Andrea Trinchieri on Weiler-Babb's injury: 'We could be talking about a tragedy' / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Imago-Scanpix Credit Imago-Scanpix

Following Bayern Munich's comeback win over the Hamburg Towers in the Audi Dome, the Bavarians' coach Andrea Trinchieri had a lot to comment on.

Nick Weiler-Babb

Team:FC Bayern MunichPosition:SGAge:26Height:196 cmWeight:93 kgBirth place:United States of AmericaProfileNewsStatistics

The Italian tactician started off with the war in Ukraine, before making an extensive reference to Nick Weiler Babb's accident during the game.

With the score at 22-15 for the guests and almost 8 minutes remaining in the first half, the 26-year-old guard of Bayern Munich attempted a dunk.

To his bad luck, he slipped off the rim with his hands, landing head-first onto the floor. He lay unconscious and motionless for several minutes until he was carried out on a stretcher.

Credit Imago-Scanpix

Bayern's sports director Daniele Baiesi told Magenta Sport that Weiler-Babb is able to move and that he has been transferred to the hospital for medical exams. At the post-game presser, the club's press officer Andreas Burkert confirmed that the player can move his body members and that he has regained consciousness.

"We're very concerned about what happened to Nick. It could be dramatic," Andrea Trinchieri said.

"The first news from the hospital is not good, but it's ok. We'll wait and see what happens. It was very dangerous and we're lucky to be able to comment on another tragedy - albeit on a smaller scale."

The experienced coach described how the accident took place and how his player lost balance while airborne. He emphasized that Weiler-Babb was touched by a Hamburg Towers player after the dunk but also stressed that the referees' reaction to the play was rather disappointing.

"He went for the dunk, nobody touched him on the dunk. After he missed the dunk and lost balance, he was touched as if nothing happened," Trinchieri pointed out.

Nick Weiler-Babb

MIN:26.41PTS:5.46 (48.57%)REB:3.88As:2.71ST:1.21BL:0.25TO:1.21GM:24ProfileEuroLeague2021/2022

"The referees told me that he was not fouled on the dunk - and they were right. But when you touch a player is being touched in the air, it's very dangerous. The play and the outcome were very dangerous.

The player of the opponent team shouldn't touch a player in the air and then referees should preview the play. If they cannot, they shouldn't say it wasn't a foul. We should protect players from both teams."

The 53-year-old bench boss of Bayern Munich repeated that things could have turned out much worse. "Now we could be talking about a tragedy! If you look at the pictures, when he hit the ground, we are lucky! And I don’t know the extent of how lucky we are. He is conscious, but now we have to see what happens because he had a very big hit in the face," he said.

Referring to his players' reaction to the horrible scene and the fact that they managed to regain focus down the road, Trinchieri admitted that "many players were out, they were not there. They were just holograms. Because we live more together than with our families. If something like that happens to one of us, it hits everybody."

In terms of the second half, Bayern players received a morale booster from the hospital and cruised to victory.

"We regrouped at halftime, we had some good first news from the hospital, and in the end, we played for him!".

In his opening statement, Trinchieri voiced his support to the victims of the war in Ukraine.

"It's always difficult to talk about basketball in these dark times. There's a war. It's close and people are dying, people are losing hope. We cannot do too much but we can't ignore it either," he said.

"The only thing we should do is show our support. The only goal is to stop the war. The past should teach the future, but we're not learning, so all my thoughts are going to the people harmed: families, brothers, sisters, mothers, sons involved in this tragedy."

Trinchieri also touched on Paul Zipser, who came back to action after nine months.

"He looked at me like a deer, when I told him to play. It's the first small step, but a huge step for him. To be alive and be part of something. Just to enjoy! Nobody knows how it was for him," the Italian coach concluded.

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