Trinchieri on Bayern facing COVID and injuries: 'It's like Space Jam - they took everything away' / News - Basketnews.com

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The good news for FC Bayern Munich came before their away game against Panathinaikos OPAP in Athens, as the German team had climbed into the playoff places practically overnight.

Player of the Game EFF 29 Howard Sant-Roos Points 15 Accuracy 4-6 Rebounds 9 Assists 1

A few hours before tipoff, the EuroLeague had decided to exclude the three Russian teams (CSKA Moscow, Zenit Saint Petersburg, and UNICS Kazan) from the standings and annul all their past and future games.

Thus, the team coached by Andrea Trinchieri traveled to the Greek metropolis sitting in sixth place. Unfortunately for Bayern, there was no other good news.

The Italian coach, who prophetically stated on Monday that he "can't recall any good game of ours at OAKA," saw his team leave the Olympic installation empty-handed again.

Hosts Panathinaikos were really determined to claim the win and, thanks to a partial score of 15-1 in the last six minutes, managed to brush Bayern aside by 80-67.

Bayern were coming off five postponed games, which had brought their operations to a standstill. There was no practice at all in small groups, individually or in isolation.

"For the first time in my career, I am not in control of things. That's the third COVID wave we've had - in October, in January, and now again," the 53-year-old coach commented in the post-game presser.

"Usually, at the end of March, you know what your team looks like, but now we just have to stand together. We had two injuries with Lucic and Hunter in the last quarter, we had nine players positive last week and no practice over the last days. It's very hard, but we still have every chance to turn it into a successful season. We have to stay together every day and go beyond our limits.

I don't know what our ceiling is, but my team has certain values that we didn't show tonight. It's like Space Jam. They took everything away, and you don't know what roster you're going to play. We lost chemistry and hierarchy. I just try to win something every day.

3-pointers this season

37%8,9Points made:8,9Accuracy:36,6%Place in standings:8Record max:14Record min:3Most made 3FGs:Darrun HilliardTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

You can't point the finger at anyone. Shit happens - and this is big shit," he went on to say.

Trinchieri had appeared very annoyed in the post-game flash interview with EuroLeague TV when reporter Dora Panteli called the game's outcome "unexpected".

However, in the press room, the Milanese coach was much calmer.

At OAKA, prior to the Greens' winning run, Bayern had succeeded in making the contest a balanced one, staging a comeback from a 13-point deficit (50-63).

The guests came within one (64-65), but PAO found six straight points from the foul line to increase their lead and sentence the five-time German champs to their eleventh defeat of the season.

"Congratulations to Panathinaikos, they were better," Trinchieri acknowledged.

"The first and last quarter hurt us badly, in between, we came back and made it a one-possession game. But after that, we didn't have the energy and the players to do the right thing.

This was the first game after 20 days with COVID, I was expecting such a bad game. But at least I would have liked to see a little more effort from some of my players," the Italian tactician poignantly remarked.

Asked whether he has figured out how many wins will be required for his team to make the EuroLeague playoffs following the Russian teams' elimination, Trinchieri answered that, right now, he's not concerned about how the race will evolve.

"The war in Ukraine is a tragedy, so I don't want to think about the standings. People are dying, and at the same time, my thoughts go out to the players and coaches on Russian teams, who are innocent," he replied.

"I went through COVID myself and had some time to think about life's priorities. That's why I'm not interested in the rankings right now. I just know that we have to play better to win games. All my thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Ukraine, and also on the other side where people are suffering," he pointed out, as he had done after Bayern's BBL win over Hamburg Towers on March 2.

As fate would have it, that game was marked byNick Weiler-Babb's serious injury in the first half, which proved to be a severe concussion, whose consequences seem to have a long-lasting effect on the American guard.

"He's still in concussion protocol. He's having problems, I can't tell you... He's feeling dizziness," Trinchieri noted in disappointment.

Team captain Nihad Djedovicadded:

"We fought to the end. We, as we know, had problems before the game. Many players were in quarantine, and with only a few training sessions, it was also a bit unrealistic to expect more. The game ended up going in such a way that we ran out of energy."

The German forward remains hopeful that Bayern will be able to overcome their problems and get the wins they need.

"Nevertheless, I hope that we will be able to practice together in the near future and prepare for the next games in the best possible way so that we can still make it to the playoffs."

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