Ataman: “Our supporters’ love will lead us to very high points in Euroleague…”

Defeated by Spain’s Real Madrid team 82-84 in the 11th-week match of Turkish Airlines Euroleague game, Anadolu Efes head coach Ergin Ataman shared his thoughts at the post-game press conference:

"We played very well tonight. I am proud of my players. We dominated the match in most of the parts. We have lost our respect for the game after gaining 14 point-difference. We made a lot of mistakes, lost empty shots. We scored those shots in the first 35 minutes. I believe Real Madrid was ahead at the beginning of the match. We were ahead in the entire match; Real Madrid was ahead once and won the match in the last second. There are two important points and it is that tonight showed that we are a candidate for the Euroleague trophy. The second point is that we mustn’t lose our respect for the game on the arena. We will speak with the executive board as well. I believe the referees have made a very critical rule error. After the technical foul that was called to Bryant Dunston, in the new rules, the time had to begin in the remaining duration after the shot. So, there were 4 seconds left for Real Madrid. Though they started the duration from the 14th second. We disapproved but the referees said no and no again. This is the rule. We will apply to Euroleague for a rematch because this is a rule error. There is another position as one of the breaking points of the match. Sergio Llull’s unsportsmanlike foul when the score difference was 14 points. Referees called for an unsportsmanlike foul first, though it was Llull’s second unsportsmanlike foul and he was going to be disqualified. The score difference could’ve raised to 20-25s from 14 points. Though after the rival team’s disapproving the referees watched the position again, changed their minds and turned the foul into a normal foul.” 

Ataman answered the question about the supporters who fully fill the arena as: “This arena is bigger than Abdi İpekçi. I believe the record of Anadolu Efes’s supporter history has been broken tonight. I thank our supporters for this. As I always say, we interpolated a new soul with our fight even if we win or lose in this season. We returned to our old Efes soul. People come here because they love basketball, they enjoy the basketball their team plays and not because of fanaticism. I thank our supporters again. Our supporters’ love will lead us to very very high points in Euroleague.”

Tags:
  • real madrid
  • Turkish Airlines Euroleague
  • Ergin Ataman