At an interview in June 2014, you’ve mentioned that BBL is the most promising domestic league in Europe after ACB. Years after this statement, where do you stand on this topic?
No, the BBL remains as one of the best-organized leagues with the best standards in terms of gyms, audiences, entertainment in Europe. A little bit is still missing. I hope to help make to improve that missing thing. In my opinion, Germany is a football country. This will never change. However, if we will be able to make attractive basketball, we can entertain fans like this; we can sell a better product. But we can be more successful at the audience level. In Germany, there is very little missing to do something super: to find more enthusiastic fans.
What are your goals with Bayern this season?
Being a team [like this]: when a fan comes to see a match, without looking at the scoreboard, he says “well, today they gave everything”. I want a fully committed team that plays with great passion. But [I also want] very aggressive team basketball, something that can thrill fans… even if I don’t like to promise what I can’t guarantee. I cannot guarantee that we will win everything, but I can promise that we will do everything to be the best version of ourselves.
The players you worked with were generally able to bring different dimensions to their games. [Brad] Wanamaker, [Nicolò] Melli, and [Darius] Miller are the best examples of this. Is it difficult to manage such developments while winning is also very important within the team structure?
It is very difficult… but they are paying me for this.
Basketball and its future
While planning, do you set such goals for some players and evaluate the point where the basketball you will play can go in terms of development possibilities?
Yes. I have a general idea, then I use the first two months to see the real level of the players. Because when you scout a player, you have an idea. But until you have him in your gym every day, you don’t know if he will be as you expected. Because the players are “good” individually, now they are going to play for you depending on the system you run, on the culture of your organization, and the core values you have. So, now I’m studying; I’m trying to understand how to make this team play. I’m talking to my assistants to define a path for some players who need to develop. Every day a little salt, a little pepper, and a little of chili, like this, to understand a bit what they do and how they do it.
I can talk about Wanamaker and Melli. Both of them played for Fenerbahce before going to the NBA, and when it comes to them, we still talk about you: “Coach Trinchieri brought them to the level of NBA.”
In my opinion, they did this by themselves… I have just accompanied them. Let’s say that my job is to choose the system and the way to use them that is most functional to their growth. While I did so, their growth allowed us to win games.