By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Even though the victory came with some difficulty at the end, Panathinaikos managed to defeat Zalgiris Kaunas at OAKA Arena and return to winning ways after four consecutive losses.
After the game, Ergin Ataman spoke about the significance of Matthias Lessort’s return to the court and also clarified when fans will see him celebrate with his iconic raised fists.
The Turkish coach explained that it will happen again when Panathinaikos wins a trophy in the EuroLeague and the Greek championship.
“You’ll see my fists only when we win the EuroLeague and the Greek League. As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t care that we’ve lost a few games in the Greek League. Everyone on social media is talking about me, saying Ataman should leave, that I’m the worst coach in Europe, in the world. Everyone knows my results, so I don’t care. I don’t even celebrate regular season wins. I don’t care what people say, I care about my team. Sometimes this season we had problems and didn’t play well, but tonight we played really well with Lessort’s contribution. We played the game that led us to the title in my first year. We will continue with this system. I feel sorry for the people on social media who can’t speak tonight—they’ll have to find something else to talk about. But from me, you’ll see my fists again only when we win another title, just like we did with the Cup.”