By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Ergin Ataman was a guest on Turkish television and, among other things, he talked about whether Shane Larkin and Vasilije Micic will continue with the team, the potential addition of Will Clyburn, as well as if this Efes squad could be considered the best in Euroleague history.
“Shane Larkin is very happy here. Larkin reached the peak of his career in Anadolu Efes, becoming one of the 2 to 3 best players in Europe, sometimes even the best. He broke the record in Europe. Won two championships in a row. The family atmosphere in Anadolu Efes must have affected him as well, but after all, he is a professional. Of course, there are serious offers for him. After all, free agents in Europe are clear today. Of course, we really want Larkin to continue with us. Let’s hope this will work out in a positive way, but if it doesn’t, there may be some flash transfers as a result,” he said and compared it to stellar transfers in soccer.
“Like Messi’s transfer to France, like Cristiano Ronaldo’s transfer to different teams. We are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening. Our relations with Larkin as a club are very good. I think he likes the club and Istanbul very much, but ultimately the decision will be made by the player himself. As for Vasilije Micic’s situation, I think his contract has an NBA exit until July 20. Micic can’t play for any other club in Europe for 3 years, we signed the contract last season. He might consider it if he gets a big offer from the NBA. I think Micic enjoyed playing in Europe. The time will tell. Frankly, I think Micic will continue with us. I think he will be with us next season as well. There is not much we can do about it. I mean, he has a very good contract, but if there is a big offer from the NBA, we will try to fill his place. We want to continue with both players.”
One of the players that Efes is interested in, as Euohoops reported, is Tomas Satorasnky who would be brought as a replacement if either Larkin or Micic left the team.
Besides Sato, Will Clyburn has been linked with Efes too and Ataman is confident the player will give serious consideration to joining the team despite the whole of Europe wishing to sign him.
The coach also gave his opinion on which teams could be named the best in European history. He singled out his 2019-20 Efes squad but also gave other examples of dominant teams.
“Now everyone has their own opinion. Pablo Laso, who lost the final by one point, naturally thought for at least 30 seconds when this question was asked at the press conference. After all, each team has its own characteristics. Maccabi in 2004 was a very good team. When asked which is the best team, I can say our team in the 2019-20 season, not the championship team, in terms of my own squads. We won 24 of the 28 games before that season was canceled, breaking a record, the squad at the time the season was stopped and the basketball we played were, in my opinion, the best among the teams I coached,” Ataman said and added a few teams that came to his mind.
“Fenerbahce‘s Bogdanovic squad, Real Madrid in 2018’s team with Doncic, the team with Spanoulis and Printezis in the years when Olympiacos became champions… Any of those teams can beat any team.”