Kalaitzakis: “Ataman rightly let us down at halftime – Fatigue should not be an excuse”

THE Panathinaikos went “2 for 2” in this year’s Basket League, leaving home with a double Pigeon bwin (64-66), after a great reversal of 19 points!

Among the protagonists for the “greens” was Panagiotis Kalaitzakis, who finished the match with 16 points. Speaking after the match, he emphasized that fatigue should not be an excuse for a team like Panathinaikos, while, he stated that Ergin Ataman… rightly “sung” them at halftime for their performance.

The statements of Panagiotis Kalaitzakis in detail:



Regarding the fact that Panathinaikos found themselves at -19 and reacted: “We weren’t focused. And I think that we Greeks are also wrong because we had to let the foreigners understand what headquarters Peristeri is. Because we went through it last year, because we didn’t win a single game here. A very difficult seat. Very good team, both last year’s and this year’s I can say even more improved and with a very good coach, as we all know. The difference reached -19. Coach Ataman justifiably beat us at halftime. We came back stronger, more focused. I don’t think we have any excuse. Tiredness is no excuse.”

As to whether the Ataman told them to learn to play in these rhythms: “Of course. We have a roster of 13-14 players in the team. We all need to be ready for these games. We are a EuroLeague team, we are EuroLeague players. I don’t think we should use the word fatigue as an excuse.”

On what changed and within a half-time they reached +2 and on whether it was the spiritual part first: “Yes. It was spiritual first. I think we are a very good team. We have to bond, the world expects too much from us.”



For what remains to make the team look good on the pitch: “We are new players, it’s still the beginning. I don’t want to use that as an excuse. I think that in the future we will be and we expect to be more ready for this type of games in Greece and in the EuroLeague”.

For the absence of Slukas-Mitoglou and whether it played a role: “They definitely count. Our leader is missing. We’re missing our most quality player and one of our quality tall players, so I think they count but we shouldn’t use that as an excuse.”

On his own role which today was extremely helpful for the team: “I think I helped, I know who I am, I know what I can do. I know what my role is and when I come in to help the team. That’s what I did today. I hope I helped. I am happy that we finally reached this victory after a long time. We are not satisfied. We’ll rest tomorrow and head into a tough week with two games.”