Zalgiris has made a coaching change at the halfway point of the regular season.
Zalgiris appoints Andrea Trinchieri as new head coach
Zalgiris Kaunas announced on Saturday morning that Andrea Trinchieri is its new head coach, replacing in that role Kazys Maksvytis, who parted ways with the club by mutual agreement.
At the halfway point of the regular season, Zalgiris is sitting with a 5-12 record in 16th place, and currently has a six-game losing streak. Maksvytis guided the team to a seventh-place finish and a place in the playoffs last season.
"The decision was not an easy one, but both sides came to it", said Zalgiris director Paulius Jankunas. "Although a couple of weeks ago we showed public confidence in the coach, lately the team’s play and results have not satisfied the coaching staff, the club’s management or the team’s fans. Maksvytis joined Zalgiris at a difficult time and last season helped the team get back to where we want to be. We are grateful to him for his work here."
Trinchieri, 55, spent the last three seasons coaching FC Bayern Munich, which he led to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2021 and 2022, the only two by a German club in the EuroLeague history. In both seasons, Trinchieri's Bayern was ousted in the playoffs in five games.
Trinchieri started his head coaching career with Vanoli Soresina of his native Italy. He has also coached Pepsi Caserta, Primo Veroli and Pallacanestro Cantu in Italy, UNICS Kazan in Russia, Brose Bamberg in Germany, Partizan NIS Belgrade in Serbia, as well as the Greek national team.
He helped UNICS win the Russian Cup and reach the EuroCup Finals in 2014. That season he was also named EuroCup Coach of the Year. Trinchieri led Bamberg to three consecutive German championships from 2015 to 2017 plus the German Cup in 2017. He won Serbian Cups with Partizan in 2019 and 2020. During his time with Bayern, he also guided it to German Cup titles in 2021 and 2023.