By Semih Tuna/ stuna@eurohoops.net
Riga, Latvia – Ergin Ataman is the national team coach of Turkey; however, he is also the head coach of Greek powerhouse Panathinaikos.
And now, if Greece beats Lithuania, these two roles will collide, and Ataman is welcoming the challenge.
As he said, when asked which team he prefers as a semifinal opponent: “I have great feelings for all the Greek people, for Greek basketball. I have five (Panathinaikos) players in that team, I also know all the other players, from Olympiacos, from other teams, and of course Giannis. For sure, as a basketball roster, Greece is maybe the best team right now. And as a coach, I would say that nobody wants to play against Greece in a semifinal”.
Still, Ataman called facing Greece in the semifinal his “destiny”: “I have five players there, big feelings towards Greece, as a country, I hope that they will win, and it will be my destiny to play against them in the semifinal. It will be seven Panathinaikos players on the semifinal court, if Greece wins”.
On top of the five Panathinaikos players on the Greek roster, Omer Faruk Yurtseven and Cedi Osman also play for the Greek club. Osman suffered an ankle injury in the quarterfinal game against Poland, but Ataman believes that he will be ready for the semifinal game: “He wanted to play in the last quarter, but it was dangerous right now. Right now, it’s very difficult to make any comment. The good thing for us is that we have three days until the semifinal, and if I know Cedi, for sure he will be on the court. I hope he will be 100%”.
Photo credit: FIBA