By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Cedi Osman reacted to the alarming situation following the EuroLeague Regular Season Round 28 clash between Panathinaikos Aktor and Fenerbahce Beko at the Telekom Center Athens on Friday. Besides explaining the ensuing chaos, he promised such setbacks would only fuel the Greens down the stretch of the 2025–26 schedule.
“Obviously, that was not really professional of him, especially to disrespect this club, which is much, much bigger than he could even imagine. That was the reason why there was a scuffle at the end. Fine, you won a game, and you can celebrate, but not like that,” he said, reacting to the situation surrounding Wade Baldwin IV’s buzzer-beating game-winner.
“You cannot disrespect this club,” continued the 30-year-old forward during his postgame interview. “These fans are going to remember this, and we are going to remember this.”
Osman finished with eight points, three rebounds, and one steal in 32:15, as his side fell to 16–12.
“It’s obviously a tough loss for us. We played well for the whole game, but in the end, as I said, the lucky shot was the reason we lost,” he explained.
The Greek powerhouse sits inside the Play-In zone, half a game away from a direct playoff ticket and two games safe from elimination, with six fixtures remaining on the regular-season schedule.
“Every time we step on the court, we try to do our best. We know what we are capable of. We played really hard tonight and gave everything we had. Now we have a very important Greek Cup ahead of us. We are going to focus on winning that and then continue on our way,” the Turkish international said regarding the transition to domestic duties.
“Every time, as I said, we’re trying to give our best, and tonight was one game where we played really hard. We competed for 40 minutes, and even though we were down by 5-6 points at one point, we always stayed there. We trusted each other, and we played a good game. And, obviously, as you said, this loss is gonna for sure bring a lot of motivation to us, and then we’ll see how it goes from there,” he added.
The next challenge for Ergin Ataman’s side is Round 19 of Greece’s Stoiximan GBL against Kolossos H Hotels Collection on Sunday. Following that, they head to the midseason Cup tournament, the Allwyn Final 8, in Heraklion, where they face PAOK in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday. If they advance as projected, they will play the Semifinals on Thursday, with an expected Final against Olympiacos next Saturday.