Mr. Pešić, your team has to play six games in the next ten days. Four times in the Euroleague, twice in the Bundesliga. It starts this Friday with a home game against Belgrade and then continues with five away games, the first on Saturday in Oldenburg. Will you be able to watch these games with a clear conscience in view of the strain?
Christopher Meltzer
Sports correspondent in Munich.
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I want to tell you a story from my time as a player.
Before preparing, we always had to do the Cooper test in the summer.
Run for 12 minutes as far as you can.
As a young player, I wet my pants before this test.
But the older and more experienced I got, the more relaxed I was.
Why am I telling this?
There's one mistake you can't make: crying too much.
You have to do the Cooper test - that's the six games in the next ten days - anyway.
If we complain, not only will we lose a lot of games, we'll have problems in other ways too.
We have to focus on what we can control.
How we master the journeys, for example.
We play in Oldenburg, twice in Istanbul, in Madrid and then in Giessen.
You shouldn't approach it emotionally, but rationally.
From a rational point of view: Is the health of your players at risk?
We'll have to protect them a lot over the next ten days.
After that the season is not over.
After that, things really get going.
That's why we need to get through those six games to position ourselves for the playoffs.
How to pass a Cooper test in order to be allowed to play on the team.
What will you say to your players? That they can sometimes save a step and allow a dunk on the defensive?
No, I certainly won't tell you that.
But we have to make strategic decisions with Andrea Trinchieri and Daniele Baiesi (coach and sporting director of FC Bayern; ed.).
Without Corey Walden and Nick Weiler-Babb, who will continue to be absent for the next few days, how can we manage the load on the players?
The doctors and coaches decide who will play how and where, not me.
And what about the burden on the coaches, who not only have to coach the games, but also have to prepare and follow them up?
Correct.
We have to act well.
We agreed that we would sit down after the game against Belgrade.
Then we decide which coach will be used where.
That means you will not only rest players, but also coaches?
I'm a big supporter of that, yes.
You could say: The six games in nine days are a special situation. However, the way the Bundesliga and Euroleague are structured (34 main round games plus play-offs per competition) constantly creates special situations. Is this a flaw in the system of European basketball?
It is a problem that has been exacerbated by Corona.
We are in this situation because we had to postpone several games due to corona infections in our team.
Basically, I believe that you have to think about a reform of the game plan.
It will be necessary for the most important stakeholders to come together again.
It's about our players, but also about our fans.
It's about the future of European basketball.
The problem has consequences: In the Bundesliga there are always games at the weekend in which your team can hardly win because of the Euroleague pressure during the week. That contradicts the idea of European sport.
Last Sunday, Alba Berlin (the second German club to play in the Euroleague, alongside FC Bayern; ed.) lost in Chemnitz.
That has already happened to us this season.
It's not that players don't want to in games like this.
You just can't!
Then you lose to a team that is no better, but more rested.
But we shouldn't point our fingers at the schedule afterwards.
We want to play in the Euroleague.
And that's why we have to make sure that we find a sensible solution.
How about downsizing the Bundesliga? 14 instead of 18 clubs?
At first glance, this seems to be the simplest and fastest solution.
But I'm not a big fan of it.
Why should the Bundesliga and German basketball suffer because two teams play in the Euroleague?
In Chemnitz or Crailsheim you can see how small locations become basketball centers in their regions.
How they use the opportunity that the top league offers them to do great things for our sport.
We have to look for a different approach than downsizing the Bundesliga.
I also have ideas that I don't want to share publicly yet.
The important thing is that everyone has to sit at a table – with an open visor.
The problem is that the representatives of the Euroleague and the European federation FIBA Europe, who should meet at this table, have been competing and quarreling with their competitions for many years.
The time will come when they will all sit down and think about solutions for basketball.
When?
I can not say that.
The Corona crisis and its consequences could provide an opportunity to fundamentally think about new solutions.
What can you do for so long to minimize the stress?
We have to look at the health of the players.
As I said, the most important phase of the season is just beginning.
We want to be German champions.
We have to be smart for that.
We have to protect the players.
If you don't protect the players, nothing makes sense.