By Semih Tuna/ info@eurohoops.net
Galatasaray coach Ergin Ataman can’t help but being excited knowing that the Euroleague 2017 is going to take place in Istanbul. The Turkish coach shared his thoughts on the matter with Eurohoops, while also talking about what the next year means for the growth of his country’s basketball scene, and of course discussing the current situation of Galatasaray.
“The Euroleague Final Four is the highlight of European Basketball. The spectators will enjoy it a lot since it is being held in Istanbul. Seven or eight thousand Turkish people were in Berlin for last season’s tournament. However, the important part is whether a Turkish team will make it to the Final Four or not. It this happens, it will bring more enthusiasm. The next Eurobasket will also be held in Turkey so the country will be at the top of European basketball in 2017 European Basketball.”
What does the organization of these tournaments show about the power of Turkish basketball? “Economic power is in Turkey. Attention is on Turkey. The president and the other officials are quite interested in basketball and pay attention to it. Hedo Turkoglu is with the president (as chief advisor to Recep Tayyip Erdogan) which is very important at this stage. Turkish people love basketball, the clubs invest in basketball and the sponsors are supportive. With all that, there is no reason not to be in this point in European basketball.”
Galatasaray has now made six consecutive wins in its preseason games. What does that say about the team in this stage? “These games are not competitive compared to Euroleague games. We are trying to adjust our players to the system by making more practices and matches. It is always good have a winning team. I am happy about my players’ performances and they are getting along with each other. ‘Abdi Ipekci’ is going to be a very tough arena in Euroleague! We believe in our fans. They are our driving force. We want to be in Top 8 by winning our all home games and getting a few good results in the road. Gala’s budget in 11th or 12th in the Euroleague so we have overpower 4-5 teams in order to do this. We will see what is going to be happen.”