By Bugra Uzar/ info@eurohoops.net
Although Anadolu Efes lost to Real Madrid in the final seconds, head coach Ergin Ataman was very pleased with his players: “We played a great game. I’m proud of my players. I think we dominated the game. We were spectacular. After we got 14 points lead, we lost our respect in the last quarter. We made too many mistakes. In the last 5 minutes, we didn’t make the shots we made in first 35 minutes. I remember only once that Madrid had the lead, at the beginning. They got the lead twice and won the game.”
However, he wasn’t as pleased with the referee’s work and believes they made a crucial rule mistake: “We showed everybody that we could be the EuroLeague champions. Once again we showed it. I want more respect. We’ll talk with the management. I think the referees have made very critical and important mistakes. They made a rule mistake. After Dunston‘s technical foul, the shot clock had to start at the remaining time. There were four seconds left, but they started with 14 seconds.”
He noted that the Efes bench protested in vain but they will not give up and will ask from EuroLeague to repeat the game: “We objected to this 2-3 times. They said: “No, No.” What no? That’s a rule. We will go to EuroLeague to ask to repeat the game.”, Ataman explained.
Also, Ataman confidently believes everything is in place for his first EuroLeague title: “When you open and check Ataman’s biography, you can see 16-17 trophies. Only EuroLeague trophy is missing and it will come this year.”