In his first action in nearly a month, the sharpshooter did his job to lead Bayern in scoring.
Andreas Obst returned to action in style and punished Efes
Andreas Obst hadn’t stepped on the floor in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague since November 23, which was a 100-101 double-overtime road win for FC Bayern Munich at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. The German world champion had missed six of Bayern’s last seven games through injury, but Wednesday night was special for him as he was again at head coach Pablo Laso’s disposal in his team’s 86-71 win against Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
The Bayern guard came off the bench late in the first quarter and hit the ground running in the second, in which he made three triples in a row to allow his team secure a 31-26 lead. Obst finished the first half with 12 points on 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc. He would go on to end the game as the team’s top scorer with a season-high 17 points without missing a single shot. Obst was perfect from deep and also went 1-for-1 from inside the arc and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe in just 13:37 minutes on the floor.
“It feels great,” Obst said after the game. “I wasn’t sure about it before the game, because I had just one or two practices and didn’t feel 100% with the movement, but I think that I tried to do my best. I think that we shared good moments as a team and I didn’t have to do much. I had to run around a little bit and get open. The guys passed me the ball, screened for me and I had to make shots. I think it’s more like a team accomplishment.”
Laso agreed with his player, as he also praised his team’s ball circulation that allowed Obst to get open looks and punish Efes from beyond the arc in the second quarter.
“Andy [Obst] is a shooter,” Laso noted. “We found him open, we gave him good passes and he put the ball in the basket. That’s important.”
In the post-game press conference, the two-time EuroLeague champion stressed that the return of injured players served as a huge boost in morale for the team. Obst was not the only Bayern player to return to action on Wednesday, as Vladimir Lucic made his season debut in the EuroLeague against Efes following a seven-month absence due to a serious injury. The Bayern captain stayed on the floor for just over 13 minutes in which he had a complete game, having recorded 2 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.
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“It’s good that we have everybody back and for sure this is what you want as a coach,” Laso noted. “This is difficult to explain because at the end we have players that may not dress, but it’s good that we have everybody healthy. We’re having a tough season and we need everyone.”
With Obst and Lucic both back at his disposal, Laso will look to push his team to their fifth consecutive win at home by beating visiting AS Monaco on Friday night.