

If you happen to be staying in the same hotel as the Bayern Munich basketball team, you might want to be prepared for a knock on your door from Andrea Trinchieri. He's known for getting his room number mixed up from time to time.

2-pointers this season

43%14,3Points made:14,3Accuracy:43,4%Place in standings:18Record max:21Record min:7Most made 2FGs:Augustine RubitTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Bayern Munich has been busy this season, with 29 official games played in just 88 days.

That's an average of almost one game every three days. And things have been especially hectic lately, with the team finishing up a stretch of eight games in 16 days.

"After the fifth game, we were trying to understand in what hotel we were, in what city we were, and what league we were playing," Trinchieri recalled in an interview with BasketNews.

"Every time this happens, I go to the hotel, and I go to the room number of the previous hotel. I always mess them up. Because it's always traveling, hotel, travel, hotel, travel," a 54-year-old coach continued.

Laughing through the tears.

Before the 2022-23 season, Trinchieri said his dream for the new campaign was to have his players healthy.

Unfortunately, that dream has yet to come true. In fact, Trinchieri can't even remember the last time he had the entire Bayern roster available for practice, now in his third year with the team.

"I don't even look at that anymore. It's just draining my energy and my mood," Trinchieri responded.

"Not having a roster at our disposal is something we have to deal with. It's getting worse and worse and worse.I believe that the goal to have the roster you plan at your disposal to play the game is like a utopia.

It may happen, but this is extraordinary. The ordinary thing is that you'll always have somebody missing. This should really impact how you build the roster, how you coach the roster, how you prepare for games and navigate the season," Trinchieri expanded.

FC Bayern Munich / Schedule

Zalgiris Kaunas FC Bayern Munich75-67 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade FC Bayern MunichThu19:30

He arrived in Kaunas without four guards.

Before, he had to find ways to navigate the team with a single big or wing at his disposal. Only two Bayern players, Cassius Winston and Freddie Gillespie appeared in all 15 EuroLeague games this season.

In an 82-game season (the number of EuroLeague and German league games Bayern played last season combined), Trinchieri learned to swallow some tough losses and move on.

"You have to deal with your expectation of how you want your team to play. Of course, you're not going to have it. And then becoming hard, demanding, super tough, underlining every mistake that... There will be tons of mistakes, but you might kill a few players you have.

So sometimes we need to swallow to play something very far from your concept. Something that is not even looking good. But maybe this is the only thing your team can do that day. You really have to help, support, and embrace the players you have. If they give up, you're dead," Trinchieri was clear.

Credit Christina Pahnke/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images

Trinchieri likes to play mind games with himself, such as considering how adversity or opportunities might impact the future. The current state of European basketball has also prompted him to analyze a number of important issues.

It starts with the brutal current structure of the EuroLeague.

The EuroLeague format includes 34 regular season games, with only 8 of the 18 teams advancing to the playoffs.

"First of all, the concept of the EuroLeague exposes you to things that collide with the format. We have 18 teams. At least 17 want to make the playoffs every season. This is the most difficult competition in basketball. Out of 18 teams, only 8 make the playoffs. The importance of a single game is something unbelievable. The pressure of a result of a single game is something you can really feel," Trinchieri started.

"But then, you know that for the schedule and the injuries, you have games that you have to let go. On that day, you can't perform and compete. You can try, but you're not at the level required to play that game. It's something that it's really difficult to manage and understand. The first thing that impact this is the schedule," Trinchieri explained.

"The schedule is something that we have to sit and discuss. Because this is going to ruin the best basketball product outside the NBA," Trinchieri was direct. "The schedule is killing the quality of the game."

The impact of this system is most heavily felt by the players, who are left with little time for rest and individual development in the off-season.

"I can't develop the player individually in the season," Trinchieri stated. "When do the players develop? In summer. They take the personal coach and the strength and conditioning coach, and they work on their game. I can't do it because I can't practice. I just travel and play."

"Creme de la creme, they don't need this. The players that are 30, 33, and 34 know everything. They just have to rest and stay healthy. But players that are one level under this, those who can become stars, have to work on their game. How can they do it?" Trinchieri asked. "The season is 11 months. They have at least one month with their families. These 30-40 days that you invest in yourself are not there. Do you see how many players are coming up with great physical abilities but missing parts of their game? They don't have time."

"The schedule is killing fans," Trinchieri touched on another topic.

Two weeks ago, Bayern hosted Real Madrid on Tuesday, Valencia Basket on Thursday, and Loewen Braunschweig.

"I don't know how many families can afford to see three games in six days. So what do they do? They choose," Trinchieri said.

What should the EuroLeague do, then?

Trinchieri suggests it's not only about the strongest club competition in Europe.

"Very simple. First of all, players should have at least one month with nothing. Rest. Then, they have to have time for the national team. I watch all the games. People want to see national teams. I saw games in every country in Europe, full arenas. This is something that you take into consideration," he recalled.

"Then, you need to reduce the number of games. We play 90-92 games. It's too much. It's not too much overall. It's too much for how important these games are. And you need to give also some time for players to work on their game," he continued.

"Sit with FIBA," Trinchieri pointed out. "This is for the national teams, this is for the rest of the players, this is for the club competitions."

Trinchieri then began brainstorming ideas for major changes to the EuroLeague format.

"Secondly, in the EuroLeague, play-in tournament. First, I would say six teams go to the playoffs, and then you have a play-in tournament from 7 to 10. Numbers aren't really important. But we need to evolve," Trinchieri made clear.

"Maybe the format with the Final Four is a little bit exhausted, pushed to the limit. Maybe we need something different?" he continued. "It's time to think about the playoff format, not the Final Four. Maybe we reached the peak with the Final Four. Don't take me wrong, I love it. But maybe we want to see Real vs. Barca for five games? Or seven games? I don't know, I'm trying to take it on the table."

Bayern coach may be a fan of conferences, the topic that the EuroLeague CEO Marshall Glickman brought up as the inevitable shift for the competition.

Although it still might keep the number of regular season games high (with home-away games inside the conference and single-game vs. other conference teams, 24 teams would play 33 regular season games), Trinchieri suggests that maybe it would make traveling easier.

But all those changes have to include a complete calendar change, which also involves national teams basketball.

"I don't believe we can change everything by snapping fingers. I believe we should start with having no FIBA windows. Having a more consistent schedule for the regular season. Then the things for the national teams, and start from that. At least you have something that is homogeneous and easier to deal with. Because now... You send the player to the national team, and he gets injured. What do you do? There are no players available. It's critical."

"The other thing that is happening more and more is that the exhausted EuroLeague team comes to the domestic league game and gets kicked in the ass. Is this something good? Don't take me wrong. It can always happen. But if it happens on a regular basis every week, it means something is wrong in the system," Trinchieri suggests.

"Domestic leagues want their part of the cake. And they don't want to take care... The Adriatic league is the only league I know that takes care of international teams. If you play on Friday, they put the game on Monday. Okay. Spain and Germany, they don't care," he continued.

"If you play on Sunday on the other side of the moon, you have to go, and they put the game at 12:00. You go and see this team running in the first quarter. And you try to catch them. They just run under your legs, and after the first quarter, you're 12-35. And you don't know know what to do. You just can't catch them. You're like walking in the mood, and they're like gliding. Is this good? Sometimes yes. But on a regular basis..."

With so many different parties involved, including national teams, domestic leagues, and the EuroLeague, it's inevitable that sacrifices will need to be made. The question is, who should be prioritized in order to ensure the overall health and well-being of basketball in Europe?

"I was thinking about that. Maybe having a period for the EuroLeague, domestic leagues, and national teams could be an idea?" Trinchieri brought up something that Zeljko Obradovic also suggested earlier.

"The most difficult is when you have to play in two different leagues. Speed, officiating, contacts, everything. So, it's very difficult to reset from one game to the other... We can also play in the domestic league Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday for one stint of the season. And for the other one, you can play in the EuroLeague. Like this, there wouldn't be any cake in a few years," Trinchieri assures.

The landscape of European basketball has undergone a significant shift since the new EuroLeague format was introduced in the 2016-17 season, and FIBA began implementing in-season qualifying windows in 2017.

This has had a major impact on Trinchieri's coaching philosophy and the way he approaches his job.

"The biggest difference is that you had things you wanted to do before. And now you have things that you can do as a coach," Trinchieri recalled.

"I want to prepare this, I want to have this, I want to do that. Now, I'll try to do this. This I cannot, and I know it," he explained.

"We're heading to something close to the NBA without being the NBA and without having all their strength and quality. If it's good or not, I don't know. We'll see," Trinchieri wasn't very optimistic about the current European basketball landscape.

Watch the entire conversation with Andrea Trinchieri, including his thoughts on fixing the European basketball situation, coaching Allen Iverson, and improving Twitter for the good of our society:

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