By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Bost is Dee-stabilizing for the opponents. He had 4 steals in Tuesday’s 88-87 Group C triumph at AEK in Greek.
He also had a clutch play on defense at the very end when Kenny Barlow was about to launch a potential game-winning 3-pointer. Bost ran hard at Barlow, got a hand in the face and forced him to double-pump and travel to seal the victory for the visitors.
Most of all, Bost is Dee-serving of the Gameday 12 MVP award.
Having struggled earlier this season with plantar fasciitis, which cost him his spot in the Zalgiris Kaunas rotation, Bost parted amicably with the Lithuanian club and returned to France.
It’s the country where he had been so successful before with AS Monaco, helping them get to the Basketball Champions League Final Four last year. His intention was to get minutes, get back to his best and of course win.
He joined Strasbourg in December and after failing initially to meet his lofty expectations, Bost looked to be back to his best against AEK.
He finished with 23 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds and those 4 steals that show just how hard he works on both ends of the floor.
Most important for him, and SIG nation, was the triumph that lifted the club into fourth place at 7-5. Only Group C leaders Banvit (9-3) have clinched a spot in the Play-Offs.
Second-place Movistar Estudiantes, third-place medi Bayreuth and fifth-place Umana Reyer Venezia also 7-5, and sixth-place AEK are 6-6. There is a lot to be decided over the next two weeks.
Strasbourg are at home to Rosa Radom next week and then finish the Regular Season at first-place Banvit (9-3), a team that the French side beat like a drum, 87-72, on December 5 before Bost’s arrival.
Getting to the Round of 16 is the objective for Strasbourg.
“That’s the goal,” Bost said, “but we’ve got to take care of business in France (at Hyeres-Toulon) and then we have to play Rosa Radom at home. It’s a real tight race. We have a tough one at home and then at Banvit.”
We needed that win at AEK to stay alive in the Champions League. We knew the home fans would put a lot of pressure on the refs but I think we did a good job to control the game.
Bost
Bost was terrific against AEK, shooting 9 of 15 from the floor overall and hitting three 3-pointers.
“We needed that win at AEK to stay alive in the Champions League,” Bost said. “We knew the home fans would put a lot of pressure on the refs but I think we did a good job to control the game.”
Bost is proving to be a good teammate at Strasbourg. He deflected the credit for the last defensive stop of the game to center Louis Labeyrie.
“Louis had a hand injury and a couple of times before given up penetration to Mike Green but on that last play, he did great controlling the lane. So when the ball went out, he (Barlow) double pumped and traveled.
“I told Louis he had the biggest impact on the last play to win the game with that stop. I knew that was the last play. I was trying to just throw him (Barlow) off and use my reach and try to get a piece of it because I know sometimes the ref will call the foul.”
The good news for Bost is that he looks like the player that was so dynamic last season while on the books of Monaco.
“I’m finally starting to get into my rhythm,” he said.
“It was tough for me because I got injured and I wasn’t in the (Zalgiris) rotation. Right now, I just want to get better and show that I belong.”
Source: Basketball Champions League.