Trinkeri lost the valuable Weiler-Bubb, but before Olympiakos he found Hilliard again

The very bad fall of Nick Weiler – Bab, the severe blow to the head and the agony that swamped the Audi Dome from end to end on Wednesday evening (2/3) until the first good news came out of the hospital without too to clarify when he will be sacked left two very positive events for FC Bayern in the background: the simultaneous return of Paul Chipser and Darwin Hilliard after a long absence.

Obviously, the case of the 28-year-old German striker was much more special. Especially in their emotional part. In June 2021, Chipser was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage and underwent head surgery. Reasonably the warm welcome he received from the Bavarian crowd who saw him on the ground after 271 days.

“It would be a humiliation if I said it was a special night. I hope Nick is doing well and he’ll be back with us soon. But that moment when I heard the name in the video is a moment I will never forget. Thanks. I can’t thank anyone who helped me get back to this point‘ he wrote on Instagram.

What has he lost…lost Hilliard?

Cold and very realistic, the return of the American regional league team before the home stretch of this season obviously has more competitive value, especially as far as Bayern’s progress in the EuroLeague is concerned.

Hilliard had not appeared since late November (11/25) due to a knee injury, and although it was originally estimated that he would be out for around two weeks, the length of his absence was lengthened, eventually reaching a hundred days. An awkward ea development that completely upset Trinkeri’s plans and led to a gradual redistribution of roles.

Not that Bayern would have fared poorly without him, they tallyed 7 wins in 12 games in the tournament while starting 5-7. However, the lack of a player who had the ability to threaten in many different ways and aggressively carry the rest of the team left a void.

On the one hand, Hilliard was Bayern’s top scorer in the EuroLeague with 15.8 points per game with a season best of 28 against CSKA Moscow (and another 7 matches with at least 15 points) and on the other hand the most consistent solution from far, execution with almost 42% from three points . Based on the data we gathered from Instat Scout, the short guard remained the most productive player owned by the Italian coach’s team with a 0.292 point, alongside the likes of Walden, Lucic, Rubit, Thomas and Yaramaz with at least 20 entries each moving even further down.

In fact, Trinkeri had “built” the game on Hilliard’s powerful legs and shoulders. Until his inactivity, the former Baskonia and CSKA player took over…

• 36% of Bayern pick and roll extremely effectively with jump shots (1.42p per possession)
• 38.5 of attacks from isolation (mainly remote)
• 40.6% of attempts from behind the screen and an impressive 55.6% of hands-off attacks offer 3.8 points at 2.1 possession (1.84p per 1 at 2.29p from shot).
• He also ran 22.75% of the transition situations
• and 17.7% of catch and drive situations (betting on lay and shoot).

Always in the good five from Trinkeri

So it’s understandable that Hilliard was one of the top three players in the German team up until the day of his injury. One with Walden, Weiler-Bubb, Lucic and Rubit and the other with Weiler-Bubb, Lucic, Rubit, Hunter gave from +16 to 11’35” (34-18) and 9’51” (23-7 ) respectively, while the third with Walden, Weiler-Bubb, Thomas and Rubin +13 in 28’02” (57-44). The first two were only left behind by the formation formed with Weiler-Bab, Jaramaz, Luτςiτς, Thomas and Hunter.

Individually, as long as the American stayed on the ground, FC Bayern averaged +1.4. Not the best, but not the worst either – fifth overall. And this is exactly where the forced absence of Weiler-Bab is very important, who, despite only 5.5 points +/- Bayern in the EuroLeague, showed the highest rate of all his teammates (+4.1) per 26’25 ”He was by far the team’s most effective defender with undeniable efficiency both at the post and with opposing ball carriers.

Overall, Bayern have played fewer basketballs than Olympiacos and have shown less productivity in attack. Still, Hilliard’s presence is likely to change direction, even if he seemed affected by his long absence in the league game against Hamburg.