Bayern Munich took a huge step in establishing a place in the upper echelon of the EuroLeague table last season by reaching to the playoffs for first time in the history of the club.
The new season is one week away from its start, and the German powerhouse is entering the year with hopes of returning to the top of the German BBL and making some noise in the EuroLeague, again.
The Roster
Andrea Trinchieri, who led the club to its best performance in a European competition, kept All-EuroLeague First Team selection Vladimir Lucic and Paul Zipzer, who also had his best year before missing the last part of the season with a brain hemorrhage.
He also added more veteran leadership to his team by signing Othello Hunter and DeShaun Thomas. Hunter and Thomas enter their ninth and seventh season, respectively, in the top-tier European basketball competition.
The club also re-signed Leon Radosevic, an 11-season EuroLeague veteran who will play his fourth straight season in Munich, as a back-up center.
Furthermore, Marvin Ogunsipe returns after two years on loan at Hamburg Tower, ready to commit to a bench role in Munich. Ogunsipe appeared to a career-high 27 games in Hamburg last season.
The Bavarians also signed Darrun Hilliard, who left CSKA Basket to join the German BBL powerhouse. Hilliard will take the role of the shot creator that Bayern needed in various occasions last season.
Trinchieri will also work with two of his former players, who played for him when he was the head coach of Partizan Belgrade. Ognjen Jaramaz and Corey Walden reunite with the Italian coach to bring more flexibility in Bayern’s guard rotation.
At the top of that, Nihad Nedovic, Nick Weiler-Babb and Zan Sisko remained with the team for another year, while sharpshooter Andreas Obst and promising guards Josh Obiese, Jason George complete the guard depth chart.
Bayern set to keep their rebounding numbers up-high again this season, after finishing as the 7th best team in EuroLeague in the 2020-21 campaign.
As a result, they added Gavin Schilling, who had a career-best season with Basketball Lowen Braunschweig, averaging 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest in the German BBL.
At the top of that, Augustine Rubit returned to Germany coming off a great season with Lithuanian powerhouse, Zalgiris Kaunas. Last season, Rubit shot a career-high 52 percent from three in the LKL League.
Key Factors
Once again, Bayern will rely on their length to remain active on the defensive end (6th in oppPPG), while, they added more capable shooters to the guard and forward position like Obst, Rubit, Hilliard and Thomas.
Corey Walden will also be an important part in team success, as he came to Munich to replace Wade Baldwin IV, who signed with Baskonia this offseason.
Walden had a solid debut in EuroLeague with Crvena Zvezda averaging 10.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 30 appearances in 2020-21. He shot an incredible 39 percent from deep, playing for the Serbian powerhouse.
Bayern added more firepower this season, hoping to not only repeat success in EuroLeague, but also return to the top of the German BBL, where they lost to ALBA Berlin the last two years.
It only remains to be seen if Andrea Trinchieri could lead his team to new heights this season.
