Ergin Ataman: ‘We find ways to win’

Anadolu Efes Istanbul head coach Ergin Ataman has been praised more than once for his team’s free-flowing offense. What gets less attention is the fact that Efes had the fourth-ranked EuroLeague defense coming into the Final Four, a discrepancy that he addressed at Saturday’s championship game press conference.

“We play fancy basketball,” he said. “We have star perimeter players. Shane Larkin has been the best player in the EuroLeague the last three seasons. Micic was the best one this season. Beaubois and Simon, as well. We play a running game. I give the players freedom, especially on offense. And for this, I think everybody thinks it’s more an offensive team, but our offense starts from our defense. We need to have good defense to find early fastbreak and transition points.”

In fact, Efes didn’t have the EuroLeague best offense; that belonged to CSKA. Defense is a big reason why Efes owns the best point differential of all 18 teams this season. Nonetheless, Ataman does not begrudge the general fan’s tendency to overlook that aspect of the game when watching his team.

“If you are only an offensive team, you cannot reach this level: it’s both parts,” he said. “But I am happy because people enjoy our basketball. Our players enjoy playing together. They share the ball. In every game, we have different stars, but we find ways to win. Like yesterday, Larkin didn’t score but I am sure that he will be the player to win the EuroLeague for us.”