Ataman: “We will talk about perfect basketball when we win the Euroleague”

Happy with the character his team is showing, he said Ergin Ataman at the press conference on the renewal of his cooperation Panathinaikou with AKTOR. The Turkish coach emphasized, however, that there is a lot of room for improvement and that he will talk about perfect basketball when (and not… if) his team wins again Euroleague. As for when he will… invite the friends of the team to get tickets for the Final 4, he joked that he is waiting for the Euroleague to decide first where this will be held.

“I believe that since last year we have built a great chemistry not only with great players, but with players with great character. The atmosphere in the locker room is always positive. We can’t always win or play perfectly, but this team has such character that they never give up, despite the problems that may arise and always give 100%. Last year and this year so far we have had excellent results. We played three excellent away games, in three very difficult venues. Now we play at home, but we have great respect for Olympiakos and their coach. They got two big wins against Real and Barcelona. We will try to play good basketball, because to beat Olympiakos we will have to play good basketball“, said coach Ataman.

Asked if there is room for improvement, he answered: “Teams always need to improve. The results in the last three difficult matches have been excellent, but from a basketball point of view there is always room for improvement. Perfect basketball brings perfect results, but you can only say that at the end when you win the Euroleague. Basketball is only perfect when we win the title. We will talk about perfect basketball when we win the Euroleague at the end of the season».

To the perennial question of when he will send the message to people to book tickets for the Final 4 he said: “I know you will always ask me the same question. But first we have to find out where the Final 4 will take place because it has not been decided. We still don’t know. When we know where it will be, then I’ll tell you (laughs)».

Regarding the renewal of the collaboration with AKTOR he said: “A strong team requires strong teammates and AKTOR is such for Panathinaikos. The first season of our partnership was combined with the return of Panathinaikos to the top of Greece and Europe, but also with the renovation of our stadium. OAKA is the most beautiful stadium in Europe, We hope to have similar successes in the future. AKTOR is a big construction company and Panathinaikos is a basketball construction company, so we have that in common».

AKTOR’s general director of communications, Giorgos Tsaprounis, said: “The president always wants to make more things and more beautiful things. Great work was done in four months in the summer and we are here to implement all these ideas that we will see in the future as well».