Ergin Ataman took a jab at his players after Panathinaikos' loss to Paris, criticizing their lack of effort, overreliance on star power, and mentality, saying, "With this mentality, we will not go anywhere."
Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens suffered a narrow 101-98 home loss to Paris Basketball in EuroLeague Round 32, and head coach Ergin Ataman didn't hold back in his post-game remarks.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
36
|
| TJ Shorts II | |
| Points | 20 |
| Accuracy | 7-16 |
| Rebounds | 9 |
| Assists | 14 |
Frustrated with his team's effort, he criticized their mentality, lack of urgency, and reliance on last-minute comebacks.
"We are not playing good basketball, we play like veteran teams. I talk like this now and in the locker room. It's also my responsibility, but we are not working well," Ataman started his rant in the post-game conference. "Everybody in this team is a star, but tonight we saw that stars cannot win every time.
"We have a big problem -- everybody thinks that we will be in the playoffs, will have a home-court advantage, go to Abu Dhabi [Final Four]. If we do not win one more game, we will end up in Play-In.
"I hope that we can understand this," he continued. "This is also my fault. I cannot manage every day. Somebody's injured every day, somebody's tired. We are like veteran teams right now in the last month. Basketball is fighting, basketball is making defense, we're just making that when we are down. We only show effort in the last quarters; it was the same against ALBA, Maccabi, and Olympiacos.
"It's my responsibility, but what can I do? Everybody's injured, everybody's tired. Everybody comes to me to say: I cannot make practice, I'm tired. With this mentality, we will not go anywhere. Everybody must understand this. Don't think about Abu Dhabi, don't think about the playoffs!
"I will try to focus, but if they continue to stay on the therapy group, I can't prepare the team in the therapy room or hospital," Ataman concluded.
With this loss, Panathinaikos dropped to 20-12, currently tied with AS Monaco for the No. 3 seed. The two teams will face off in a crucial matchup next week.
