Ataman: “Historical, magical season, I told my players at 0-2 that we will take it”

THE Ergin Ataman he stated that he believed in the championship even at 0-2 and had told his players that Panathinaikou.

“We don’t have much to say. The boys had a fantastic season. We won all the big titles this year. We never gave up, we showed great character, even at 1-2 against Maccabi, we went to the Final 4 and took the Euroleague, and now from 0-2 we didn’t lay down our arms and changed the series. It is a historic season for a team in European basketball. Before the third game, when we were 0-2, I told my players that only you can turn it around. Historic team, magic, we did it all. Slukas said two months ago that ‘I hope to have more champagne with the coach’. Now tomorrow we will drink“, he said.

Regarding whether the two titles were a matter of psychology and personalities, he said:We made a solid team, succeeded in the transfers and brought in important players like Slukas. We have players with quality but also character, who fight. I don’t know why many people find it difficult to build a good team with so many young players. When you have players like Slukas, Nunn and Lessor, it’s simple (laughs). People started to believe in us and believed until the end. After the 0-2, everyone, the president, the people, said ‘no problem’. That was the magic of this team».

He commented on the self-confidence he exudes: “My son, Sharp, went back and forth four times from Constantinople. He is a big supporter of the team. No one can stop my statements, when I believe in the team, the club, the president… You cannot have success without great players. Mr. Giannakopoulos made great investments in the right players. I also want to thank all my partners, especially Christos Serelis, who is also my first coach. We started in 2023 and in 2024 we got everything».