By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Athens coach Ergin Ataman was so unhappy with the effort his players put on the court against Partizan Belgrade that he announced the start of… boxing practices for the entire squad.
“Starting tomorrow, we change the practice system. We start boxing practices,” Ataman joked in the post-game flash interview to EuroLeague TV. “We need to have boxing training. Because basketball isn’t just scoring or sharing the ball. It’s also a fight. Congratulation to Partizan because they fought. We didn’t answer to their aggressiveness.”
Partizan beat Panathinaikos 91 – 73. That 18-point deficit marks the heaviest EuroLeague loss for Ergin Ataman since he arrived at Panathinaikos.
“We need to change the practice system. Tomorrow we start boxing practices,” Ataman said again.
Panathinaikos trailed even by 21 points, 79 – 58, halfway through the fourth quarter. The reigning EuroLeague champions dropped to 8 – 6 after suffering their third loss in the last four games.
“At this moment, with this basketball we’re playing we can’t think for the Final Four. We think about qualification for the playoffs,” Ataman mentioned in the post-game presser.
“Sometimes it’s better to lose games like this to let the frustration out,” Ataman mentioned after being asked about superstar guard Kendrick Nunn getting ejected late in the game with two technical fouls. “If we lost the game by 6-7 points we wouldn’t have a sense [of what’s going on].. Now I think we have a sense of what we need to improve.”