By Antonis Stroggylakis / AStroggylakis@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes head coach Ergin Ataman saw his team blowing a 21-point lead against CSKA Moscow in the first of the two EuroLeague semifinals before ultimately getting a 89 – 86 win and the ticket to the championship game for a second time in a row.
Although suffering this kind of massive turnaround and then coming up on top may benefit Efes and make them more alert ahead of the Final, Ataman wasn’t particularly thrilled with his team being completely outplayed in the fourth period (18 – 33). And he thinks that Turkish fans weren’t amused either.
“Maybe we will be more ready, mentally, after this last quarter. But… I believe that many people in Turkey got a heart problem in the last quarter after the mistakes we made,” Ataman said in the post-game presser.
Efes was up 64 – 43 five minutes into the third quarter, mainly thanks to newly crowned EuroLeague MVP Vasilije Micic having a sensational night both as a scorer and facilitator. The Serbian guard was eventually fouled out with 3:05 remaining after spending 35:52 minutes on the floor and registering team-highs 25 points plus six assists. He carried a lot of workload for Efes while facing the bulk of CSKA‘s defensive pressure.
Is Ataman worried about his main floor general’s fatigue? “Micic is the EuroLeague MVP,” the Turkish coach said. “For one more time he played great basketball. Maybe he deserved to rest some minutes more before the last quarter. He played excellent on offense with his work in the organization.”
One reason behind Micic’s extensive use was Shane Larkin not performing to his usual standards, according to Ataman. Larkin finished with 11 points on 4-11 shots while struggling to initiate plays for himself or his teammates.
“Tonight it wasn’t Shane Larkin’s night,” Ataman said “And then we had some problems when Micic was out. We didn’t have the contribution we waited from Larkin and this made Micic spend more energy.
Ataman is optimistic that Larkin will bring his A game on Sunday when the title will be decided.
“I believe that in the Final Larkin will be more ready and we will play our more regular basketball,” Ataman said. “Star players are here to win the Final. I’m proud of my players and I believe in them, especially Shane Larkin who has showed he’s the best player in Europe these last two years.”
Despite his problems, Larkin delivered a key play the last seconds when he soared to grab a crucial defensive rebound after Will Clyburn, the match’s top scorer (26 points), misfired in his game-winning attempt with CSKA down 87 86 . He then won the foul to seal his team’s win.
“He’ll [Larkin] be the player who will give us the championship,” Ataman mentioned.