By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Athens coach Ergin Ataman was disappointed over the defensive performance of his team in the 111 – 104 overtime win over Crvena Zvezda despite the result.
“I’m happy for the victory, of course, because it’s about respecting the 20,000 people who came here to support us in a game that wasn’t important for us in the standings. On the other hand, I’m very worried and upset because the situation is very dangerous,” Ataman said in the post-game presser.
Panathinaikos went into the game with nothing at stake since the team had already secured homecourt advantage and couldn’t finish any higher than the third place in the standings. The Greens outplayed their opponents behind Kendrick Nunn’s 31 points and 10 assists.
“With this defense we’re playing at home in the last games, we won’t have homecourt advantage in the playoffs,” added Ataman. “Tonight we won with the offensive capacity of some of our players. Those were some lucky shots. It won’t be like this in the playoffs. We have 10 days to prepare mentally, physically, and technically to play defense. Without defense, we won’t reach our big goals. Of course, I’m responsible for this.”
“Players are happy because they scored 100 points. I’m not happy as coach because of the disastrous defensive situations,” Ataman also mentioned. Earlier, in the post-game flash interview, the Turkish coach said that “If we play like this, Efes will advance to the Final Four and we will watch the Final Four on TV.”
It will be a special quarterfinal series for Ataman since he will face his former team with which he won the back-to-back EuroLeague championships of 2021 and 2022
“Efes is the best team in the last two months in the EuroLeague,” Ataman said. “After they lost here against us, I think they won all of their games. 8 straight. They are in the best shape right now, before the playoffs. For me, it’s not time to think about the back-to-back and the Final Four. We need the focus to win the first game. Like I told you before, this defensive mentality is very dangerous in the playoffs. We need to adjust in these 10 days to be stronger and improve everything technically. Then we think about how we advance to the Final Four. Now it’s 50 – 50 for both teams.”