By Stefan Acevski / info@eurohoops.net
Ergin Ataman and Panathinaikos are preparing tirelessly for Game 2 of the EuroLeague Quarterfinal series against Valencia, with one sole purpose: to qualify for the Final Four of the EuroLeague, which will take place at OAKA, the Greens’ home ground.
Ergin Ataman spoke about his team’s victory in Game 1, what needs to be improved ahead of Game 2, and his relationship with Dimitris Giannakopoulos.
To begin with, he talked about how Panathinaikos lost a big lead in the Game 1.
“Yesterday we started the game very well, taking control from the first quarter. However, in the remaining quarters, we made many mistakes on offense and gave Valencia easy points from quick shots. We risked losing the game. We analyzed our mistakes and reviewed the game with the rest of the staff.”
Ataman continued speaking about the first game of the series.
“We saw that defensively we were very good; we didn’t allow Valencia to score on the fast break except after our own mistakes. We didn’t attack well, only occasionally when we shared the ball. But defensively, we played one of our best games this year. Tomorrow is a different game; yesterday neither team played well on offense, but defensively we were both good.”
“Yes, we need to play better. We need to attack like we did in the first period. That is, like we played in the first half. Throughout the first half, we were ahead by 8-10 points. In the last 30 seconds, we missed a shot, then they scored and closed the gap to 7 points. We had the opportunity to finish with over 10.”
Regarding Dimitris Giannakopoulos and the hug at the end of Game 1:
“Emotions! In the last timeout, we said the ball should go to Kendrick Nunn. He did it very well, won a foul. And we said to make the first free throw and miss the second. There were only 1.9 seconds, so it was 99% sure.
But everything went the opposite. He missed the first. Then he had to make the second. We knew they had a timeout and 2 seconds. In basketball, these are always dangerous situations. When we won this very crucial game, we shared our emotions. We always have the same emotions with Mr. Giannakopoulos. We shared them for yesterday’s game. I hope these emotions exist in the EuroLeague final as well.”
Ataman gave his statement on the absence of Kostas Sloukas.
“Sloukas is the team captain, and we missed him a lot yesterday. In such games, especially in the last period, you give the ball to Sloukas, and he can organize everything. He always finds the right option for a shot. Yesterday, especially in the last quarter, we had trouble organizing the offense and finding our rhythm.
I hope we qualify for the Final Four and have him there with us. It’s a big misfortune for the team. This season we had many such situations. But as I said before the game, it’s not time for excuses because of injuries. This is the reality. Panathinaikos will play in the Final Four if we win these three games, otherwise, we will be out. Now we are focused only on the players we have available.”
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