Ataman warns before facing Monaco in play-in: « With this roster, they reached the final last year »

After Panathinaikos‘s dominant victory over Anadolu Efes (97-62) at the OAKA to close out the regular season, coach Ergin Ataman immediately turned his attention to the crucial play-in clash against Monaco. The Turkish tactician was blunt about the quality of the French opposition.

Monaco, a formidable opponent despite a thin roster

In the post-game press conference, Ataman was keen to acknowledge Monaco‘s pedigree in EuroLeague. « Every game is a final now. Monaco is a great team. Even if they played with eight players tonight, as I saw, all eight are quality players. With this roster, Monaco reached the EuroLeague final last season, » said the Panathinaikos coach.

The Greek coach stressed the importance of the stakes and the need to raise their level against an experienced side. « It will clearly be a tough game. They have very experienced players. We need to play aggressive, quality basketball to win. We will prepare for that, » he added.

Regarding home-court advantage, Ataman is counting on the support of the Athenian crowd: « If our goal is to reach the Final Four, we have to win. We have a home game against Monaco that we must win – that’s the reality. It will be a very difficult game. We’ll need a loud atmosphere, like in previous games here, to give us extra motivation. »

Rogkavopoulos back at the right time

Asked about the performance of Nikos Rogkavopoulos, who shone against Anadolu Efes, Ataman was pleased: « He was injured, as you know. He didn’t play in Spain. He received treatment and got good rest. He played excellently tonight, and I hope he keeps it up in the next game. »

The coach also praised his team’s collective display: « I think especially in the third quarter we showed excellent defense, and on offense we found good shots. Rogkavopoulos had a great game, he was aggressive. Lessort played well inside, and overall everyone contributed. »

When asked whether he was already thinking about a potential playoff clash with Olympiacos, Ataman cut it short: « Sorry, but I’m not thinking about Olympiacos. I’m only thinking about the game against Monaco. »