Ataman: “I hope Panathinaikos will not face Olympiacos in the EuroLeague playoffs”

He admitted that he deserved the derby victory with Panathinaikos at the SEF for the 29th Euroleague race and again expressed his hope that the two teams would not meet in the playoffs. At the same time, the Turkish coach of Panathinaikos spoke in the best words about Moses Wright of Olympiacos who made a difference in the SEF derby, stressing that the greens should look at the next games. In detail what Erkin Ataman said: “Typical derby, not nice to watch, was not quality. Olympiacos deserved the win because he played aggressively. Our strategy was good at first, we had our chances to get away, but the replacements and especially Moses Wright were heroes. Especially him. He put 9/9 seconds in our defense. In the second part we didn’t get any help, except Slooka, from our bench. Olympiacos and his alternates deserved it. Wakap, Kanan, Fal didn’t play to their standards and yet we lost. It’s not easy to win in Euroleague, on this field, in this derby. We fought until the last minute, but Olympiacos deserved it and I congratulate him. I like impressive games and these derby games are not impressive, with all due respect to Olympiacos. He fought and won. I said yesterday that I do not prefer to face Olympiacos at the playoffs, we have already played six times against them and will also play in the league. It’s not time to count, other teams are coming our way, we have to win games. There is balance, we have five games, so is Olympiacos. We only have to think about the next game. I hope we don’t face them at the playoffs. We prepared the fight to attack the racket when Fal is on the bench. We made a lot of mistakes under the basket.”