Anadolu Efes coach Ergin Ataman made a statement at the press conference after his team’s victory against Baskonia. Stating that both teams fight very well and deserve to be in the playoffs, Ataman said, “I think we need to escape from Baskonia. Because they play a very different basketball. I don’t know which row we will be in, but it is very difficult to play against Baskonia. Any other team is a problem. Also, it would not be good for us to match with Fenerbahçe because there would be two Turkish derby. For me, Fenerbahçe and Baskonia are two teams that I don’t want to play in the playoffs. ” said.
Ergin Ataman said the following:
“Both teams had a great fight. Congratulations to all the players who played tonight. From our point of view, it is not easy to play with Baskonia because it is difficult to defend regularly against Polonara and Peters when they fill their long rotation. I think we are the best defensive team in the EuroLeague so far, but tonight we had a hard time defending against such a style of play. In offense, we played in our own order. When we left that order in the last quarter, Larkin showed his scorer side and this is very important for our team. Because you can’t always play regular set offense. Sometimes players like Henry in Baskonia and Larkin in our country produce scores, create positions. It was a good win for us. Both teams had a chance to win. In short, it is a good win for us.
I’m sorry for Baskonia because I know they are in trouble with the playoffs right now, but it is very important for us to take the top four advantage.
There are currently 10 teams that deserve to be in the playoffs. Like Baskonia, Valencia deserves to be in the playoffs, but it’s a game. If you earn more, you are there. We were in 13th place 12 or 16 weeks ago, now we are in fourth place. That’s basketball. Baskonia is a very good team, a very good club and they play very well but I think Valencia, Zenit, Real Madrid are the same teams. They are also experiencing difficulties. We will see the playoff table in the last week. “
“Is there a team you want to escape from the playoffs?” Ataman gave the following answer to the question:
“Very difficult question. I think we need to escape from Baskonia. Because they play a very different basketball. I don’t know which row we will be in, but it is very difficult to play against Baskonia. Any of the other teams are okay. Also, it would not be good for us to match with Fenerbahçe because there would be two Turkish teams derby. For me, Fenerbahçe and Baskonia are two teams that I don’t want to play in the playoffs. ” (Eurohoops)
