Ergin Ataman, the Panathinaikos head coach, spoke to the media after his team lost to Valencia 89-79 at home in Round 14 of the EuroLeague.
Panathinaikos entered this game as the favorite, but got defeated by Valencia at home with a poor display in the second half, and Ataman was not pleased with the way his team looked in the third and fourth quarter:
“After a good first half, where we played our regular basketball, we lost the game at the beginning of the third quarter. In just two minutes, we allowed them to go on a 9–0 run with easy baskets, and we lost control of the game with too many turnovers. Throughout the entire second half we made poor decisions — we missed everything. We went just 2-for-15 from three, we missed shots under the basket, and they gained confidence. Darius Thompson, in particular, played very well. We didn’t stop their one-on-one game, and tonight we didn’t deserve to win. Valencia played a great game.”
Claim Now Kenneth Faried was the EuroLeague MVP for the month of November, but quickly got into foul trouble and was not a factor in the game, and Ataman was unhappy not just with him but with Omer Yurtseven also, quickly stating:
“Both of our centers played a terrible game tonight, both Faried and Yurtseven.”
Panathinakos will look to bounce back in their next game in the EuroLeague as they will travel on the road to play against Milano on December 11th in Round 15.
