Panathinaikos lost agains Aris Basketball and Ataman was furious in the Press Room

Panathinaikos lost 70-73 at home to Aris Basketball thanks to a slow start from the Greens, who trailed 10-25 at the end of the first quarter. The visitors’ comeback in the final period was also decisive, as they closed the fourth period with a 13-22 lead. Panathinaikos coach Ergin Ataman was furious in the Press Room. Here are his comments.

Ergin Ataman words in the Press Room

We are coming off a double week and playing at 5 p.m. How do you deal with that and how do you keep the players focused on a championship game? You invest 25-30 million in basketball and you play at 5 o’clock on a working day. You don’t have the advantage of playing at home and you don’t have time to prepare for the game.

Of course, everything was terrible. My players were terrible, my coaching was terrible, the referees were terrible and we lost the game. Congratulations to all those who decided to play this game at 5 o’clock on Monday.

Ataman was then told that Aris also have an important EuroCup game this Wednesday. However, Ataman does not seem to be convinced.

Throughout the season, we play double-shift weeks in the EuroLeague. What does that mean? Why is it said that Aris has a game on Wednesday? All year long we played several times a week. Someone explain to me why we played this game today at 5 o’clock on a working day,” Ataman concluded.