By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Following a decision to suspend Ioannis Papapetrou indefinitely before Greece’s Stoiximan GBL Regular Season Round 8 affair against Marousi on Sunday, the play-caller of Panathinaikos Aktor Ergin Ataman shared additional details on Monday.
“We don’t want to lose any player, but he understood something wrong,” said the 58-year-old Turkish head coach, “This is a decision by me and the club together to keep him out, to understand some things. This is not some decision the club made and I don’t know.”
“He helped a lot in last year’s title, but he needs to understand that this roster is different and all players in this team must play for the team,” added Ataman, “Any player maybe one day plays five minutes or 35 minutes in my system. In these five minutes, you play for the team, for everything, without complaining. Ioannis is a good guy. Maybe he is confused about some things. He will be out for some period. Then, together with the club, we will make some decisions. After the end of this week, we will consider this situation again with the club.”
Another recent issue for the Greens was Kendrick Nunn going to the hospital for medical tests due to an illness instead of playing against Marousi on Sunday. On Monday, he rejoined his teammates in practice and was cleared for Round 13 of the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season and the meeting versus FC Barcelona in OAKA Altion on Tuesday.
Kostas Antetokounmpo (knee) and Marius Grigonis (back) remain sidelined.