Ergin Ataman spoke to the press on the eve of Panathinaikos AKTOR's home game against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, addressing various topics including the official announcement of Kendrick Nunn's contract extension.
Here is what the Panathinaikos AKTOR head coach had to say:
On the game against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade: "Of course we want the win! We lost our previous home game against Paris Basketball. We will have home-court advantage in the playoffs, and we want to play with aggression and confidence in front of our fans. Crvena Zvezda is a dangerous team with high-quality players. We need to play strong defense, as always. And offensively, we must attack with balance."
On the playoffs: "I’ll be watching all the games tonight. By the end of the evening, we’ll have a much clearer picture of who our opponent in the playoffs will be — at least in terms of probability. Either way, that’s not what really matters to us. Our goal was to enter the playoffs with home-court advantage. The most important thing will be for our opponents, who will know they have to face us without that advantage. They will know they must win at OAKA if they want to reach the Final Four."
On Kendrick Nunn's contract extension and the core roster remaining intact: "Good work by the club for continuing with the same players. We don’t need to change many things — we reshaped the team just a few weeks ago and achieved great success. Now we have the time to keep building on this core, maybe adding one or two more players. Of course, everyone wants to win — the 8th star, the 9th star. But the most important thing is to stay at the highest level. If everything goes well, the 8th star will come."
On Marius Grigonis: "I don’t think he’ll be able to play in the playoffs. He hasn’t participated in team practice for nearly six months, so I don’t see it happening."
On Mathias Lessort: "He’s working every day. I’ll evaluate his condition next week. I don’t know yet if he’ll be able to play in the playoffs, but we’ll see. I’m not focused on the injured players right now. Omer Yurtseven has returned and had a good performance against AS Monaco. We also have Wenyen Gabriel, and we can use Dinos Mitoglou at the '5'. When Mathias Lessort is fully ready, he will rejoin the team."
On whether he would like to see both Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in next season's EuroLeague: "In my opinion, all the teams that participated this season deserve to stay in the EuroLeague. It has been a great season — one of the best in terms of competitiveness. Of course, there are a few other clubs that could join. I see that many people fear the level of competition in the EuroLeague — it’s become incredibly tough."
Yurtseven: "We are ready..."
Omer Yurtseven spoke to reporters ahead of Panathinaikos AKTOR's matchup against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in the final round of the EuroLeague regular season.
Here is what the Panathinaikos AKTOR center had to say:
On the game against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade: "I don’t believe we are under any kind of pressure. We are prepared. We’ve been working very hard over the past few days. We had time both to rest a bit and to properly prepare for this game. As I said, I don’t think we’re feeling any stress — we’re simply ready."
On what Panathinaikos AKTOR needs to do to secure the win: "We need to attack more in the paint because they don’t have much size. Their big men usually pop out on offense, and their guards are very aggressive. We’ve faced them on their home court — we know them well. And since we lost our last home game, we have to win this one."
On the upcoming playoffs: "We’re not concerned about who our opponent will be. What matters is that we play our game and remain true to who we are."
On his return to action: "I feel much better now. When I first came back, I was still adjusting, but I took my time and now I feel great. It always takes some time to readjust after an injury and a long absence. I’m grateful to have taken all the necessary steps, and I’m ready for the postseason."
