THE Panathinaikos AKTOR hosted again at Hala Pioneer of Belgrade from Maccabi Tel Aviv (21:45, NovaSports Prime, sport-fm.gr, News Bulletin 247), in a match-final, since in case of victory returns the row to OAKA for the 5th and last game, while in case of defeat it will permanently eliminated from the Final Four of the Euroleague.
In view of this match, Mr Ergin Ataman he expressed his great confidence in his team, while stressing that it will take a lot best racing person in relation to that of Game 3, if the “clover” wants to get the victory.
In detail what he said:
On Baldwin’s eventual return: “This will be Maccabi’s decision. We will play our own game. Of course, Baldwin is a very good player, so it’s a very positive thing for them if he can play.”
On whether he remains optimistic that his team will win the series: “After these first three matches, yes. In the first two games we played better basketball, we lost the first one on the last attack and we won cleanly in the second one. Game 3 was the only one in the series where I can say that Maccabi played better than us and we didn’t deserve to win. Sometimes you have to be lucky, the refs made mistakes but that can happen, we made a mistake too with Grant’s absurd foul 2 seconds before the end.
I have a lot of confidence in my team, it’s not just the last two weeks that count, and the whole season the team has shown great character. However, I expect a better picture from players who have not caught the performance levels of the rest of the season in this series.”
About the atmosphere in the team: “Of course, we are not happy. We know we didn’t play well, we lost the game because of some mistakes of ours and we had a chance to win on the last possession. It’s not easy, but we’re in the playoffs, sometimes you go ahead 2-1 and sometimes you’re behind 2-1. The important thing is to win three matches by any means. We want to go to the Final Four, and we have two more games ahead of us against Maccabi that we have a chance to win.”
For the existing pressure: “This is our life, we’re in the playoffs. Of course, I believe that all the teams in the playoffs, except maybe Real Madrid, have a lot of pressure. There is a match ahead of us, I hope we play better than the last one and I have 100% confidence in the team that we can win and take the series to OAKA”.
On Sluka and the fact that he missed Game 3: “In this match we started very badly, we were very soft and lost control of the game. 35 minutes Maccabi had the reins, and Slukas needs us to be in control of the game. When everyone is doing their job well, Slukas will create, but we were out of control.”
For the poor shooting percentage: “Maybe we didn’t work well on the shots all season. For most of the year it didn’t affect us, but now it has caused us problems in both the first and third games. But we’ll see tomorrow if that can change.”
Statements were also made by Jerian Grant, who spoke:
On what brought about the loss in Game 3: “We have to play with more energy. We have to be more physical and combative, they were tougher than us and that won’t happen in the next match.”
On whether he thinks his team can win the series: “Of course, we have a team that will fight and we will give everything.”
On the climate in the locker room: “It’s the game of the season, we’re all focused on that and we’re going to go out and win it.”
On whether he expects any more surprises from Maccabi: “Of course, it’s a playoff series, every game is different and teams adjust.”
For Lorenzo Brown: “We have to be aggresive on him, because he is a good player. He will make plays and score, but we have to make it as difficult as possible for him. I have to pay attention to reaching because I fouled him in the last attack.”
On whether the team will focus on getting off to a better start: “For sure, I think that has been key in this series, because Maccabi are starting better. If we go in well, stay close or have the lead for most of the race, we’ll be fine.”
Source: Sport Fm
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