Ataman: “Grant is also one of the stars of the team – Such an atmosphere against me, it motivates me”

THE Panathinaikos found himself at -14 in “Hala Pionir”, but showed the mental reserves of a champion and with seminar defense and big shots managed to get an incredible victory with a score of 81-77.

After the match, Ergin Ataman he praised his team for the character they showed, he stood on their great contribution Kostas Sluka, Lorenzo Brown and Jerian Grantwhile he emphasized that when the atmosphere turns against him, this gives him even greater motivation.

His statements in detail:

“I think we showed great character today, because to be down by 14 points in the third quarter in a stadium with that kind of atmosphere is tough. The Red Star hit 15 3-pointers with 50% from the perimeter, which is outstanding. But we generally changed in the second half with the aggressiveness in defense. We had 14 steals, most of which were in the second half and the last period. And then offensively on a day Red Star stopped Nan with aggressive defence, Slukas did very well alongside Lorenzo Brown in attack. And because we had a problem in the “5” position in the last five minutes I put on Mitoglou and we opened up the space and even if we only found a three-pointer, we made them afraid and opened up the defense. And we also found basket penetrations. We won the match, we controlled the tempo in the last 2 minutes. Red Star played very well in a very good atmosphere.”

For Grant: “He showed what he is capable of doing. He was our secret card last year in a historic season and continues at the same pace. You play proper basketball, he plays aggressively, he plays smart and for the team and he is also one of the stars on our team in defense and on the perimeter.”

For the atmosphere in the stadium: “I told the players that the atmosphere is difficult and it’s difficult to play, but in the end we play 5 against 5. The world of Red Star does not play on the floor. In the first half we were afraid to play basketball, we were afraid to play defense. We were talking about this in the locker room and we said to be more aggressive and fight. Even if we lose. It’s not easy to beat this team here in this atmosphere. But let’s fight and finally we won.”

On the fact that Red Star fans disapprove of him: “No problem. It happens with other coaches too. They do, but apart from some isolated cases there is no problem. The fans are doing their job. Of course the champion coach for the last 5-6 years and they are trying to beat me, but what I have to say is that such an atmosphere against me gives me even more motivation and makes me more focused, for that I thank them.”