By Mehmet Bahadır Akgün/ info@eurohoops.net
VITORIA-GASTEIZ — Coach Ergin Ataman noted that he is proud of his players after their effort in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final against CSKA Moscow and that they will come back next year with the same team and the same hunger for the title: “CSKA deserved to win this cup. Congratulations to them. I am proud of my players. Thank you to all the Turkish people who believed in us and supported us. The Anadolu Efes team will continue with the same players, the same energy next year for this level to this time try to win the cup.”
They may have fallen short of the title but Ataman reminded that they had a great turnaround season: “This season we had a great story. After being at the bottom of the standings. We turned it completely around and made it to the championship game. We could have been the champions. We are second place and being second place in the EuroLeague is a great pride for not only for my team but for all the fans of the club.”
He also praised CSKA’s furious and highly effective offense on the head with Will Clyburn and Cory Higgins: “They really played great offense tonight, especially Will Clyburn and Higgins. They made 8 three-pointers in 11 shots, so it’s a very high percentage, also for the whole team. I think they have a little bit more experience than us.”
Ataman didn’t let his ego get in the way and praised the opposing coach Dimitris Itoudis for a great tactical move: “I congratulated Itoudis for not playing Rodriguez. All the time they used more physical players on Shane – Hackett and Higgins and switching with Hines. That was the right strategy.”