On Friday night, Bayern Munich bid farewell to the big stage of the EuroLeague. Real Madrid advanced to the playoffs through the Play-Ins, sending home one of the two surprise teams, Paris (73–81), but not the second – Bayern (71–93).
“It’s tough, because we played 32 games of very good basketball. We had a chance to finish the regular season in fifth or sixth place,” said head coach Gordon Herbert late Friday night in Madrid. “But the guys did a great job overall, fought through tough stretches and injuries. This was just a difficult situation – playing away in Madrid. Still, they deserve praise.”
In fact, with 20 wins, Bayern completed their second-best season since debuting in Europe’s top-tier competition. Last season, they had 13.
Here are a few more facts and figures that Bayern can count as positives – despite the disappointment of “missing that final step”, as Andi Obst put it.
201,600 Fans
Offense as a spectacle: Bayern’s games were often high-energy affairs. Yes, that sometimes came at the expense of defensive balance, but with an average of 87 points per game (including just 71 against Real), they exit the EuroLeague as the third-best offensive team. In terms of made three-pointers, they led the entire 18-team field with 12.6 per game – ahead of second-place Fenerbahce (11.2). “The attractive, offense-driven style of our team, with many German national players, clearly reflects Gordon Herbert’s philosophy,” said club president Herbert Hainer ahead of the Play-Ins (AZ interview).
Two Awards: Individual honors for Carsen Edwards (All-EuroLeague First Team) and Nick Weiler-Babb (EuroLeague Best Defender) highlighted that Bayern’s performance didn’t go unnoticed by experts and fans alike. Never before has a German team received two such awards in a single season. Weiler-Babb currently leads the league in steals with 1.5 per game.
The Fans: All 18 home games at the SAP Garden – Bayern’s second home venue this season alongside BMW Park – were sold out. The new arena in Munich’s Olympic Park has a capacity of 11,200 (excluding the not-yet-installed mobile court-side stands), totaling 201,600 spectators across the season. This places FC Bayern Basketball among the EuroLeague's top teams in attendance. Only the two Belgrade clubs (around 19,000), the two Greek teams (11,600 and 17,200 in Athens), and Kaunas (roughly 14,300) attracted more fans on average. And the home-court support paid off: with a 14–4 record at home, Bayern were among the strongest home teams in the league – only defending champions Panathinaikos (14–3) lost fewer games on their home floor.