Trinchieri’s Public Criticism of Bazina Walks a Fine Line

Andrea Trinchieri’s criticism of Nasos Bazinas lasted only a few days before the PAOK coach gave the 22-year-old international guard a chance to answer on the court. After PAOK’s friendly win over Udine in Italy, Trinchieri said he was deeply disappointed with Bazinas’s performance and warned that he might not see the player again in the rotation.

“I'm not sure you will see him again in the rotation after this game,” Trinchieri said. “Mistakes are part of the game. But he dragged the team down and I am very disappointed.” Bazinas did not remain outside the coach’s plans for long. In the next friendly, against Napoli, Trinchieri named him in the starting lineup, and the former Promitheas Patras player responded with 12 points and eight assists.

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I'm not sure you will see him again in the rotation after this game. Mistakes are part of the game. But he dragged the team down and I am very disappointed.

Trinchieri later explained the apparent reversal. “Yesterday, I gave him almost 15 minutes that he did not deserve. Today he got them because he has something, he earned his minutes and earned the respect of his teammates. It is always a balancing act with these things.”

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Yesterday, I gave him almost 15 minutes that he did not deserve. Today he got them because he has something, he earned his minutes and earned the respect of his teammates. It is always a balancing act with these things.

The coach had first criticized PAOK’s overall attitude, saying the fourth quarter against Udine had been “really awful” in its mentality, body language and general approach. He acknowledged that PAOK had led by 20 to 25 points, but said that did not reflect the team he wanted. He then focused on Bazinas, arguing that a young player can make mistakes, but cannot allow a difficult spell to pull the entire team down, especially when playing point guard.

The article notes that Trinchieri is expressive and rarely hides his feelings, but does not usually expose his players publicly. He used a similar method in October 2024 at Zalgiris Kaunas, when he said Allen Smailagic was playing terribly and needed to reach the team’s level rather than making the team wait for him. The Serbian player soon responded with a stronger performance after a EuroLeague victory over Virtus Bologna.

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The fourth quarter was really awful. It was very bad in terms of mentality, body language and our general attitude.