Panathinaikos was defeated by a score 91-87 from Maccabi Tel Aviv to OAKA, and saw the Israelis do it 1-0 in the series and get home advantage, which, of course, means they will need at least one win in Belgrade if they want to qualify for the Final Four in Berlin.
After the end of the match, Ergin Ataman he admitted in his statements that his team did not play well, he appeared confident, however, about the qualification, while he also had complaints from the referee.
A little while later, at the press conference, the Turkish coach drop… bomb! Coach Ataman committed for Panathinaikos’ qualification to the Final 4, going so far as to declare that he will not be in the team next year if the “clover” fails to go to Berlin!
Check out his signature statement:
Ergin Ataman: “If we don’t go to the Final Four, I will NOT be with Panathinakos next year”
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— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) April 23, 2024
In detail what Ergin Ataman said after the end of Game 1 against Maccabi Tel Aviv:
“I think we didn’t deserve to win tonight. We missed 10 shots. We had 1/7 threes from our power forwards. We made a lot of mistakes. We made a mistake on the last possession.
Everyone, the players, the club, the staff, the fans, we thought before the game that we would have a celebration here. We didn’t deserve to win. The refs called two ridiculous fouls for three shots on Baldwin. I complained that it is not fair, at the first such whistle. They said “warning for you” and I said “no the warning is for you” and got a technical penalty.
Everything was against us and we lost the game. We destroyed the work we had done for seven months in the regular season.
It didn’t matter that Panathinaikos had 5 years to be in the playoffs, because these players played 34 matches as if it was a final. The factors of defeat were the ones I mentioned earlier. Maybe the EuroLeague will punish me. OK, let him punish me, but everyone saw those whistles. Those were the factors for me. Pressure; What pressure? We were under pressure in every match. We didn’t deserve to win and someone was against us.
I can’t do anything about missed shots. We’ve talked about mistakes. I think we are a much, much better team than Maccabi and 0-1 is not that important for us. We have to find our form and our game again. What I want to say is that I promised everyone here that we were going to the Final Four. 0-1 is not important. We’re going to the Final Four. If we don’t go to the Final Four, I won’t be in Panathinaikos next year».
Source: Sport Fm
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