Ataman: “Very important to beat Monaco again – We have good chemistry”

Very important game for his effort Panathinaikou AKTOR to finish high in the Euroleague characterized tomorrow’s match with Monaco in OAKA (11/1, 21:15) the Ergin Ataman.

“Every team is different. I think Monaco regularly looks like Ephesus. He has very dangerous perimeter players like Mike James, Jordan Lloyd, Alpha Diallo. It has scorers and creators, while its tall ones also do a good job in rebounding and defending. Nobody has time to prepare properly. We will try to play our game. Without a doubt, Monaco are more athletic than Efes, but also better defensively. It will be a tougher game. It is an important match for us. We won at home in Monaco with a last-second shot, but we are talking about a team that belongs to the favorites for the Final Four. It will be crucial to beat her again. If we win we will get a great advantage. It will be a very difficult match“, he said.

As for the characterization “master of psychology” attributed to him by Dimitris Giannakopoulos after the victory over Efes, he said: “That’s how the Euroleague is. We have to treat every game as a final, because in the end a win can keep us away from fourth place or out of the playoffs. In every match you have to play as if it is a final. We have a build-up for every game. Every match is different, against a different opponent. Certainly, when we play at OAKA the atmosphere gives us enough energy and great motivation. We want to win both for ourselves and for the people who come here to support us».

Regarding the situation of his players and whether there are new problems beyond Lukas Vildosa and Ioannis Papapetrou, he noted:No. Of course, everyone is tired. We spent a lot of energy. But the same goes for the other teams. Monaco played yesterday and had a trip today. So far we don’t have any new problem. I hope that after this game Papapetrou will return to the team».

Finally, he did not hide his satisfaction with the progress his team has shown. “The most important thing is to “build” good chemistry and I think we have that now. They all play for their teammates and have understood their roles. Right now we are not thinking about the future. We are a very good team with high goals. We have taken a good advantage so far and we want to keep it until the end of the season. We are in fourth place and we want to maintain it. It will be very crucial to keep this position and enter the playoffs as fourth».