Basketball: Anything but pineapple

In the past few days, the people in charge of the FC Bayern basketball team have of course been gleefully exploiting the pizza story. Even if name jokes run the risk of not being particularly witty. But this one also had a false bottom. The story goes something like this: Bayern coach Andrea Trinchieri and sports director Daniele Baiesi trained a player named Andreas Obst when they were in Bamberg. The problem for the two Italians was that fruit had a certain fondness for pizza with pineapple, which in their eyes is a gross offense.

In any case, this initial situation was brilliantly flirted with, even a week ago when Bayern gave their summer press conference and they were confronted with rumors that Obst, now 25, German national players and an important figure in the recently successfully completed Olympic qualification, will be for the future Munich will play. So Baiesi said, “he puts pineapple on the pizza so he’ll never play for us”. And Trinchieri decreed, “His name is fruit. Fruit on the pizza, we have a problem”.

The problem has now almost vanished into thin air. Because on Wednesday, FC Bayern presented its new Shooting Guard, 1.91 meters tall and 81 kilograms, in the Audi Dome. The club had already announced the transfer on Tuesday. Obst has signed a two-year contract in Munich until 2023, at the start of the week he completed the medical check with the German cup winner – club president Herbert Hainer greeted him personally. And Baiesi said at the beginning of Obst’s performance: “Very important for Italians: He swore that he has never eaten pineapple pizza since he met Andrea! So it is clear that we will give him a chance.”

He was “probably the most sought-after target on the German transfer market,” they cheer at Bayern

With that the story of the fruit and the pizza was finally over, which opened up the space for much more important questions. What, for example, Trinchieri expects from fruit in the coming season – and vice versa. After all, the distance specialist was “probably the most coveted target on the German transfer market this summer” for FC Bayern. After his training in Bamberg (and with its farm teams) he had played in the BBL in Gießen, Gotha and most recently for Ulm. In 2018 he was drawn to the Spanish first division club Obradoiro for one season. But it was only in his two years in Ulm that he matured into a leading player, last season he was the second best scorer in his team with 13.6 points per game. Of course, such an interest also generates interest at FC Bayern, where he is now making his debut in the Euroleague. “I know Obst very well, he had a great season,” said his old and new coach Trinchieri last week when the rumors about his move to Munich were discussed: “He is the prototype of a player who fights his comfort zone.”

Fruit came to the press conference on Wednesday, probably a bit exhausted, as he has left his comfort zone several times in the past tough weeks. In the Olympic qualification, but also in the many questions about Joshiko Saibou, the player in the national team who was fired from his club Telekom Baskets Bonn last year after appearing at demonstrations as a corona denier. Saibou still played in the Olympic qualification, which led to harsh criticism of the German Basketball Association. “Of course you could and should have approached the topic better,” said Obst, “you always have to work things up. But I’m a bit tired of the topic right now.”

Trinchieri wants to set up the squad more broadly, also because of the triple burden from the league, cup and Euroleague

Fruit would much rather look forward to what is to come. “We are qualified for the Olympics, I signed with FC Bayern, I am very happy.” He wants to bring energy into the game of FC Bayern, show his strength from the triple line. And also improve the defensive work, which he has not always loved, but which is the key for Trinchieri. “I’ve known Andrea for many years, he is very demanding, can be very impulsive. He strives for a certain perfection, even if he knows that he will not get it,” says Obst: “And I want to show that I am become an adult player. “

For Trinchieri, every new player of the size of Andreas Obst is good news, he wants to set up the squad more broadly, also because of the triple burden of league, cup and Euroleague. “We started last year with 14 players and two youngsters, and in the end we ran out of players,” said the Bayern coach.

First of all, Obst is going to his homeland, to Halle an der Saale, in order to spend a few days with his family before taking off for Tokyo. And maybe to think about which pizza he can use to annoy his coach and sports director in the future. Pear and Gorgonzola? It wouldn’t be a bad choice for someone whose Instagram account is called fruit_96.