Ataman: “It’s only 1-0 – very important Samondurov’s time”

THE Ergkin Ataman kept low tones for the Panathinaikos 1-0 against Olympiacos (80-68)while praising Samondurov’s performance.

“I think we defensively made a great game. We played very aggressively, we didn’t allow Olympiacos to find an easy score, especially with Fournier. In the first half we had some problems with Fal and their offensive rebounds. In the second half we played good defense in the basket and although we didn’t have a very good offensive day, with players who didn’t score as usual, such as Nan, Sloukas and Huanzo, with our aggression we got the victory. But it’s only 1-0, the series will be tough, Olympiacos will fight and try to react. We will prepare for the victory“, He stressed.

For the spiritual preparation of the team and if the presence of Giannakopoulos played a role in the readiness in the last training session he said: “For most Greek teams it is a success to be in Final 4. When you go to Final 4 after 39 matches and teams like Real and Barcelona they didn’t go. This is basketball. It’s a game, you may lose. Last year everything went well and we got it, this year we didn’t play so well in the semifinals and we lost, just like Olympiacos. Olympiacos was dominant in the regular season, but he made a bad game. We don’t have to talk about how well the teams are playing now. We focus on the finals, we know that we are facing a great team with extensive experience. There we focus, not what everyone says in or out of the club”

About the many minutes to Samondurov and how he judges his performance: ‘He was one of the best players in the last part of the season, as in training. It doesn’t matter if he is 19 years old, he’s one of the best 4s in the team. Today he may not have been lucky in some shots, but I know he can put them on. I have confidence in him, I will have it and of time that will be one of the most important players in our team”

Regarding the readiness of the players who came off the bench he said: “It’s not my job to prepare them spiritually. If I were to say that I did some special preparation in this piece it would not be a reality. In such an atmosphere everyone is 100% concentrated and I saw before the race that everyone was spiritually ready. The world is very important for this gathering of players and team”

Finally, for the importance of having many solutions in such games, he said: “I never think about the next game. I use players as I feel based on their status. We’re at 1-0, now we want to win two more games”