Ergin Ataman explained the threat he received after the Panathinaikos-Maccabi Tel Aviv match: ‘I am Turkish, you cannot do anything to me’

In the second match of the THY Euroleague play-off quarter-final series, Ergin Ataman’s team, Panathinaikos, defeated Maccabi Tel Aviv 95-79 and brought the series to 1-1.

Sloukas, who became a star in Pana with 28 points, broke his career scoring record. The Greek star’s previous record was 27 points scored with the Fenerbahçe Beko jersey.

TENSION IN THE CORRIDOR

After the match, there was a short-term tension between the players and officials of the two teams in the dressing room corridor.

THE FIRST MATCH WAS EVENTUAL

After the first match of the series, Ergin Ataman criticized the referees. The experienced head coach said, “We do not want to believe that the tragic events happening all over the world (in Russia, Ukraine, Palestine and Israel) that upset us all could affect professional basketball. But unfortunately, yesterday’s obvious referee mistakes do not allow us to think of another reason.” He used the following expressions.

EUROLEAGUE STARTED AN INVESTIGATION

After these statements, the EuroLeague management initiated a disciplinary investigation against Ergin Ataman and Panathinaikos, who criticized the referees.

THREAT AT THE END OF THE SECOND MATCH

Ergin Ataman said at the press conference held after the second match they won that a member of the rival technical team threatened him.

‘I AM TURKISH! YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING’

Ataman said, “One of the Maccabi Tel Aviv technical team, I don’t know who, said, ‘You will see in Israel. You will see what the Zionists will do to you.’ Come on! I am Ergin Ataman, I am the coach of Panathinaikos, I am the coach of the Turkish National Team. I am Turkish. “You can’t do anything to me,” he said.

Ergin Ataman made the following statements about the match:

Sloukas was excellent offensively today, one of the best games of his career, but defensively he also put pressure on Lorenzo Brown and we increased our aggressiveness. Papapetrou defended well against Bonzie Colson, one of the most important players in the first match we lost. Then we took control of the game and started playing without panicking.

We played with panic in the first quarter because they scored points every time on offense. We panicked in defense, but after that we controlled the game. Then we made some embarrassing mistakes and let them come back, except for some parts where Solukas didn’t play. But then when Sloukas was on the field we controlled the game, when everything was right on the field we showed the quality and the difference between the two teams.

That’s what the playoffs are like. We have seen in other games and other series that home advantage is not that important, because in the end you play the game, so it is important to defend well, let’s be smart on offense, like today after the second period.

I hope that some of the players who played below their normal performance today will rest for these three days and prepare mentally and physically for these matches. We won a lot of matches throughout the year.

We have the record in Panathinaikos history for regular season wins in the EuroLeague, so we are going there to play our game and win games