Panathinaikos Head Coach Ergin Ataman made a statement after the Maccabi Tel Aviv match.
Here are Ergin Ataman’s statements:
“We didn’t start the game well. It’s a fact that Maccabi is a very good offensive team. In the first period we couldn’t put enough pressure on the ball, especially against Lorenzo Brown, we allowed them to score 28 points. But from the second period onwards, especially when Sloukas entered the game, we had great defense. We started doing it.
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.”
‘SLOUKAS IS A STAR’
“Before coming, I worked with stars in my previous teams and Sloukas was also a star before coming to Panathinaikos. Everyone in Europe respects him, he shows his quality and today he played his career game. There is no question mark about Sloukas’ quality, but more than his quality, he is someone I like. “He is a leader and he showed his quality today. It is not easy to play in the Final Four, it is not easy to win the championship. You need star players with a great mentality.”
“THAT IS THE PLAY-OFFS”
“That’s the way the play-offs are. We’ve seen in other games and other series that home advantage is not that important, because ultimately you play the game, so it’s important to defend well, like today after the second period, let’s be smart on offense.
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’re going there to play our game and win the games.”
“YOU CANNOT DO ANYTHING TO ME”
“One of the Maccabi Tel Aviv technical team, I don’t know who he is, 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 a Turkish citizen. Nothing will happen to me. “You can’t.”
