By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Galatasaray may be on the winning track as of lately, though the turmoil still exists. Ergin Ataman, head coach of the team, spoke on Gamaspor about Russ Smith’s short future in Galatasaray and how they bounced back from straight losses.
“We have informed Russ Smith’s agent that we want to terminate his contract”, said Ataman. The ongoing Smith saga began in early November, with the coach publicly stating that the guard is “playing terribly“.
As to what has helped Galatasaray improve? “We changed our system after Smith’s and Dentmon’s punishment. Actually, we were familiar to this one last year. We won the Eurocup with a system that focused more on defense and sharing the ball on offense. We figured it out after analyzing the defeats, so they were not a coincidence”, Ataman noted. “Austin Daye is out of rotation because of his ankle injury. We used Micov more at power forward position and gave more minutes to him and Emir Preldzic.”