By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
The head coach of Zalgiris, Andrea Trinchieri, shared his opinion about the planned expansion of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to 20 teams.
Barring a setback, the participating field of Europe’s premier club continental competition will welcome two more teams for the 2025-26 season. With a double-legged round-robin schedule in place, the games in the Regular Season will increase from 34 to 38.
“The first impact will be on domestic leagues. Every team is gonna struggle more, for sure,” explained the 56-year-old Italian expert in a press conference on Thursday, following a winning effort for the Kaunas outfit in Game 1 of the Betsafe LKL Semifinals.
“The only unfair thing is that the two things cannot go together,” continued Trinchieri, “I understand that at this moment, with what is happening in the basketball community, with the NBA and all these things, the EuroLeague has to do something.”
“EuroLeague is definitely the best basketball product, together with the NBA. I don’t say who’s better. So, I believe that what is happening is physiological,” he furthered, “You have domestic leagues that don’t come along with the things.”
In the Playoffs of Lithuania’s top flight, his side went up 1-0 in a best-of-five series opposite CBet. Game 2 will be played in Jonava Sports Arena on Friday.
LKL Playoffs
Quarterfinals (best of three)
Zalgiris – Neptunas 2-0 (88-75, 98-70)
Wolves Twinsbet – CBet 0-2 (102-103, 98-102)
Rytas – Siauliai-Casino Admiral 2-0 (127-81, 110-84)
7bet-Lietkabelis – Uniclub Bet-Juventus 2-0 (83-77, 93-90)
Semifinals (best of five)
Zalgiris – CBet 1-0 (73-61)
Rytas – 7Bet-Lietkabelis
Third-place (best of five)
Losers of Semifinals
Finals (best of five)
Winners of Semifinals