Ataman: “Spanoulis will become a top coach – We missed Giannakopoulos and he deserves to be at OAKA”

Special emphasis on defense should be shown by Panathinaikos to win Monaco, as pointed out by Ergin Atamanwho glorified him Vasilis Spanoulis considering that it will be done by the top coaches in the Euroleague. At the same time, he mentioned his imminent return Dimitris Giannakopoulou at OAKA after his acquittal.

In detail, the Turkish coach spoke about:

– the match with Monaco: “We know that Monaco is a very, very good team. Especially on offense they have very bad perimeter players like us. It is close to the roster that Panathinaikos has. So it’s obvious that we will have to play good defense, especially on the perimeter players and stop scoring and creating for the tall ones.”

– the assumption of technical leadership by Spanoulis: “Spanoulis is a great coach and a great personality. I believe he will bring all the personality he has to Monaco. And of course for us it is very dangerous, because he knows Panathinaikos, the team and the players very well. I am sure that in his first year in the Euroleague he will do well, having some of the best players in the history of the Euroleague and I believe that in the future he will become one of the best coaches in the Euroleague. I wish him the best and hopefully he will have a very good season, but after the day after tomorrow.”

– whether it is important for the team to win home games: “It is very important. Because beating these teams in streaks is no easy feat. To get the advantage you have to play good basketball, be aggressive and win them first of all at home. And we will have the world with us to support us. Because I told the players, we can’t think about the Final Four in February and March. It will be late. Now is the time to show aggression together and create a great atmosphere in our stadium because it is very important to win games at home. Everything is dangerous. We can’t talk about the Final Four if we don’t see the playoffs first. We have to be ready to fight and win starting tomorrow Monaco and then Barcelona, ​​because these two matches are very important for us”.

– the return of Giannakopoulos to OAKA: “We missed Giannakopoulos. I think it deserves to be here. He has made a big and great investment for the stadium and for Greek basketball and I am happy that he will be here with us again on the court and will entertain this wonderful court and of course give us motivation. But above all, I believe that for everything he has done for Greek basketball, he deserves to be here even if he sees us in person. To be in the best stadium in Europe”.