By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Valencia delivered another outstanding performance, defeating Panathinaikos comfortably in EuroLeague Round 37 to climb to second place in the standings and dent the Greens’ chances of securing a direct Playoff spot.
After the game, the head coach of the Greek powerhouse tipped his hat to the opponent, praising both coach Pedro Martinez and his players.
“Valencia played an amazing game. We didn’t find a way to respond to their rhythm. Maybe we were tired after Barcelona, but they deserved to win the game 100 percent, so congratulations to them.
On our side, we fought, but even if Valencia played like this against the Los Angeles Lakers, they could beat them. They have an amazing coach and they prepare very well. It’s interesting that 48 hours after the Milano game, they found this tempo. They were very focused, especially Montero, who had an amazing game. Their bigs kept finding open three-point shots, and they were very athletic on the offensive rebounds.
So far this season, we’ve played many difficult games, but this was the most difficult one for us. I hope we will not face them in the Playoffs,” Ataman said at the postgame press conference.
However, he had more to add, as he complained about the locker rooms provided to him and his coaching staff at Roig Arena. He also invited EuroLeague CEO Chus Bueno — who attended the game between Fenerbahce and Real Madrid in Istanbul alongside NBA EME managing director Giorgos Aivazoglou — to visit Valencia and see the situation firsthand.
“In Valencia, the weather at this time of year is amazing, and the atmosphere in the arena was great — the best arena I’ve seen so far. But I would like to invite the new EuroLeague CEO, the Spanish guy who is trying to improve the EuroLeague and work together with the NBA — I think he lives nearby, so he can just take his car — to come and check the locker rooms.
Valencia gave us a storage room for coaching staff, and that is disrespectful to all EuroLeague coaches. That was a big surprise for me. The EuroLeague is very important, and so is its image — also for coaches. I know other colleagues have complained about this, but nothing has changed, so I invite him to come from Barcelona and see the situation. EuroLeague coaches don’t deserve to wait in a storage room to get changed.”