Ataman: ”This Match Will Give Us Confidence...”

Anadolu Efes beat FC Barcelona 96-86 in the eighth-week match of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, head coach Ergin Ataman shared his views after the game as followed:

"I think we totally deserved to win tonight. We played very well except for the first five minutes of the game. We tried to attack early in the first five minutes, but our game was broken due to turnovers. We defended very well throughout the match, we shared the ball correctly. We passed the ball well and shot well. In the second half, our half-court offense was also good. We shared the space very accurately as a team. This match once again showed that when we play our own game as Anadolu Efes, we show that we are one of the best basketball teams in this league, as it has been for the last four years. As for the referee's decisions, we saw some of the balls in our hands were given to Barcelona by unsportsmanlike or offensive fouls. We will look at these once again. If these decisions were wrong, they were huge mistakes. This match will give us confidence. Lastly, I would like to add something. Yesterday, Saras Jasikevicius joked in his statements that he would call me and ask if Shane Larkin would play. I didn't get a call, but I'm waiting for an apology call from him today. He walked up to my assistant coaches after the match and made an accusation that 'You have captured our training very well on camera'. This is a huge accusation. During the 5 years we were here, we did not condescend to such a thing. If he can prove it, I will resign as head coach today as Ergin Ataman, if he cannot prove it, I expect him to apologize or resign from the Euroleague Coaches Association."

Tags:
  • Ergin Ataman
  • FC Barcelona