Proud of his players in Panathinaikos, Ergin Ataman declared in his statements after the qualification to the Final-4. The coach of the greens revealed that he was congratulated by Erdoğan while he said he is convinced that Slukas will be ready for the Final-4. Finally, he did not choose an opponent, between Fenerbahce and Monaco, and finally declared that he will continue his work next year.
What Ataman said in detail…
“I am proud of my players, of the people of Panathinaikos, of the team, of president Giannakopoulos, of those who believed in us, believed in me from the first day I came to Athens. We did a great job, thanks to you in Turkey too, to President Erdogan who saw the match and tried to call me right away.
I am proud of the Greece-Turkey relationship. Respect to Maccabi, who made a great series. Tonight he pushed until the last five minutes, but we found a way to win. I had explained after the first match that we will go to the Final Four and thus I will stay in Athens and in Panathinaikos next season as well.
We lost the Super Cup, we lost to Olympiakos, but everyone believed in me, believed in us. They were telling me that we would go to the Final Four, that we would claim the seventh star. Terrible patience. I started to believe that, I started to believe in my players, every day, especially in the second half of the regular season, I told my players that if we finish second, we’re going to the Final Four. This was three months ago. I saw what was happening in the locker room, we had the defense.
We have Greek fans in Berlin and Munich too, I think they will be amazing in the Final Four. It depends, of course, on the other teams that get there. Panathinaikos fans are amazing. After Game 4, I was told that 97 thousand fans were waiting in line for a ticket to tonight’s game. They follow us everywhere, in Bologna, in Berlin, a month before they were telling me that they have bought tickets for the Final Four.
I don’t want to pick an opponent, I have respect for all the teams playing tomorrow and I wish them the best of luck. Whoever deserves it will be with us. The important thing is that Panathinaikos will be there after many, many years. Thanks to the whole team, they all did a great job.
I hope that Paris, who had a heart attack in Belgrade before the previous match and remains in ICU, will also recover quickly. I hope he will be with us in Berlin. I am proud that people believed in me and my team. Of course, our work is not over. If we win in the semi-final, we will play in the final. And if we play in the final, we will want more.
I don’t know what will happen with Nan, I know the team has been talking to his agents for a month or two. We like him as a player and as a person, I hope he stays with us. Slukas had a calf injury, will rest for a few days and be ready for the Final Four as he wants to get revenge for what happened last year.
Everyone was scared of Papapetrou when he was out for three months. But I believed in him, I knew what he could do and that’s why we took him. In real matches he showed his value, in this series he helped us a lot. Juancho has had two very difficult weeks with a serious illness. He returned two days ago, after 10 days in hospitals in Athens and Spain. This is our locker room».
Source: Sport Fm
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