Ataman: ”We Defended Superbly In The Last Quarter...”

After beating Real Madrid 93-90 in the 31st week of Turkish Airlines Euroleague, Anadolu Efes head coach Ergin Ataman shared his views at the end of the match as follows:

"Tonight's game was a very difficult match for us. It's a fact. Real Madrid made our job very difficult, especially in the first half. They slowed down our offensive game, we couldn't play the aggressive basketball that we normally play in the offensive line. Especially in our fast-paced game, they changed their defense after the picks in every position. We tried to attack their frontcourt players with our guards and score but with Larkin and Micic, we missed all our shots at the beginning. Tavares made three blocks in this section. Our opponent also scored 51 points in the first half. We played at Real Madrid's pace this half but improved our defense in the second half. We started stealing the ball, defending more aggressively to their guards. And of course the most important thing on offense, Micic played a great game, but after Larkin’s entrance to the game at the 25th minute and his penetrations, opened up Real Madrid's defense. In this section, Moerman got some important shots and we're back in the game. We played great defense in the last quarter We took the rebounds and got our own pace.”

Tags:
  • real madrid
  • Ergin Ataman