By Semih Tuna/ stuna@eurohoops.net
The 2024-25 campaign started with Tomislav Mijatovic as the head coach of Anadolu Efes in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and Turkiye Sigorta Basketbol Super Ligi, but since January featured him as an assistant under Luca Banchi.
The Croatian tactician talked to Eurohoops about his decision to stay with the team based in Istanbul and went on to talk about a reunion with Ergin Ataman in the 2025 EuroLeague Playoffs.
“It’s actually very unusual for me,” he described returning to an assistant role. “Efes is my home, and I will do what needs to be done here. I’ve always approached things from that perspective. That’s why I didn’t really analyze the situation. I was more interested in helping the team in any way I could.”
“First of all, I love basketball. Doing a job you dreamed of as a child is the greatest opportunity in the world. There can be no greater happiness in any job. Secondly, when you do this in a place you consider your home, you want to do everything in the strongest way possible so that the best work and result can come out. That’s why there was no psychological approach,” he added, “There is only one psychological approach here, and that is to win matches. I had the chance to work with great coaches at Efes. Thanks to this, I developed both as a coach and as a person. That’s why I feel obliged to help under any circumstances. I want to give the club twice as much in return for what I received.”
His tenure as head coach was limited to mixed results between continental and domestic competitions.
“It is a great honor, pride, and privilege for me to be given this opportunity. It is one of the greatest opportunities and honors,” he said about being the play-caller of Efes.
“The most challenging thing was trying to cope with the pressure that I put on myself. Of course, isolating the team from that pressure and making sure that every game is important was also challenging. The level of competition that we have in the EuroLeague is extraordinary compared to any team sport organization in the world,” continued Mijatovic, “The NBA is great, the Champions League in football is great. The NFL, the NHL… They are all great. But the level of pressure and the importance of every game in the EuroLeague is something that I can’t think in no other team sport in the world right now.”
From head coach to working with an experienced tactician in Banchi, ensuing efforts clinched a berth in the EuroLeague Playoffs as the sixth-placed team in the final standings of the 2024-25 Regular Season.
“Coach Banchi and I have known each other for a long time. We have crossed paths before in the EuroLeague and European basketball,” he told Eurohoops, expanding on the latest assignment with Efes, “It was a great opportunity for me, a great privilege to be able to continue to help the team. There is great chemistry and communication between us. I think the chemistry between us as a coaching staff is clearly visible. We really enjoy being on the same team. I feel proud and privileged to be working with Coach Banchi.”
The focus shifts to a best-of-five series versus defending champion Panathinaikos Aktor and a chance to advance to the Final Four.
“We were paired with our old coach,” he highlighted Ergin Ataman, the current head coach of the Greens and former Efes boss. “We are talking about someone with whom I have a very good and very strong relationship. We experienced championships together as part of the Efes family. Of course, we have players who were previously coached by Coach Ataman.”
“It is a matchup with very high emotional ups and downs. On one side, there is the struggle part of the job, and on the other side, it will be friends against friends. Coach Ataman and Coach Banchi have been friends for years,” he explained to Eurohoops, “This series is a series that increases the taste of the Playoffs in the EuroLeague. It will be a crazy and intense series.”
Game 1 is scheduled to be played in Athens on Tuesday.