By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes coach Ergin Ataman gave credit to Panathinaikos for the win over his team while criticizing some of his players for what he considered to be a lack of effort in their game.
“Of course, it was a strong game by Panathinaikos. They needed this game for sure. We were more relaxed because we won two days ago in Istanbul and came here with four victories. Some players put great hustle tonight for our team. But for me, some players’ hustles and attitude in the game are unacceptable,” Ataman said in the post-game presser.
“This isn’t respect to their friends that put hustle. OK, we played terribly. We shot terrible tonight. Only 6/30 3-point shots. [Vasilije] Micic and Kruno [Simon] are two scoring players. They shot 1/5 3-pointers,” Ataman added before talking specifically about Vasilije Micic’s performance. The Serbian guard finished with seven turnovers and 0/6 3-pointers for -4 PIR, some hours after being named MVP of Round 5.
“Our point guard made seven turnovers. This is unacceptable for me that one player was the MVP two days ago and tonight he played with seven turnovers and 0/6 shots. These are unprofessional things,” Ataman said on Micic.
“Of course, we are in the beginning of the season. Anyone can beat each other. EuroLeague is very strong. But we must change some things in our mentality because we will play more double-game weeks this season,” Ataman also mentioned about Efes.
“Panathinaikos had a great game. Especially [Tyrese] Rice and [Ioannis] Papapetrou were perfect,” Ataman concluded.
Ataman was then asked about his comments on Vasilije Micic. “This is a press conference and I talk my opinion,” he said before abruptly exiting the presser.
Ergin Ataman abruptly exited the press conference after a question regarding his criticism of Vasilije Micic's performance pic.twitter.com/Rrv3dZgdQh
— Eurohoops.net (@Eurohoopsnet) October 31, 2019