by Semih Tuna / stuna@eurohoops.net
After ranking third in the 2024-25 Regular Season and eliminating Anadolu Efes in five games, Panathinaikos Aktor extended the defense of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague championship to the Final Four.
The next opponent for the Greens is Fenerbahce Beko in Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Arena on May 23.
Head coach Ergin Ataman talked to Eurohoops during a Media Day on Saturday, May 10.
Eurohoops: Congratulations on reaching the Final Four. I would like to get an overall season evaluation from you. How do you think Panathinaikos performed in the Regular Season and the Playoffs? Were you satisfied?
“We had a similar Regular Season compared to last year. We started with some hesitation. We lost some games in the beginning, but as the season progressed, the team’s tempo and style of play started to settle more and reached its peak towards the middle of the season. After that, we had very critical injuries, and of course, the first of these was Mathias Lessort breaking his leg. Right after that, our second center, Omer Yurtseven, also broke his leg and couldn’t play for about 7-8 weeks. We haven’t been able to use Mathias Lessort for four months.
Lessort is undoubtedly the best center in the EuroLeague in recent years. Of course, we had to adapt our system without him available. We completed a very smart transfer there: Wenyen Gabriel. We added a player who could adapt to the team and especially add defense, resistance, and dynamism to the squad. We didn’t go for a player who would disrupt our style of play. We also benefited greatly from him.
Konstantinos Mitoglou wasn’t very good until the middle of the season. Unlike last year, Juancho Hernangomez moved ahead of Mitoglou at position 4. But this time, Mitoglou was given a spot at position 5, and he started playing well there. As a result, we started to open up defenses more clearly this time. Because Kendrick Nunn is the EuroLeague’s top scorer and he started to be double- and triple-teamed.
But there, we started to create space by opening Mitoglou inside, and things started to go well. As a result, we finished the season where we wanted, in third place. Then, of course, the Playoffs were very tough. I knew that the Anadolu Efes series would be very tough. Because Efes entered the Playoffs by winning eight games in a row, and two of these games were perhaps the most difficult away games of the EuroLeague. They won the away games against Crvena Zvezda and Partizan. These were very big games won in front of a fanatical audience of 20-25 thousand people.
If they had lost even one of these games, they would miss the Playoffs. Of course, Shane Larkin is a very important factor here. Anadolu Efes‘ performance is very dependent on Larkin’s performance. Because Larkin is an extraordinary player. When Larkin plays well, he makes the team go two or three steps higher.
I also know that Larkin will play well in these periods (laughing). I have this experience as a result of the five years I spent with him. It was a very difficult series in that respect. We lost the second game here, after leading the whole game, in the last possession. There was nothing left to do. We lost all our advantage, but I think the key game of the series was the third game.
We played very well there in the third game and turned the series back in our favor. It was a very difficult series for us, but of course, we managed to make it to the Final Four, which was our goal.”
Eurohoops: In which areas did Panathinaikos overpower Anadolu Efes?
“I think it was because we had more experienced players to play these games than they did. Yes, of course, there are experienced players in Anadolu Efes. Especially Larkin, Elijah Bryant, and Vincent Poirier. Poirier is a player who won the EuroLeague championship and played 20 minutes on the team that played in the Final last year.
But I think the leadership of Kostas Sloukas, his self-confidence when he entered the game, and Cedi Osman in particular, I think, played a key role. Because when both teams stopped their scorers, Cedi Osman stepped up and made a difference there. In my opinion, Cedi Osman was the key player for us.”
Eurohoops: Coach, you were very busy off the court as well. You said, ‘I need a break’. Were you able to use this break as you wanted?
“We are going through such a busy period that you tend to dream about, ‘what if this series ends so I can turn off and relax a bit’.
But there are realities of life. We could only take a two-day break. Because the Semifinals of the Greek League started. I went to Istanbul to visit my mother on those two days. Because I was locked up in the hotel during the Efes series, I couldn’t visit my mother, any of the elders in my family, I couldn’t even talk to most of them on the phone. I turned off all my phones.
I especially turned off my Turkish phone because of friends, journalists, and that intensity… I went to Istanbul immediately after the series ended and visited my mother.”
Eurohoops: Fenerbahce was your opponent in the EuroLeague Semifinals last year. This year, Fenerbahce is your opponent in the Semifinals as well. Fenerbahce was one of the most consistent teams of the season. They finished second. What kind of game do you expect compared to last year, and how do you see Fenerbahce in general?
Fenerbahce had a good season. Especially in the second half, after Errick McCollum joined the team, their power on offense increased, and they started to play smarter. They also had serious long-term injuries. They used very different players at position five. Saras went with Sertac Sanli, Nicolo Melli, Khem Birch… There is Jilson Bango as well, a recent addition.
Nigel Hayes-Davis is also there as usual. Marko Guduric is always an important player. Devon Hall contributes. Wade Baldwin was not there for a while, but adapted to the team later. Fenerbahce is a good team. They also had a consistent season, but as I said, after such a long marathon, they finished the Regular Season second with one more victory than us, and we beat Fenerbahce in both games in the Regular Season. Both in Istanbul and Athens.
However, in a Final Four game, the Semifinals are single-elimination. It will definitely be difficult. In other words, both teams know each other very well. Saras knows our team well, I know Fenerbahce well. I think the performance on that specific day and who will play well in that game will be very important.”
Eurohoops: You are used to playing without Lessort, but he is also a huge boost and will join the team. As you said, there were some additions in Fenerbahce, some players developed as the season progressed. They had problems, especially on offense against you last year, but they seem to be a little better on offense this season. What kind of game do you expect? Do you expect any differences?
“It is too early to ask this question. Because I have followed Fenerbahce recently as a spectator in the Playoffs or important EuroLeague games while eating at home or watching EuroLeague games with my son at work. I have never watched Fenerbahce as a coach preparing for the Semifinals.
I will start analyzing and focusing on Fenerbahce as soon as the Semifinals of the Greek League end. Fenerbahce is a good team. They are playing well. They are playing really well at times. But I remember ups and downs during games. We will take our precautions in that respect.
They will definitely be cautious as well. We had a 23-point lead in OAKA in Game 5 of the Playoffs, then were at only four points. Both teams can have ups and downs during games. We will make a strategic plan accordingly.”