By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The coach of the Turkish team argued that the call which led Mike James to the free-throw line for the 64 – 68 wasn’t a shooting foul at all. “Lamonica called a three point shot at the end of third quarter. That was a fitting, nonsense call,” said Ataman. “This isn’t a three point shot anywhere in the world. The game was decided by details so that was huge. I cam’t say that referees were good throughout the whole game.”
Ataman also commented on what changed the momentum in favor of his team’s opponents and mentioned that Galatasaray will switch its focus to winning the domestic titles. “We started the game by swinging the ball well. We led the first quarter 24-18 with the defense-based offensive performance, which we have been playing the last couple of weeks. The starting five players got tired and our bench players couldn’t contribute to the score and they were not aggressive on defense as well. Chris Singleton and Mike James made good contributions coming from the bench for Panathinaikos. They took the lead and we couldn’t come back. From now on our goal will be to keep playing the good basketball and winning the league championship in our domestic league.”