Trinchieri on Partizan fans reception: 'This is worth of an entire career' / News - Basketnews.com

Andrea Trinchieri, the head coach of Zalgiris Kaunas, gave remarks after his team's defeat at the hands of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade with a score of 81-72.

Credit: Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic

Zalgiris Kaunas was defeated with a score of 81-72 by Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade. The head coach of Zalgiris, Andrea Trinchieri, made a return to the arena he once coached on what was a special occasion for him.

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade / Schedule

Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade Zalgiris Kaunas81-72 AS Monaco Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradeWed18:00 Virtus Segafredo Bologna Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade02-0219:30

In his post-game comment to the Lithuanian media, Trincheri talked about the loss, among other topics, such as his return to Partizan's arena as a former head coach of the Serbian team.

"Tonight, we competed against a very good team. [For] the first time they are with a full roster," began Trinchieri. "I believe we had 30 minutes of great basketball. [We] played with personality, and as a coach, I can only be happy. The thing is that, in order to come here and have better opportunity to win the game, I believe that we need somebody else to help the offense," outlined Trinchieri as the main problem with Zalgiris in the game.

"The only sad thing is that sometimes I believe in my players' individual talent more than they believe in themselves," he noted. "This is something that I have to do something about because the game is there. We need somebody else to step up."

"You don't have to be 'hero mode.' Sometimes we didn't shoot the ball, and this is basketball, not handball," Trinchieri stated with a smile, coining one of his trademark remarks.

When asked about whether Keenan Evans was left alone and that Lukas Lekavicius was not able to back him up, Trinchieri had a stern and clear answer.

"I will not expose one of my players. I believe that in modern basketball, you have to play and be ready to score. So if we want to give extra responsibility to Lukas, I disagree," he said, claiming that it is not fair to blame Lekavicius for not being able to accompany Evans. "Because then I will go to Arnas [Butkevicius], I will go to [Edgaras] Ulanovas, to Tomas [Dimsa], to every player, to Brady [Manek]..."

Free throws this season

82%15,6Points made:15,6Accuracy:82,0%Place in standings:3Record max:23Record min:5Most made FTs:Kevin PunterTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

"I ask only one thing from my team: to play with courage. Come here and be brave, don't be afraid. This is the game there. We can talk about mistakes. We can talk about tactical defense. But in the end, it's individual match-ups. If you win your individual match-up, you have a chance to win the game," Trinchieri stated.

The Italian specialist was then asked about the performance of Dovydas Giedraitis, who had the duty to lock down Kevin Punter defensively but ultimately came up with a less impressive offensive performance.

"I believe he is individually, probably, our best defender. The thing is that the job is only there. And then they put two players on Keenan..." explained Trinchieri, stating that Partizan brought help from Giedraitis's defender to trap Evans.

Andrea Trinchieri also remarked on a possession from the game, in which Giedraitis stole the ball but did not make efficient use of the fast break.

"I have the clear picture: a fast break, two-on-one, he slows down. Instead of going to the basket, he waited for someone else to show up to make the pass..." the Italian coach stated with wonderment.

"This is basketball, you have the ball, be aggressive... I used this just as an example. Dovys was very productive on defense," he eventually praised his player.

Trinchieri was then asked about the dominant performances of P. J. Dozier and Zach LeDay, two players that Zalgiris could not defend effectively. Dozier had 23 points and 4 assists, whereas LeDay had 21 points and 5 rebounds.

"[P. J. Dozier's defense] was on me," the former Partizan coach stated, taking responsibility. "I didn't explain clear enough how to guard him, and then when we adjusted our defense, he was hot," he noted.

"I believe that the contested pull-up is a shot that doesn't have great efficiency in modern basketball. I was wrong. When we started to adjust to that, he opened up other stuff," also implying admiration for Dozier.

As for LeDay, Trinchieri was under the impression that the team did not do a strong enough defense on him, with the Partizan forward receiving 8 fouls from Zalgiris players: "He is very physical, and the rules were clear. We didn't do a good job."

Another question leveled towards Trinchieri pertained to how the players dealt with the Partizan atmosphere, which is known to have one of the most fervent crowds in EuroLeague basketball.

"Ask them, don't ask me. I am way enough in their head, if I have to be in their head, also for this, wow, we have a problem.

The Italian coach was not also under the impression that players should be intimidated by environments such as Partizan's.

"You know what is intimidating in life? When you don't make enough money to feed your family, this is intimidating. We are blessed to play in these arenas. And if you are intimidated, go play another sport," Trinchieri had a strong response.

The coach was then asked to open up about his return to Partizan's arena, having coached the team in 2018-2020.

"Someone smarter than me once said, 'Trophies carry dust; memories live forever.' This is worth of an entire career. Put aside titles, money, being on the media..."

Trinchieri is not under the impression that the loss was a total sunk cost, as he believes that he can teach his players some valuable matters.

"I just wanted my players [to] understand that they can do the thing. And not always look right or left for who to do things for them," he repeated himself. "I give them the tools to play, some of them understood; some of them, today, were too shy."

"To play for Zalgiris, on one side, it is amazing, because we don't have a huge roster; Everybody will play. We don't have three big players sitting out like Partizan. Andjusic, Vukcevic, and Jaleen Smith," he slightly badgered Partizan.

"To play with the Zalgiris uniform, I believe that you have to have the responsibility to do whatever you can, even in a bad day, to help the team," Trinchieri explained. He then took pride and joy in the fact that Zalgiris had the most domestic player participation in the EuroLeague but also acknowledged that this comes with a strong responsibility.

Finally, when asked what he had planned for one night in Belgrade, Trinchieri was honest.

"I am not a party guy. I just go to the hotel now. Somebody will come to say hello, and I will do like a dog, and I will lick my wounds. Because I have wounds tonight!"

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