Ataman: “Very important that we beat Olympiakos three times – Huatso and Vildosa helped”

THE Ergin Ataman praised the performance of his players after the victory of Panathinaikos over Olympiakos (77-71) and focused on securing home advantage.

“Tactically we played a different game against Olympiakos., We used Mitoglou more at ‘5’, because we had trouble with Fal in previous games and wanted to pull him away from the basket. We also put Lessor when Wright was on the floor to attack him. This worked, as did Papapetrou who posted. Defensively we played a good game, we had opportunities to clean up the game, but every time Olympiacos, which is a team with discipline and did not give up, came back. We missed some rebounds, but in the last two minutes we calmly planned our attack well and got this win which is very important for us. We have beaten Olympiakos three times in the league, we are first and have the home advantage“, said the Turkish coach.

Asked to comment on the presence of Juancho Hernangomet, he said:I hope he continues these performances in the last part of the season. In the last 3-4 games he offers a lot, plays hard in defense and has helped the attack by playing smart. This way we can use Mitoglou at ‘5’. I can say that Vildosa also, despite missing some shots, had 4 assists and was positive for us”.